Death... and me



"Senior Jeskli, get ready. Even though I did my best to prevent any mishaps, I can't guarantee everything will work as I planned. In the worst-case scenario, we might have to flee," said Rean.

Jeskli's Spatial and Time Powers gathered in full power as he nodded. "I already issued the order to temporarily evacuate the Minokawas from the Islands. There shouldn't be any of them in our territory at the moment except for a few at the Space-Time Realm ones that can escape fast enough. This is a risk we have to take."

Rean then focused on the Formation, trying to connect it to the land as the Fragment was going to be removed. Finally, a Spatial Gate connecting to the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm opened in front of the now-exposed Fragment, which immediately caused the Fragments on both sides to feel each other.

Yet, against Rean and Sister Orb's thought, it wasn't the Fragments inside the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm that attracted the Fragments outside. Instead, it was the Fragment outside that began to pull the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm Fragment's out. "What?!"

Sister Orb immediately sprung into action, using the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm Powers to hold the Fragments in place. [Rean, the Fragment outside is too strong. Even the combined fragments in the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm are losing to its pulling power."

Rean narrowed his eyes as his head worked fast. 'That doesn't make sense. As much as it is a special fragment, it shouldn't be able to go against the fused power of so many fragments...'

Suddenly, Rean looked around and understood the reason. 'Right! It's the Floating Islands of Time. The Fragment has been connected to it for so long that now the land itself is holding it. That's bad! Even though Sister Orb is acting, there is no way the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm can compete against the entire Floating Islands of Time. The size difference is just too ridiculous!'

The Soul Gem Dimensional Realm wasn't even a thousandth of the size of the Floating Islands of Time. In fact, it was way, way smaller than that. The only advantage to it was that it was consciously operated by Sister Orb, which was not the case for the Islands. Still, that advantage wouldn't bridge the gap. 

'Should I close the Dimensional Realm to prevent our own fragments from joining outside?' Rean considered. After all, if the Fragments from the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm fused with the Fragment outside, then there was no way he would be able to separate them anymore. Only when other Divinity Realm Experts arrived would he have the necessary power for such a thing. But at that time, the fragments would be lost to them.

[Rean, I won't be able to hold much longer. If there is no way to stop this, I'm going to close the gate. It is better to lose this Fragment than lose all the others we have gathered so far.] Sister Orb had the same idea as Rean.

The Fragments from the Dimensional Realm were getting closer and closer to exit when Rean thought about one thing. 'The Formation's absorbed power... Can I use some of it to strike this connection? But then again, if I do it in such a way, the islands might suffer the consequences. It was supposed to be a slow process.'

Roan sent him a message. 'Just go for it. Your greatest fear was having the Minokawas and other races that live here dying. They aren't in the Islands anymore, so the outcome isn't as bad anymore.'

Rean glanced at Roan for a moment and nodded. 'Right!' Immediately, he shifted part of the Formations Power that was being used to replace the Fragment and directed it at the connection between the Fragment and the land. 

*Rumble!*

The entire territory of the Floating Islands of Time began to tremble as Spatial Rifts and Cracks appeared everywhere. Yet, it was still manageable. Jeskli used his power to protect Rean and the others, not allowing any of the Spatial Rifts to affect them. "Just keep going. This level of Spatial Rifts is no problem for me."

Rean sighed in relief and increased the power of the attack. That caused the Spatial Rifts to increase in number, size, and power. Yet, just as it seemed they were reaching a limit, the connection between the Fragment and the land was finally weakened enough.

The Fragments inside the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm began to pull the fragments outside instead. Even better than that, Sister Orb had opened the Spatial Gate right in front of it, so it only had to move a few meters to enter the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm.

*Vup!*

Finally, the Fragment disappeared inside the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm. Without wasting time, Sister Orb closed the Spatial Gate, completely severing the Fragment and the land's connection.

Naturally, that caused the land to get even more unstable. Nonetheless, Rean was already waiting for that. The moment they acquired the Fragment, Rean used all the power he shifted to cut the connection and put it back to its initial purpose. The purpose, obviously, is to replace the Fragment's connection and powers.

Jeskli was already preparing a Spatial Gate of his own to pull everyone inside as the situation deteriorated. Yet, just as things seemed to reach a dead end, Rean shouted. "Got it!"

All the Formation's Time and Spatial Powers that were absorbed were completely shifted back to replace the Fragment's power. The Floating Islands of Time, feeling that the connection was reestablished, began to stabilize as well.

Slowly but certainly, the Spatial Rift and Cracks in space began to close as the normal rate of Spatial and Time mess returned. Jeskli-Go still had to protect everyone against the Spatial Rifts for a few hours, but they eventually disappeared as well.

"Phew..." Rean took his attention away from the Formation, which shone brightly with those two powers sustaining the land. "It is done, senior Jeskli. The Formation is now providing the land with the powers of Time and Space it needs."

"That means..." Jeskli couldn't help but feel excited.

"Yes," Rean nodded. "The Formation will lose its power little by little, and such a slow process will connect the Floating Island of Time back to the Space and Time Laws of the Realm of Gods. It will take a few years until the connection is stabilized, but it should proceed without any issues. You just need to protect this Formation until that, of course."

*pin!*

Sure enough, the Fragments inside the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm quickly fused back together, which triggered the Soul Gem System.

[Universe Foundation Fragment Retrieved Successfully.]