While Ash eyed the Infinite Weaver... from behind him his women had walked up completely disregarding the massive being in front of them.
Katherine was the first to move forward against the void as she stepped past Ash like she was walking into her home that had an intruder.
Her long blonde hair swayed with every step; crimson eyes locked on Morgana with the kind of possessive sweetness that could curdle blood.
Madison followed right behind herâ feral grin wide enough to show every sharp tooth, posture loose and ready to pounce.
The other fourâSylvie, Rune, Seraphiel, Aelorisâtrailed slightly, forming a loose semicircle behind Ash and Morgana like silent sentinels.
Katherine reached Ash first.
She slid one arm around his waist from behind, pressing her cheek against his bare shoulder while her free hand reached up to trace a single crimson nail along Morganaâs exposed collarboneâslow, deliberate, almost gentle.
"My, my..." Katherine purred, her voice sweet as honey but edged with steel.
"Look at you... all that bronze skinâvery nice. Just... very tempting." Her nail traced lightly, enough to leave the thinnest line of black ichor.
"But youâre standing just a bit too close to whatâs mine, donât you think?"
Madison let out a low, rough chuckle, circling to Ashâs other side, her clawed hand sliding up his back before hooking possessively over his shoulder.
"Iâve gotta admit... haha, sheâs got good taste," Madison drawled, her slit-pupiled gaze roaming up and down Morganaâs figure.
"Hm, and I bet Diana would appreciate her style of clothing." She leaned in toward Ashâs ear, her voice dropping to a husky whisper loud enough for everyone nearby.
"Do you think she realizes how many times our dear sisters have... broken people who tried to take whatâs ours?"
Through it all, Morgana didnât so much as flinch.
Her dark crimson eyes shifted from Katherineâs nail to Madisonâs claws, then back to Ash.
The smile on her lips widened just slightlyâamused, unafraid.
Ash hadnât stopped them at all; he knew things wouldnât go too far, so he simply let it play out, smiling as he met the gaze of the Infinite Weaver.
The colossal being had been watching the entire time. But Ash knew he wasnât just watchingâhe was searching, deep within...
And he had been since the very moment the Higher Realm vanished.
The Infinite Weaver... he wasnât your typical cultivator. Even at the Peak Hyperversal realm, he stood out.
I mean... he had to, considering he knew things beyond even some in the Higher Dimensions. This remarkable being had never ascended past the Middle Dimension of the Third Organism.
All because he was exiled. Yet, somehow, he still learned about the existence of the organisms.
It was all because of who he was... Infinitinace, the transcendent conceptual embodiment of Infinity.
A concept no other organism possessed, born solely in the Third.
Like Aphrodite, the Fourth Incarnation, and other naturally born concepts that were born in the Ninth.
His power went far beyond infinite mana or the ability to peer through endless timelines and realities.
No, the infinity he commanded broke the very foundation of the power system itself.
As mentioned before, after stepping into the Third Realm of Power (Beyond Cosmic Overlord), beings began operating within Layers.
At the Peak of Hyperversal, one would command 99 Layers â the pinnacle of the Middle Dimension.
But he didnât operate within those Layers.
He reached into Hyperversal Infinities â hierarchies so vast that even infinite towers of lower infinities were nothing more than finite specks in comparison.
These were the true upper bounds â layers beyond continuum, beyond countable cardinals, beyond anything the Lower Realms could even imagine.
This didnât place him above those in the Higher Dimensions, far from it, but it did make him virtually unbeatable among his rank, while granting him deeper insight into concepts like Fate, Destiny, and whatever else he could grasp.
In that moment, he searched as deeply as he could, but no matter how far or how hard he looked, his Land of Weavingâthe Higher Realm it specificâwas gone.
Not a trace remained; no history, no timeline, no reality showed it had ever existed. It made no sense, yet the truth was clear: heâd lost everything he had worked for.
The loss of his higher realm had effectively set him back countless cycles.
For the first time since his exileâlong before the Oath had even bet setâThe Infinite Weaver felt something close to true anger.
A cold, detached rage made the void around him shudder.
He spoke and.... his voice?
It was not sound but the collapse of all possible futures into a single unbearable present.
"Enough."
The word struck like a guillotine across every layer of existence.
Katherineâs nail stopped mid-trace, Madisonâs claws paused on Ashâs shoulder, and the other four women froze mid-step. Even Morganaâs faint smile seemed to hang in the air.
Ash tilted his head slightly as he waved his hand. In that moment he activated a few trans-concepts...
|Preservance|
|Indomitance|
|Aegisance|
|Sanctuarance|
He picked four Trans-concepts, all centered on protectionânot for himself, but for his women. He could do this because he held every concept that made up the Ninth Organism, thanks to the Originâs essence.
While each revolved around safeguarding, they excelled in different ways.
Preservance embodied the absolute state of protection, making all lesser notions of barriers, shields, or survival pale in comparison.
Indomitance was the refusal to yield to any form of breaking, erosion, violation, or destruction.
Aegisance represented perfect guardianship and absolute defense, elevating protection to a level where the guarded became conceptually untouchable.
Lastly, Sanctuarance was the state that established and maintained spaces, beings, and essences beyond the reach of harm, alteration, or outside influence.
Now, call it overprotection or whatever... But he wouldnât take any chances. Because he knew as protective as these sounded... nothing was truly ever a guarantee.
Which is why he used four instead of simply one.
When everything was set... he finally spoke.
"You know... you almost ruined a good battle between us."
The void went silent at those words... just imagine if the Infinite Weaver had chosen to attack his women instead of simply freezing them.
Even just restraining them was enough to tick Ash off, but he couldnât deny itâhe was thrilled to face a being who could actually hurt him.
The Infinite Weaverâpure infinity incarnateâblinked once more.
And in that blink, the void holding eight beings was changed forever.