My Talent's Name Is Generator Chapter 843 A Handshake Across Lifetimes

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance," I replied, stretching out my hand.

A gentle chuckle escaped Xeron as he extended his own to grasp mine. His hold proved solid, much more robust than his bent posture implied. Briefly, it felt like an ordinary clasp shared by strangers encountering each other initially.

Then came the shift.

As soon as our palms connected, a sharp burst ripped across my thoughts.

A recollection.

It struck with overwhelming intensity, blotting out the now for a split second and substituting a vision from ages ago.

Dante appeared before me once more.

His form was crumbling by that point when the scene unfolded. Exhaustion etched deeply on his features, and raising his arm demanded tremendous effort. With clear difficulty, Dante lifted his right arm and placed it on his brow. His digits shook fiercely while he expelled something from within.

A subtle azure light emerged from his skull. A tiny sphere of radiance, throbbing delicately like a delicate pulse.

Upon reopening his right eye, it locked straight onto mine.

"These hold my memories," he uttered, his tone frail yet firm. "Keep this within your thoughts."

A subtle grin formed on his mouth.

"Hold off on viewing it… some parts might embarrass you."

His attempt at laughter morphed into a harsh hack.

"Someday," he murmured softly, "it shall aid you."

The little sphere drifted lazily toward me. I recall pausing for a mere instant, uncertain about receiving such an intimate gift.

Yet the honesty in his stare resolved my doubt. I permitted the sphere to integrate into my psyche.

It delved profoundly into my inner realm, nestling below the Time runes where it lay inactive.

"Thank you, Billion," Dante breathed as his vitality waned.

"I rejoice in knowing you three. Vaythos awaits a promising tomorrow."

The recollection concluded as suddenly as it had surged.

The present world snapped back.

I hovered above Base Thirty-Four still, my fingers intertwined with Xeron's.

Yet a transformation had occurred. In the depths of my inner realm, the inactive piece Dante bestowed upon me started to quiver. Without time for response, that piece lunged upward like a sentient entity. The compact bundle of locked recollections shattered its confines and propelled through my awareness.

Instantly, it departed my form entirely. A soft azure flicker danced between our linked palms. The memory shard plunged straight into Xeron's consciousness.

For the shortest instant, Xeron's gaze expanded in shock.

Next, his lids shut. His clasp on my hand grew a touch firmer as his frame froze completely.

Xeron kept his eyes sealed while the memory shard fused with his thoughts.

Several seconds passed with no motion nearby. The emptiness stayed silent, the pair of Naga vessels lingering close by, their occupants still on edge from the near-conflict that had nearly ignited. At Xeron's rear, the troops restraining Xebec observed warily, unsure if they ought to step in or merely observe.

I stayed motionless too.

Our hands remained joined, though my focus shifted inward.

Right after the shard exited my inner realm, another element trailed it. Not the full recollection from Dante, but a minuscule shard of it, concealed even from my own knowledge until this point. It ascended via my awareness like an enveloped message at last unsealing.

My surroundings faded as the shard expanded.

A silhouette materialized.

He lingered solitary in a secluded dimension. The individual donned billowing white garments that swayed lightly, as if caressed by a gentle breeze. His countenance hid behind a sleek ebony mask, one that concealed all traces of the wearer.

Still, the instant I beheld him, recognition dawned.

Dante.

He inclined his head a bit, seeming to peer right at me across the barrier of eras.

"Billion," he stated evenly. "This message is meant for you."

His tone held the familiar subdued wit I recalled, yet a weightier undertone lingered now.

"If this vision reaches you, the Dante you knew has perished."

He halted briefly, then released a light laugh.

"Yet Dante represents merely one," he pressed on. "He isn't truly me."

He folded his hands casually at his back and paced leisurely through the barren area.

"Understand, the Prime Galaxy pursues me relentlessly," he remarked casually. "I've earned formidable foes in that realm."

Yet another brief chuckle slipped out.

"Thus, I employed an old method."

He elevated one hand marginally.

"I divided my essence and dispersed my duplicates throughout the cosmos."

He pivoted a fraction toward me once more.

"The Dante you encountered served as one duplicate."

No sorrow colored his words as he declared it.

"Every duplicate bears a piece of my essence and a segment of my recollections. Many will pursue independent paths, oblivious to their counterparts. Others will perish. Some may rise in strength. A handful could someday reunite."

His concealed visage angled anew.

"I wish for you to encounter another eventually."

The surrounding void softened as the recollection neared its close.

"The recollection I passed to you holds beyond mere knowledge," he went on. "It harbors a minor piece of my essence."

"Should another piece lurk nearby, that fragment will detect it."

He extended a single digit.

"Upon detection, the recollections shall stir and enable that duplicate to grasp your identity."

A further gentle laugh arose from him.

"Regard that individual as yet another Dante too."

The recollection started to fade.

"And such recollections will assist him… or her… or whichever guise I assume henceforth…"

His tone softened gradually.

"…to grow acquainted with you."

The apparition dissolved. I floated anew over Base Thirty-Four, my grasp still on Xeron's. Opposite me, the elderly Naga's lids parted gradually. For the first occasion since our introduction, the mischievous assurance in his stare had vanished.

In its place shone acknowledgment. And an element perilously akin to incredulity.

He gazed at me steadily before uttering a word.

"Well," he murmured softly, a subtle grin gradually blooming on his features, "that clarifies certain matters."

At his back, Xebec continued to scowl in my direction, oblivious to the recent occurrence.

Yet Xeron's gaze stayed fixed on mine. And at last, I comprehended the reason the aged Naga had seemed so known from our first glimpse. Yet another shard of Dante's essence had at last located me.