Chapter 2236: Unchallenged
El'Rion looked up, his expression solemn, a touch of sadness and forlornness on his expression. It wasn't the kind of face that a child should make, but Leonel felt a hint of subtlety within it, the kind that told him that this expression wasn't perfectly his, but rather one that had been passed down.
It was an interesting feeling. But he felt that if the future could impact the past, then it wasn't too unacceptable. That said, he felt it was more complicated than that.
A race like the Pluto had abilities he couldn't fathom. Even turning back time across Existence wasn't outside their purview. Maybe they had a method of passing down important thoughts and feelings to their highest priority descendants...
"... The Northern Star is quite beautiful, isn't it?" El'Rion suddenly said.
Leonel's heart skipped a beat. Why did he suddenly feel that the Northern Star El'Rion was mentioning was the very same Northern Star he was so familiar with?
The Northern Star was the hope of sailors and adventurers of Earth, no matter how lost you were, so long as you pinpointed that Star in the skies, you could find your way home. It was the single constant even when death had you by the ankles.
However, these were mostly just folktales. The Northern Star couldn't even be seen on half of Earth, so most of the fanciful tales around it were just overblown and exaggerated. But... that didn't change the fact that even the smallest child of Earth knew of the Northern Star and the kind of hope it represented.
El'Rion couldn't be talking about the same star... right?
He was.
"It can be seen from everywhere, it's the constant in all of our lives, no matter where you are, it can orient your direction. But what most people probably aren't aware of is the fact that the meaning of the Northern Star is far more real and simultaneously philosophical than just that alone.
"The Northern Star is the central point of all of Existence, but it isn't at the center of all things, it's rather at the end of all things. It's the point that we all go toward, it's the final flash of light, the penultimate representation of life before only death is left.
"In the past, it didn't have a prominent name because it was too far away. But the closer we get to the death of Existence, the more prominent it is in the skies, the brighter it becomes, the more... hope it seems to spread..."
El'Rion fell into silence once again, trying to gather himself. His solemnness retreated and his deadpan expression took hold as he looked forward. The calmness he feigned only seemed to make the previous agitation all the worse in comparison.
"The source of all Star Force comes from the Northern Stars, and it's also the greatest center of death. Not many understand what Star Force is or what it represents, but I can tell you there is really no point in trying to in the first place. Just think of it as the fabric of reality, it's what gives Existence substance, but more importantly than that... it brings balance, or rather, a relative balance
"The more success the God Beasts of Creation had, the closer the Star became, the stronger by comparison the God Beasts of Destruction became. Star Force fueled them and they began to make a comeback, fiercer and stronger than before.
"This time, the God Beasts of Destruction succeeded. They passed down their bloodlines to the human race and suddenly one of the weakest races of Existence became the center of a blood war that ravaged reality.
"The details of this war are murky, but ultimately there was no winner. Although the God Beasts of Destruction had become stronger, the head start of the God Beasts of Creation was substantial. At the same time, it wasn't yet time for Existence to collapse, so the Northern Star shifted the balance once again when the time came, whittling away the strong advantage the God Beasts of Destruction had... but not before they had sunk their claws into every aspect of Existence.
"The Gods Beasts practically went extinct after that war, but Existence continued toward destruction, getting closer and closer. Everyday, the Northern Star grows larger, and as it does, the Void Beasts of destruction grow as well and soon they'll likely make a comeback of their own.
"Unfortunately, the time of the Infinity Beasts has passed. There isn't enough Momentum of Creation left."
El'Rion fell into silence.
Leonel didn't say anything. He felt that he was beginning to understand how important these Incomplete Worlds were now; they might very well be among the last worlds that Existence could create before everything collapsed. In fact, the fact there were so many incomplete Worlds might be a sign in and of itself. If not for the slow weakening of Existence and the approach of the Northern Star, there might have been far more Complete Worlds in this batch than what had actually occurred.
Even so, Leonel had more questions than answers right now.
El'Rion still hadn't explained how these two separate Lineage Factors had suddenly become linked. Was it because of the Northern Star? In that case...
Leonel's eyes narrowed. Could the Northern Star be the constellation of the Lineage Factors, forcefully linking them and causing the strength of one to be dependent on the weakness of the other? In that case, what happens to Leonel when the two are fused like this?
Also, how is even possible for Leonel to fuse them? It can't be that he's the first if the people of the Cataclysm Zone had both tablets as well, right? That doesn't make sense?
More importantly than that, how are even the likes of the Pluto allowing such tablets to circulate at all? Why haven't they gathered them all up yet? More dark side henchmen would only speed up the descent toward chaos, while more light side henchmen would only exacerbate the problem, no? Both should be eradicated?
And there was something else that El'Rion had conveniently not mentioned...
If even the human race could be disdained for a now faint connection, then how were the Void Race allowed to prance around unchallenged? What was their relation to all of this?