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, filled with joy, prepared itself for the coming of the Apocalypse's envoy, his primary form abruptly experienced a sharp ache within his soul.
It was like some essential core of his being was getting ground down by an immense, otherworldly rasp.
"What's happening?" he uttered, his tone laced with the strain of that illusory torment.
Without delay, he invoked his Law of Karma.
Within his inner vision, an enormous network of shimmering crimson and golden threads materialized, symbolizing his ties across the multiverse.
He followed the origin of the suffering, pursuing a dim and almost overlooked thread 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.
For advanced entities, it was typical to cultivate such avatars to explore varied routes of cultivation, though Ethan had largely allowed this one to progress independently, intervening just once to rescue the youth's kin.
An individual was attempting to obliterate his full karmic presence by eliminating that shard.
Ethan's central 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 shard was turning into a major vulnerability.
Through the scene unfolding in his sight, he observed "Little Ethan," his avatar.
The young one had ascended to the rank of a Dimension Master.
In the majority of realms, such a status would mark him as a deity.
Yet in this domain, he faced utter defeat.
The source of the torment was timeless in its nature.
The youth had developed affection for an unsuitable match.
He had devoted 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 oozing disdain.
He wielded a lash forged from soul-scorching bolts of lightning.
"She's far beyond your reach, yet you picked the road to ruin."
"She hails from a lineage dwelling in the 9th Dimension."
"She merely descended to this inferior layer for a taste of ordinary existence, and you had the audacity to reveal your affections to her?"
"You even presumed to brush the edge of her clothing?"
The avatar sprawled across a gore-stained 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 her."
A genuine wave of mortification chilled Ethan's primary form to the bone.
It wasn't terror.
It was sheer secondhand shame.
"How utterly pitiful can you get?" Ethan grumbled under his breath, massaging his forehead.
"Enduring torment over romance?"
"An extension of Ethan Hunt?"
"Across all existence, I'm the pinnacle of allure and near-unbeatable might, but this offshoot of me behaves like a doomed hero from some low-budget love tale."
"This won't stand."
Then, a more ominous insight struck him.
He understood the barrier preventing his ultimate advance into the Absolute Continuum.
He lacked completeness.
To attain Absolute status, one's complete karmic history needed unification.
Should this avatar perish or stay feeble, Ethan would always suffer a drain on his strength.
For the breakthrough, he needed to elevate this avatar to match his primary self's might and then integrate it.
"Argh! Too many issues piling up!" Ethan snarled, on the verge of yanking at his hair.
He was unable to depart the space cube.
Yet he couldn't permit this to persist.
In an instant, he formed a duplicate.
He cut off its direct karmic ties 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 layers of the space cube.
Within the interrogation room of the Trozan family's interim estate, the butler grew increasingly irritated.
"What's the matter here?" the butler muttered.
He struck out once more with the electric lash.
"Why is your being so resistant to erasure?"
"You're just a lowly 3rd-dimensional pest."
"As someone from the 8th dimension, I ought to erase you from existence with mere intent."
"Have you employed some advanced artifact from higher realms to anchor your soul?"
Ethan's avatar offered no response.
He was incapable of it.
His soul remained secured by the overwhelming presence of the primary form, unbeknownst to him.
"What do you think you're doing?" a piercing, harmonious cry resounded across the chamber.
A young woman in a refined gown woven from twinkling starlight entered.
She possessed stunning 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 light for a brief moment.
A rush of optimism surged within him.
"Jenna... please... help..."
"How dare you tamper with my plaything?" Jenna bellowed, glaring at the butler.
Ethan's avatar sensed his chest tighten with emotion.
But the following words wounded his spirit 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 be broken for good."
Jenna touched her jaw, eyeing the wounded youth on the ground with the detachment a youngster shows a ruined toy.
"Father's directive?"
"Oh."
"Then why hesitate?"
"End him."
"He provided some amusement for those few weeks."
"But now he's dull."
The spark in the eyes of Ethan's avatar faded away.
The treachery was total.
From a crease in the darkness, Ethan's duplicate observed the unfolding with a deep exhale.
He had witnessed plenty.
This illustrated the danger of allowing a soul piece to mature without The System or a hardened resolve.
They turned vulnerable.
The duplicate emerged from the obscurity.
His aura abruptly saturated the space.
He refrained from unleashing an overwhelming pressure.
He restrained it fully.
He appeared as an enigmatic traveler.
"Greetings, fellow cultivators," the duplicate stated evenly.
"Could you release this unfortunate lad on my account?"
"I'm willing to trade a valuable item for his freedom."
The butler stiffened.
His strands of hair rose in alarm.
He had detected no sign of this man's entrance.
In his realm, undetected arrivals meant either ordinary folk or divine powers.
Gazing into the man's eyes, the butler realized it wasn't the first option.
"Who might you be?" the butler inquired, his tone steady yet his fingers clenched around the whip.
"Why should the Trozan family yield to you?"
"Are you aware of our affiliations?"
The duplicate offered a grin.
He saw no point in lecturing a subordinate on cosmic ranks.
Instead, he drew a blade from thin air.
As soon as the edge emerged, the chamber shuddered.
It was a weapon from the 10th dimension.
An instrument capable of cleaving the 9th Dimension effortlessly.
"Maybe this will convey my significance?" the duplicate queried.
The butler's complexion drained of color.
The aura from that blade terrified him beyond his lord's maximum output.
His survival instincts urged him to flee.
To beg forgiveness.
To act swiftly for self-preservation.
"If you please," the duplicate uttered, his tone growing chillier.
"Release him."
"I won't repeat myself thrice."
The butler was a cunning veteran.
He recognized when defeat loomed.
He started crafting a warm expression, set to apologize and surrender the youth as a mix-up.
He prized his survival over obedience.
However, he lacked authority.
"I am Jenna of the Trozan family from the 9th Dimension!" the girl proclaimed, advancing boldly.
She stared at the 10th-dimensional sword with undisguised avarice.
"You believe you can intimidate us?"
"To depart here unscathed, surrender that blade and all contents of your spatial ring without protest."
"Comply, and I may permit you to serve as my footrest."
The butler regarded Jenna with utter dread.
His jaw dropped.
"This spoiled miss will spell ruin for our whole lineage," he reflected inwardly.
The duplicate shifted his attention to Jenna.
His look held no fury.
It brimmed with compassion.
"For one so diminutive, your voice carries quite the volume," he remarked.
"Slay him!" Jenna shrieked at the butler.
"Why do you dally?"
"Eliminate him and seize that sword!"
The duplicate exhaled and glanced at the damaged avatar of Ethan on the ground.
"Observe this, young one?"
"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 erupted forth.
The butler, attempting to erect a barrier, hurtled through seven masonry barriers.
His 8th-dimensional essence fractured right away.
Jenna's outcry halted abruptly as an intangible force pressed her against the wall.
Her lavish attire ripped apart.
Her energy field fragmented like brittle crystal.
"You... you mustn't..." she wheezed.
"I must," the duplicate affirmed.
He approached Ethan's avatar and rested a palm on his crown.
A torrent of refined, superior energy poured into the form.
It mended his soul.
"Rise."
"We're departing."