The newly appearing figures were led by an astonishingly gorgeous woman, brilliantly shining white hair and blue eyes making her stand out like a sore thumb as she wore a white robe. She appeared right in front of the 200 miles long Aether Star Form of Noah's main body, her gaze cold as she stared at Aldrich.
Near her, the two other figures had red and black crowns above their heads as their bodies outlandishly and freely released their power at the Nebula Realm. If someone knowledgeable looked at the newly appearing figures, they would be able to ascertain with stupor that it was the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Infernal Lords!
The moment that Aldrich made his appearance on the battlefield, their figures came a second behind the third Founder Fritz. Their gazes were filled with coldness as they stared at Aldrich, a unique sense of strength and oppression spreading out at this moment.
Aldrich took in all of these changes as he looked away from his old friend and towards the three most powerful Infernal Lords that were now protecting a particular figure, his eyes regaining the light of apathy as the wrath and madness were hidden within!
"I see."
RUMBLE!
He said these words as his body began to erupt with power, a pillar of golden light erupting and shooting out around him in a cylindrical manner.
"So this is the new puppet."
WAA!
Each of his words only caused a spike in the aura he released as it caused any nearby beings to madly begin to run away, this aura so overpowering that they felt their souls would be injured if they remained close by!
As he was faced with four Nebula Realm experts, Alrich actually didn't back down as his eyes blazed with strength!
"Are you sure you want to do this now?"
"..."
At this time, the crystal clear voice coming from the 1st Infernal Lord rang out, her head turning to the side as she asked in a quizzical manner while staring towards Aldrich.
"Brother."
In front of him, the Third Founder Fritz called out towards him again as all he received were cold eyes, a stand-off occurring in the battlefield near the Verittas Fortress as these shocking figures of power remained still!
Aldrich's eyes honed in towards each of these beings as he measured his options, once again feeling the unfairness of it all as his heart strengthened even more.
WAA!
His power began to retract as the enormous cylinder of golden light reduced, his voice ringing out as he locked eyes with the being closest to him.
"Out of everything, your cowardice is still what stands out the most, Brother."
Fritz's shoulders shook at these words, a sorrowful expression appearing on his face as he looked towards Aldrich who had begun moving his fingers towards the remaining Star Forging Celestial behind him and the many Celestials still remaining across the battlefield, sparks of golden light appearing on their bodies.
When Noah saw these sparks of light appearing on Celestials, his second clone teleported to a bloodstained Athena who was looking forth with a troubled expression as he placed his hands on her, his essence beginning to cover her head to toe in case this energy that Aldrich released even came near her.
The Founder only glanced at this change briefly as his eyes locked on with the figure of Athena for less than a second, seemingly choosing that this being was well below his required attention for now as he continued.
"Four against one, and you still believe you are in the right."
Aldrich's voice now addressed the four Nebula Realm being opposing him as a golden light began to appear on the bodies of the Celestials he pointed to, the shocking scenes continuing one after another in the starry expanse near the Verittas Fortress.
Chapter 574: So Close!
As Aldrich was faced with four beings in the same realm as him, he actually weighed his options as he came to the truth that he had more than a 60% chance of winning if he actually faced all these beings at once.
But he really did not like this percentage, as it involved something that was extremely important to him! It was his life's work, and he did not wish to risk it for a 60% chance!
It was the reason why he initiated the Last War, with the prize actually being nearly within his grasp as when he achieved it, he would have a 100% assurance of winning against any beings in the Novus Galaxy, no matter what power they held.
He was so close, that it seemed just a few days or weeks was all he needed!
Even as he stared at the anomaly that he rushed over here to nip in the bud, the being he considered a puppet in a true sense as he observed how so many natural laws were bent to allow him to actually rapidly advance in the law of fate- this being was the biggest consideration at this moment as he weighed the possibilities.
To solve this problem and not allow this being to gain any more power, he arrived to save the last Star Forging Celestial Commanders, and now his hands were moving with brilliant light that covered the remaining hundreds of thousands of Celestials, their bodies beginning to disappear from the battlefield!
He would not give this creature any more fuel to increase his strength, knowing that he needed very little time to achieve his goal of 100% in the Law of Fate. When that time came, it would not matter what puppet She was trying to raise, nor which beings stood in his way.
Aldrich's apathetic eyes looked towards one of the only beings he considered a brother as all the Celestials around the Verittas Fortress began to be teleported away.
Before he carried out his plans, before he…
Well, before he did what he needed to do, he wanted to look at the face of his brothers and tell them how wrong they were, how things could have gone much differently! But this only seemed like a pipe dream as his eyes only showed apathy, his gaze moving from Fritz and towards the 9th Infernal Lord who was surrounded by three Nebula Realm creatures.
At this moment, he was actually very angry! Can you imagine putting in enormous hard work over more than a thousand years, striving to slowly comprehend a Supreme Law? Then one day, you watch as someone makes more progress in this law in a matter of minutes than you did in hundreds of years!
It was stifling, wrath-inducing, and just showed the unfairness of it all!
"You just wait for me, Puppet. This will not go on for much longer."
His words carried enormous wrath and foreboding as they thundered towards Noah, the eyes of the Founder landing on Fritz one last time before his body began to be covered with brilliant particles of light that then disappeared!
Aldrich, the Star Forging expert he came to save, and all the remaining hundreds of thousands of Celestials...all disappeared!
RUMBLE!
Noah continued to stare at this scene as he canceled his Aether Star Form, his mountainous body beginning to reduce in size as crackles of Aether spread out.
His eyes went towards the Stat Panel that had the number 9,139,376 next to his number of Fate Lines as he calmed his mind from the euphoria of power and the recent events of the battle.
He was very close! So close that he felt it was all within his grasp, but Aldrich had seen something and appeared to prevent him just before he could achieve it!
"Noah...bring me over there for a bit."
At this time, he received a telepathic message from a being far away from this battle- he received word from Old Man Inuit who was in the past Ancient Blood World that was integrated into the Infinite Realm and also currently watching the scenes of the battle.
Noah's essence connected to his Infinite Realm with the words of Inuit as he stared at the being called Fritz who still floated in the void of space and looked towards the position where Aldrich had disappeared.
RUMBLE!
Waves of essence fluctuated out a second later as Noah teleported Old Man Inuit over, the aged being giving Noah a nod of thankfulness as he then floated towards a lost brother of his with a shaking heart!
"Fritz…!"
Old Man Inuit called out to this being that had just resurfaced for the first time i
n hundreds of years, his gaze melancholic as Fritz turned towards him with a sorrowful expression.
When these two beings looked at each other, a myriad of emotions sprung out, but the strongest one was the shame and helplessness that Fritz was releasing as he could barely meet the eyes of Old Man Inuit!
This was because he knew his brother had been confined by Aldrich this entire time, and he had not moved anytime during the last hundreds of years to save him.
He knew it was helpless and could never succeed escaping from Aldrich in one piece if he tried, so he went roaming around for answers that he never received, and now here he was hundreds of years later!
It was an emotional scene with two old friends meeting, and Noah turned his eyes away from this as he looked at the three Infernal Lords that had arrived just in time.
"I had considered the possibility of Aldrich moving if ever he saw something about you, never did I think he would be so bold though."
The sonorous voice of the 1st Infernal Lord rang out as she turned towards him with a smile.
Noah looked towards her and to the battlefield that only had the shocked forces of the defenders of Verittas Fortress remaining, glancing towards his own subordinates that were looking around in dissatisfaction for having their battles cut short.
He looked at a disgruntled Emperor Penguin who was facing a Special Existence like the Three-Eyed Fate Child blow to blow before he was teleported away, to the forces of Vampyres that had the curvaceous Elena who was glancing towards him with a dangerous reverent expression.
He glanced at his second clone that was standing beside a bloodstained Athena, the being that was effectively the only remaining Celestial on this battlefield. He looked at all of these scenes and reflected over the past events as he heard the sweet voice of the 1st Infernal Lord ring out once more!
"It seems that a conclusion of this Last War is coming faster than many of us expected~"
"..."
…!
Silence overtook the surroundings and the 1st Infernal Lord casually voiced out a shocking reality, the far-reaching effects of this last battle at the Verittas Fortress only beginning to unravel at this moment!
Chapter 575: Useless? Just Dispose!
In a region of the Light Expanse near the border it shared with the Dark Expanse, Aldrich reappeared with the brilliance of light as hundreds of thousands of figures were teleported at the same location thereafter
This being at the Nebula Realm had carried out a mass teleportation of hundreds of thousands of beings to bring them countless miles away from the Verittas Fortress, the spatial movement bringing them into a region in the Light Expanse as the many Celestials looked towards the Founder with reverence!
They had just faced a colossal loss where 90% of their Star Forging Commanders were destroyed, where only a single one remained alive as it was only because the Founder had arrived in time to save him.
The masses of Celestials that had just participated in the battle at the Verittas Fortress felt a sense of shame and helplessness as they thought back to the past events, their eyes not being able to lock with the powerful being that saved them as they waited for his commands!
Aldrich was looking at all these beings he had teleported as his gaze landed on the remaining Star Forging Celestial of this force, thinking back at how when the abomination who could bend universal laws killed other beings of this level, he actually absorbed hundreds of thousands of Fate Lines every time.
This was such a ridiculous and unfair concept that would quickly create a monster capable of mastering a universal law in a short period of time!
But it was something that Aldrich knew was only happening because his enemy was behind it, this whole event serving as another reminder to him that in order to win against an enemy no being would dare face, he had to think outside the box and be prepared to do things that very few beings could even begin to imagine.
Using his vast experience and Authority in the law of fate, and the knowledge he had just uncovered- he was able to come to the conclusion that the anomaly that was the 9th Infernal Lord would actually just continue growing stronger and amassing more Fate Lines the more Celestials he faced, the more that this war carried on!
As he came to this conclusion...the answer he faced was to simply...end it!
This was the shocking conclusion he had arrived at the moment he saw the creature that could rapidly absorb hundreds of thousands of Fate Lines, knowing that any Celestial that fell in his hands would put him all that closer to completely comprehending a universal law, and then this creature would be used to oppose him from ever achieving his goals.
Thus, Aldrich moved quickly as he relayed his commands to the many Celestial Commanders still spread out across the Dark Expanse and even those still moving within their Realm Dreadnaughts or Prime Warships to actually begin retreating!
It was a shocking and abrupt move, but one of extreme precision as it identified the biggest problem the Founder faced at this moment, and he moved to instantly cut off the source of this problem as the fuel that was being fed to the 9th Infernal Lord- the Celestials that were spread out across the Dark Expanse...were all being called back.
At the same time, Aldrich knew that the less than 100,000 Fate Lines that he required before completely comprehending a universal law would be rising up much slower, so he released another command to recoup his losses and even increase his progress further. But the command he relayed was an extremely cold one that even sent shivers to the commanders that received it.
"The conquered planets you are retreating from, the strongholds you have taken over...destroy them all. Decimate everything."
RUMBLE!
Waves of gold erupted out at this command that would affect the lives of hundreds of billions, yet Aldrich gave it without so much as a second thought as he was currently being driven into a corner!
He ignored the masses of celestials around him as he closed his eyes and thought,
'Do not blame me for being cruel. I had simply forgotten just how unfair of an enemy I faced, and I needed this reminder to be more resolute.'
He spoke to no one as his thoughts moved, but he relayed terrible commands to his forces that he telling to retreat, passing down the command for them to destroy the stars they had captured as the original plan of taking over the Dark Expanse and slowly collecting Fate Lines over time was thrown away, Aldrich simply choosing to scoop whatever benefits remained by directly destroying the fates of the billions that his forces had taken over!
It would not be as fruitful as the steering of fate over time, but at this juncture where he only needed less than a hundred thousand Fate Lines to begin going towards his goal, it would be enough!
WAAA!
His command shook the hearts of the commanders that heard it, but they began carrying it out without any hesitation as cruelty never before enacted on innocent civilians and conquered forces that were not fighting anymore began taking place.
At this moment, Aldrich opened his eyes to see hundreds of Fate Lines shimmering down towards him as this cruelty began on multiple conquered fonts of the Dark Expanse, his gaze then turning to the Celestials he had teleported away from the Verittas Fortress.
"Founder…"
The remaining Star Forging Celestial he had saved was bowing down shamefully as his shoulders shook, showing reverence to Aldrich as he also could not look up as he was ashamed at their performance and the loss of so many forces in this battle.
Aldrich looked at this Celestial and the hundreds of thousands more around him as his thoughts focused on these beings once more.
This force of beings that he raised was actually being used against him by his enemy in order to create an abomination to match him, and he could not even deploy them to do their jobs anymore! Deploying any more Celestials meant that a being such as the 9th Infernal Lord would only continue to amass more Fate Lines and grow stronger, so the force he worked hard to create and raise over centuries was actually rend
ered useless!
'Haha! I see why Fritz became disillusioned and left me, you truly are a terrifying enemy!'
The light of madness swam in Aldrich's apathetic eyes that now landed on the hundreds of thousands of beings he could not even use anymore. On the beings that he now considered useless, he spoke but a single command as they looked towards him with reverence and hope.
"Die."
RUMBLE!
Chapter 576: An End!
"Die."
It was a single command.
A single command which perplexed all the forces of Celestials that just battled at the Verittas Fortress, as it was not something any of them expected to hear from their Founder as he glanced towards them.
Many of them titled their heads to see if they heard correctly, but then their eyes began shaking as from the figure of Aldrich that they feared to even look at for too long, a golden light had begun to swiftly permeate from him!
This light caused their hearts to palpate as it did not seem warm or calming, but it held a cruel glimmer which shook them to their very cores!
"What.."
"This…!
"No!"
Pandemonium ensued as those who were covered by this light began to burn in body and in origin, screeching shouts resounding out as an unbelievable sight occurred in this nondescript region in the Light Expanse where Aldrich had teleported the Celestials who were fighting at the Verittas Fortress.
RUMBLE!
Aldrich's hand reached out as he clasped onto the neck of the remaining Star Forging Celestial that was about to fall into the hands of the 9th Infernal Lord, the shocked look of horror on the Celestial's eyes not making Aldrich falter one bit!
"Founder...Huk!"
His hand clasped tighter as he used an Authority about to near completion to decimate the forces of Celestials he just saved, those in the World Realm or below not being able to last even a second as their bodies burned flames of gold, screams resounding across the region they were in.
Not a single Celestial could escape as his Authority spread out to cover all the nearby space, many only being able to speak their grievances for a single second before they perished!
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