Chapter 328: Beyond The Golden Gate "The first thing he does... is destroy an entire faction?" Aeloris asked, mildly shocked. "You should be glad he didn’t wipe out the entire realm," Sylvie remarked, standing among the wives—aside from Katherine, she had probably seen Ash in action the most. Ash chuckled at her words. "Nah, there wouldn’t be much fun in that," he said. "Besides, this was just to help Diana, Lithia, and Mira get settled... as our journey begins up there." He gestured toward the Golden Gate, hidden behind the clouds. "The... high realm?" Isa finally managed to ask. Ash glanced back at Isa and the other survivors, ignoring those suspended in the air—he could tell from their life auras they might vanish with nothing more than a sneeze. "Of course. Isn’t the dear weaver hiding up there?" At those words, the Infinite Weavers shuddered. As mentioned before, few knew of his true existence, as speaking to him was nearly impossible. At least for those in the Lower Realm. But the way Ash spoke, combined with his earlier actions, radiated an air of absolute confidence. "You..." The man with silver eyes began to laugh despite his fear. "Haha, you’d be walking straight to your death!" Ash smirked at the words. Normally, he would prove them wrong and make him watch the downfall of their clan. ’Too bad I’ve got other things to deal with,’ he thought, simply pointing a finger at the man. FWOOSH! A white flame, no larger than a fingernail, shot through the man’s head... and in the next moment he burned to nothingness. Without even paying him any mind, Ash then turned to Isa... and this woman no longer had any purpose. Well, aside from one. She was a pawn for the Infinite Weaver, the sole link to the Higher Realm. Yet Ash only needed her to stop the plans between the Weavers and the Sins. Still, he felt something was missing. As he sifted through her memories, there were blank spots—strange gaps that made it clear someone had been erasing parts of her mind to keep certain things hidden. "Isa... would you mind telling me," He said with a smile, "why you’d need the Eternal Sins of the Lower Realm if they already have a faction in the Higher Realm?" He knew both factions were tied to the Higher Realm. So why would they need her to negotiate with the weaker Sins? Isa opened her mouth to speak— "Be— BOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!! She burst into a mist of blood, and Ash stared, appalled. "Well, damn, I should’ve scanned her more thoroughly," he muttered, scratching the back of his head. Then, glancing at Seraphiel... "Uh, my lovely wife... can you revive her?" He could’ve done it himself, but why not let his wife take the spotlight? She smiled softly and gave a simple wave of her hand. In an instant, every droplet of blood froze midair. FWOOOOM!!!!! A golden-white flame erupted, bathing everything, and in the blink of an eye, Isa stood before them once again in all her glory—though she looked utterly terrified. |Apex Genesis| He simply activated a talent that came along with the Verdict of the Unwritten. Something that essentially allowed him to create his own truths within his mana sense. "The brand restricting, Isa, won’t function around me. And the caster won’t receive any alert." As he spoke, he nodded to Isa. "Alright... you were saying?" Isa blinked, feeling the terror around her existence suddenly vanish. Seeing him waiting for her to speak, she exhaled and tried again. "Because..." She paused, testing if anything would happen. "Oh, just spill it already," Madison said, growing impatient. "Because the situation in the Higher Realm isn’t as structured. Here, there are countless ways to grow stronger. But in the Higher Realm, every being is already serving a purpose... for the Infinite Weaver." She took another deep breath. "For some reason, the Infinite Weaver is using every being in the Higher Realm as cultivation furnaces." Ash raised a brow. "Hmm, that’s still pretty idiotic..." He shook his head, losing interest. "Alright... I won’t kill you, so, um, goodbye?" Without giving her another chance to speak, they simply vanished. To him, the Lower Realm held no appeal, and if it weren’t for helping his women find proper starting points, he would have gone straight to the Higher Realm from the start. Though it held was supposed to hold ranks up to the Hyperversal Weaver... from his scans, Ash couldn’t see many beings even at the Infinite Weaver Rank. And.... as for whatever was happening in the Higher Realm—well, it would be turned upside down the moment he set foot on its soil. ----- The Higher Realm it was much like the Lower Realm... instead it felt countless times more ancient and powerful. And despite how beautiful it looked... this was not the time for sightseeing. No, Ash and his wives appeared in the skies as he simply teleported them to the other side of the golden gate. Normally, one would need far greater strength to step into this realm. "Ah, there they are," Ash said, spreading his Mana Sense across the High Realm, even drawing the attention of a few beings who raised their brows. Though none could trace it back to him, not that it mattered anyways. "What exactly?" Rune asked as she, like the others, extended her own Mana Sense outward. "Infinite Weavers... and cultivators beyond that," he explained. "For some reason, the Lower Realm no longer matches what Vane told us. It should have cultivators up to the Hyperversal Rank, but I only saw a few Infinite Weavers." It was clear such beings might not be in the Land of Weaving, which wasn’t too surprising. Besides, Ash never intended to stay there long. The other Organisms were far more important to him, though he wouldn’t mind taking a few things along the way—especially if he could help his wives in the process. After speaking, he turned to Sylvie. The first Valkyrie... she was special for many reasons. When he found her, she was just a Succubus on the verge of death at the hands of her sister and her boyfriend. At the time, she carried an aura Ash and Elysia thought came from the Records—but it wasn’t. As her sister had suspected, it was an Aura of Luck, and an immense one at that. When he learned of this, Ash couldn’t understand how such a thing was possible. ’Everyone always seems to have ties to something far greater than they realize,’ he thought. If he was right, Sylvie and her sister were not truly from the Ninth Organism. There was no concept or Transconcept of Luck within the Ninth, leaving only one other possibility. One that would be revealed in due time. "Aren’t you curious why you became the Constellation of Luck?" he asked, making her tilt her head. "Not really... I just assumed it was one of your many absurd antics," she replied with a shrug. Ash laughed. "Did you forget about your sister... and that wimp of a boyfriend she’s with?" At his words, Sylvie frowned. It wasn’t that she had forgotten them, but ever since Ash had taken her under his wing, she’d been immersed in an entirely different world. It had become easy not to think about those she considered beneath her. "Ah, actually, don’t dwell on it. Let’s go find out for ourselves." With that, they suddenly appeared on the sidewalks of a town. Though, calling it a town was a serious understatement.