Chapter 460: Gaining Acknowledgement

[Ding! Endless Extraction has been activated.]

Caelus stared at the notification as the dark power in the vision spread across the newborn stars. A black hole opened in its center and began pulling everything toward it.

The nearest star stretched into a burning stream before disappearing inside. Then the stars behind it followed until whole galaxies were being dragged through the darkness.

Caelus felt a familiar pull from deep within himself. Every time another part of the universe vanished, his talent reacted as though he were the one devouring it.

"Is that supposed to be Endless Extraction?"

He watched the last distant lights disappear and waited for the vision to break again. Instead a vast construct appeared where the stars had been.

Golden light moved through its turning parts and spread into the empty space. Wherever it passed, matter gathered and stars began burning once more.

Worlds formed around them as the light continued spreading. Within moments Caelus was staring at a universe again.

His mouth opened slightly as he looked between the construct and the darkness beyond it. What the hell did his talent have to do with any of this?

He had used Endless Extraction to take abilities from corpses and steal rewards he shouldn’t have been able to touch. Now he was watching something that could swallow everything around it.

And that construct could make everything again?

None of this made sense to him, but the power inside his body was already responding. His Ender of Origin powers surged the moment the construct began another turn.

The vision shook as a heavy pulse ran through his chest. Caelus suddenly felt his own body again and realized he had stopped paying attention to the transformation.

Golden light was spreading beneath his skin while darkness gathered around it. As the two moved through him, his fingers lost their solid shape and scattered into countless bright points.

He tried to close his hand and the points moved together. They still belonged to him even though he could no longer feel flesh around them.

That discovery would have been much easier to enjoy if the rest of his body hadn’t begun doing the same thing. Light spilled from his arms and spread through the cocoon holding him.

Caelus forced his attention away from the vision and followed the changes within himself. Whatever he was being shown could wait until he was sure he would survive seeing the rest.

He guided the power through his arms and felt it gather where his hands should have been. Gradually he could sense each finger again despite the light still shining through them.

The same change spread across his chest. He held his focus as his body broke into light and began taking shape within it.

Outside the cocoon, the surrounding chaos rolled toward him. Its surface swallowed the rushing power while Caelus continued transforming inside.

Far away beneath Earth, Sylvia found herself standing in a field of flowers. Warm golden light filled the sky and laughter reached her from the grass ahead.

Six children were playing together beneath that light. She watched one fall into the flowers while the others gathered around and laughed at something she couldn’t hear.

Sylvia knew this place from Caelus’s descriptions, but seeing it herself brought a strange ache to her chest. The grass beneath her feet felt familiar in a way his stories couldn’t explain.

Then the scene changed and she was running through it herself. Her hands were smaller as she reached toward another child and heard her own laughter among theirs.

The memory vanished as she touched the child’s sleeve. Immediately after that she found herself watching the field from above.

She tried to follow the children, but more memories passed through her without giving her time to hold on to one. A smiling face appeared close enough to touch and faded as golden light covered everything.

Sylvia felt the Supreme One’s power moving through her again. The remains had already entered her body and now each passing memory seemed to draw them deeper.

Her authority over Death rose to meet that power. She let them come together as the last glimpse of the paradise disappeared.

For a moment she could feel the vastness waiting beyond her body. Then something reached back from that endless distance and touched her.

Sylvia had no words for what she felt, but she knew it hadn’t rejected her. She continued merging with the remains as that distant presence grew clearer.

Beside Earth’s new core, the Hollow King noticed the change and took his hand away from the barrier around her. Something had passed through it without disturbing the power he had placed there.

He examined the golden light surrounding Sylvia and felt it again. This time there was no mistaking what was happening.

"She’s gaining its acknowledgment?"

He had spent so long unable to cross that final boundary that sensing it around someone else felt almost unreal. Yet the response continued growing as Sylvia drew more of the Supreme One’s power into herself.

He had brought her here hoping the remains would help them face the Heavenly Lord. Even a Half-Primordial would have changed their chances considerably.

However she was going beyond the very limit that had stopped him.

"This is already beyond anything I can guide you through."

The Hollow King strengthened the space around her and waited. There was nothing else he could do without risking the transformation.

Over the next few weeks the golden light slowly sank into Sylvia’s body. He watched her outline become clearer while the pressure coming from her grew harder to contain.

At first he only needed to widen the space around her. Then her white hair began floating beyond her feet and kept growing as her body rose within the light.

The Hollow King immediately opened a passage around them. If she continued expanding here, there would be no Earth left for him to protect.

[Mystic Code Activated: Space.]

The new core disappeared beneath them as he carried her through the passage and left the universe behind. Even while they were moving, her growing figure filled more of the space he had opened.

They emerged into the chaos beyond the universe just as the last golden light sank into her. The Hollow King moved away and saw stars shining beneath Sylvia’s skin.