Chapter 301: Victory Against Machines! A Revelation?
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“DO IT!”
The two Venerables joined hands once more, and as we and the immortals fought the machines, the two harnessed their power together, resembling two enormous hands made of their Golden and Black Ki.
This was the combination of their powerful Auras and powers together, further strengthening their ability over space, which wasn’t as good as they would have hoped.
However, through their Dual Venerable Arts, the combination of their powers brought upon this spatial-manipulation ability a completely new strength.
Enough to do the impossible!
“{Dual Venerable Arts}: {Heavenly Spatial Seal}!”
TRUUUM!
The gate was suddenly and immediately closed shut; the space itself wasn’t even able to fight back; their combined force alone made it possible for a world-ending event to come to a sudden halt!
RUMBLE!
A small shockwave was released before space stabilized together, and the entire gate was completely sealed shut.
I couldn’t believe it.
“They really did it…” I muttered in disbelief. “Just as I thought… Haha!”
I couldn’t help but laugh. I was perhaps so happy right now, but I wanted to give myself the privilege of being happy and laughing, even if for a moment!
“W-We did it?” Yin Sheng muttered.
“We did it!” Wai Tian celebrated.
“Wooohoooo!” even Fang Shuan celebrated, raising his arms into the sky.
“WOOOOHHHH!”
And all the immortals celebrated together with them, some even in tears! At the same time, the two Venerables nodded, smiling as everything was done.
For now…
[The Cosmic Throne {Mechanical Librarian} says that this was only the beginning.]
[The Cosmic Throne {Mother of Artificial Life} affirms that they shall return.]
“Of course… It wasn’t going to end so easily, huh?” Anna sighed.
With all the machines slain and with none of them managing to escape into the surface below, the invasion was completely and utterly stopped before it could actually harm this world permanently like it did before.
I couldn’t believe it; we really changed the ending, the outcome...
Even if this was all a simulation, it felt truly real, and it felt fulfilling too.
This is nothing but a “what if," but one that I wish I could have been able to do.
If only I could turn back time, if only I could do something about it, maybe I could have been able to stop this for real; maybe I would have been able to save these people.
But… the truth was different.
What truly happened—not even I knew it after I changed the future this much. But I am fairly sure that the Heavenly Demon’s pleas to go check this place were unanswered.
And the machines ultimately invaded the world of Bestia through the skies and then descended, creating tremendous chaos everywhere.
“Anna! We did it, all thanks to you and your friends…!”
The Heavenly Empress flew to my side, suddenly hugging me.
“Thank you for holding them back until we arrived… We took longer than we wished… We thought you wouldn’t make it, but I am glad we were wrong!”
“Woah, you have so little faith in me, master?”
“Hahah, it’s not that; I was simply thinking that the machines could have been more overwhelming.”
"Well, they were! You took way too long! We almost died!”
“I’m sorry…”
As she apologized, the Heavenly Demon reached us.
“Looks like things have calmed down,” he said. “The "machines,” as you called them, were rather tough compared to any other living being, but nothing against our strength. However, some of them had some sort of strange energy within them; what was it?”
“Cosmic Energy and then Electromagnetic Energies,” I explained. “The latter is what they work with, and the former is a power granted to them by Constellations. They’re the primary entities behind this invasion, from what we’ve learned so far.”
“Is that so…” nodded the Heavenly Empress. “I do remember seeing a weird message appear for a few seconds. I had imagined it was some sort of illusion from the machines; it said something about... Cosmic Thrones.”
“It must have been them. Constellations seem capable of communicating through direct messages like that,” I continued to explain. “Anyways, I do remember what they said. And they’re coming back; this isn’t over yet. I don’t really know when they will come back, but it’ll be on a much bigger scale than before. We need to prepare for the worst possible scenario.”
“So that’s how it is…” nodded the Heavenly Demon. “This is not over yet…”
“The worst possible scenario,” the Heavenly Empress muttered. “Then when will they stop?”
“I… don’t really know, but I know that they will eventually do,” I explained. “Once their entire troops are finally and completely slain, and their strongest leaders defeated… It will stop. This is an event that happens in other worlds called the [Apocalypse]. Instead of an [Awakening], this world received a direct [Apocalypse] because it is too strong! So instead of slowly transforming a world, another already strong world invades this one to gain supremacy.”
“W-What?! And who is deciding this?!” asked the Heavenly Demon. “How do you know so much, Anna?”
“Because… well, I just learned that from the machines!” I said. “A-Anyways, that’s how it works! There’s thousands of Constellations out there, godly beings that govern the universe. If you want to survive, you need to fight and protect your world! But I have a feeling the next time might be the last time too because they’ll bring forth everything they have to annihilate us or die trying.”
“Hmm, I see,” the Heavenly Empress wasn’t overreacting like the Heavenly Demon. She was much calmer and more composed, thoughtful too. “Any more hints you have, Anna? Anything else you learned?”
“Yeah! The Constellations chose certain machines to become their avatars and become strongly connected to them. When everything had just begun, we slain a very powerful machine that was the vessel of one of them. If you can slay these with the strong connection with the constellations, the constellations leading the invasion will weaken as a result! It’s the best way to stop this quickly. Also take this!”
I gave the Heavenly Empress the sphere imbued with cosmic energy and electromagnetic energy, which I had kept sealed using my sealing chains spells, which I could conjure using Ki thanks to my Privilege’s ability to allow me to replace Mana with Ki, although at double the original cost.
“This is…?!”
“Most of the machines and their parts got destroyed, but this could help you analyze this energy and then detect it once it emerges,” I explained. “Also… they will most likely target this area too. After all, this is where space is the weakest. Anywhere else would be incredibly hard to break through. They might come back in a few days, weeks, or even years. But keep your eyes open. Leave behind formations, immortals, or anything to alert you of their arrival.”
“Very well,” the Heavenly Empress nodded. “Now that things have come this far, it wouldn’t be weird to finally join forces to protect the world, right, my husband?”
“A-Ah, you’re calling me…?!” the Heavenly Demon gasped as he noticed a few immortals were hearing what she said.
“They already know at this point that our Dual Arts cannot be done without a great understanding of each other’s bodies and souls,” the Heavenly Empress smiled, grabbing the Heavenly Demon’s hands; she was actually taller than him, mostly thanks to her longer neck as a crane. “Isn’t it? After all, Dual Arts can only be done once Dual Cultivation between two partners is practiced many times.”
“A-Ah…!” the Heavenly Demon was frozen out of embarrassment.
I had never seen my master in such a way! He was totally frozen! Also, my other master was being way too coquettish! Oh my gosh, I am lucky to see such an interesting facet of the two, haha!
“Now that there is a goal we must pursue together, we should just confess what we’ve done,” said the Heavenly Empress. “There’s a bigger enemy, and if we don’t join forces completely, it will only become our doom. You must tell the demonic cultivators, and I shall tell my sect’s immortals.”
“…I understand,” the crow sighed. “I suppose there’s no helping it now…”
As I moved back with my friends, the two Venerables faced the crowd of immortals.
“Wow, the trial hasn’t ended yet?” wondered Wai Tian. “Are we going to see this much?”
“I think it’ll end once this is over,” I said. “Probably the trial itself wants us to see this... Or maybe the one watching it wants it to continue for a bit more.”
“The one watching...” wondered Yin Sheng. “You mean the trial manager?”
“Maybe her too, but there’s someone else watching over as well; I am pretty sure of that,” I nodded. “Who else than master?”
“The Heavenly Empress is watching this? This possible future…” muttered Zero One. “I-I guess we can’t blame her then… It is a beautiful future, I bet she dreamed many times about this…”
“Most likely,” nodded Fang Shuan. “Seeing how tragic the real future was… this fantasy we’re witnessing might be master’s… Last dream.”
“A reminiscing of the past…” sighed Wai Tian. “I wish it would have gone this way… without the continent sinking, without the people of the world dying… If only we could change the past…”
“But that’s impossible at the end,” I sighed. “The past cannot be truly changed.”
I know it better than anybody else too because I saw the ending of this entire journey.
There’s no Regressions.
There’s no way to reset the past.
Only Worldlines and countless stories fragmented across the cosmos.
“I suppose you’ve already guessed by now what has happened between the two of us,” the Heavenly Empress said.
“I will not deny it, nor will I regret my actions,” the Heavenly Demon said. “I’ve changed, and I will admit it with all my heart. This woman here… She changed me. She taught me what it felt to no longer be alone. She taught me how to love. And she also… brought to me the most precious gift in the world, a son.”
No immortal spoke back or complained as they heard; even the most ruthless of demonic immortals simply crossed their arms, frowned, and listened attentively.
“And this man also changed me,” the Heavenly Empress smiled back at him. “He taught me that I didn’t have to keep everything to myself, that I didn’t have to bear all the burdens, and that I didn’t have to do everything on my own. He taught me that I cannot force myself upon all the responsibilities of the world. And that this world cannot exist without darkness, as much as it cannot exist without light. And he also taught me about forgiveness… To forgive, and to love… And well, he’s also the father of my dear son.”
It was very corny, but I was really crying right now, weeping like a baby.
“…”
“…”
“…”
The immortals were left speechless, and in deep thought, they were no longer shocked because they all guessed what had happened. The elders were in disbelief, but after hearing this, they just had to accept it.
“I… see…” one of the elders resembling a praying mantis muttered.
“This… well, it is truly unexpected…” muttered another of the elders resembling an old red panda.
“Hmm…” the old turtle elder hummed. “Well, we are nobody to judge our empress’ personal life, is that right?”
Her was perhaps the oldest among everyone there, even older than the empress herself. I had learned from her that he was called “Elder Ding De” and was someone venerated by everyone in the entire realm, often thought to be a True Immortal Sage, a title only given to those that have lived for thousands of years and attained enlightenment of the Heavenly Dao.
“If Elder Ding De says so…”
“Well, it's still impactful, but… our empress seems so sincere.”
“Indeed, I just can’t argue against her love.”
“I cannot judge her either…”
“The Heavenly Demon has truly changed thanks to her…”
“I can’t believe our empress has tamed that demon! Hahah!”
“And a son… I can’t believe this! Between crane and crow?!”
“We must celebrate his many birthdays we’ve missed!”
The heavenly empress smiled cutely, happy her people accepted her; even tears started falling from her golden eyes.
"Everyone, thank you…”
However, the demonic cultivators had different opinions…
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