World Keeper

Chapter 1140: The Only Way

By the time I reached Terra’s palace, the twins had already fused, and the Origin of Fate was standing before me with a small smile. Because their abilities weren’t very suitable for direct combat, they weren’t part of the defensive forces that had been placed at various worlds. As I entered the room, she looked up at me with her pitch black eyes.

“It looks like the time has come, has it not?” She asked with that same smile, to which I nodded my head. “Now, you want to know what it is you need to do next to defeat the enemy?”

I nodded again, knowing that there was no point in beating around the bush. Thankfully, the Origin seemed rather forthcoming with her answer. “Quite simply, there is nothing for you to do. Stay here and defend Earth as you have been. I will go out for a while, and set things into motion. Because of what is required, I will not be back to Olympus before I have finished.”

“Right…” I wasn’t quite sure what she had in mind, but I simply shook my head. “Is there anything else?”

The Origin thought about it for a moment, before her smile grew. “The five surviving gods of this recent disaster. They must remain on Peria, the planet that they defended. Because of recent events, their fate is tied to that of Peria. Additionally, they must be removed from the forces defending the world. They used up too much of their fortune guarding Peria, and would bring disaster if they tried to defend another world.”

“My advice is to have them rest on Peria for now, and let them recover. I’ll arrange for the planet to be taken care of, myself.” She said with a nod. I arched my brow, but did not sense any trace of a lie in her words. “The coming days will seem harsh and unforgiving, but if everything goes as I have predicted, we will pull through. Additionally, I can tell you that the researcher is soon to finish his weapon.”

“After the two swarms have been dealt with, we will have more than enough manpower to deal with the ones plaguing the Metong realm. For now, I must go. I can’t afford to spend my time in leisure.” She said with a bow, before turning and walking towards the door. As she did, her body split, turning into the twins once again.

They glanced back at me with sad eyes, before entering the elevator. Part of me was worried for a moment that they were going to do something self-destructive, but I immediately pushed that out of my mind. Terra would have never raised them to do something like that. From a purely objective standpoint, having an Origin at our disposal was too valuable, especially when we were likely to be promoted soon. More likely, that gaze was because of the gods that had been lost, or all the worlds that have fallen.

It took about an hour for the twins to reach Peria, where the residents were celebrating their recent victory against the monster swarm. The two walked along the streets, looking around at the citizens. “Shouldn’t we tell him?” The fallen sister asked, only for the other to shake her head.

“No, he would have definitely stopped us. You know how he is.” The divine twin said with a bitter smile. “He’ll probably be really mad when he finds out, but this is something that we have to do.”

The two looked at each other, before letting out a shared sigh. With the power of Fate, they had foreseen a future where a divine swarm rampaged through the universe, slaughtering the inhabitants of Deckan’s worlds. Even Udona, the Goddess of Life, was unable to overcome the endless tide.

Worse, every fallen god only added to the enemy’s forces. When Udona fell, they gained the power to enter the void, spreading death to every world. There was nothing that could stop them, no divine power that could push them back. It was only a matter of time before they reached Olympus.

“He’s going to be really mad, you know.” The fallen twin said bitterly. “Like, really, really mad.”

“Yeah, well, he’ll figure out sooner or later that this was something that we had to do.” The divine twin nodded her head. “Now, let’s find a hotel. It’ll be a few days before we take action.”

Four days passed, the Replicating Swarm continuing to attack every inhabited world in greater and greater numbers. I found myself constantly flying around the solar system with Lifre’s guidance, fighting back one wave after another. There was barely time to think, and I could only hope that James really did finish his weapon soon.

By now, my gauntlet was running purely on my Souls domain, unleashing waves of death as soon as I spotted my targets. It took anywhere between ten and thirty pulses to destroy an entire wave of monsters, but I had gotten accustomed to this. Thankfully, according to Tsubaki, the Cloning Swarm hadn’t attacked again after the battle at Peria.

As I was feeling the relief from that simple fact, Tsubaki sent me an urgent message. My Keeper! Divine swarms have appeared near every inhabited world in Deckan’s universe. Udona has taken to the battle with Aurivy, but she is worried about the other planets.

I grit my teeth, looking around. I could already sense another swarm of small, metallic monsters coming my way. Try to tell her to hold on. Terra said that she was going to do something!

I don’t know how long they can--what was that? Tsubaki responded, her thoughts becoming confused.

What happened? I asked, flying towards the next wave of enemies.

The divine swarms… they’ve vanished. Tsubaki answered in disbelief, and I couldn’t blame her. How had the divine swarms vanished from every planet in Deckan?

When I thought about that, my eyes widened. Tsubaki, contact Peria immediately!

I can’t… they’re gone. Tsubaki responded a moment later. There is no response from Peria on any network.

The Origin of Fate floated along within the empty expanse, her eyes closed. She could feel the fates that she had taken into herself, filling her with energy. When her eyes opened, black tears flowed from her eyes, though she maintained a small smile.

There was only one way available to them to eliminate the divine swarm at its core. They had to feed it such enticing bait that it called all of its vessels back, sharing that bait among them. In this way, the bait, the seven gods that had been devoured, would become a poison. Once they had become a part of the entire swarm, the Origin of Fate could eliminate them all at once.

Doing so, however, would come at a cost greater than the Keeper would ever willingly pay. The Origin of Fate had to devour the fate of all of Peria in order to capture the fates of those who had been taken. This planet, which would have continued to exist and have countless possibilities, was used as a sacrifice to save every other world.

That was why the Origin advised the Keeper to have the gods remain, as their sudden departure from any other defensive line could have proven disastrous. Of course, this also filled the Origin with more power than she had ever felt before, enough that her body was brimming with energy.

Before he scolds me, let’s take care of those other pests… She thought to herself, her black eyes staring into nothingness. With her newfound energy, she could find the fates of those monsters that had all appeared at exactly the same instant, those that had crossed over at the start of the invasion.

It wasn’t possible to simply devour their fates like she had done with Peria, not without physically being at their location. Instead, she severed their fates, ensuring that every path led to an inevitable and swift demise. Some of them encountered memetic beasts that destroyed their bodies, others ran into each other and began a territorial battle.

The only ones she couldn’t touch were the other two swarms. Their numbers were far too large for her to directly kill them like this. At least, not without destroying the universes that they inhabited. Still, with the divine swarm vanquished, she could see the lines of fate shifting in their favor.

What did you do? The Keeper’s voice rang in the back of her mind, and the Origin of Fate lowered her head slightly.

I did what I must. This was the only path that did not result in the end of all things. This is why I kept my words vague, because I knew that you would disapprove. You may hate me if you wish. I have long prepared for such.

There was a long pause, and the Origin waited. Of all beings, the Keeper’s fate was the hardest to predict because of his nature. In a way, he existed above the system of fate, and the Origin could only see a reflection of what might be, without any certainty. She could see futures in which the Keeper cast her out, or berated her, or even directly fought her.

Of course, there were also other futures. Just… Come home, please. The Keeper’s voice spoke up sadly, causing the Origin to briefly widen her eyes. Did you know that you were going to have to do this from the start?

I did. The Origin said, opening a rift to the void and beginning to make her way towards Olympus. It was an inevitable future. If the swarm managed to devour even one god, this was always going to happen. The only variable was what gods were devoured, and what planet had to be sacrificed.

When you decided to stay to defend Earth, I was elated. In the worst case scenario, where someone was taken from a planet you were defending, I would be left with no other options but to exhaust all of my energies and sacrifice my existence to preserve your fate while devouring the fates of those that had been taken.

As she said this, she landed on Olympus, seeing the dark clouds gathering in the skies. From this weather, she could feel the Keeper’s mood, and began to walk towards the entrance. With this, the greatest threats to existence have been dealt with.

The Origin took the teleporter to her own palace, finding an avatar of the Keeper waiting there for her. She could sense that his main body was still out fighting. He looked at her with clear sadness in his eyes. “How much energy did you get? How much time?” He asked, and the Origin answered honestly.

“I exerted a great deal of it in order to eliminate the remaining giant beasts. However, because I devoured the fates of Peria, as well as the swarm, I have enough energy to maintain this form for thirteen years.”

The Keeper nodded his head, before looking at her face more closely. “...Why are you crying?” He asked, and the Origin reached a hand up to wipe away the black tears.

“My body is currently filled with more energy than it is accustomed to. Don’t worry, this is just excess power leaking out.” She answered, but the Keeper didn’t seem to believe her. He walked over, placing a hand on her shoulder, and lightly pressed his lips against her forehead.

The Origin’s eyes widened, before she squeezed them closed, simply leaning against him. “That’s not fair, Dale.” She muttered under her breath. “You’re supposed to be mad at me. You’re supposed to resent me for what I did.”

Dale let out a long sigh, stroking his hand through her hair. “You’re still Terra. If she were really down here right now, I know that she would have done the same thing. And she would have expected me to hate her, too. I’m more upset that you didn’t tell me what you were going to do. I might have objected, but I would have listened to your reasoning. Is there anything else that you need to tell me?”

The Origin tilted her head back to look up at him. “No… my part in this invasion is over. Even if I wanted to help further, there is nothing left that I can do with my power.”

Dale nodded his head. “The next time something like that comes up, tell me beforehand. I was worried that devouring Peria’s fate while you were there would have been self-destructive. I’m just glad that you’re safe.”