Chapter 1667: Retrieving The Fragments As the teams prepared to depart, E.E approached Angy with a soft expression. "You sure you’re alright? You look... thinner. And tired." Angy forced a small smile. "I’m fine. Really." Elevora approached too, gently touching Angy’s arm. "If the visions get worse, tell us. This bloodline of yours—it’s new territory." Angy nodded. "I will." She wouldn’t. Falco stood nearby, leaning against the wall while Aildris strapped multidimensional bands around his wrists and offered Angy a reassuring grin. "We’ll bring him back. One way or another." Angy’s eyes glassed over slightly. "I know." It wasn’t just a hope. It was a promise she felt deep in her bones. Xanatus activated the dimensional gates one by one. They rotated like concentric wheels of light, shimmering with runes crafted by both alien hands and Gustav’s own knowledge from before his death. As each team stepped toward their gate, Endric paused and looked back at Angy. "Hold the line for us." "I will," she whispered. The gates stretched open, becoming windows into distant corners of the universe, unstable and flickering from the chaotic divine storms raging outside. One by one, they stepped through. Aildris and Ria vanished through a gate that led to a shattered nebula where one fragment drifted freely. E.E and Elevora entered a gate leading toward the broken remains of the Universal Alliance headquarters. Falco and Xanatus stepped through a corridor opening into a dark rift where time itself bent unnaturally. Endric was the last to go, carrying the bottle. "Angy... don’t let anything interfere with the ritual site." "I won’t." Then he stepped through the final gate, disappearing into reality’s violent storm. The gates closed, leaving Angy alone in the vast chamber with other refugees. The moment the room dimmed and silence settled, Angy pressed a hand tightly against her abdomen and inhaled sharply. The child throbbed with warmth inside her. The visions growing inside her mind had shown her glimpses—shards of a cosmic truth: The Outworldly cannot simply return. He must be called. Guided. Anchored. And that anchor was not merely her bloodline. It was also the life she carried. But she would never say that aloud. If they knew... They might try to protect her. Shelter her. Keep her from danger. They needed her to lead the ritual. The universe needed her unborn child. But she would bear that burden alone. She wiped her eyes, steeling herself. "There isn’t much time," she whispered to her belly. "But your father is coming home. I’ll make sure of it." Her bloodline flickered across her skin in faint golden patterns—like constellations forming and dissolving. ... ... Far away from the safety of the hidden star, the teams were already knee-deep in danger. Every realm they entered was scarred by divine destruction. Cities dissolved into cosmic dust. Planets hung cracked and hollow. Space rifts bled energy. Mortals drifted in broken fleets, praying to gods who only laughed. And always, a deity’s shadow lingered somewhere behind the veil. At any moment, detection meant death. But they pressed forward, knowing every second mattered. Aildris and Ria were the first to locate theirs. A glowing strand of Gustav’s essence drifted inside the remnants of a crushed moon with its light flickering like a lost soul crying out. Ria reached for it, hesitating. "It feels... like him." Aildris gritted his teeth. "Don’t get sentimental. Angy needs it. Grab it." He nodded and swept his hands through the luminescent strand, guiding it into the sub-container they carried. The essence reacted instantly, pulsing in recognition. The 72-hour timer began. There was no going back now. As the others fought, hid, and scrambled across multiple star systems, Angy prepared to head to the ritual site where Gustav’s final ritual had been interrupted months ago. However, she still had to wait... nothing could truly begin without the essences. The pocket-dimensional star was silent at the moment... too silent. A place torn out of normal space-time, hidden behind a shell of cosmic distortion, layered with Gustav’s signature reality-bending essence... yet even here, dread lived with them like a stubborn phantom. Days in this refuge felt like the eye of a storm... calm, but only because destruction screamed just outside its walls. Fortunately, after the first thirty- six hours of the mission, the teams began to return one after the other. And although, they had been mostly successful... the work wasn’t done yet. Angy sat in the corner of the planning chamber, back pressed against the cool crystalline surface that made up the interior of the hidden star. Her breaths were shallow, her palms clammy. A wave of nausea surged again, tightening her gut. Not now... not here... She inhaled slowly and held her stomach beneath the table. The faintest swell pressed against her palm. She swallowed the panic forming at the back of her throat. It’s getting worse... faster than I expected. She forced her breathing to even out. She could not draw attention... none of them could know. Not yet. Her gaze drifted back to the holographic map projected at the center of the chamber. E.E., Aildris, Endric, Ria, Sersi and Xanatus stood around it with their voices rising and falling as they debated routes, strategies, and timelines. They had already recovered six essence fragments. Four more remained. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞 These fragments which were glimmers of the Outworldly that lingered across space, were difficult to sense, and even more difficult to retrieve. Angy was the one responsible for pointing them out. Although, there were a lot more than ten essence fragments scattered around the universe, ten was the number needed for the ritual according to Angy. However, every retrieval mission risked exposure to deities. And that risk was growing larger with every passing day. "So the final four essences we need are all in deity-controlled quadrants," Xanatus voiced grimly. "One near the Ruptured Nebula, one at the edge of the Void Axis, and one..." he sighed, "...one at the remains of Earth." Silence followed.... Earth... The world that no longer existed in a single piece. The birthplace of almost every person standing here. The place Gustav once swore to protect. Nostalgia mingled bitterly with grief. Aildris clenched his fists. "We’ll split into two battle-capable teams. Falco will lead one. Endric leads the other."