Duality of Shadows-Chapter 991: Capacities Increased

The whale emerged as an ethereal shadow, and after a few seconds, he took form, finding himself back in reality. In front of him, he saw that Meru was the only one awake, staring at him with bright eyes.

"You’re back from the trial?"

He asked, and she nodded. "I just had a few nightmares from that time we met Zian and Rian. But it was pretty short, and I woke up quickly."

Alm and Bruno understood. Meru was almost immune to this trial; it was impossible for the calamity to evaluate her properly. After all, she didn’t remember her one previous life, and the calamity couldn’t use that against her. In her current life, she was too young and had no major traumas.

Because of this, she simply woke up, expelled from the trial without winning or losing. The whale nodded, and at that moment, the people around them began to wake up all at once.

"Mom..." Meru murmured, but her answer came quickly. Ruri’s eyes opened, and a colorful light pulsed from her pupils, like two beacons.

Almin, Lyra, and Meru clearly felt the connection between the Primordial Chaos items and her. Ruri took a deep breath, and the light in her eyes faded.

Alm and Bruno turned their gazes to the space above the planet they were on. That strange blade cut left behind by the calamity was still there. Why was it still lingering?

They turned back to Ruri and internally analyzed her condition. In her mental sea, they noticed a dense cluster of colorful, calm, and stable runes.

All the Primordial Chaos items weren’t exactly physical objects. Just like the whale’s current body, they could manifest physically but also exist ethereally without issue.

This Blade of Devotion, in particular, didn’t have a defined form like the Cauldron or the Mirror. Its power was like that of a blade, justifying its name, but Ruri could now mold it however she wished.

Alm and Bruno realized that Ruri had only a portion of the blade, even after passing the trial. Meanwhile, the calamity hovered above, as if waiting for something.

Ruri turned her gaze to the whale, her mind in disarray. She was filled with memories mixing together, as if they were fragments of different lives.

"You all lived an illusion based on your memories. That was the calamity’s trial," the whale explained to her and the others listening. "In your case, I helped a bit, giving you a push... Even without memories, you were still you. Since I know you very well, it was easier."

Ruri murmured, "Master..."

"Yeah, I nudged you to change everything and defeat that man right at the start. After that... well, it was a bit weird pretending to be a woman and then a young man to flirt with you. But in the end, it all worked out."

Ruri sighed as the pieces began falling into place in her mind. The memories from when she was Huuya were real; the new ones created during the trial were just an illusion, with completely opposite events.

She looked deeply at the whale and then smiled in relief. "Good thing it was you, Master. But... it was a bit cruel making me fall for another woman. And then repeating it... though it was kind of fun."

The whale snorted, indifferent. They did what had to be done. In the end, the two were already married and just flirting with each other—it was like wearing costumes.

At that moment, Ruri floated up to face him. "Master... thank you for everything. I want to keep doing my best. Please accept this."

She moved her hands toward her heart and closed her eyes. Soon, in the skies, a sea of colorful runes began descending toward them.

Alm and Bruno were surprised to see the calamity transform into runes, which moved toward Ruri. She extended her hand, revealing a pulsing rune, as the calamity’s runes shot toward her and began merging with her.

It took just ten seconds for the entire calamity to vanish.

"I received some information about this item," Ruri explained as the rune moved from her hand toward the whale. "Its name, Blade of Devotion, isn’t random. To pass the trial, the Dao Heart must be strong, but devotion must be just as grand."

Alm and Bruno were stunned by this revelation.

’It wasn’t just the Dao Heart? That means... well, our actions somehow made it all work out,’ Bruno murmured internally.

Ruri finished softly, "The item can actually only be used by two people. This is the Heart of My Devotion. Master should have it. That way, I can be your blade whenever you need me."

They took the rune, which instantly disappeared, fusing with them.

[Congratulations, Heart of Devotion acquired.]

[Your ability to manipulate the Heaven’s Will mandate has increased.]

[Reality Rewrite can now be used without prerequisites, but its duration depends on your power.]

[Current duration: 5 seconds.]

They read the system message, surprised. The ability to rewrite reality had been acquired in the past when the Tree of Chaos absorbed a massive amount of energy. A single drop of something resembling liquid had appeared on it, enabling them to alter reality with the celestial miracle, transporting them to the planet Alpenglow. (Chapter 904)

They obviously needed to create another drop of that substance to pull off the same feat again, but they still had no idea how to do it. Simply stealing energy from the heavenly laws wouldn’t work—they were sure of that. It had only happened before because the tree was still developing; it needed something else. Now, they could use it freely for a few seconds.

They turned to Ruri, who smiled, noticing the satisfaction in their gazes. They sighed. She’d definitely want a reward... but they didn’t mind.

"Everything is done. Only a few minutes have passed here since you started the test. Let’s finish this once and for all."

The whale spoke as he turned toward the sun created from primordial energy. To complete the mission, they needed to destroy the massive formation of the primordial beasts and capture the Blade.

Ruri nodded and shifted her focus to Meru, who was watching her parents interact with a faint smile. The two moved together, and Ruri began manipulating the runes within the formation. Meanwhile, Meru quickly activated her tattoos, starting the absorption of energy from the central runes that Ruri was displacing.

Everyone watched as the planets entangled in the formation trembled dangerously. Ruri was dismantling it, ensuring there wouldn’t be an explosion. With Meru absorbing the energy, the destruction was clean and complete.

A minute later, Ruri narrowed her eyes, noticing something, and signaled to them. Within the sea of runes, a channel opened.

"Master, this feels... strange..." Ruri murmured, confused, as everyone looked at the channel.

"Those are primordial eggs!" the Void Goddess exclaimed, surprised.

Primordial eggs were essentially clusters of primordial runes shaped like ovals, each about a hundred meters tall. At the core of each egg, there was incredibly dense primordial energy—the origin and beginning of the primordial beasts, with their bodies formed by that energy and shaped by the laws.

The whale nodded and began pulling the eggs into his internal universe. He was surprised to see Ruri opening more and more channels. In the end, she only stopped after over a thousand of these eggs had been stored.

After that, Ruri gathered the last runes from the formation while Meru absorbed the remaining energy.

[Main Mission Completed]

The message excited the two. They made sure nothing was left behind and advanced toward the small sun, taking it into the whale’s internal universe as well. Compared to the gigantic primordial sun, this was insignificant, but it might prove useful in the future.

The theft was flawless... until Alm and Bruno felt a fluctuation within the heavenly laws.

They scoffed. That was way too fast. Without hesitation, their eyes lit up like beacons, and they pushed their celestial souls to the absolute limit.

This content is taken from fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm.

Before, in the queen’s universe, they couldn’t do this. No matter where they were, if they activated their full power, they’d immediately be detected by the queen. But now, it didn’t matter anymore.

They could clearly see and sense everything beneath the heavenly laws. It was by using this ability in the past that they’d had that conversation with the queen while still within her micro-universe. For that reason, they had avoided using it again until now to avoid drawing her attention.

"She sent the heroes."

Alm and Bruno muttered. They also sensed, from an immense distance in the Underworld, the queen meditating within a golden domain, her eyes closed. Within this domain, another item of Primordial Chaos was sealed, and she was forcefully mastering it.

The queen had realized they had invaded that place. She hadn’t expected another item’s calamity to appear there, so she initially ignored the situation, focusing instead on using her heroes to help seal the item. Now that task was complete, and she sent the heroes to investigate urgently.

They would take about a minute to arrive. Alm and Bruno could clearly feel their movements through the heavenly laws.

There were about ten immortal heroes, each emanating an overwhelming pressure. Alm and Bruno recognized this level of power—it was equivalent to the Yang Chaos Dragon they had defeated in the past. These heroes were at the peak of the True God Realm, the ninth level.

The whale was capable of facing a single powerful immortal. But a hero was, at minimum, a hundred times stronger. And that wasn’t even counting the direct support they’d have from the queen, which would make the difference nearly incalculable. In short, winning without burning through extremely valuable resources wasn’t possible... or at least, it wasn’t before.

They had time to escape, no doubt about it, but Alm and Bruno smiled inwardly, perfectly in sync. Were they going to run? Not a chance.