The Bloodline System Chapter 1681: The Deities Will Never Return

A hush descended over the spot where the universe had thundered moments before.

Not the soft hush of a tranquil evening... but an empty, celestial stillness spawned from annihilation. The expanse surrounding them consisted of nothing less than a perpetual cemetery.

Broken planets floated as fragments of glowing wreckage... suns imploded into oozing voids and the bony husks of gas clouds extended faintly like vanishing mist.

The fabric of space had fractured, oozing rainbow-like rifts as injuries that wouldn't heal.

Amid this devastation, one star emerged into sight. The hidden mini-star haven, called forth by Gustav via a tired flick of his wrist.

As it completely formed, its shielding layer unfurled, allowing the survivors to emerge.

Humans, bug-like entities, crystal-formed creatures, reptilian types, energy entities, young ones gripping parental limbs, seniors supported by companions. More than a hundred beings endured solely due to Endric, E.E., and the rest wagering it all to rescue them.

The instant they spotted Gustav positioned there, his form still venting residual power from the unbelievable clash, the survivors went quiet.

The ordeal had concluded.

He had accomplished it.

No speech was required for them to grasp that fact.

However, upon pivoting and genuinely beholding the remnants of the cosmos... their brief comfort crumbled into stunned terror.

A crimson-hued parent shielded her offspring's vision.

A snake-like senior whispered lowly: "All... gone... the cosmos is gone..."

A crystal entity's surfaces dulled like waning lights in the sky.

Some merely dropped to the ground, speechless.

Encircling them, existence resembled a shattered looking glass.

Huge rips in space sliced across the stellar system like hovering marks. Swirls of rubble created spectral halos around fresh tiny black holes. Whole solar setups had been crumpled into stellar folds—squashed, torn, or wiped out completely.

No darkness, no light, no edge to the view. Merely destruction.

Nevertheless, in the midst of the gloom, Gustav's companions gathered around him bearing eased expressions. E.E, Aildris, Falco, Elevora, Sersi, Ria, Xanatus, and Endric created a subdued ring beside him. Their survival stemmed from Gustav enveloping them in a barrier of Outworldly power.

Gustav personally perched on a sizable chunk of a fragmented lunar body, arms resting on his legs, gazing emptily into the stellar emptiness. His presence had settled, no more surging with rosy-crimson turmoil. Yet another element lingered in his gaze now... something more ancient, profound, nearly beyond comprehension.

Endric advanced a pace.

"Gus..." his tone quivered, not out of dread, but from all he had bottled up over what seemed like ages. "Angy... she orchestrated it all. Every step that revived you."

The group affirmed with nods.

"She never surrendered," E.E. contributed gently. "She wouldn't accept your permanent end. Absent her... we wouldn't have survived."

Gustav released a deep breath that resonated softly across the barren stars.

"...I know."

They exchanged surprised glances and Endric appeared puzzled.

Gustav raised his head gradually, peering into the void.

"I know all that transpired during my absence," he whispered. "Each offering. Each drop of sorrow. Each conflict. Each instant she clung to optimism."

His mouth formed a melancholic grin on his features.

"I witnessed it upon my comeback... as reverberations."

He faced the survivors. Faced his allies. "I understand what all have forfeited."

Every entity there, whether from Earth or extraterrestrial, became hushed.

He went on.

"Families. Abodes. Races. Whole legacies. Obliterated."

His digits clenched a bit. "Due to the gods embracing insanity."

Not a soul uttered a word.

Certain survivors bowed their heads, while others shook. A young one inquired in a small tone, "Can we ever go home again...?"

The query pierced all. Given the total ruin, they recognized the truth yet how to convey it to the youth?

For almost a minute, quiet dominated until Gustav stood up.

"Don’t worry..." he uttered tenderly.

Aureum power danced over his flesh.

"...I was just pausing briefly."

All gazed in astonishment.

"I will reconstruct it all," he declared. "And restore it."

E.E’s mouth fell open.

Sersi inhaled sharply and covered her lips.

Falco staggered rearward.

Aildris breathed, "You... you can do that?"

Elevora’s eyes moistened.

A handful of survivors erupted into optimistic cries.

Gustav moved ahead with his gaze shining more intensely.

"The gods will never come back..."

His words resounded like an edict spanning eras.

"But all else shall."

He lifted his palm.

The aureum radiance grew stronger and then the area above his hand distorted.

Existence contorted.

And then... a colossal, ghostly timepiece appeared above. Far bigger than worlds, its structure crafted from stellar gleam and holy inscriptions.

Its core brimmed with glittering stellar grains.

The assembly watched, breathless.

Gustav uttered one term:

"Return."

The timepiece gradually spun and inverted, flipping over.

And the cosmos halted.

Then all transformed.

A profound vibration surged through being and over the wrecked shadows as the timepiece unleashed a flowing surge of gleaming aureum strands. They spread in every direction like streams of chronology.

The strands bent, divided, intertwined, and revised.

Worlds rematerialized in flashes of vivid illumination... assembling, mending, expanding, reforming.

Annihilated realms pieced themselves back together, from nucleus to shell to exterior. Settlements relit. Streams reversed course. Peaks reformed from particles. Woods emerged in moments, seas brimmed from nothingness, heavens recoated in atmospheric bands.

On distant suns, atomic merging recommenced like restarting mechanisms.

Whole stellar clusters rethreaded like cloth unwinding and restitching.

Gradually, star patterns reignited. Gas clouds bloomed like revived blooms. The stellar backdrop mended. Space tears sealed. The principles of nature steadied, ironing out the creases of strife.

Existence resumed as well.

Myriad vital embers—spirits, recollections, hereditary designs—streamed from the aureum strands and raced to their proper abodes.

Full races flickered into being anew.

Societies flared back mid-action as if rousing from slumber.

Kin groups reconvened unaware of their demise.

Every entity revived.

Every realm revived.

All...

Save the gods.

Their core was forever deleted, their being consumed by the Outworldly.

Yet the cosmos... thrived once more.

As the timepiece finished its revival loop, the final speck of stellar grain dropped and it faded into a spray of aureum mist.

The surge withdrew.

Hush reemerged.

But not the barren hush of earlier.

This occasion, it marked the hush of a cosmos inhaling anew.

Gustav breathed out and lowered his arm.

His legs almost gave way from the immense scale of his feat.

Aildris steadied his arm.

"You alright?"