After the scream - 1 billion universes remaining

A heavy silence settled after Franck's declaration. The reactions of Orion, Jason, and Arden were not the same. The inexpressive Arden merely furrowed his brows slightly, showing minimal interest. Orion now looked at Jason with great curiosity and slight worry, as if expecting him to explode into a thousand pieces. Jason, on the other hand, remained the calmest. He was already aware of the state of his soul, but he knew that was not the only reason for his indifference. A force seemed to control his emotions. Jason didn't know where it came from, but he knew he would have to find out in the future. For now, the most important thing was to find the man who appeared in their dream.

"What else do you see?" he asked Franck.

"They've reached a gigantic size, surpassing that of some universes. All souls are usually tied to the universe in which the person resides, but not yours. They seem to extend outside the universes. Unfortunately, my sight cannot pierce beyond the universes. I think most of your souls are there, which is why I can only see a small part of them."

"Can you locate others?"

As if in response, Franck unconsciously turned in a direction. His already wide-open eyes widened even more, and Jason could feel one of his hearts stop beating from the shock of what he saw. Franck had as many hearts as there were stars in a galaxy, so Jason knew this wound was negligible for the Monarch. What worried him more was that Franck seemed unable to look away from what he saw, and a second heart had stopped beating. Before he could intervene, the blade of a katana interposed itself in front of Franck's gaze. It was enough to break the spell.

"He looked at me."

He spoke in a whisper. A Monarch as ancient and powerful as him could have died just by looking at the wrong being. He continued as if to reassure himself that he was still alive:

"I felt two beings. One of them has a soul similar to yours. But the other... I feel my body self-destruct just thinking about it. Just before I confined this vision from my memory, I must warn you. I cannot see or understand its size, but just feeling it: you do not belong to the same category."

He finished what he wanted to say, though his voice broke at the end.

Arden, who had remained silent until now, spoke in a low voice, clenching his fists:

"Someone seems to have arrived before us."

Franck placed one of his tentacles on his temple before extracting a luminous filament. It was likely the memory of what he had just seen, as he calmed down once it was fully extracted. Extracting part of his soul was extremely simple for the Monarch of Souls. It took him only a few seconds to regain his composure.

He had kept only the location of what he had seen. He was used to traveling. He entrusted Jason with all the necessary directions to reach their destination, ending his explanations with:

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"The being you seek remains immobile. He is sitting by the Lake of Eternity near the gate."

All this information was very useful to Jason and his group, but surprisingly much less so to Isadora. She watched the scene from a corner of the room, trying to make herself invisible. She understood that everything was beyond her. The octopus before her must be the creator of the game. He was undoubtedly more powerful than the dragon Berserk, who had already seemed imposing to Isadora. She couldn't explain it, but her soul seemed to tell her she didn't deserve to be in his presence.

But once Franck calmed down, he noticed the extra person in the room. He asked Jason, full of curiosity:

"What is a mortal doing in your company? No offense to this young woman or to question your judgment, but I really wonder what she could bring you."

"You said it yourself: our souls are too big to fit inside yours. You created a whole game to find your heir, and the only way to wake you was to bring you one, and here she is."

"When I built this game, I expected an eternal to complete it. How can a mortal defeat Berserk's projection without your help? You know I need an eternal to replace me, so why bring me a mortal who wouldn't survive the power transfer?"

Franck had relaxed and was now speaking with a hint of exasperation in his voice.

"I chose her, all by myself, like a big boy!" Orion exclaimed, proud to have fulfilled his big brother's mission.

"But…"

"No buts! I chose her, so she's the best!" Orion vehemently defended.

Franck discreetly turned to Jason, his eyes seeking approval of Orion's judgment, even though he knew he had no say in the matter. Jason nodded discreetly, thinking:

'Orion may be naive, but he doesn't seem to be wrong in his judgment of people. Not really surprising for the former Monarch of Justice.'

After a short silence, Franck announced loudly:

"Well, you will inherit my title of Monarch once you can defeat Berserk on your own. I will talk to you more about your powers and responsibilities once you become an eternal. To perhaps motivate you, you will be more powerful than anyone and will reach the pinnacle of a universe. The only ones you will need to fear are the other Monarchs, but they are rare enough that you won't encounter them once you leave this universe. You won't really need to fear these gentlemen because they can annihilate me just by releasing their aura around."

It wasn't the theatrical announcement he had dreamed of, but it should suffice. He continued in a softer voice:

"For now, I'll let you leave through the entrance gate. I've already altered the souls of all the other mortals so that this day never existed for them. I also placed a sort of spell on them so they won't notice any discontinuities around them. I've also reset the world of Monarchy and your experience counter. Hoping to see you soon, I wish you good luck on the beginning of your journey!"

Once she left the room, Arden announced impassively:

"Let's go, we are already behind schedule."

To which Franck responded with a bow:

"I wish you a pleasant journey."

They departed, leaving Franck to return to his slumber inside his sarcophagus.

'Now that we have the path, the rest should be a formality,' Jason thought as he drank some Eternity to quench his thirst.

This judgment proved flawless for most of their journey. They teleported from gate to gate, traversing countless universes within a few hours. However, upon passing through the last gate of their journey, they found themselves trapped. They were inside what seemed to be a sphere. It surrounded the interference field of the gate, extending over several light-years. They needed just one more teleportation to arrive, but Orion seemed determined to take a piece as a souvenir.

Jason could understand. Sometimes materials unique to universes existed. Many Monarchs collected them, trying to have a complete collection of all materials in existence.

Arden drew his blade to finish quickly. As he approached the surface of the sphere, a woman's voice rang out:

"You are currently attempting to enter Alliance territory. Please accept a body search and a physical diagnosis before entering. If you refuse, you will not be welcome in this universe, and you will have to turn back."