"He is already here."
Shock assaulted the hearts of all the Daybreak Universe's warriors when they heard those words.
Venganza, Ezequiel, and Orgullo made their soul force explode as they concentrated all their energy into their eyes, gazing into the distance.
The trio did not have to look for long since the Beyonder was not hiding himself. Less than a billion light years away from the Daybreak Universe was a mutated universe whose powers were even mightier. It was a massive amalgamation of flesh, energy, blood, and spiritual force.
A billion light years might sound like much, and the Beyoder's universe-size body should not be easy to mobilize, but the trio knew that that monster could reach the Daybreak Universe in less than a minute if he wanted.
As the Thearchs focused on it, their eyes grew sharp as they felt a single soul aura, meaning there was no other living being in it.
No powerhouses or army were waiting inside, but Orgullo, Vengazan, and Ezequiel were not surprised. What was the point of an army if you could do everything by yourself?
The Thearchs could not help but clench their fists as they finally accepted that the Beyonder Army was nothing more than a disposable tool with the sole purpose of pushing Zatiel into the Reality Override Realm.
Suddenly, the mutated universe began to tremble as a humanoid figure emerged from it. He was completely black, without any type of physical or facial features other than two white holes for eyes and a small arc for mouth.
It did not take a genius to figure out that it was the humanoid manifestation of the Beyonder, something he most likely used to interact with other life forms since trying to speak while in the form of a cancerous universe must be complicated.
The Beyonder's eyes looked into those of the three Thearchs, and he showed a wide smile before performing a taunting signal with his right hand and sitting in the Emptiness.
Fury and rage appeared in the eyes of Ezequiel, Venganza, and Orgullo as they saw how the Beyonder was mocking them, but neither lost their composure. Although they had grown immensely powerful, they knew the Beyonder would only need a word to end their lives.
"What is he waiting for?"
Venganza made the question in everybody's mind. The Beyonder could start the final battle right now if he wanted, but they clearly saw how this one just sat in the Emptiness without a worry.
Zatiel could understand the feeling coursing through the warriors, so he did not make them wait and gave them an answer.
"The Beyonder has been standing there for nearly one hundred years already. He is waiting for us to march toward him."
Utter shock assaulted the souls of the seventeen warriors as they understood the meaning of those words.
"He will just wait until we are ready to fight!?"
Ezequiel found it hard to believe what he had just heard. All of them were using every minute of their time to prepare for the final fight, yet their enemy did not seem to care and was willing to give them all the time they wanted.
Zatiel was not perturbed by that information, unlike the rest of the warriors.
"In his mind, it doesn't matter how much time passes. I have reached the limit of my power, and he sees all of you as mere ants that can not influence the battle in any sense."
It was like thunder assaulted their souls since every one of the warriors could not help but tremble as they heard it. They were pushing themselves to the absolute limit, yet it seemed as if none of it mattered.
Venganza's eyes grew cold as a burst of fighting spirit emerged from them, and he gazed into the Emptiness again, full of murderous will.
"Since when did the ideology of the enemy is something we care about? It doesn't matter what he thinks of our power; we will prove with our souls and lives the price of understanding us!"
Those words ignited the fighting will in the rest of the warriors. All of them straightened their heads as they gazed into the Emptiness, killing intent bursting out of the deepest part of their souls.
A meaningful light appeared in Zatiel's eyes as he stared at Venganza, and a profound smile emerged on his face.
"If the enemy is understating us, we should use it to our advantage. Should we not keep using this time to grow stronger, and maybe a miracle could happen, with one of us evolving into the Reality Override Realm."
Orgullo spoke to Zatiel, and the rest of the warriors also focused on him since that plan made sense.
Although a Reality Override life form was strong, it still had to use energy to activate its power, and the stronger the Daybreak Universe warriors became, the more it would be needed to end their lives.
Zatiel saw the hope in the warriors but shook his head.
"The Beyonder will not initiate the attack, but that doesn't mean we have time. The Daybreak-Verse is coming to its end, and I will have to fight before that."
Solemn expressions appeared on the faces of the warriors as they heard that. The knowledge of the Verse was still obscure to them, but they understood that it was pointless to ask how long it was until the end.
Their perception of time was not how the Verse's flow of time worked.
"That is why, in five days, we will march toward the Beyonder and end him. He underestimated your power, but I will grant you a battle-runic formation that will allow you seventeen to fuse into a single life form before we march."
Veganza, Ezequiel, Orgullo, and the other fourteen warriors look at each other as they hear that. Such battle formation was undoubtedly powerful, but they will likely have to relinquish their ego and will to achieve a flawless fusion.
Essentially, they would be dying, but they were all ready for that sacrifice.
