World Keeper - Chapter 1253: Spur of the Moment
Once Ryone left the Master of Gem’s realm, leaving behind the two crystals that she had promised, the Master of Gems immediately began to search through the universes under her control. Doing so was usually a rather time-consuming process, but she had seen the planet that Ryone had shown her, and could faintly recognize it. Thus, it only took her half an hour to find the shattered remains of the planet drifting through space.
Without delay, she immediately began to get in touch with the other Masters, warning them all about the situation. She even told them how Ryone had personally visited her, and what the role of the Greater Pantheon was, before telling them the offer that was being made to them.
While they were reluctant to bend the knee to this new power, they also had bigger things to worry about. Many of the Masters likewise began to search through their own universes, finding newly spawned giant monsters floating through space. Some of them may have thought that this was a form of retribution from the new Administrator, but if that were the case, there would be no need for him to inform them about it before it became a critical issue.
“You sure that this is alright?” Keliope asked, crossing her arms as she stood next to me, watching the scene of the Master of Gems hunting down the Crystal Leviathan, as the system called the giant gem shark.
“It should be.” I nodded in confirmation. “Honestly, once I saw that the giant monsters had begun to appear in Sanction’s worlds too, I was pretty worried. Let’s say that we managed to fully take over Hal Tua and all of its associated universes. We’d then need to find some way to protect all of those new planets from the roaming monsters.”
“It’s not like I can just have you guys appear whenever a big bad space monster shows up. On average, the top twenty guilds each have about twenty universes, which is already over two hundred in total. However, there are also all of the lower ranked guilds to consider, with some extreme ones like the Thousand Eye guild having a hundred universes all on their own.”
“As we are now, we just don’t have the manpower to police that many universes, even with Thelsa’s combat unit. Although they have more Origins than we do, and by a significant margin, the territory that each Origin will have to protect is far greater than what we have to worry about. Even if you take all of their ‘Extreme Gods’ into account, they only barely break even with us in that regard.”
Keliope let out a soft grunt. “I still think it’d be better to just wipe the slate clean. They bared their fangs once for their own self-interest, so there’s no reason that they wouldn’t do so again. Especially during the next real invasion, now that they know it’s when you’re vulnerable.”
I gave a small nod of agreement. “I understand. That’s why we’re going to be working to get them firmly under control until then. Right now, our next invasion isn’t worth worrying about, because it’s not a hostile Keeper. We’ll still have two Standard Months after that passes before we even need to worry about anything else.”
“For now…” I closed my eyes, focusing. “Chelsea, how’s your research going?” I spoke aloud, sending the message mentally at the same time.
There was a small huff as the kitsune researcher walked into the room. “I’ve done my homework on their system. We had a head start thanks to the knowledge you got from the monarch, but we’re running into problems.”
“What problems?” I asked curiously, and Chelsea practically growled.
“They never properly optimized their world code like we did. Probably because Sanction never had a team like our ‘Greater Pantheon’, but most of his world code is still a jumbled mess. On the bright side, this jumbled mess is in the form of a secondary world core, so we can mess with it as we want with a new world.”
“However, before we are able to start sorting the systems out and optimizing the world merger like you wanted, we’ll basically need to rebuild his code from the ground up. Thankfully, we’ve got some practice with that at this point, and I’ve already roped Blank in to help us. It’ll take some time, but we’ll get it done.”
After saying that, Chelsea had a more thoughtful look on her face. “What interests me more is their method of ascending as an Origin. Unlike how we do things, they don’t customize their inner universe to meet the needs of their new Origins. Instead, they just create a random dungeon portal inside themselves. This dungeon only has a single universe, and the would-be Origin has to defeat the boss of that dungeon on their own. If they do, they ascend to a random Origin domain based on their existing domains and Saint Energies.”
“Generally speaking, this is an easier method to ascend than what we use, and it could even give them a larger starting universe. The largest inner universe of any Origin alive is the Origin of Creation, who has an inner universe comparable to Lorek in scale. Currently, he’s the top-ranked craftsman of Hal Tua, and leads the seventh-ranked guild, the Endless Forge.”
“Anyways, I think this method is worth exploring, since it would be more reliable for us. Especially when we’re handling people with multiple domains, because the process doesn’t change for them. As soon as you kill the dungeon boss, the entire process completes itself regardless of your domains, filling in everything that’s lacking.”
I paused when I heard that, looking over at Chelsea. “…Have you already told Tsubaki about this?” I asked, and Chelsea similarly paused.
“…She might have come to me a little bit ago to ask how they could produce so many Origins, despite not having a high-level research team like ours.” Chelsea admitted, and I let out a long sigh.
“She’s already doing it, isn’t she?” I muttered, focusing on changing the scene displayed on the screen to where Tsubaki was.
Sure enough, Tsubaki had made her way to Hal Tua, disguising herself by using the same techniques that they had recently used during their invasion. Currently, she took the form of a blonde human woman, standing in front of a swirling, blue portal. Her senses scanned the portal, analyzing it down to the smallest trace.
According to what I heard, I need to replicate the portal’s creation within myself. However, to do that, I need to witness the moment of a dungeon’s birth. She thought, crossing her arms in frustration. Even most of the Hal Tua natives couldn’t predict when and where a dungeon could open. Only an advanced God of Dungeons could choose to create one at will-
Tsubaki’s eyes lit up, slowly looking towards the sky. Lady Aurivy, may I ask a favor of you?
How many times have I told you to drop the formalities, Tsubaki? Aurivy scolded, before asking curiously. What’s up?
My apologies, Aurivy. Tsubaki said, her tone unusually endearing.
…Okay, that was way too easy. You want something big. Wait, I see where you are… you aren’t wanting me to send you into the dungeon, that would be too easy.
Rather than letting Aurivy try to figure it out on her own, Tsubaki cleared her throat. Can you please create a new dungeon for me? I wish to examine the process of a dungeon’s birth within Hal Tua’s system.
It took a moment for Aurivy to respond, seeming to realize what Tsubaki was really after. Are you sure that you want to do this? Chelsea said that domains are randomly picked based on what you already have. You might end up getting a domain that’s already taken, and be annihilated on the spot.
Tsubaki simply nodded her head. The biggest risk is if I received the Light domain, as that one has the highest compatibility with me. However, I have already killed the Origin of Light, so there is nothing to worry about there.
Tsubaki was entirely confident in her ability to ascend as an Origin through Hal Tua’s system. With her innate mastery of energy, she could easily replicate the dungeon gate after seeing it. And with her combat power, killing the dungeon boss should pose no problems for her. The only possible risk would be if she obtained a domain that was already claimed by an older Origin, but this was a gamble that she was willing to make, as the odds were incredibly low.
Alright, then. Here goes nothing. Aurivy said, focusing. A few moments later, Tsubaki sensed a disturbance in the energy behind her. Another dungeon gate was starting to appear, energy swirling around a central core. She deployed her World Sight immediately, memorizing every step of the gate’s creation process from start to finish. You had better survive this, Tsubaki. You know fully well that Dale would be pissed if you got yourself killed like this.
A small smile appeared on Tsubaki’s lips, and she nodded her head. I will, Aurivy. She promised, continuing to watch the creation of the dungeon gate. Only once it had fully stabilized did Tsubaki turn to walk away, as if no longer interested in the two dungeons around her. She kept replaying the scene in her mind, simulating every speck of energy that she had sensed.
With a small flash of light, she disappeared, soon emerging atop a tall building several dozen blocks away. Without hesitation, she sat down and crossed her legs, dropping her disguise. Her ears and tail emerged as energy began to gather within her body.
Hal Tua did not possess the educational streams yet, nor was Tsubaki qualified to teach in Hal Tua. Thus, there was no way for her to properly practice. The best that she could do was dive right in while the process was still fresh in her mind.
Tsubaki was already as prepared as she could be. Because the Keeper had previously removed the karma system, she had discarded her One Light energy. Instead, she adopted a new energy, the Ki of Beginning, and earned herself the class Saint of Five Lights.
Tsubaki gathered the energy within her core, warping it in the same patterns as the dungeon gate. Soon, she sensed a swirling, blue gate within herself, and smiled knowingly. The dungeon had been successfully created. From this moment on, there was no going back.
Of course, Tsubaki had no intention of retreat to begin with. With a thought, she disappeared in a flash of blue light, appearing in an unfamiliar world. This planet seemed to have highly advanced technology, and Tsubaki could sense a great number of gods flying about. In fact, she sensed a significant degree of divinity from every living thing, as if she were back on the thirty-ninth floor of Fyor.
Tsubaki had a calm smile on her face, activating the Great One’s Map. This was a device that Hal Tua did not have access to, given their Keeper’s hands-off policy. However, it was perfect for her needs, as it would allow her to instantly locate the dungeon’s boss, which replicated the effects of a Keeper.
Once Tsubaki’s map had locked onto the boss of the dungeon, she opened a portal, taking her to the planet that the map had guided her to. I should finish this before anyone gets worried. She thought, so she didn’t bother with a slow investigation, or infiltrating the dungeon’s civilization. Instead, she created a dark blade of energy, crackling with fierce power, and slashed it towards the planet.
In an instant, the space before her seemed to tear apart, swallowed by the void. Under normal circumstances, Tsubaki may have hesitated, unwilling to kill an entire planet full of innocent bystanders. However, this was no normal world. This was a dungeon that was only just created, and only existed for her ascension process. Destroying the planet and everything on it wouldn’t hinder her in the slightest, and would instead be the fastest method to complete her ascension.
Sure enough, Tsubaki felt something snap the moment the planet was swallowed by the destructive slash, and power began to pour towards her. With a smile, Tsubaki closed her eyes, ready to accept this power as it came.
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