Chapter 575: Emma The First - Empress of Velora (3)
“Can you send these across Pantheos’ timeline for me?”
As she looked at him, that inevitable feeling rose within her once again.
’By the Gods… he’s so beautiful,’ she thought, a faint blush coloring her pale cheeks.
Normally, with the way Ash had created Pantheos, his appearance would be entirely indiscernible to Emma or anyone else who wasn’t Ineffable.
This was due to the Existence Level—in Pantheos, once someone reached a higher state of existence, there was no lowering it to accommodate lesser beings.
Instead, they would appear formless, like silhouettes, or simply be difficult to perceive. However, since Ash was the verse itself, he could easily bend those rules.
It would have been unusual for Emma not to develop some affection for Ash, yet it was a feeling she constantly pushed away.
She couldn’t help but believe she was unworthy of harboring such emotions or thoughts for the King of Velora and Ruler of the Ineffable.
What she didn’t realize was that, for now, she was only witnessing a softened, restrained version of Ash and the others.
That, however, was bound to change as her own power continued to grow.
Ash noticed the faint blush on her cheeks, but he simply shook his head, his expression remaining calm and laid back.
He wasn’t thinking about such things right now. Not only that, but Emma was also way too young.
Snap!
He nodded his head and snapped his fingers.
In an instant, the dissolving world vanished completely around them. The fragile ground, the dying sky, the last flickering remnants of life — all of it disappeared as if it had never been.
They reappeared floating above the physical River of Time within Pantheos.
The river was a colossal, ethereal flow of liquid silver and gold, stretching infinitely in both directions — a literal manifestation of time itself.
Waves of past, present, and future crashed against invisible banks, carrying glimpses of countless timelines, events, and possibilities.
Its surface shimmered with images of rising and falling civilizations, births and deaths, wars and peace’s — an endless, living current that made even the most powerful beings feel small.
Emma gazed at it, her breath hitching as she felt completely insignificant in the face of its grandeur.
To her, the Originat Haven and Velora were the entirety of her world, all she had ever truly known.
And now, standing there, the sheer scale of the river made everything else seem small, its endless flow so immense it felt as though it carried the very heartbeat of existence within its currents.
“What… what is this river?” she asked, her voice filled with quiet awe and a hint of overwhelm.
Ash floated beside her, his reddish-purple eyes calm as he looked out over the infinite flow.
“This is the River of Time,” he said simply. “The physical manifestation of Pantheos’ timeline.”
He then chuckled remembering the Time Goddess of his Pantheon.
“It was something one of my soon to be wives created… and also one of the many constructs that helps Pantheos function properly.”
Emma’s gaze rested on the endless current of the River of Time, her face reflecting a blend of wonder and gentle unease.
She turned to Ash, her voice soft but filled with genuine curiosity.
“Your wives… and these constructs you mentioned… what are they like?”
Ash’s reddish-purple eyes softened slightly with a hint of pride as he thought of his wives. He chuckled lightly, the sound warm and genuine.
“My wives… they’re extraordinary in their own ways… Each of them are beautiful beyond comparison and mean everything to me.” He said as he loved to gloat on his women, yet these words weren’t even a fraction of what they were.
“Yeah, and a bunch of crazies.” Elysia muttered.
He chuckled, his smile fading into a more serious, instructive tone as his focus shifted.
“As for the constructs… anything you can imagine has one in Pantheos, once you’re strong enough to reach it. Death has its own realm, where souls are judged and reborn. Fate holds a loom that weaves the threads of possibility.”
He went on to list the various realms and constructs that bind Pantheos together, each waiting to be discovered and used by its inhabitants.
All of these constructs, much like the Loom of Fate and other creations, had been crafted by his wives, though some remained unfinished even now.
It was strange, considering they should have been completed long ago.
Emma listened closely, her eyes wide with fascination. After a moment’s pause, she asked hesitantly, her voice tinged with uncertainty,
“Will I… ever meet your wives?”
Ash’s smile returned, but it was more enigmatic this time.
“Maybe… maybe not. That depends on how things unfold.”
Emma nodded slowly, absorbing his words.
She turned back toward the River of Time, the ten red seeds still glowing in her palms as she prepared to send them into the timeline.
But before she could release them, Ash’s voice stopped her.
“What do you have in mind for these Heroes and Villains?” he asked, his tone genuinely curious.
“Why those terms?”
They were clearly Earth-like expressions, and he hadn’t read about anyone sharing such tales around Pantheos in the novel.
He certainly hadn’t done it himself, so his curiosity was genuine.
Emma shrugged lightly, her fingers still gently cradling the ten glowing red seeds as she looked out over the endless flow of the River of Time.
“I don’t know when it happened,” she said, her voice soft but thoughtful, “but the stories of Heroes and Villains began long before I was born.
They were already woven into the old tales of Velora when I was a child — passed down through generations like sacred legends.”
She paused for a moment, as if gathering her thoughts, then continued in a calm, measured tone.
“In a nutshell… Heroes are those who rise above the ordinary. They fight for something greater than themselves — justice, protection, hope. They become symbols that inspire others to be better, even when the odds are impossible.”
She stopped again, staring at the seeds in her hands.
“While villains… they’re the opposite.”
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