Death… And Me

Chapter 4387: Hibernation?

Rean and Sister Orb were running into a persistent problem while attempting to separate the Godly Energy from the guardian’s core. Every time they tried, the energy reacted violently, resisting extraction as if it possessed some form of instinct or will of its own. That alone made little sense, since what they were dealing with was supposed to be nothing more than raw energy without consciousness.

After briefly stepping out of the airplane to inspect the surrounding runes on the tunnel walls, the reason finally became clear to both of them. It wasn’t the guardian’s core that was resisting Rean’s arrays at all. Instead, the interference was coming from the ruins themselves, as if the entire structure was actively maintaining control over what they were trying to extract.

Rean immediately returned to the airplane and pulled up the recordings from the last few minutes while they had been outside the tunnels. He carefully reviewed the captured images, frame by frame, and soon confirmed his suspicion. The same rune carvings were present throughout every section of the tunnel, the ruins outside, and any other structure the airplane had passed through, forming a continuous pattern rather than isolated markings.

Even more importantly, those runes matched the same swirling patterns present inside the guardian core. That connection made it increasingly clear that the two were linked, with the ruins acting as a controlling or guiding mechanism over the core itself.

’Sister Orb, we need to separate this core from the influence of the ruins,’ Rean concluded internally.

[Indeed,] Sister Orb responded almost immediately. [And I have an idea. However, you will only have one minute to make it work once we begin.]

Rean didn’t hesitate, already understanding the implication of her words. ’Then we’ll have to rely on that timing.’

Outside the airplane, Roan, Kentucky, and Celis also received Rean’s mental communication through their shared soul connection. Without needing any additional explanation, Roan immediately turned toward Harksha and the others and issued quick instructions.

”We’ll spread out across the area. Celis will act as our detector for Godly Energy fluctuations. The moment any cores begin to form, he will alert us. We destroy them before they stabilize into those guardians.”

Everyone nodded in agreement and quickly dispersed across the open space, creating distance between themselves and the airplane. Celis, meanwhile, positioned himself above it, extending his perception outward.

Strictly speaking, the arrangement was more cautious than necessary. The formation of those cores required time, and Celis could have detected any instability long before it became a threat regardless of his position. However, Roan’s true intention wasn’t purely tactical. The separation ensured that no one would be close to the airplane during Rean’s upcoming operation.

Inside the airplane again, Rean observed through the viewport as everyone took their positions at least two hundred meters away. Only after confirming the clearance did he fully prepare himself.

[Yin Yang Sanctuary]

[Activate?]

”Activate,” Rean confirmed without hesitation.

The moment the system engaged, the Godly Pressure within a two-hundred-meter radius vanished completely. It didn’t disperse in a visible or physical sense, but rather ceased to exist within that enclosed space. Outside the range, Harksha and the others felt no immediate change, as Godly Pressure was not something easily perceived unless directly affected.

[59, 58, 57...]

The countdown began immediately, and Rean shifted into action. The Sanctuary would only last one minute, and once it ended, the Godly Pressure would return in full force.

The reason for targeting Godly Pressure specifically was something Rean and Sister Orb had already deduced earlier. It was likely the medium used by the ruins to regulate and control Godly Energy and the guardians. Their conclusion had been reinforced back in Besgol, where Godly Pressure had been used to manipulate those dead bodies used as puppets.

In other words, Godly Pressure wasn’t just environmental force—it functioned as a signal system. A highly adaptable one at that, capable of influencing even complex energy structures. Rean even considered, briefly, how useful such a system could be if further integrated into his own rune development, extending beyond teleportation and disguise applications.

[30, 29, 28...]

As the suppression held, the Godly Energy within the core finally began to flow outward without resistance. The core itself had gone completely inert the moment the Sanctuary activated, confirming Rean’s suspicion that it held no independent intelligence. Instead, it was being externally controlled—likely through the rune network embedded in the ruins.

The airplane’s internal arrays activated in sync, rapidly extracting and separating the released energy. Rean worked with precision, ensuring that nothing was wasted or lost in the process.

[9, 8, 7...]

In the final seconds, he triggered the splitting array to refine what had been collected. The extracted energy divided cleanly into known components, Godly Pressure and Celestial Energy. However, something else remained behind. An unfamiliar residue that didn’t match either category.

*Ping!*

[Unknown Energy Source identified. Analyzing...]

[Concluded.]

[Echo-related energy discovered. Source: Another Great Void.]

[Attempting absorption...]

Sister Orb’s voice shifted into its mechanical processing tone as the unknown energy was drawn in. It passed through Rean’s body and, through the twins’ shared soul connection, extended all the way back toward Sister Orb in the Vinx Great Void.

[Absorption concluded. The Orb System will now enter hibernation.]

[Reactivation time: 200 hours.]

[Sanctuary will now be forced to shut down.]

The message echoed through the shared connection, but none of them fully understood its meaning at first. The declaration was abrupt, lacking any immediate explanation.

’Sister Orb? What’s happening?’ Rean called internally.

No response came.

He tried again, then several more times, but it was as if the connection had gone completely silent. Not severed, just unresponsive. The soul link still existed, yet Sister Orb was no longer communicating through it.

’Damn it... not now,’ Rean cursed inwardly.

The Sanctuary collapsed even earlier than the remaining countdown, forcing the situation to revert instantly. Rean immediately sent a mental command outward.

’Celis, secure the core. Just in case.’

Celis obeyed without delay, tightening his roots around the guardian’s core. Surprisingly, the core didn’t resist at all. It remained completely still, unlike before when it had constantly struggled against restraint.

After a brief pause, Celis voiced his confusion. ”Rean... is it dead?”

Rean studied it carefully before responding. ”Dead? Was it even alive to begin with?”

Celis reconsidered his wording. ”That was poorly phrased. I just mean it’s completely inert now. Ever since you removed those talismans, it kept trying to break free. Now there’s nothing. No resistance at all.”

Rean’s thoughts immediately returned to the unknown energy Sister Orb had absorbed. ’Could that have been the control mechanism?’

That explanation seemed increasingly likely.

Before any further conclusion could be reached, the environment shifted abruptly.

*Zuuuuuu...*

”Hey, look!”

Harksha’s warning cut through the tension as she pointed toward the surroundings. Everyone turned in unison.

Across the rubble, faint red coloration began to spread through the stone and soil, as if something beneath was heating the terrain from within. The affected areas softened and began to melt, forming unstable openings in the ground and walls.

*Ziu, ziuk, ziu, ziu, ziu, ziu...*

From those molten gaps, thin golden beams of light suddenly erupted, firing in rapid succession. The pattern was identical to what they had encountered before—precise, mechanical, and coordinated.

”Here too!” Senkiyu shouted, pointing upward.

More red glows appeared across the ceiling, each one signaling another imminent breach.

”And from our rear as well,” Rico’the called out from his position, confirming that the phenomenon was spreading in every direction.

The situation escalated rapidly as additional openings formed, each one unleashing more of the same laser-like attacks. Attempts to block or collapse the holes only delayed the inevitable by seconds before new ones formed nearby.

”Don’t let them stabilize! Collapse the openings immediately!” Roan ordered sharply.

Without hesitation, he surged forward.

’Red Death, Crimson Stellar Piercer!’

*Bang!*

A section of the collapsing terrain was forcibly sealed, but even as the rubble fell, faint red light began to reemerge from beneath it. Roan’s attack had only bought time, not resolved the source.

Others joined in quickly, but the sheer number of emerging points overwhelmed their coordination. Even Celis’s supportive root structures began to fracture under the pressure, and the entire area trembled as instability spread.

Then, suddenly, behind Harksha...

A new red glow ignited on the wall, closer than any before.

It lasted less than a second.

The beam fired immediately. Before she could even react, the laser was already in front of her face!