Chapter 459: Visions Of The Primordial Times

The first stream entered Sylvia’s arm and spread through her Divine Body. She drew in a breath as a second followed it and the golden core began to lose its shape.

Power that had rested beneath Earth for so long now gathered around her. It pressed against her skin and sank deeper as she let the remains merge with her body.

Nearby the Hollow King lowered his hand and sent the growing sphere into the space she was leaving behind. Layers of bright material formed around it until the replacement filled the gap.

Sylvia kept watching even as the power began filling her vision. The surrounding rock stayed in place while the new core grew beneath the golden streams.

"You can keep going because I’m keeping up with you." The Hollow King spread both hands toward the replacement.

She drew more of the remains toward herself and the streams grew thicker. This time the power reached so deep that she could feel it throughout her body and soul.

Sylvia had wanted to become stronger, but holding the remains was different from making them part of her. She concentrated on the power entering her and let it settle instead of pulling everything in at once.

As the old core shrank the Hollow King continued building its replacement. He filled each space as it opened and kept the molten layers around them from shifting inward.

Eventually the last golden stream left the center of Earth and joined the others around Sylvia. A new core filled the place where the Supreme One’s remains had rested.

She had obtained them, but the power was still moving through her without fully settling. Golden light closed around her as she focused on merging with it.

The Hollow King remained beside the replacement and kept his hands raised toward it. Sylvia left him to protect the planet while she gave the remains her full attention.

On the other side of the infinity stretching multiverse, Caelus was still drifting through the chaos beyond the universe when a point of light appeared in front of him. He tried to focus on it and suddenly everything around him began rushing toward that single point.

The distant lights disappeared first. Then even the chaos surrounding his body vanished into a space smaller than his fingertip.

He could feel the pressure inside it despite being unable to see where it ended. Everything had been forced into a singularity and now it was all he could see.

Caelus tried to move away as its surface shook. However the point burst open and light swept through him before he could tell whether he had moved at all.

BOOOOM!

He braced himself against the blast and felt nothing strike his body. Instead he found himself watching the light spread farther than he could follow.

Empty space opened around it and kept expanding. Clouds of burning matter formed within that space as the blast spread outward.

Caelus watched the clouds gather until the first stars lit up. More appeared around them and soon great fields of light stretched across his vision.

He was watching a universe being born and couldn’t bring himself to look away. Then three powers rose from the fading center of the explosion and spread in different directions.

One shone with pale gold light while another looked dark against the bright universe. The third was harder to follow because he could see the stars through it even as it passed over them.

Caelus tried to look more closely, but a bright line suddenly cut across his vision. The stars split into uneven pieces and the three powers vanished between them.

"What the hell was that?"

The broken scene flickered and disappeared. Immediately after that he found himself facing the singularity again.

Everything around it rushed inward just as it had before. He watched the same point gather the same crushing pressure and begin to shake.

It exploded again while he was still trying to understand why he had returned to the beginning.

This time Caelus ignored the stars forming around him and watched the center of the blast. The three powers all emerged from the same explosion and moved apart as the newborn universe continued expanding.

He followed the golden power until it disappeared behind a field of light. Then his vision broke apart in the same place and sent him back to the singularity.

"Couldn’t you at least let me finish watching?"

There was no answer as everything collapsed toward the tiny point again. Caelus waited through another explosion and kept his attention on the dark power this time.

It passed between the other two and spread beyond the stars he could see. He tried to follow its path until the familiar line cut across the scene and tore it apart.

When the singularity appeared again Caelus no longer tried to move away from it. The blast couldn’t hurt him and struggling against it only made him miss what followed.

He watched the universe form again as the three powers emerged together. This time he followed the third and kept his gaze fixed on the place where it bent the light around it.

It had no clear edge for him to follow. Whenever he thought he had found one the stars behind it shifted and revealed that it reached much farther.

The vision glitched just as he began to make out its full size. Caelus reached toward it as the scene broke apart, but his hand passed through the fading light.

The singularity filled his vision again and he tried to remember how many times he had watched it explode. He couldn’t even tell how much time had passed outside these visions.

Caelus thought of Sylvia waiting somewhere beyond the chaos and forced himself to focus. Whatever this had to do with his transformation, he needed to understand it and return to her.

He didn’t know whether she made it out safe or not.

Then the point of light began shaking once more. This time he watched the center without blinking as the three powers began to emerge from the blast.