My attributes are increasing infinitely Chapter 433: Meeting Erebus again

Ethan's primary form stepped into the negative plane.

Something stirred in the deep, overlapping layers of non-space.

The Presence.

It served as the Negative Plane's defense mechanism, a conscious natural force responsible for eliminating intruders. Lacking any facial features, it consisted of a massive, overshadowing awareness that filled the surrounding gloom.

The instant Ethan's boots made contact with the void, the Presence detected the disturbance.

To this enforcer, Ethan represented a persistent affliction. A pest that had slipped away from its grasp on a previous occasion.

"Vermin," a thunderous voice echoed, shaking deep into Ethan's bones. This wasn't mere noise; it acted as a mental attack that ripped at the particles of his spirit.

"How dare you invade my territory once more?"

The Presence offered no pause for a reply. Motives held no interest for it.

Instead, it extended the force of Erasure.

A surge of total oblivion surged toward Ethan, crafted to obliterate his existence, his material form, and his recollection from the weave of existence.

Yet Ethan had no patience for such confrontations.

He grew weary of the relentless chase, the perpetual nipping at his trail.

"Quiet," Ethan murmured softly.

From the emptiness, he pulled forth the Sword of Infinity.

The weapon vibrated with an illumination unfit for this realm.

As the Erasure wave closed in, Ethan executed a lone, sweeping horizontal strike with the blade.

"Extinction," he ordered.

The collision occurred without a sound, yet it proved total.

A Grade 2 Absolute Continuum power burst from the sword.

This went beyond a mere physical blow; it represented a core revision of the surrounding principles.

The energy advanced like an inexorable flood, encountering the Presence's Erasure and devouring it entirely.

The Presence lacked even the opportunity to cry out.

The extinction energy struck at the heart of its awareness, dismantling the enforcer so completely that the very idea of its "death" vanished.

In one instant, a divine-like being dominated this pocket of space.

In the next, only Ethan remained amid the fading remnants of disorder.

The emptiness attempted to mend itself.

The Presence initiated a gradual, torturous regeneration, weakly drawing from the infinite disorder of the hidden layer to rebuild its fragmented core.

However, the harm ran far too profound.

For the moment, the enforcer had vanished.

No quakes occurred.

No stellar blasts.

No warnings.

The shift happened so rapidly and the energy so precise that the broader Negative Plane stayed unaware of its protector’s downfall.

Ethan settled into a cross-legged position at the heart of the hushed void.

He turned his gaze inward, examining the terrain of his own strength.

Within his frame existed an boundless ocean of entropy.

Previously, he had deployed a fragment of it as an explosive to aid his getaway.

Consequently, the remaining power fell under an unconscious restraint.

This served as a protective measure.

His form had confined the ocean of entropy to avoid it breaking him down internally before he could prepare.

He commenced his cultivation.

As Ethan sank into profound meditation, his battle-tempered cells started to respond.

They pulsed with a hungry cadence, gnawing at the boundaries of the barrier.

The "lock" formed a intricate pattern of his foundational energy, functioning as a barrier containing a vast sea.

With each inhalation, Ethan channeled his attention to the barrier, gradually weakening it.

[Current State: Cells drawing in surrounding entropy.

Target: Releasing the inner Sea of Entropy.

Time Required: 10 days of unbroken alignment.]

Day after day, the strain in the nearby space intensified.

His physique transformed into a singularity, pulling in the scattered entropy from the Negative Plane to power the shattering of his internal bonds.

On day three, his epidermis developed a gleaming, dark-as-night luster.

By day seven, the region spanning a hundred miles around him twisted, curving inward toward his vital core.

On the tenth day, the last thread of the barrier broke.

The inner ocean of entropy rushed forth.

It posed no danger anymore.

It had integrated fully with him.

His cells drew the power straight from its depths, driving a swift, noiseless transformation.

His skeleton grew denser than collapsed stars.

He transcended the role of mere outsider in the shadows.

He ascended to its supreme ruler.

Ethan rose to his feet, his transformation now propelled by his personal ocean of entropy. He saw no reason to linger here further.

He readied himself to rip open a portal to the positive plane, aiming to retreat to the secure confines of the Space Cube.

Abruptly, a repulsive, recognizable presence fixed upon him.

It felt icy and timeless.

Ethan refrained from spinning around right away.

He recognized that essence.

He knew that pressure.

Erebus.

The ancient darkness had located him once more.

But the terror from their past clashes had faded away.

Ethan pivoted gradually, his gaze now shimmering with a subtle, chaotic glow.

He regarded Erebus, perceiving more than just the silhouette.

He discerned the fundamental nature.

Ethan's eyes expanded in surprise.

He observed the churning mists of entropy inside Erebus, as anticipated.

Yet buried far deeper, concealed at the entity's innermost center, lay an expansive, radiant reservoir of Origin Energy.

It shone with purity, vitality, and utter balance.

Still, it remained imprisoned by a barrier far more intricate than the one Ethan had recently overcome.

"You're no native of this realm," Ethan reflected aloud, his tone steady.

"A flawless entity from the Neutral Plane, exiled to the universe's refuse pile."

Erebus halted several steps distant, a slender, chilling grin curling his mouth.

In that instant, he resembled no beast.

He evoked a deposed sovereign.

"You possess sharp perception," Erebus remarked.

His tone grated like clashing rocks.

"I realize I can't overcome you at this point. Your advancement has elevated you out of my grasp. Yet I come not for battle."

Ethan stayed quiet, his palm hovering close to the Sword of Infinity's grip.

"I'm confined in this place," Erebus went on.

"Banished and bound. But you hold the capability to reverse the deed."

"Should you assist in freeing my energy reservoir, I'll provide what you crave most."

"Knowledge. Authentic insights into the Apocalypse Race and the real essence of the Neutral Plane."

Ethan's face showed no shift, though his thoughts surged.

The Apocalypse Race loomed as a dark cloud over all he valued.

"Share the details upfront," Ethan replied offhandedly.

"If they're valuable enough to warrant breaking your origin energy's bonds, I'll think it over."

"Otherwise, I'll abandon you to decay here."

Erebus wasted no time.

He understood his sole bargaining chip was honesty.

He advanced nearer, positioning himself by Ethan's side until he could speak in hushed tones.

For the following hour, the void echoed solely with the steady, subdued flow of Erebus's words.

He described the structure of the Neutral Plane.

He detailed the "End-Timers."

The elite figures of the Apocalypse Race who regarded whole worlds as nothing but resources for their rise.

He explained their physiology, vulnerabilities, and ongoing path.

As the revelations emerged, Ethan's stance altered.

His jaw clenched.

He recalled Zara.

The accounts of the Apocalypse Race's "harvesting" techniques proved horrific.

Per Erebus, their proximity exceeded Ethan's wildest fears.

Upon Erebus's conclusion, a weighty strain enveloped Ethan.

He stared into the obscurity, his spirit burdened by the vastness of the peril.

"Does it suffice?" Erebus inquired, his gaze sparkling with frantic expectation.

Ethan offered no response.

He extended his arm and laid his palm upon Erebus's crown.

Shutting his eyes, he dispatched a thread of his freshly advanced energy toward the binding that held the shadow's origin energy.

The very second his energy brushed the binding, an icy tremor coursed through Ethan's back.

[Master, halt!] The system's alert blared in his thoughts, more piercing and insistent than before.

[Do not proceed. This binding comes from no ordinary force. It bears the mark of a Grade 4 Absolute Continuum entity.]

[Meddling with it will alert the creator to your presence right away.]

[You'll be exposing your position to an existence capable of wiping out this whole region with a mere whim.]

Ethan halted abruptly.

He withdrew his hand as though scorched.

Erebus's eyes widened in alarm, his features twisting in astonishment and dismay.

"Why halt now? You were so close!"

Ethan regarded him with a blend of compassion and irritation.

"You bear a formidable, grudge-holding foe, Erebus."

"You omitted that your imposer is a Grade 4 entity."

Erebus inhaled sharply, reeling backward.

"How... how could you know the Grade? I never revealed..."

"That's not your concern," Ethan retorted sharply.

He studied the shadow figure, considering his choices.

Despite the risk, Erebus's shared intelligence proved priceless.

Owing a debt from a "perfected being" offered a strong advantage.

"I won't free you," Ethan declared.

"I'm not courting a Grade 4 adversary. Not at this stage."

"But I'm not abandoning you in this spot."

Ethan gestured with his hand, creating a tear to his personal inner realm.

The secluded space he had nurtured.

"You may dwell within my domain," Ethan proposed.

"It's shielded from this plane's detection."

"If you seek escape from this emptiness and survival, enter."

"But should you scheme against me, I'll allow the entropy to devour you gradually."