~Master, what's the progress on finding Adrien?~
Ater's voice suddenly echoed within Rey's mind, finally causing him to jerk back into reality. His eyes regained their focus as he returned to the seriousness of the present situation.
This was war.
"I couldn't find him in the tower. He has to be hiding somewhere within H'Trae, so I'll use my [Clairvoyance] to scour the entire world and find him. If I get any kind of interference, I can assume it is him." He said in response.
~But would interference necessarily mean his presence? What if he predicted this and set us up on another wild goose chase?~
"That's true…" Rey rubbed his chin. "Knowing Adrien, he has all sorts of countermeasures to make sure his plans succeed.
There was no telling what layer of his plan they were currently in, but Rey knew full well that they were running out of time.
'We need to stop him before he achieves his grand goal—whatever it is.'
"I think I know where he is." All of a sudden, Lucielle's voice echoed in the air, interrupting Rey's conversation with Ater.
"Really?"
"Yes."
'How does she know it? I went through her memories, but there was no mention of where Adrien is at the moment.'
"I am connected to all the Dragonoids that he created, which means I can detect the energy waves and communication pattern that connects each of them. It's like a web of intricacy spun by Adrien… but at the center is a single source."
Lucielle pointed up and smiled.
Rey raised his head and was dumbfounded for a moment.
Then, his eyes widened and a broad smile formed on his face. He realized what Lucielle meant by merely a single glance, even chiding himself for not recognizing it sooner.
"He's not in H'Trae… he never was." He muttered. "It all makes sense. Something like this suits him the most…"
And that was none other than the void beyond the world of H'Trae.
~He's in outer space?~
"Yes." Rey grinned. "My [Clairvoyance] doesn't extend to anything beyond the confines of this planet, so I would never have found him with that method."
His eyes flashed as he stared at Lucielle, kissing her passionately one more time.
"Thanks a lot for your help."
She giggled upon hear this, blushing violently—even as many people fought to their deaths right below them.
~Master, focus!~
"Yes… I understand! I'm right on it."
"I can come with you to help." Lucielle said excitedly, her broad smile and bright eyes displaying intense energy that could nearly blind anyone.
However, Rey had to reject her offer.
"You should focus on trying to stop the Dragonoids. Since you're connected to them, can you find a way to shut them down? Or, at the very least take control from Adrien?"
"His hold on them is strong… and since they're not fully Dragon, it will be hard."
"But can you do it?"
Lucielle nodded and made a confident grin.
"I can!"
"Perfect! Focus on doing that, and tell me when you're done. What about you, Ater? What are you up to?"
"Trying to find a way to understand what Adrien is planning so I can shut it down." He responded curtly.
"Excellent. I expect great results soon."
~Understood!~
"Hold the fort until I return. If all goes well, I'll be able to stop Adrien very soon!"
Rey highly doubted it would be that easy, but he also wasn't intent on dragging out the war any more than it currently was. He had to end things… fast.
WHOOOOOSH!!!
He ascended high above—darting into the darkened sky like an unstoppable projectile.
Before long, everyone and everything beneath him became small and insignificant. He no longer heard the cries of the battlefield, and he no longer felt the chaos that was being wrought in the Northern Continent.
Before long, he could see all the lands of the world, and every bit of its oceans.
However, he never stopped ascending.
—Not until he finally reached it.
"So this is where you've been hiding…" Rey smiled as he looked at a round, dull sphere that orbited the world beneath him.
The moon of H'Trae.
Ignoring the vastness of the space around him, including the glimmering stars that shone in the distance, Rey charged straight for the moon.
The entire thing was Adrien's domain.
And by penetrating it, venturing straight into the massive structure, he found himself inside the world that Adrien had created for himself.
—An empty space filled with nothing but a towering construct.
It was a machine of unparalleled complexity. Words could not explain the intricacies of the object, as it was connected with all kinds of wires and mechanical objects. All sorts of Mana Crystals, gems, and essences decorated its outer shell.
And its inner walls warbled with power.
Within the shell of the moon, this machine took up an incredible amount of space—about ten percent.
The rest was occupied by a lone figure who stood before it.
"Adrien." Rey said as he stared at the boy before him.
"Rey… you've surprised me. I didn't think you'd get here so quickly." Adrien said, expressing genuine surprise while staring at Rey.
'The moon certainly had barriers, but it wasn't difficult to get past them. But why are there no other security measures? It's just him that's present here… well, other than that thing.' Rey stared at the machine behind Adrien, noticing an immensely powerful and complicated barrier surrounding it.
Even for someone like him, it would take a little while to destroy the entire walls of power.
'I should get started…' As Rey took a step forward, Adrien raised his hand and urged him to stop.
"I know what you're trying to do, but just listen to what I have to say first." Adrien said calmly. "The device is in its final stages, and a very unstable wormhole is being created within it at the moment. If you do anything to destabilize it, you could end up creating a singularity strong enough to delete this entire universe."
Rey knew he wasn't lying.
The amount of energy he sensed from within the machine was too much—even for him.
Still, he moved forward.
"If you let it succeed, it is a wormhole that connects multiple other worlds—and I don't mean just Earth, but all the worlds that exist in this fabricated multiverse. Don't you want to see? I plan to connect myself to all of those other worlds that exist, Rey!" Adrien's eyes were wide open as he spoke, almost as if he was a child. "This world is too boring! It's too predictable! And just as I expected, there are some hands pulling the strings from the shadows."
'He's talking about the Administrators like Seraph and her superiors…'
"Nothing in this world matters, Rey! They're all just… we are all just puppets on strings! It's all meaningless… at least not unless we ascend to the higher reality where something actually matters!"
For the first time since the speech began, Rey halted his steps and said something to Adrien.
"Is that your plan? To sort through all the worlds that exist until you find a crack that leads you to the world above? The realm beyond this one… beyond the power of the System or the control of the Administrators…"
"S-so you know!" Adrien's eyes widened. "Then why try and stop me—?"
"Because… I have had a glimpse at what exists high above our world." Rey responded, his tone perfectly calm as his face turned lull.
"... And it is equally as meaningless."