New Game+ - Chapter 458: Shakstress’s Death
A month ago, going back in time, during the climax of the battle in Egypt…
The purging white energy Lynd and Seeker used to attack Shakstress was generosity. At the destruction of her Throne and Exoskeleton, Seeker and Lynd did her a favor and purged every cell in her body.
As the blazing heat destroyed her body, she smiled and watched the expressions of the two.
Despite the wasteful elimination of her body. Instead of performing experiments on her Nefilus suit, Seeker and Lynd opted to show her that her body would be incinerated thanks to the many information and advantages she provided.
“Thank you.” Shakstress muttered. Whether or not Seeker and Lynd actually heard or saw her mutter, those words were trivial to Shakstress, who wanted to express her thanks.
Her body was destroyed, and all that remained was her soul that was bound to be extinguished and vanish into the higher heavens as there was no longer anything in the three-dimensional plane to which her soul could anchor on.
But as she was doing that, a mysterious power appeared and began to draw her back.
“Soul Cage? This is a Principal’s power! No! Somethings different! Who’s there?!”
“Hello, Shakstress.” A woman appeared before her.
“You! Zeraphine?!” Shakstress was stunned to find an older Zeraphine standing before her.
“Yes. But not the one you know. As you can see, I’m older.” Zeraphine smiled.
“What do you want? Let me go, and let me leave! I am done fighting and only want to rest!”
“No. Why should I? I found a great defender for my husband’s future.” Zeraphine sneered.
Suddenly, a powerful shield appeared and surrounded Shakstress. The power was Universe Energy!
Shakstress couldn’t move as she saw a great power.
“Let’s go.” Zeraphine quickly drew Shakstress back into Seeker’s soul.
“Quietly now. You don’t want the other soul to notice you.” Zeraphine chuckled.
It happened too fast, and Shakstress’s soul was drawn back into Seeker’s soul.
The two Seekers were actively fighting and didn’t notice the strange events that had happened.
Shakstress found herself in a strange world. She could be a strange Earth. One driven to the point of breaking from the many wars that raged on it.
“This is my home.”
“A memory? Seeker said he was from the future… it couldn’t be!”
“Yes. Both Seekers didn’t notice. But since I died, I’ve been living within Seeker.”
“What did you do?! How is this possible? You were inside Seeker all along?!” The situation was so bizarre. There was no way that the soul of Zeraphine could have stayed inside the soul of another when her body died. Unless someone becomes a Principal, the locality of a soul is fixed to the main body.
“Love made me do this. Are you interested in learning this? I can seal you in this place. You could live on and have a chance to be reborn into something stronger.” Zeraphine smiled.
“No! I don’t have any interest in fighting anymore!”
“Then why not be an observer? We don’t know if you can observe the battle of the Prime Wars in the afterlife. Aren’t you curious who will win?”
“You’re insane! How are you able to breach the rules and allow me to stay here?!”
Zeraphine smiled.
“Seeker’s Path. This body’s power has been blessed and crafted by the Lost Primordial. Seeker doesn’t know that because he and Lynd were synced like this, he was able to do the impossible when they fought you. Lynd can observe and copy, but Seeker could discern the foundation. Of course, I had to help a little. I used his body to recreate a cell that is yours.” Zeraphine explained.
“You recreated my cell? I see. So that’s why my soul can’t leave just yet…”
“Yes. What helped was your state as well. When you were talking with Seeker and Lynd, both were actively using their Paths to understand you. And you were at your purest form. Any other influences did not plague you.”
“Influences?”
“Why do you want to join the Prime Wars? I bet you can’t answer that question now.” Zeraphine chuckled.
“What kind of a question is that? Of course, I want to…” It was then the Shakstress became silent.
“What happened?”
“Your death and your acceptance of it has caused the curse of the Primordial to end. It’s a very interesting feeling, isn’t it?”
“What has the Primordial done?” Shakstress was horrified. The relief that she felt was more than just her being free from the pressure of the Prime Wars. It was something else!
“To ensure the Prime Wars, he needed to reshape the hearts of all Aragarians. That’s why people like you can’t help but fight the Primes Wars. And you might say, what about the rest who ignore or flee from the Prime Wars? For Conquerors to be born, a society with people that have no intention of fighting has to exist. The Primordial had to ensure that our world would have great competition and the existence of incompetent ones who we laugh at. But notice how none of us ever dared to go against the Prime Wars. It’s like we just accepted it and wanted it even though we knew it was just the attempt of the Primordial to find a way into the high heavens. Well, actually, there was one who didn’t accept it.”
“The Lost Primordial!”
“Exactly. He was the only one who wanted to stop the Prime Wars. I mean, think about it. How many of us will remain after the Prime Wars? Imagine the death toll. And all this so that we can create new Primes and push ourselves to create technologies beyond what we have. That’s what the Lost Primordial wanted to stop. And not just this one, but he wanted to stop the senseless repetition of wars our world is engulfed in.”
“Repetition of wars? What repetition? The Prime Wars has not yet happened!”
“Oh, but it did. Why did we wage war against the Babelians?”
“You can’t mean…!”
“Yes. Besides, it’s hard to create the coming war. Not everyone desires power. But the Primordial used his power to control everyone, even Primes! The very nature of our being has been shifted so that we can only follow it. Some are destined to ignore it, others are destined to flee, while the few were given the desire to Conqueror. Your pride as a Conqueror is nothing but an instilled nature. And now you are free from it, Shakstress.”
Shakstress was shocked at Zeraphine’s revelation.
“How did you know of this?”
“I killed myself in front of Seeker. The scandal that would erupt had I allied myself with Seeker would have been used against my father back home. It’s funny, isn’t it? I spent my life running away from my overprotective father. In the end, I realized he was right and that I actually loved him. But that was a problem because I couldn’t bring myself to kill Seeker. In the end, I killed myself, seeing no escape in the dangerous dilemma of choosing him or my father. In the end, I decided to kill myself and give Earth a tremendous and crucial victory. But when I killed myself, Seeker had so much of me in his heart that he created a strange power. We loved each other so much that our souls became one.”
“Seeker said he time traveled. He brought you with him!”
“Actually, he couldn’t have done that without me. Seeker didn’t just transmit his memories which created his other soul in this timeline. He sent his soul to the past with the help of my power.”
“Impossible!”
“Indeed. The more I see things from Seeker’s point of view, the more amazed I am with the power of the Lost Primordial. Shakstress. The Lost Primordial has allies among the Aragarians. We are told that he stole power from Principals and Primes and became stronger. That was wrong. He broke the chains that bound him to the Prime Wars and did something no one else could. He formed a team that helped him fight the battles. I believe that my father is an ally of the Lost Primordial!”
“The path of Unity! That’s what Seeker said!”
“Yes. Shakstress, I don’t believe in coincidence. The battle of the Primordial and the Lost Primordial is not yet over. Your presence here and the events that allow you to be free from the chains of the Primordial is part of the will of the Lost Primordial. Join us!”
“Then I will ask you this, Zeraphine. What is an Overcomer?”
“Conquerors wish to Conquer. But when they do, they remain alone. That is the ideology and path that the Primordial took. The Overcomer wishes to Overcome. And that means to overcome with allies by his side. Every Overcomer on this earth wishes not to be alone. Even the more wicked ones like that Tyrant Empress. You’ve met her, right? After all, who would praise her beauty if there is none around this world? So… will you join us?”
“You’ve convinced me that the Lost Primordial’s path is the right one after all. Fine. If that Primordial cursed me to be his pawn, my soul wouldn’t rest until I pay him back!”
Back at present, Zoe smiled as she reappeared, and her appearance slowly reverted back to Zeraphine.
When Lennox introduced the A.I system, unknown to Seeker, Zeraphine had taken that form and merged both her and Shakstress to create the new being. It was, in fact, a being of two souls.
“Looks like we’ve saved your boyfriend. I’m curious. Is this the first time you did?” Shakstress asked.
“No. Seeker made a huge mistake back then when he faced Greydon Meng. He nearly lost two Overcomers due to his oversight. So I had to prod him to continue. I whispered a simple sentence, and that sentence shockingly made him an Overcomer.” Zeraphine chuckled.
“Who is that other person? Her powers are interesting.”
“We’ll find out, won’t we?” Zeraphine tore another portal and the two combined back into Zoe.
On the other side of the strange dreamworld, Seeker was shocked as he saw his grandmother.
“Granny?!”
“Hey, Zeek! Just checking up on you to see if you are alright. The Progenitor got worried and sent me as he sensed something infiltrating your soul.” The old woman chuckled.
Hearing those words, Seeker knew that someone was spying on them.
“Father sent you? Who is trying to infiltrate my soul?”
Garenjazz watched in the background, and he sighed.
“So I can’t get anything out of this… To think I wasted so much Universe energy.” Garenjazz felt pain.
“Granny?” Zoe’s voice was heard as she stepped into the dream.
“Hrm? Who is this young lady? Seeker! Were you dreaming of something… perverted? I can’t believe the son of the Progenitor is having a wet dream!”
“Granny! Stop!” Seeker facepalmed.