"Meow?" Miraj's ears twitched as if someone was tickling them. His cute little nose blew out so much air that it was audible. He purred loudly and stared at Zenith with stars in his eyes. "You can see me?"
"It talks!" Zenith exclaimed. "What is that thing?"
"It's a cat," Dalgan explained. "A small, sometimes wild, and sometimes domesticated creature of the human world. They can be friendly at times and violent at others."
Sylvester looked down again and wondered if it was his energy that surrounded Miraj, which made him visible. "Don't worry, he doesn't bite."
"Why do I feel this strange sensation?" Zenith suddenly asked. "Something feels different in my chest, something tickling."
'And there she goes, getting obsessed with Chonky's cuteness.' Sylvester sighed and noticed the two couldn't move even though they were hovering in a void. 'The eels are invisible, but they still occupy some space?'
However, Sylvester could move freely and quickly moved to grab hold of the two and pull them into the empty space formed by the tunnel pathway. He chained them to his own body again and prepared to start moving.
"How much time passed?" He asked.
"We don't know." Dalgan answered, "But it's certainly been a while."
'He even looks older.' Sylvester noticed but feigned ignorance. 'How much time passed outside?'
Pondering on that little question brought him anxiety. "Let's start moving then. Stay close to me this time, and keep one hand on my shoulder. No matter what happens, don't lose contact with my body."
The two didn't need to be reminded a second time. They rushed and gripped Sylvester's shoulder so hard that their nails dug into his skin. But there was no blood inside.
Sylvester closed his eyes and focused on the girl's voice again. It was constantly echoing in that space without stopping. In a few moments, he started moving through that tunnel. It had been so long by now that he had begun to feel suffocated, despite it being an endless expanse of space.
"He's cute," Zenith commented midway.
"Hehe," Miraj giggled in his place beside Sylvester's chest. "I can't wait to go home and squash Big Mum with my paws."
"And Ella," Sylvester added.
Miraj's face lost color, and his jaw swung open, scared already. Yes, he only liked squishes and snuggles from Big Mum. "Nyooo~"
Sylvester laughed and tried to go faster. It was like moving in a vacuum of space; the only difference was that he was surrounded by countless universes. Emotions flowed through the space as he drowned himself in the voice.
He was almost certain by now who this voice belonged to.
"Sylvester, do you see this?" Zenith abruptly alerted him.
"What?" Sylvester woke up from that trance-like state and gazed towards the rear. "Ugh…"
His Elder Magic was at work, helping him look at the curling, twisting eels. But in that moment, he stopped that magic as all he saw was absolute whiteness behind him. However, once he stopped, he noticed what seemed like growing orange and yellow dots.
Expanding further and further, it looked like a chain reaction behind them.
He kept moving, however, and sometimes activated the Elder Magic to see everything. Right then, he noticed whiteness spreading to the sides as well. Without Elder Magic, he could see extremely tiny and countless red dots.
"Yes, I'm seeing this." He responded and picked up the pace, giving everything to moving as fast as he could.
But then he felt it. A soul-shattering force that pushed to rip his every being apart. A suppression from all around him in the form of energies, making him feel like he'd get crushed into nothingness.
"The universes!" He realized what was happening. "They're exploding!"
The eels behind him had exploded, and those around them were in the process of bursting. The energy released was like an infinite number of Big Bangs occurring at a much greater speed.
"You won't survive this!" He shouted and attempted to cover Dalgan and Zenith with the same energy as he had done with Miraj. His entire back lost its skin, and flaring red, mist-like energy shrouded the two demons. "No matter what, do not let go of my shoulder—Argh!"
Sylvester had started to believe he was incapable of feeling pain anymore. But right then, he felt a pain like nothing else. A pain that scared his very soul and existence, a pain that made him smell something he had almost forgotten.
'No, no… Why now? Why are you choosing to attack me now?' He asked the 'Gods' as the taste and scent in his mouth turned so bitter that it felt damaging. 'Death is… inevitable!'
"Aaaa…" No, this wasn't just pain. "Do whatever you can to propel us!"
He was losing his mind and a piece of himself. The energy behind him wasn't just an explosion; it was the end of entire seemingly infinite universe with all its stars, beings, and matter. It was the end of countless lives if they existed. It was a force that he knew he couldn't go against.
It was killing him slowly. The energy it took to push forward while keeping Dalgan and Zenith alive, along with Miraj, was too much. But he couldn't stop.
'This is how small I am? Are you mocking me?' He questioned in rage. 'Showing me my place?'
It was a soundless and seamless orchestra of the entire void of darkness turning red, golden, and yellow. Countless dreams got quashed, countless times, spaces, and realities were removed. For no reason but his existence and the will of the 'Gods'.
'Why don't you erase me then?' He asked, hoping to get no replies.
Everything around him seemed to be caving in. He felt suffocated despite not breathing. He felt pain despite not having the ability to feel it. His energy, which he once thought was seamless, was now turning out to be a mere fool's confidence.
"Aaaaaa… Keep moving!" He groaned, unable to hear anything even if the others said something.
Yet, other than moving, they had no choice. Death was surrounding them faster than they could move.
…
Pope's Palace, Sick Bay
"Noooo! Father!" Xylena suddenly roared in her unconscious state. Her hands rose up towards the ceiling as if trying to grab onto something. "Please… hold my hand!"
Xavia and Healer Hendrix were there, rushing around to help her. They quickly injected medicine to calm her down and put her to sleep again.
Thud!
"Hear me…! Please!" But nothing seemed to work as both her hands violently thrashed up, almost yanking her own body up. Tears flowed from her eyes. Her body began shivering and shaking as if possessed. "Let me… pay back! No… Don't leave…!"
"What's happening?" Xavia, frustrated and teary-eyed, looked at Healer Hendrix as he held the most knowledge.
Hendrix shook his head, his brows creased. "I have no idea, Mother Xavia. There's nothing wrong with her body. I-It's… magic that's causing all this."
"Father! Come to me!"
Xylena continued, and everyone helplessly watched as nothing worked. They did, however, strap her body to the bed except for her arms that remained thrown towards the ceiling, frantically clawing the air.
Crank!
Crank!
The medical bed started making creaking noises during her violent movements. Eventually, it became so loud that the bed's legs started making high-pitched screeching noises on the tiled floor.
Bright Mothers moved away from the bed, and Healer Hendrix called in more men to hold Xylena down since she was also a powerful wizard.
Crack!
"What?!" Hendrix exclaimed when a massive crack appeared on the ceiling just above Xylena. "Move back! It's… something beyond our understanding!"
The crack wasn't on the ceiling, however, but the space touching the ceiling. Sharp, with nothing but black inside, the crack started to widen, and Xylena's body shook further, the bed rocking so hard that it almost started jumping.
Hendrix gritted his teeth and trusted his instincts. Being a Grand Wizard, he stepped closer to the bed and, with one quick move of his hand, freed Xylena's body from the straps.
Woosh!
As soon as she was freed, her body flew up horizontally, and her arm pushed itself into the crack in the space. It wasn't big enough for her entire body to go in, however, only one arm.
"I'm here! Father, I'm here… please listen to my voice!" With desperate pleadings, cries, and tears, her voice became hoarse. Her eyes were still closed, yet it felt as if she were awake.
"Don't leave me… Let me… repay!"
…
"I might not survive this." Sylvester clearly declared. No longer did he resemble the Pope in human skin. It was all gone, melted away.
Like a humanoid form of fiery red energy, he kept Dalgan, Zenith, and Miraj in his grasp in front of himself. Behind him, the trail of red energy was being destroyed like ashes. It was his very being, his body, his soul—him—dying slowly.
The explosions had caught up to them. No longer just behind them, they were also around, and ahead of them. Universes collapsed like mere bombs.
"Maxy, no!" Miraj cried, trying to free himself from Sylvester's grasp and do something—anything.
"Hugh…" Sylvester's voice was nothing but grunts now. "This isn't how it was supposed to go… They won't let us… stand… against them!"
"Don't give up so easily… My sister can't be wrong. Diana can't be wrong. This was bound to happen, Sylvester." Zenith couldn't help at that moment, but she had words: "Trust yourself!"
Death had finally caught up to him. There was no point in speaking.
"You three must live!" Sylvester roared and gave his everything to simply move forward. "Treat… Chonky good… Try to… understand."
Dalgan and Zenith watched the fiery red form fade before their eyes. They could feel the presence vanishing behind them. In the end, they were nothing against the 'Gods'.
Crack!
"W-What?" he couldn't see anything, but he could absolutely feel the change in space around him with his almost peak spatial magical comprehension now. There was something new, a fissure ahead.
"Father! It's me… Xye… Hold my hand!"
