Dimensional Descent

El’Rion sat in silent meditation. The world around him could only be described as fantastical, not because it was beautiful or sinister, but because it truly made one question life by making one feel exceptionally small. The room felt like a space filled with mirrors and spatial fissures. Bits and pieces of reality were strewn about, and by reaching out and plucking one, one could end up in just one of what felt like trillions of worlds. Small. Insignificant. A mere speck of dust…

These were the feelings that this room elicited, and it was precisely this sort of room that the elites of the Pluto Race trained in. For El’Rion, given his standing, he had been granted such treatment long ago. But with the decline of the Pluto Race, at least until recently, very few other than the oldest of monsters were given the right to frequent this place.

Of course, the reason that this was only until recently was because things had changed the moment the Idol Battlefield had appeared. If there was one thing the Pluto Race was exceptional at, it was seizing an opportunity. There was a reason that they had reigned since the fall of the God Beasts. Their decline had little to do with outside interference and entirely to do with a matter far more difficult to combat…

The Cycle of Life.

No one could remain alive forever, and much the same, no family or organization could ever exist into perpetuity. The Pluto were declining for no other reason than the fact they had already been the strongest for too long. With the ebbs and flows of Time, those that were once on top were bound to fall as well, ushering a new age that came in behind them. Before, it had been the God Beasts, and now it seemed that it would be their turn…

Or it would have had it not been for the appearance of the Idol Battlefield. With its appearance, the chance for the Pluto to rise again had appeared before them, and as a result, they had already gone all out. El’Rion had already been experiencing excellent treatment, but even his own had been elevated in recent months. The Pluto took out everything they planned to hold in reserve and pushed all their chips to the middle of the table.

It was under these circumstances that the storm that had taken hold of Existence also reached the Pluto.

El’Rion opened his eyes, sensing the disturbance long before it came to him. If the Dream Force experts could ignore time, then the Pluto were the one and only Race that passed down an Inheritance of time, and the only ones since the beginning of Existence itself to have a Lineage Factor related to the rare Force.

Time Force affinities always appeared through Ability Indexes, as though it was a gift granted by Existence. For others, they could only gain some control over Time by increasing their Forces to a certain level, but even then, it would always be auxiliary and almost perfunctory in a way. Only the Pluto broke this rule, and they were the only example of it being broken.

So, El’Rion sensed the commotion even before it truly came, and as expected, someone came to alert him not long afterward.

Soon, El’Rion found himself in a meeting that was far above his station. He knew the real reason he was here. It wasn’t because his father was their leader or that his grandfather was the strongest of the Pluto. It was ironically because he was the only one among them all to have contact with the boy that set the world ablaze.

“… Yes, I knew.”

El’Rion answered the millionth question, but this time the reaction was quite fierce. Of course, the question had been whether or not he knew that Leonel was the one to set up the Void Race. Back then, El’Rion had already pieced it together. The Void Race wasn’t the only one being used, but the Pluto had been being used by Leonel as well. It was just that the big shots of other God Races couldn’t see this because unlike Leonel, El’Rion had protection against such probing. When they went back into Leonel’s memories, it was like El’Rion had been edited out of them all.

“Why did you say nothing?”

A Pluto that seemed to be the size of a planet spoke. None of them were truly enraged; they just looked at El’Rion questioningly. This seemed like quite an important matter.

“I didn’t believe it was important enough to inform the elders about. It is also my personal grudge to repay.”

The elders didn’t mind the first part. Maybe only the Pluto Race could feel that it wasn’t a big deal that the Void Race had been played like this and forced into a war by a human. Although they were declining, there wasn’t a single Race that would dare to openly provoke the Pluto. The reason they were said to be declining was that the middle range of their experts was beginning to lag behind, while the current generation was even worse. However, the old monsters who held up the skies were still very much there. Until they died, no one would dare to have thoughts about a full-scale offensive. That said, the second part intrigued them.

They knew that El’Rion already had the strength to kill this boy; he had had the strength long ago. So what kind of revenge was he seeking?

El’Rion shook his head.

“My starting point and his are different. Acting against him now wouldn’t change that I suffered a loss at his hands. But I also know that I am not as intelligent as he is either.

“So, I can only settle the score with my fists when he has had ample opportunity to catch up.”

The elders fell into silence and didn’t reply for a long while… until it was El’Rion’s father who spoke.

“There is news that will soon bring this commotion to another level.”

El’Rion frowned because he heard a hint of solemnity in his father’s voice, something that was impossibly rare.

“What is it?” he asked.

“The Idol Battlefield has descended because of the boy.”