Author's Note: Unedited Chapter ---------------------- "You'll have to stop when we reach the region after the dead man zone. I want to try something," Endric stated. Gustav nodded while steering forward undaunted. They needed to escape the clutches of the faceless one so Gustav was open to any option. 'Maybe I should try triggering that right now...' Gustav set the course for the spacecraft to head to the desired location and after seeing the number of hours it would take for them to get there, he got off his seat. "Where are you going?" Ria questioned. "To try contacting the other faceless one... I'll be back," Gustav responded while walking off. Soon he arrived in one of the rooms within the aircraft and took a seat at the center. ("You sure are confident about this,") The system voiced. 'If you're not going to give moral support, you might as well shut it,' Gustav responded internally sounding displeased. ("Oouu... my bad, captain Ameri...") 'Shush let me concentrate.' ("It would be a lot faster if you tapped into your Cosmic Superiority.") 'That would just help the MBO pinpoint my location. Unlike how I only used specks of it to deal with that general, I'd probably have to activate it in full strength which is not an option.' ("You seem to be forgetting one crucial detail,") Immediately after the system spoke, Gustav opened his eyes. 'I didn't forget... it's just unreliable,' He responded. ("Why so?") "Sure/we're in a loop which means everything I do now will be reversed to a time where it never happened. But, what if we get rid of the loop and instead of starting from the beginning of the five-day checkpoint, we resume time at a different point... For instance, the exact point when we got rid of the loop," Gustav voiced with a troubled tone. If he activated Cosmic Superiority in full power and his worries came to pass, it would mean that he had given off his location, which would attract the alliance. On the other hand, if they got out of the loop and resumed time at the start of the region after the dead man zone then his actions would also never have happened and he would be in the clear. No one knew what the outcome would be so Gustav never bothered to consider the option. ("I'd say do it and worry about your troubles later.") "Are you assuring me that..." ("No I am not.") "Then shut up." Silence. Gustav shut his eyes once more and tried to focus. The last time he managed to trigger a meeting with other Cosmic Superior beings, it happened like a dream. Recalling that he fell asleep, Gustav calmed himself to reenact the same scenario. Seconds turned into minutes and minutes into hours. The spacecraft was set to arrive at the region after the dead man zone in five hours and before Gustav knew it, four hours had gone by. "This isn't working..." He slowly opened his eyes with a look of defeat. ("You think?") The system chimed in his head. "I'll just use Cosmic Superiority..." Gustav decided. ("I thought you said it wasn't feasible.") "Well, it doesn't seem like I have much of a choice. Since this gives me the chance to ask the most powerful faceless one for help, I'll take it," Gustav reached into the depths of his being after making his decision. A golden, cross-shaped glow suddenly appeared in the middle of his pupils as his entire eyes burst forth with a mixture of pinkish-red light. An incomprehensible presence of divinity captured the entire spacecraft and spread hundreds of miles across space. Endric, Aildris and Ria all felt a sense of reverence overcome them as the aura spread. Gustav was of course responsible for the change in the surroundings, due to activating Cosmic Superiority. His Cosmic Energy had grown so powerful that it could be felt from a very far distance. No matter how strong a being was, Gustav's Cosmic Superiority would have had some sort of effect on them if they happened to stand before him. However, he seemed to have other plans in mind for activating it that day. Gustav's mind bridged on what happened the other day when he fell asleep; how he met with the other Cosmic Superior beings in some sort of space that didn't exist in the normal world. His cosmic Superiority turned into a kind of signal at that point, spreading to the far reaches of galaxies and drawing the attention of specific beings. Gustav's eyes remained closed as he focused on his objective. It didn't take long before he found himself in the same space as before. A space void of matter and time where unknown beings suddenly began to appear one after the other. "The earthling has summoned us again?" "What do you think you are doing, child?" "We understand you performed the act unknowingly the last time but what is your excuse now?" "Speak!" Their voices oozed with authority as they spoke in annoyance. They were around seven in number, depicting the number of cosmic superior beings that existed in the entire universe except Gustav. 'Oh, so that is what happened before... I summoned them. I still can't remember all of what happened...' "I apologise but it was a necessary action..." Gustav turned to stare at his target. "Faceless one... your second is on the hunt for me," Gustav said to the one standing at the edge of the space. Just like the faceless one chasing them, it also lacked the properties of a face. Eyes, mouth, nose, ears, all missing. However, its branch-like Crimson hair seemed to be longer than the other. "What is it you expect me to do about that?" The faceless one spoke in a different tongue but Gustav fully understood. "He puts my little brother and friends at risk with such. I do not understand how he keeps finding me but you need to tell him to back down," Gustav voiced with a threatening tone, causing all other Cosmic Superior beings to stare at the faceless one. "This has nothing to do with us," "There will be consequences next time Gustav Crimson summons us for personal reasons." "I'm off as well." The Cosmic Superior beings began to vanish from space one after the other. The faceless one raised one of his hands to pat his head and grunted in annoyance. "Ifeiev took from my hair," He voiced. 'So that's its name... Ifeiev,' Gustav took note. "Okay? So what does that have to do with this?" Gustav inquired. "That is why he can find you. Cosmic Superior beings are linked. Ifeiev is using my hair to make a connection to you... you will never be able to escape," The faceless one explained. "So I'm in danger because you couldn't stop someone from snatching a piece of your hair? That is rather lousy," Gustav pointed out. "Do not insult me, Gustav Crimson," The faceless one stated with an infuriated look. "Then do the right thing and get him away from us. I am tired of this ceaseless pursuit," Gustav responded while drawing closer. "I cannot help you. Ifeiev must be doing this to get information on how we can create offspring. He will not stop until he does what is needed to be done," The faceless one shook his head. "Then stop him," Gustav demanded. "We the faceless don't do things that way, child," The faceless one vanished after responding. Gustav was left in space alone, "If I end him, I'd better not see your sorry ass coming for revenge." He decided to leave the space as well, causing his consciousness to return to his body. "That was a waste," He voiced while getting to his feet. ("Look on the bright side... At least you managed to piss off a room full of the most powerful beings in the universe.") "Fuck you." "Gus! We're here," Aildris's voice called out from outside the room. 'I only spent a few minutes in there and an hour already went by?' Gustav still felt there was a lot he didn't understand but decided to step out of the room. The spacecraft was starting to slow down and he could feel it. Arriving back in the control room, Gustav could see that they had truly arrived at their destination. "I'm heading out," Endric said while patting Gustav's shoulder and moving towards the exit. "Be careful... let us know if you notice anything," Gustav voiced in concern. Endric nodded before snapping his finger. A telekinetic space with oxygen surrounded him as he stepped out of the spacecraft and flew to its top. His forehead which was emitting a green light, intensified in glow as an unfathomable power spread across that part of outer space. "Can you find it, Husarius?" Endric inquired. "There is no conventional method but if it is around here... I should be able to sense it," Husarius's voice beamed. Within the spacecraft, Ria questioned Gustav about what he had spent the last five hours doing. "I was trying to get Ifeiev off our back... that's the name of the faceless one after us or specifically... after me," Gustav clarified. "Any luck with that?"