Chapter 779 - Safe Within

Chapter 779: Chapter 779 - Safe Within

Before Lucien rested, he checked the Black Mass again.

The barrier had withdrawn farther.

The exposed portion of the supercontinent looked larger than it had that afternoon.

Several Monster Emperor signatures had shifted toward the edges.

Others remained deeper inside.

No Primordial Incarnation had appeared.

That absence bothered Lucien.

The restraint bothered him even more.

If the corrupted monsters were desperate to escape, they should have already rushed outward.

But they had not.

If they were confused by the retreating barrier, some disorder should have been visible.

But there was none.

They were waiting for something.

Perhaps the transformation had not finished.

Perhaps the Black Mass itself had not completed whatever change Aurelia had foreseen.

Perhaps the Primordial Incarnations were waiting deeper inside.

Lucien refused to choose one explanation simply because he disliked uncertainty.

For years, the Thousand Races had prepared for a calamity they could not completely define.

Now the first unmistakable sign had appeared.

Nothing had invaded yet.

No Primordial Incarnation had crossed the exposed lands.

The five continents were still intact.

Yet the world had already changed.

For the first time in years, the corrupted monsters were no longer separated from everyone else by an absolute boundary.

Only distance remained.

And choice.

Lucien looked toward the darkness one last time.

The door had begun opening.

What frightened him was not that something might come through.

It was that everything on the other side seemed perfectly willing to wait until the door was open all the way.

•••

Several more hours passed.

The Black Mass continued receding at the same measured pace, but nothing crossed the exposed territory.

Eventually, Lucien stopped staring at the projection.

Watching the same darkness move another few kilometers would not make the answer come any faster.

Instead, he turned toward Vorren.

"Come with me."

Vorren looked suspicious immediately.

That reaction alone almost made Lucien feel better.

A moment later, both of them disappeared.

•••

Vorren froze when the inner universe opened around him.

Lucien had brought him into one of the quieter regions, far from the accelerated training grounds and inhabited worlds. Above them stretched a clear sky, while distant mountains rested beneath layers of cloud. The air was calm enough that even the leaves barely moved.

Vorren stood there for several seconds without speaking.

Then his shoulders slowly relaxed.

Lucien noticed.

He noticed even more when Vorren’s expression changed.

The pale tension that had remained on his face since the Black Mass began receding gradually disappeared.

Vorren turned once, then again, as though expecting his instincts to object.

They did not.

His eyes widened.

"There is nothing."

Lucien raised an eyebrow.

Vorren took several steps forward.

"No danger."

The words came out with the quiet awe of someone who had spent his entire life sleeping beside an open trapdoor and had suddenly discovered a room without one.

Lucien immediately regretted bringing him inside.

Vorren continued looking around.

His expression became increasingly peaceful.

That worried Lucien.

"I could live here."

Lucien’s eyes narrowed.

Vorren looked toward him.

"For a very long time."

Lucien sighed.

This was exactly the problem.

If Vorren discovered that Lucien possessed an entire universe where his instincts finally stopped bothering him, there was a genuine possibility that the man would refuse to leave.

Lucien had spent months encouraging him to become slightly less cowardly.

He had no intention of destroying all that progress by accidentally giving him the perfect hiding place.

"You are not moving in."

Vorren looked offended.

Lucien ignored him.

Still, beneath the mild irritation, something important had just been confirmed.

Vorren’s instincts were quiet here.

Completely quiet.

That meant Lucien’s inner universe remained isolated from whatever danger was beginning to gather outside.

Lucien looked toward the distant horizon.

He had always known the Divine Energy Core could shelter people.

But knowing that and having Vorren’s instincts confirm it were different things.

If everything outside truly collapsed one day, this place could still become a refuge.

The people closest to him. Lootwell’s core members. And if he had enough time, far more than that.

Lucien had never intended to solve the coming calamity by running away.

That had not changed.

He would fight first.

He would use everything he had built.

He would drag the Thousand Races through the disaster if there was any path that allowed it.

But if the day came when fighting no longer meant courage and only meant wasting lives, Lucien knew where his priorities would be.

He would save the people he loved.

After that, he would save everyone else he could reach.

There was no shame in preparing for the possibility that victory might not look the way he wanted.

Lucien glanced back at Vorren.

The man was still admiring the scenery.

Perhaps he admired it a little too much.

He let Vorren enjoy the silence for a little longer before finally remembering why he had brought him here in the first place.

A Fruit of Creation appeared in his hand.

Vorren noticed it immediately.

His attention shifted from the peaceful landscape to the Fruit, then to Lucien, and the suspicion returning to his face was almost enough to make Lucien laugh.

"Eat it."

Vorren did not reach for it right away.

"What is it going to do?"

Lucien glanced at the Fruit.

"If I knew exactly, I wouldn’t need you to eat it."

Vorren stared at him.

That answer clearly did nothing to reassure him.

Lucien held the Fruit out anyway.

He had been thinking about this for some time.

Vorren’s ability had become too valuable to leave untouched if there was even a chance it could be improved.

The ability did not hand Vorren answers, but it warned him that something was wrong before that problem had the chance to become a disaster.

That alone made it worth investing in.

Vorren finally accepted the Fruit.

He examined it once more, as though hoping his instincts would suddenly object and give him a convenient reason not to continue.

They remained completely silent.

Vorren looked almost betrayed by that.

Lucien smiled.

With visible reluctance, Vorren bit into the Fruit.

The effect was immediate.

A strange warmth spread through his body before he had even finished eating. By the time the last of the Fruit was gone, the energy inside it had already begun sinking deeper into him.

Vorren’s expression changed.

His suspicion faded first, replaced by concentration.

Then he closed his eyes.

Lucien stopped joking.

The Fruit of Creation did not simply pour strength into whoever consumed it. It adapted to the person, strengthening what was already there and loosening limitations that had become part of them over time.

That was exactly why Lucien had chosen Vorren.

He did not care whether the Fruit made him physically stronger than before.

What interested him was the ability.

If it could become clearer, broader, or more precise, even slightly, then the Fruit would have been worth far more than its cost.

Lucien watched as the energy moved through Vorren’s body.

His foundation responded first.

The changes were subtle, but steady. Old weaknesses began smoothing themselves out while his body adjusted around the energy instead of resisting it.

Then something deeper stirred.

Lucien’s attention sharpened immediately.

It was faint, almost too faint to notice at first, but Vorren’s ability had reacted.

It responded to the Fruit as though something buried within it had finally been touched.

Lucien narrowed his eyes.

That was what he had been hoping for.

Vorren remained seated with his eyes closed while the Fruit continued working through him. The fluctuation around his body gradually steadied, but the process was clearly nowhere near finished.

Lucien did not disturb him.

There was no reason to rush.

If the Fruit could change something as unusual as Vorren’s sense of danger, then Lucien would rather let the transformation complete naturally than interfere simply because he was curious.

He looked at Vorren one last time before turning away.

For now, the reaction itself was enough.

The real answer would come after the Fruit had fully settled.

Lucien moved him to one of the safer temporal zones, where the Fruit could finish its work without interruption and far less time would pass outside.