My attributes are increasing infinitely Chapter 428: Entering the magus world again
Previously on My attributes are increasing infinitely...
While the clone of Ethan in the Dragon World prepared itself for the coming of the Apocalypse messenger, his primary form abruptly experienced a sharp ache in his soul.
It was like some essential part of him was getting ground down by an immense, otherworldly rasp.
"What's happening?" he uttered, his tone strained amid the illusory torment.
He swiftly invoked his Law of Karma.
Within his mental vision, an expansive network of radiant crimson and golden threads materialized, symbolizing his ties across the multiverse.
He followed the origin of the discomfort along a dim, almost overlooked strand of destiny.
This path guided him to a realm he had explored during his initial adventures.
The Magus World.
In that place, he had planted a piece of his soul to develop on its own.
Higher entities often created such avatars to explore varied cultivation routes, though Ethan had largely allowed this one to proceed independently, intervening just once to rescue the youth's kin.
An individual was attempting to obliterate his full karmic presence by eliminating that fragment.
Ethan's core form presently contained the Origin Dimension along with the remnants he had obtained from the ancient bird.
That origin dimension held immense value for him, yet this soul fragment was emerging as a major vulnerability now.
As the scene unfolded before him, he observed the "Little Ethan," his avatar.
The young one had ascended to the rank of a Dimension Master.
In typical realms, such a status would equate to divinity.
However, in this domain, he faced utter devastation.
The cause of the suffering was timeless in its nature.
The youth had developed affection for the unsuitable individual.
He had offered his emotions to the offspring of a superior cosmic entity.
"I warned you to keep your distance from Lady Jenna," declared an elderly man clad in a dark butler's attire, his words laced with disdain.
He wielded a lash forged from soul-scorching lightning.
"She's far beyond your reach, yet you selected the route to ruin."
"She hails from a lineage dwelling in the 9th Dimension."
"She merely descended to this inferior layer to savor some earthly existence, and you had the audacity to reveal your sentiments to her?"
"You even presumed to brush against the edge of her clothing?"
The avatar sprawled across a gore-streaked stone surface, his form shattered.
"But... she claimed she felt the same for me," he murmured weakly.
"That's why I lingered."
"That's why I drew near to her."
Ethan's primary self sensed a genuine wave of mortification creeping along his back.
It wasn't terror.
It was sheer secondhand embarrassment.
"How much more pitiful can you get?" Ethan grumbled inwardly, massaging his forehead.
"Enduring torment over romance?"
"You, a piece of Ethan Hunt?"
"Across all existence, I'm the pinnacle of allure and near-unconquerable might, but this sliver of me behaves like a sorrowful lead in some low-budget love tale."
"This won't stand."
Yet suddenly, a more ominous insight struck him.
He understood the barrier preventing his ultimate advance into the Absolute Continuum.
He remained incomplete.
For ascension to Absolute status, an entity's complete karmic history needed consolidation.
Should this avatar perish or stay feeble, Ethan would suffer an enduring drain on his strength.
To surpass that threshold, he required elevating this avatar to match his core's potency before integrating it.
"Argh! So many issues piling up!" Ethan snarled, on the verge of yanking at his hair.
He was bound to the space cube and couldn't depart.
Yet he refused to permit this to persist.
In a flash, he generated a duplicate.
He cut its direct karmic bonds to conceal his actions.
Next, he directed it to enter the Magus World.
"Proceed," Ethan instructed the duplicate.
"But avoid direct involvement except when essential."
"Foster his growth."
The duplicate altered its form.
It transformed into a mature gentleman with keen, intellectual gaze.
Then it dissolved into the space cube's dimensional creases.
Within the interrogation room of the Trozan family's provisional estate, the butler grew increasingly irritated.
"What's the matter here?" the butler muttered irritably.
He struck out once more with the electric lash.
"Why is your being so resistant to erasure?"
"You're just a lowly 3rd-dimensional insect."
"From my 8th-dimensional vantage, I ought to erase you from recollection with mere intent."
"Have you employed some advanced dimensional relic to anchor your soul?"
Ethan's avatar offered no reply.
He was incapable of it.
His essence was stabilized by the overwhelming presence of the primary form, unbeknownst to him.
"What do you think you're doing?" a piercing, harmonious cry resounded through the chamber.
A young woman in a refined gown woven from twinkling starlight entered.
She possessed striking beauty.
Her locks resembled woven silver threads.
Her gaze carried the haughtiness of countless blazing stars.
This was Jenna.
The eyes of Little Ethan flickered with brief optimism.
A rush of expectation filled him.
"Jenna... please... help..."
"How dare you tamper with my plaything?" Jenna bellowed, glaring at the butler.
Ethan's avatar sensed his spirit lift.
But the subsequent words wounded him more profoundly than any lash.
"My apologies, Young Lady," the butler responded courteously, inclining deeply.
"It stems from His Highness, your father's command."
"He demands the connection terminated forever."
Jenna touched her jaw thoughtfully, eyeing the wounded youth below with the detached curiosity of a child toward a damaged toy.
"Father's directive?"
"Oh."
"In that case, what delays you?"
"End him."
"He provided some amusement over those few weeks."
"But now he's dull."
The spark in the eyes of Ethan's avatar extinguished.
The treachery was total.
From a hidden rift in the darkness, Ethan's duplicate observed the unfolding with a profound exhale.
He had witnessed sufficient.
This illustrated the peril of permitting a soul shard to mature absent The System or a hardened resolve.
They turned vulnerable.
The duplicate emerged from the gloom.
His aura abruptly saturated the space.
He refrained from unleashing an overpowering pressure.
He restrained it fully.
He appeared as an enigmatic traveler.
"Greetings, fellow cultivators," the duplicate stated evenly.
"Might you release this unfortunate lad on my account?"
"I offer treasures in trade for his freedom."
The butler stiffened.
His strands of hair bristled.
He had detected no trace of this man's entry.
In his realm, undetected presences were either ordinary folk or deities.
Observing the man's gaze, the butler dismissed the first possibility.
"Who might you be?" the butler inquired, maintaining poise while clutching his lash firmly.
"Why should the Trozan family yield to you?"
"Are you aware of our affiliations?"
The duplicate offered a faint smile.
He saw no point in lecturing a subordinate on cosmic rankings.
Instead, he extended his hand into the void and drew forth a blade.
As the edge materialized, the chamber shuddered.
It was a 10th-dimensional armament.
An instrument capable of cleaving the 9th Dimension with ease.
"Could this convey my significance to you?" the duplicate queried.
The butler's complexion drained of color.
The emanation from that blade surpassed even his lord's maximum might in dread.
His survival instincts urged flight.
Supplication.
Any action to endure.
"I beseech you," the duplicate uttered, his tone cooling slightly.
"Release him."
"I shan't request it thrice."
The butler was a cunning veteran.
He recognized superiority when confronted.
He started shaping a conciliatory grin, prepared to defer and yield the youth as a simple error.
He prioritized his survival over obedience to commands.
Yet authority rested elsewhere.
"I am Jenna of the 9th Dimension's Trozan lineage!" the girl proclaimed, advancing boldly.
She fixed her stare on the 10th-dimensional blade with unbridled avarice.
"You believe threats will work against us?"
"To depart here unscathed, surrender that armament and all contents of your spatial ring without query."
"Comply, and perhaps I'll permit you as my new stool."
The butler regarded Jenna with utter dismay.
His jaw slackened.
"This spoiled miss will spell ruin for our whole clan," he pondered.
The duplicate directed his attention to Jenna.
His expression held no fury.
Only compassion.
"You possess quite the bold tongue for one so diminutive," he remarked.
"Slay him!" Jenna shrieked at the butler.
"Why do you hesitate?"
"Eliminate him and seize that blade!"
The duplicate exhaled and glanced at the injured avatar of Ethan on the ground.
"Observe this, child?"
"This is the outcome of affection without sufficient strength to support it."
The duplicate made no swing with the sword.
He merely snapped his finger.
An unseen wave of power surged forth.
The butler, attempting to conjure a barrier, hurtled through seven masonry barriers.
His 8th-dimensional essence fractured at once.
Jenna's outcry halted as an intangible force pressed her against the wall.
Her lavish attire ripped.
Her energy field fragmented like brittle crystal.
"You... you mustn't..." she wheezed.
"But I can," the duplicate affirmed.
He approached Ethan's avatar and rested a palm upon his crown.
A torrent of refined, superior essence poured into the frame.
It mended his spirit.
"Rise."
"We're departing."