Chapter 2061: As Many As It Takes The declaration of resistance was fine, but at the end of all things, even the concept of hope was dead and most likely had been eaten by these creatures. Victorious Genesis glanced at his companion, an invisible message passing between them. With a roar, he rose up into the air, dragging all the descending insects with him and leaving his companion a breathing space. "Genesis Nova!" he roared as he sacrificed himself again and detonated his core, pouring everything into a technique that defined the concept of who he was. His body unraveled to its foundation as profound agony ripped through him as if he were a mortal thrown into a cosmic storm. In the midst of his death was laughter as Genesis Nova bloomed, a cataclysm of unbirth that erased countless trillion horrors, pushing the tide back just far enough to give the Primordials below a chance to catch their breath. Victorious Genesis had laughed because he knew using Genesis Nova was supposed to be a privilege he could only employ once at the moment of his death, but the unique situation in this place had changed the entire ball game, and his death was something that he had to experience over and over again. The time that Victorious Genesis had given to them was precious, and Circe poured her kindling flames into the mist that remained alongside the power of resurrection from Fury. Victorious Genesis rose again, but his light was dimmer, and there was a note of frailty surrounding him that had no place being around a Primordial. However, his core concept as Genesis took over, and power began to bloom inside him, as well as inside Fury and Circe. Fury glanced at Circe, and they understood what was happening. There were signs at the first resurrection that Victorious Genesis did not come out unscathed, but he had not said anything, but with the second resurrection, they were able to see the touch of death in his core before his growing power covered it up. Fury spoke softly, "Are you okay, Victorious?" "Peachy..." he replied, "I can do this all day." Throwing looks of worry at each other, but knowing they could do nothing to help, Fury and Circe prepared for the descent of the beasts while waiting for the cord that had sent them to the future to begin pulling them back. Circe had begun to feel a tension surrounding their essence, and she knew it meant they would soon be dragged back in time, but she hoped it was not too late, and Victorious Genesis would be able to hold on for long enough. The technique that Victorious Genesis was using was a double-edged sword. It seemed to be the only thing that could kill these insects, but it also meant that the next rounds of insects that were arriving were bigger, fiercer, and had thicker shells. Even fighting back was becoming harder due to how strong these monsters were becoming, and Circe and Fury were beginning to suffer grievous injuries as the battle continued. Fury was nearly torn apart before Victorious Genesis rose into the air and dragged all the swarm with him in a web of light, and then another Genesis Nova erupted, wiping out all the resistance. Genesis Nova was a power that could not be defended against; it could only be resisted, but due to the enormous power that arose from Victorious Genesis sacrifice, not even these new and more powerful insects could resist it. Victorious Genesis was resurrected again, and he bore his pain and arose to his feet, but something seemed to have changed as the insects no longer swarmed and attacked, instead they did something more terrifying... they began eating what was left of Existence. This expedition arrived at the best time to witness the end of all things, because if they had been, say, a few months late, there would have been nothing left behind. Perhaps these creatures may not be alive in the conventional sense, but they had intelligence, even if the Primordials did not fully recognize the form that this intelligence took. These creatures must have recognized that the greatest defenses of the Primordials were not Victorious Genesis, but the intervening space in between them that gave the Primordials the chance to unleash their powers and cut down most of them before they could reach their targets. The Primordials would not be able to survive in the nothingness that was the home of these creatures, and with no space for them to retaliate against their infinite number, they would be consumed. This realization passed through the eyes of the Primordials, and a weird shift occurred where it was the Primordials who began to attack the insects as they were now feeding on Existence and not attacking the Primordials. The Primordials noticed that these creatures ate existence, and from behind their bodies, they excreted pure nothingness. It was as if they consumed everything that made Existence what it was, and then after they digested all of it, they gave out nothing. This must be the same thing that happened from the ninth dimension down to the third and final dimension of space. There were lower dimensions, but that would not matter to the Primordials because they could not exist in a Lowe dimension; the third dimension could barely hold the weight of their Origin. Anything lower was impossible. The sanctuary of space began to shrink, and it did not matter how much the Primoridials fought to stall this disaster. Victorious Genesis even unleashed Genesis Nova three more times, but it was all futile. From the size of a galaxy, Existence was reduced to a star system, then to a single world, then to a fragile piece of land not greater than a thousand miles. The head of the Archai was strangely not eaten but integrated into the nothingness, and its fate could not be determined. And so, with the space now shrunken to nothing, the battle became a thing of horror, because Victorious Genesis was not dying every few minutes, but every second! His screams grew more haunting with each sacrifice. The pain compounded; echoes of previous unmakings lingered in his reformed flesh, like phantom limbs that burned eternally. "How many more?" he whispered once, between resurrections, his voice a broken echo. He wanted to die, he wanted the pain to stop, but in his heart, he could hear the voice of his father "As many as it takes, you must fight to come home." Fury and Circe poured more of themselves into Victorious Genesis as their bodies began to fade. The end of all things pressed downwards; the insects were their avatars. The Swarm’s clicks grew louder, sounding like a dirge for existence’s final gasp, as the faceted eyes of the insects reflected the Primordials’ fading light like mocking mirrors.