Chapter 457: Faust’s Return

Faust looked Sylvia over and then glanced at the Divine Gods standing behind her. Her smile widened as Sylvia stopped outside the cell.

"You seem to have been busy since I last saw you."

The Hollow King reached the door and broke the seal holding it shut. As the bars swung open Sylvia stepped inside and watched the restraints fall away from Faust’s arms.

"I know you have a lot of questions, but I’m getting tired of explaining everything each time I enter a cell. Come out and the others will fill you in."

Faust walked toward her without losing her smile.

"Didn’t you defeat the Heavenly Lord? I thought that was why you were here."

She rested a hand on Sylvia’s shoulder as she passed.

"I suppose I should have expected this from Caelus."

Sylvia stared at her for a moment and then followed her out of the cell.

"Not quite, it wasn’t him this time. The Hollow King defeated his clone."

Faust’s hand slipped from her shoulder as she looked toward the man opening the next cell. For once the playful smile left her face.

"Now that is something I’d like explained."

"Then you can ask Allstar while we get everyone out."

Sylvia pointed toward him and Faust went to join the growing group. She was finally safe after being missing for so long, but there were still people Caelus had been unable to find.

Phanes was helping two freed followers through the hall when Sylvia approached. She waited until they could walk on their own and then spoke.

"Do you know where Caelus’s parents are? I mean the ones from the Abyss who vanished in that golden light."

Phanes shook their head and Sylvia felt her hope sink at the answer.

"The Heavenly Lord forcibly took them out of the Abyss. He most likely killed them afterward."

Sylvia tightened her hold on the token Caelus had given her. He had searched for them and found nothing, but she wasn’t going to tell him they were dead because someone thought it was likely.

"Do you know that for certain?"

"I know he took them, but I cannot confirm their deaths."

She would have to tell Caelus what she had learned when he returned. For now there was no way to follow the Heavenly Lord and find out what he had done with them.

However hearing that he had taken them from the Abyss brought another question to mind.

"If you and Allstar could enter the Abyss, why didn’t you deal with the Watcher? You knew what was happening there."

"Because the Heavenly Lord would have known if we acted against it. We could enter, but our actions were limited and removing the Watcher would have exposed us immediately."

Phanes looked toward Allstar as he helped another prisoner step over a fallen door.

"That’s why Allstar couldn’t interfere directly and could only watch Lord Caelus. Any help he offered had to remain within those limits."

"And the other Enders were left there too?"

"The Abyss helped them calibrate their powers and awaken them earlier. It also made it easier for them to draw out the Axiom Origin’s power inside them.

"If they failed to awaken it, the Heavenly Lord decided they weren’t worthy. He killed them and waited for the next cycle."

Sylvia remembered the people Caelus had saved by removing the reset rule. For the Heavenly Lord their lives had been something he could throw away whenever he disliked the result.

She looked toward Bane and the other Enders helping their freed followers. All four had been locked away until that man needed them to fight.

"The Axiom Origin is already very close to being restored. If another war breaks out now, I don’t know what will happen."

"Then he won’t get one from us."

Sylvia sent two more summons toward the stairs to guide the prisoners out. Whatever the Heavenly Lord wanted them to do could wait until they were strong enough to refuse him.

A loud crack came from the far end of the hall as the Hollow King broke the seals leading to the lowest cells. He pulled the doors aside and called for the people inside to come out.

Some walked toward him as soon as their restraints fell. Others needed their followers to support them until they reached the stairs.

Sylvia went down with her remaining summons and helped bring them up. Among the freed prisoners were the other Apostle and people whose followers called out their names with relief when they saw them.

Tree stopped beside an exhausted man and carefully lifted him onto his back. When Allstar reached over to help he shook his head and kept walking.

"Please carry someone else, Master. I can manage this one."

Allstar looked at the man on his disciple’s back and then at the open stairs.

"You could at least pretend your teacher is still useful."

"You would be more useful if you carried someone."

Allstar went to help another prisoner while Tree carried his passenger up the stairs.

They continued until the last cell stood empty and the freed prisoners filled the halls above. The Hollow King checked the lower chambers once more and then opened a passage large enough for the waiting crowd.

"We’re going to the Hollow Realm. We’ll be safe there while we wait for Caelus."

Allstar stopped beside the entrance and looked back at Sylvia. Faust and Phanes also turned toward her when they heard Caelus’s name.

"Where is Caelus and why hasn’t he come with you?" Faust asked.

"He’s undergoing a Primordial transformation."

The people nearest her stopped moving and Allstar turned fully toward her. Even Phanes’s light flickered as the meaning of her answer sank in.

"He’s becoming a Primordial?"

Faust no longer sounded casual. Sylvia smiled because she had wanted to say those words ever since Caelus disappeared into the chaos.

"He hasn’t finished yet, so we’ll have to wait for him."

"You really should have started with that." Allstar moved aside as Tree carried his passenger through the passage.

Sylvia followed them into the Hollow Realm once the remaining prisoners were ready. The Enders gathered their followers on the other side while Phanes and the Apostles helped those still struggling to recover.

The Hollow King closed the passage behind the last person and came to stand beside Sylvia.

"Now let’s go to Earth and find the Supreme One’s remains."

She immediately nodded and called her summons back to her. Caelus was working toward becoming a Primordial and she finally had a chance to reach beyond her own limits too.

As the Hollow King opened the next passage he looked back at the people gathering in his realm.

"I’ve stopped all Hollow and Darkspawn attacks across the worlds. Destroying this world would only help the enemy we’re facing now."

Sylvia followed him into the passage as the way to the Tier 1 World opened. This time they were heading for Earth to search for the being who had given birth to their universe.