Silence.
Absolute silence fell over Aravalli the instant Seraphielle disappeared. Aurel gulped. Even now, after a few seconds had passed since the Infinity of Light left, her last glare was still imprinted on his mind.
He wasn't a fool.
He knew what that look ant.
And he…
He didn't know what to do, but just then—
"You are thinking too much."
Orravyn spoke up.
Aurel turned towards him, and the Infinity of Eternity smiled,
"Seraphielle deeply cares about her reputation.
Your world already left the Faction of Light. If you or your world disappear anyti soon, it would make it too obvious.
Seraphielle would not risk that, at least now."
Aurel looked at him. There were still many questions in his head, Orravyn knew that as well, so he—
"As I said, stop thinking.
Right now, she wouldn't do anything to you."
"What about… later?"
Aurel asked with hesitation. He did not like how Orravyn constantly ntioned the words 'right now' and 'at least now', it felt… ominous.
"What about after everything settles down?"
His question, however, just made Orravyn smile,
"Things won't be 'settling down' anyti soon, I can assure you of that.
As for what happens after they do settle down…
Well, the entire Universe should be asking that sa question, because no one knows when everything is going to settle down and how it is going to happen.
The Anomaly may be weak, he may be scared of Seraphielle, maybe he has been actively avoiding her all this ti,
But one thing that cannot be denied is that—
He is strong."
Orravyn spoke with a solemn look on his face.
"No one in the Universe, except for us Infinities, is capable of stopping him or holding him in one place.
And that makes him a difficult enemy to deal with, especially when he can hide in an entirely different Universe we have no ans to get to.
The Anomaly can, essentially, even right now, decide never to co out, and not just Seraphielle, but none of the Infinities would be able to catch him.
He would basically be running away, even after everything he has done, and that would make us a laughingstock in the entire Universe."
Aurel blinked at those words. He knew Anomaly was strong—it was very clear from the ease with which he devoured worlds after worlds without being caught by Light—but…
To think that even the Infinities, even when all of them worked together, would be unable to catch him if he didn't want to be caught or slipped away during one of his attacks—
That just showed how terrifying of a being he was.
And after joining the Eternity Faction, he, at the very least, no longer had to worry about this monster appearing in front of him out of nowhere and perishing under his attacks.
That alone was more than enough reason for him to join the Eternity Faction. As for not having their mories read every single month and keeping their privacy intact—
That was an added benefit.
Aurel was glad he made the choice. He just had one question—
"Does Lady Seraphielle have a way to face him?"
He asked after so hesitation, then, thinking his question didn't make sense, he changed it and asked another.
"Can Lady Seraphielle protect the worlds under her faction from the Anomaly's onslaught?"
Yes, that was the question.
What most of the Light Worlds cared about.
After all, Lady Seraphielle herself being strong enough to defeat the Anomaly was a fact every single one of them knew—
But could Lady Seraphielle use her overwhelming strength to protect them? To make Anomaly fear the consequences of his actions? To make it so Anomaly never attacked them ever again?
And no, they weren't hoping this would all happen overnight. None of the Light Worlds were. After all, Anomaly was a threat even the Universe could not predict, a threat even the Universe's Will was constantly threatened by and threw fits of anger whenever he did sothing—
How could one stop such a being entirely and instantly?
Lady Seraphielle and the Supre Faction of Light might be strong, but against the unknown, even they needed ti.
But…
But the thing was—
More than five years had already passed, and the attacks—
The attacks still hadn't stopped.
In fact, at this point, a pattern had ford, a pattern so predictable that it was almost scary. Every single week, one Light World falls, and the rest of the Light Worlds?
The only thing they could do was hope they weren't next.
It was… suffocating.
Especially when they complied with every single demand Light made, no matter how unreasonable they were.
But even then—
Nothing happened.
Light was as helpless as it was in the beginning, even worse, since now the entire Universe watched the show as the Light Worlds suffered.
The Light Worlds, the once proud worlds that moved around the Universe with their heads held high, they had now beco victims—victims the entire Universe laughed at, not just behind their backs, but right at their faces too.
It was… humiliating.
And that was the reason Aurel left the Light Faction.
And—
"She cannot."
Orravyn's words only made him more sure of his decision.
Then, he asked another question—
"Then… why aren't the other Infinities aiding her?
Isn't Anomaly from another Universe?
That's a threat that is harmful for our entire Universe. If he prevails, won't other factions be in danger too?"
At that question, Orravyn looked at Aurel for a mont, then, with the sa smile on his face—
"Did you forget what I said?
Even now, Anomaly can decide to stay in his Universe and never return to ours, and we would have no way to do anything to him.
What do you think would happen if all four Infinities start actively hunting him together?"
Aurel's expression changed.
"He… he might not return."
He answered.
That was obvious. With four Infinities combining their strength to chase after you, even the strongest of beings would run away, let alone the Anomaly, who couldn't even face one Infinity.
"That is correct."
Orravyn answered, as if that was the answer to Aurel's question. Aurel, however, just frowned even further.
"But… isn't that what we want?"
He asked, almost with an… innocent look on his face.
Orravyn actually turned towards him. He seed… surprised. He was having a hard ti believing he was talking to a Progenitor of a High-Level World; such beings were usually quick to catch on.
'Is it because he is young?'
Orravyn wondered.
Aurel was only about fifty thousand years old. He still hadn't had too many interactions in the Universe.
Orravyn just shrugged. This was usually the ti he lost interest and left, but Aurel's strange innocence gave him a sense of fresh air, and that… made him stay.
He smiled, then he looked at Aurel and decided to humor him—
"If soone attacks your ho, takes what belongs to you, and continues to do this every single day for months,
Would you be… satisfied with just letting him go?"
The Infinity of Eternity asked, and Aurel's…
His expression changed.
"No."
He shook his head.
"What would you do?"
Orravyn asked another question. This ti, there was this… hypnotic charm in his voice, and just a small conversation with him was more than enough for Aurel's thinking to… change.
"I would set a trap, wait for the thief to fall in my trap, and capture him—
Alive."
He answered, his golden eyes glowing strongly.
Orravyn nodded, satisfied.
"Exactly."
Aurel nodded as well. He felt more… learned.
And just when he was making sense of all these thoughts in his head, Orravyn chuckled again—
"Not to ntion the thief was never stealing from you. He was stealing from your enemy faction.
Would you, in this case, willingly help that faction that is getting poorer after every steal?
Or would you rather watch… the collapse?"
Aurel's expression changed.
For a mont, he wanted to defend Light. Soon, however, he realized that he was no longer part of Light. If anything, he was now one of Light's pri targets.
In his own personal interest, it was better for Light to continue losing strength and stay distracted.
But there was still one thing he couldn't understand.
"What if… that faction snaps?"
He asked.
"What if… sensing that it is helpless against the thief, it snaps at the other three factions that are just waiting for its fall? What if that starts a big war?"
Orravyn's smile widened at those words.
Was that a possibility?
He would be a fool to think it was not.
Even when they and the other Supre Factions were, on paper, helping the Light Faction, the truth couldn't be more apparent. So while Seraphielle wouldn't have much of a proper 'cause', if pushed to desperation, cause wouldn't matter.
She could very well wage war against them for colliding with the enemy and planning her fall, but…
"If that happens—"
Orravyn began, his smile widening even further,
"Then that faction would be facing three other factions that are just as strong, if not stronger, than it.
What do you think would be the result of that battle?"
The Infinity of Eternity asked.
He…
He was definitely enjoying this conversation.
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