Chapter 1123. The Past

Edikth showed no reaction to Sparkle calling him Daddy. She then glanced back to look at Charles in the house before she turned her gaze back onto Edikth and called out, "Mommy?"

Mommy?

The word echoed in Charles' mind as it sparked a ripple that triggered a series of vanished memories.

Though those memories had disappeared, Charles was now capable of traversing time. Just like watching scenes from a movie, he could see the threads of the past and rewatch the events that had happened in his lifetime.

He saw himself back on an island where he met a Dioite disguised as a human. The Dioite then took on Anna's identity and appearance and got onto his ship.

He watched the entanglement that followed—their clash of love and fury, desire and betrayal, and their fruit of it all—Sparkle.

Finally, after everything, he saw himself trying his all to prevent Anna from ending up in his current state. He chose the path of destruction and made use of 005's wish to send Anna to the surface world.

"Anna?! Anna... Anna!"

The knowledge came flooding back. Charles remembered even more. Yet, he was exceptionally calm about the return of these memories. The emotions he harbored for this person were never going to return.

Experience and memory were completely different. Due to the erosion of his humanity, Charles had almost lost the ability to perceive emotions.

He knew who Anna was and knew that they had loved each other. Yet, he could no longer feel that love that was involved.

"Sparkle, who are you talking to?" The Past Charles' voice called out. He had returned from the overlapping planes. Organs surged together on the flesh island to form a grotesque, bloated face.

His past self had sensed his existence; it was time for him to leave.

Charles took one final, lingering glance at his daughter before he gently waved a tendril and leaped back through the timelines.

When he finally returned to his original timeline, 005 was still there waiting for him. She had one final thing to do.

"For the final step, you need to absorb enough energy to break through Edikth and ascend as a higher-dimensional existence. Only then will you be able to rewrite the laws of the universe and reverse the time of the Subterranean Sea."

Charles pondered for a brief moment and looked at 005.

"A higher-dimensional existence? You mean an existence like you?"

"No. I'm not quite there yet. You've found your way, while I'm still searching for mine. This is also the reason why I've scattered fragments of myself across countless universes,"

005 answered with a candid ease. After all, an existence of Her level found it pointless to lie.

Charles silently reiterated the plan in his mind and traced the steps he had to take.

If I'm fortunate enough to become a higher-dimensional existence as per Her words, then the first thing I need to do is to turn back time for the Subterranean Sea to save all of humanity here and also on the surface world.

Actually, at this point, Charles already felt no hint of empathy for these beings whose lives were so infinitesimal compared to what he had become.

In fact, he questioned himself over his upcoming actions. Why did he have to do things that wouldn't benefit him? Everything he once cherished had already vanished. He no longer had a reason or anyone to fight for.

What did their demise have to do with him?

And yet, that fading sliver of his humanity held him back from the edge, enough to stop him from turning into a god who would look at a dying world and do nothing.

No. I can't let everyone's sacrifices, including my own, be in vain. I need to complete the mission I set for myself back when I was still human.

"Let's start. I'm ready," Charles declared to the endless swarm of black dandelions floating across the sky.

"Great. Let's go."

The swarm of black dandelions gathered and merged into a mass of overlapping reality and illusion.

"Where are we going?" Charles asked.

"A thousand years into the past, when the Light God was first born. You can find the vast amount of energy you need there. There's also something else that we need to do there."

Upon hearing 005's response, Charles turned his massive eye toward the distant past and saw it clearly. The pieces fell into place.

"Alright, let's go." With 005 in tow, the duo entered the currents of time and raced backward.

They soon arrived at a moment one thousand years in the past, standing upon the very island that housed the Foundation’s Laboratory One—the birthplace of the Light God.

They remained hidden in the fracture of time and space as they watched the events unfold on the island.

K9, also known as Nancy, was recording her final words in front of a drone.

Charles waited in silence. He didn't ask 005 what his next course of action ought to be. He already knew from the moment he traveled from the future to the past. He had seen this all before.

Soon, the Divinity creation ritual began. Blinding rays of seven-colored sunlight burst outward. With the help of a drop of divine blood from Fhtagn, the Light God was thus born.

The light bathed the entire Subterranean Sea, its radiance falling upon the faces of every human present. At this point in history, humans had not yet fused with vampire DNA, so sunlight posed no threat to them.

However, this wasn't a blessing because the sunlight was beginning to peel their very souls from their bodies.

The Light God intended to separate every soul from its flesh so that it would be easier for Him to carry out His goal. He wanted to take all inhabitants of the Subterranean Sea away from this wretched place and head toward another star system to build a new homeland.

"It's about time for us to move."

Charles and 005 emerged from the spacetime rift.

However, the Light God's actions hadn't gone unnoticed. Other gods had also sensed His actions.

These existences had appearances that defied language and human comprehension. However, that did not come as a surprise to Charles. He, too, was no different from them now.

More than a hundred of these beings existed, but most of them merely watched in silence. However, Charles was not part of that group.

"Alright, let's do this," Charles announced, stopping time at his moment. His will shot out and wrapped around the Light God, dragging Him over.

However, he didn't get far.

From above, 004 emerged from the rocky terrain. It took on the form of a serpent with dazzling colors, and its body twisted into a perfect infinity loop.

Charles could see that time was in complete disarray around 004. Any human who came too close would either rapidly regress into a child or age into an old person within seconds. Regardless of the outcome, death would soon follow in some tragic form.

Charles' ability to stop time clearly did not affect beings like 004. In truth, once one became a god, very few could ever be frozen by Charles' time-stopping powers.

Charles received no words or thoughts from 004. Yet, he understood the latter's intent. It wanted to return the Light God to Fhtagn's side... to prevent the slumbering titan from awakening due to the loss of a drop of blood.

Just as the standoff teetered on a blade's edge, the onlookers moved.

Regardless of their purpose, some existences surged toward 004, while others charged at Charles. However, the vast majority descended upon the Light God.

The Light God’s intent to take all the humans of the Subterranean Sea and flee had clearly overstepped a boundary that the other beings were unwilling to ignore.

005's form suddenly expanded as an eruption of black dandelion tufts bloomed across the entire Subterranean Sea and wormed their way into every living body.

Under the influence of 005, the beings initially held back, but it didn't take long before the restraint crumbled and chaos erupted. One after another, the entities collided, merging into each other until their forms and essences became indistinguishable.

Time and space were shredded beneath their power.

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

A full-blown war broke out.