Chapter 4003  The Price

The laminar integument leader just watched, completely frozen, as a solar system-wide tsunami of Water and gravity pushed back the entirety of the cloud of nebula gas that had entered their solar system, threatening to destroy everything.

RUMBLE!!!!!!

It was one of the most shocking things that the alien leader had ever experienced. When it had come to this solar system at the edge of the Milky Way, it had expected a very standard operation.

They had found many infected planets in the past by detecting changes in the information dimension that could only be due to the alien virus, or some other physical signature that they knew correlated with an infected planet.

The cleansing operation was something that the seventy-fifth worldship of the Laminar Civilization had long grown accustomed to. They even had protocols for different situations.

However, there was no protocol for something this extreme.

There were no protocols for what the laminar leader was beholding before its very own 'eyes.'

It beheld a god-like entity capable of altering reality itself to an extent that was absolutely unfathomable. Never once had the laminar integument seen anything like it was seeing.

RUMBLE!!!!!!

It watched as a flood of water, drowning the entire solar system, crushed and pushed back each and every single nebular that had come to reseed Gaia in a display of power that was among the most overwhelming things that the laminar integument leader had ever seen.

RUMBLE!!!!!

The water pushed back the gas, every single atom of it, while the gravity crushed and pushed back the nebulars, refusing to even allow them to resist in the face of his overwhelming.

The wormholes shook as the flood of water pushed the crushed bodies of the nebulars and the cloud back into the holes in reality, returning them to where they came.

Just like that, what was supposed to be an endless and unstoppable cosmic apocalypse, the likes of which no civilization could possibly overwhelm in space warfare, was now being utterly dominated.

"Must. Report. To. High. Council." The laminar integument is realized. "Must. Report. Possible. Solution. To. Nebulars."

It wasn't just a solution to the nebulars.

It was a solution to the entirety of the problem that plagued the universe. The Laminar Civilization had long known that the Universalis Mensis was being infected by the alien virus. It was extremely difficult to stop.

The cleansing operations they did by exterminating infected planets were one of their only ways to fight back.

But this merely slowed down the virus.

It was not a fundamental solution to the problem.

That was why the Laminar Civilization had been searching for the power to access the Source Realm. Only if they gained the power that the alien virus possessed would they be able to stand toe-to-toe with a hostile lifeform that sought to gain control over the greatest power in the entire universe, the Universalis Mensis.

And now, the laminar integument, known as the Tendril of Salvation in his community, had finally found a solution. A solution to the existential universal crisis. It shifted its attention to the pathwalkers of Gaia with a glint of hope in its light.

Indeed, these creatures had the potential to become the salvation of the universe.

The laminar integument had already deduced that Rui's sudden access to the information dimension was not random. It was undoubtedly connected to the 'paths' that Rui had described to it.

A path of power that these creatures could tread to grow stronger and stronger while accessing different dimensions of potential that lay untapped.

Only now did the laminar integument realize that Rui had been hiding the full truth from it. These paths didn't just lead to more power; they even led to the Source Realm, clearly.

The light of Tendril was truly happy that it had decided to honor its promise to Rui and fight to protect Gaia. Thanks to this one action, it had formed a bridge between the Laminar Civilization and Gaian Civilization. This bridge could become the source of all salvation for the entire universe in the future.

"Must. Also. Report. To. Lanikea. Galactic. Community," it mused knowingly. "Potential. For. Collaboration. For. Mutual. Interests. For. Joint. War. Against. Virus."

The other civilizations of the cosmos needed to know that it had found a real solution. He couldn't keep this to himself; it was too big, too revolutionary, and too extraordinary. Now that they had found an entity that could actively intervene in the power of the Source Realm, it opened up the possibility of learning how to harness this power and perhaps even creating their own 'paths' to also move towards the Source Realm.

RUMBLE!!!!!!

The solar system shook violently as the tsunami of Water overwhelmed and swept away the tide of endless alien space monsters. They began emptying back into the wormholes they came as Rui cleansed their solar system of alien taint, returning it to how it used to be.

But he wasn't done.

He needed to destroy their ability to return.

His eyes, as transparent as water, sharpened as he created a new technique on the spot.

"Ṭ̵̦̻͎̖̬̻̔͆̾̀̉́̏̂̈͠r̷̛̲̪͔͚̼̰̯̰̦̄̇͠a̶̢̨̮̞̥͙̟̭̯̲̜̱̔͛͐́̿̈́͛̑̃̌ͅͅn̸̡̠̘̩͉̫̟̖͉͓͒͋̉̎̓̋̈́̅͆̿̌͑̂ṣ̴̻́͋̊̈́̃̌̉̃͘͝c̶̡̧̡̝̭̠̱͖͕̭͎̠̬̬̗̋ę̵̳̺̹̹̺͎͈̪͓̥͚̤̦̓̈́̑͜͠n̴͔̼̤̙̟̹̥̳͂̇͌̀̄̓̓̈̇̊̚̚͘͝d̷̢̝͕̰̥̫̯͊̋̒̎̐̋̕ͅé̷̢̞̲̦̹͔͕͈̖̲̗̃̆́̒̚͜ͅn̷̬̥̺͔̎̀̓͋̄̇̔̇t̴̞̙̝͖̤̙͍̆͛̕ ̶̭͓̳͎͔͕̙̤̙͛̓̆̋̏̀̐̈́̽͝ͅȦ̵̧̧̨̡̡̛̲̟͖͚͇͖̮̟̦̠̑̅͊ų̷͕̦̮̂͒́̏̌̔̍̊̌̐͂͑͠t̸̛̟̝͓͛͜h̸̡̨̘͉̱̳͚͇̭͋̋͜ͅơ̶̤̣͉̫͇͍̭̣͎͇͚̤̲̔́̽̀͒̇̒͆̂̃̋̕͠ͅr̶̢̳̣̮̳͑̑̂̏̊̇͆͒̄͂̇̐͗̕i̸͕̎̿̉͑t̸͖̺̫̮̞̭͇͒̾̓̉͂̉̂̃̾͐ÿ̷̧͎̯́͋.̵̨̛͔̣̤̫̼̥̪͎͎̙̤͇̣͑͛̂̃̈́̍̎͂̿̈͜͠͝."

It was the Authority of Alpha upgraded with the Martialverse, allowing him to embed into the minds of those still alive a single command.

"N̵̝̚ȩ̶̧̲͍̪͙̺̥̝̾́́̑͒̊̅v̴̩͐̾̀̍̌̓͠ę̵͈̦̲͈̦͖̗̭̳͈͆̔͌̑̃̓̋r̴̢̨̙̤̰͈͇̺̫̘͙̰̭̬̦͒́ ̷̛͙̲̟̞̬̼̤͇̰͖̖̠̬̆̃̀̈̇͐̀̊͗̃̉͂̚͜ṛ̴̡̛͙͈͓͕̱͌̀̆̾́̍̃͒̍̑́̽̕e̴̢̺̤͙̒̏̎̈͑̕͜͠ṭ̵̊͑͂͗̀̆͗̄͗͒̆̄u̴̧̡̢̨͔͚͓̦͇͈̱̤̩̪͆̀̿͆̎̍͜r̵͚̼͉͙̟̦͇̹̃̎͐̏̑̍̍n̶̢̝̪̹̞͓͚̱͓̟̬͚͑̎̆̈́̋̓̉̅̚͠."

RUMBLE!!!!!!!

The world shook as the water fully pushed the invasion back into the wormholes from which they came.

Rui's ethereal, Transcendent eyes sharpened as he balled his hand into a fist, thrusting it forth.

The attack occurred in the realm of information.

He destroyed each and every single wormhole that had opened up in the entire solar system, getting rid of the channel through which they had invaded Sol.

RUMBLE…

The solar system began calming down as the very fabric of reality began settling.

WHOOSH…

The water disappeared from reality as Rui deactivated his Martialverse, gazing at his hands knowingly.

He had used the power of the Martialverse, the power of the Enlightenment of Transcendence.

He knew what followed.