Queen Siblee looked through the portal in front of her throne at the woman in the linked universe. She sat behind a terminal that was connected to a terminal on the Queen's left. Queen Siblee watched as coordinates for another Realm appeared on the monitor before she asked, "And you're sure we will not have as many issues with our efforts to invade this new Realm.

Her question was transmitted through the barrier surrounding the portal and was heard through the speakers next to the woman. The woman on the other side of the portal talked into her monitor, and the monitor in front of the queen replied, "Yes, Queen Siblee. The information I was able to pull from the archives indicates that the target realm is will attain Tier II rank shortly and that the family of your target is at that location. The coordinates I've provided target a forested area about 1,600 kilometers to the north of the settlement your target's family resides in."

The Queen smiled, "That will do very nicely. Thank you for your assistance in this matter," The Queen said as she pushed a button on her monitor and two armored Selechi walked into the room from behind the women on the other side of, carrying a chest. "Your payment is in the chest. We shouldn't need anything from you for a bit. Be sure to check in on our regular schedule."

"Yes, Queen Siblee."

Before the woman could say anything else, Queen Siblee closed the portal and dispelled the barrier. Another aide stepped forward as The Queen turned to him and directed, "Contact our harvest team and give them the new coordinates. They may begin harvesting, though they are to remain close to the original coordinates until we finish setting up the new harvest center. Once the new processing site is ready, then we'll start harvesting in earnest. Speaking of the replacement harvest site, when will it be ready?"

"Construction has begun, and the engineers believe everything will be in place and complete in six months."

"And the earliest the site could be ready?" The Queen asked.

"Three months."

The Queen nodded, "The last report I received stated that our stockpile will last another nine months, twelve if we ration. That will be cutting it a bit close," The queen said. No one in the room spoke up to agree or correct her statement. Inwardly, she sighed. Sometimes, she wished sycophants didn't surround her. She focused on the aide and asked, "Do you have anything else to report?"

"No, My Queen. By your leave?" the aide asked.

Queen Siblee waved her hand to dismiss her aide. She pondered the treaty she had with the mercenaries. The Selechi were a race that was cheap to employ. The intrinsic nature of her Realm and how it interacted with the Realm the Selechi resided in was, in a word, explosive. For their support, they requested specific materials to create weapons orders of magnitude more potent than the Tier IV weapons they could produce. Fortunately for Queen Siblee, sourcing the materials the Selechi needed was extremely cheap, as even simple sand could be utilized.

As she was considering her trade deal with the Selechi, another aide walked into the chamber and moved forward to bow before her.

"Yes," the Queen said as she motioned for him to stand.

"You requested a report concerning the current energy reserves within The Empire."

"Yes, please proceed."

"As you know, the primary harvesting facility was destroyed when the portal device was destroyed. We have moved to a new base on a moon in another system. The Selechi are rebuilding the portal and supporting the city at the previous location, though."

The aide paused to look down at some notes for a moment before he continued, "As you know, when our new power source was discovered, the general consensus was that Soul Cores would replace Mana Batteries and Soul Stones. Mana Batteries can hold a finite amount of energy and are usually rechargeable. Soul Stones trap a soul before it can flee, and the residual energy that the soul still contains can be utilized to power rituals, spells, and even generators in one quick release that also releases the soul to move on to wherever souls go after death. Soul Cores were thought to be an infinite Soul Stone that acted like a mana battery until just recently, when they started to fail."

The Queen interrupted, "Yes, I remember. An accident led to the discovery that creating Soul Cores was even possible. After the accident, the best theorists of the time investigated and concluded that when someone with a sufficiently powerful soul had it ripped apart or fragmented, the soul's disincorporated state would prevent it from being released. If the soul could be trapped, the energy that held it together and tried to reform it could be tapped into. This created Soul Cores, which were like a mana battery except that they recharged naturally."

"Exactly so, My Queen. It was thought that if the energy could be continuously siphoned off, the shattered souls within the Soul Cores would not be able to reform, and the soul could continue to provide energy indefinitely. As you know, about ten years ago, we learned that even Souls eventually run out of energy —or maybe reform anyway. We're not really sure. All we know is that the Soul Cores that we created over fifty years ago began to fail. That is when we began replacing them. Unfortunately, we exhausted our supply of locals that could be utilized for this purpose and began outsourcing to fill our Empire's need. What her aid wasn't saying was that the Gods of this Realm had come down for a personal chat, something that never happened, and explained in no uncertain terms that the practice was to stop on any denizens of the realm that remained, as there was now only a finite number left across three galaxy clusters. One of her more devious subjects brought up the idea of raiding alternate realms, specifically those where the authorities and gods couldn't visit for fear of being utterly annihilated. It had taken a few years to set up and test, and just when they were starting to get things going, the accident had happened. Queen Siblee collected her thoughts and made a circling motion with her right hand for the aide to continue as she said, "Now that we've had the history lesson, can you get to the state of the Empire?"

The aide nodded, "As you know, the last targeted planet had very few creatures and individuals we could harvest. Luckily, the few we found were converted, and we received a shipment of Soul Cores before the accident. With those cores, our current energy supply is at about 90% capacity and is dropping by at least 1% per day. When the old cores burn out, the new cores we just received will leave the empire with an overall capacity of about 5% of its current capacity. We estimate that we will reach that point in approximately 90 days."

"What about using mana batteries, soul stones, or other energy sources?" The Queen asked.

"No, My Queen. As you know, we resorted to this method of energy production because conventional sources are not sustainable. To prevent the Empire from being affected by the expansion, the stabilizers the Empire is utilizing require a constant energy supply. None of the other methods can keep up. We do not have the bodies to supply the mana, nor can we create soul stones quickly enough. If we do not replenish the soul cores in the next three months, the fabric of the universe will begin expanding, and our fate will be as the rest of the Universe."

"What steps are being taken to prepare and guide the loss of stability?" The Queen asked.

"Anywhere the stabilizers are not powered will be the first areas to fail. We have been focusing on reinforcing the first and second galaxies with the additional power sources we have, but the third Galaxy, if we cannot replace its power supply, will fail first."

"How about Power Distribution?"

"As you know, the power distribution network is portal-based with only a few major stations across our three galaxies. We have been ramping up the backups everywhere we can, but our best estimate is that only 20% of our energy production will be available. That is why we're focusing on the first and second galaxies in the time we have. We were so sure that the new technology would hold up that most of the old power plants had been decommissioned."

"What kind of estimate do you have on their rebuilding and replacement of those old power systems if we have to go that route?"

We estimate that in the 90 days we have, we should be able to rebuild at least 30% of our power generation. That should bring us to about 50% of our previous level. After the Soul Cores fall completely offline, at 50% capacity, it will take another five to ten years to return to full energy production. We can save two clusters with 50% production. If we try to stabilize the third, we risk losing all three." The aide explained.

"Population transfer?"

"As you know, the three clusters are acting as lifeboats for more people than they can support as it is. We can move around specific desirable people and move out the undesirables, but in the macro sense, it's not going to change anything.

"Can we prevent this?" The Queen asked in a resigned voice.

"If the harvesting plant on the moon is completed and we begin harvesting in earnest within 30 days, I believe so, My Queen."

The Queen sighed. This wasn't anything she hadn't expected. Still, she had to receive the briefing and make sure there was a record of her efforts to consider every possibility. She settled her mind, focused her thoughts, and addressed the aides and the court in general, "We must continue with our plan or risk losing the Empire. We will continue with the preparation. Make every effort to have the facility ready for production within 30 days. Also, make sure that we add replacing Soul Cores on an interval at least 10 years shorter than the first failure to your calendar. If we succeed, the Empire will not be put in this position again. Finally, begin setting up a backup power site that runs on conventional energy supplies that can run for up to five years and support all three galaxies if needed."

"Yes, my Queen," The aide said.

"Very well, get back to work. I have another meeting to attend," The Queen said as she waved the aide away and stood. She exited the throne room through a door behind the throne and stepped onto a balcony that looked up into the night sky. She did have another meeting to attend in the morning. For now, she was done with the responsibilities of the Empire. She walked up to the balcony and placed her hands on it.

With the responsibility of trillions weighing on her shoulders, she looked up into the fractured night sky. The Empire's home system was on the edge of the first galaxy. The other two galaxies were close on a cosmic scale to the first galaxy, but not so close that they blotted out an area where stars and galaxies should have been visible.

Where the other two galaxies came into contact with the first Galaxy, the stars within each galaxy were visible, creating a normal night sky with stars and galaxies. Besides preventing the end of the Universe, the stabilizers also held each Galaxy in position next to the other two galaxies.

Where the galaxies didn't cover the night sky, it was instead filled with an auroral display of all colors, where the fabric of space had spread so thin that the people on any planet within any of the three galaxies could look up and peer through it. The stabilizers her scientists had created prevented that area from spreading through her empire, but it was a stopgap measure.

The Universe was expanding, and eventually, the power required to prevent it from destroying this last oasis would exceed what they could produce. The meeting tomorrow was to see what they could do about leaving this universe. If they could find another universe, they could save most of her citizens. Unfortunately, finding a Universe that was not anathema to them was proving more difficult than her scientist expected.

Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

To the Queen, their Universe she lived in was made out of matter, and everything else they'd encountered outside of her Universe was antimatter. Her scientist had discovered that, to the other Universes they interacted with, they were the universe of antimatter, while their universes were made of matter. From a practical standpoint, it didn't matter who was right. The result was that if matter from her universe touched matter from other universes, Boom!

They had not found coordinates to another Universe like theirs. In fact, it seemed that the fate of such universes was to expand until they fell apart as the atomic bonds spread out and were reabsorbed by whatever made up the aurora borealis. Her scientist seemed to think it was the natural fate of universes, like hers, with this unique quantum structure. Hopefully, her scientists would find another Universe they could move their population into; otherwise, her empire would become pariahs as they sacrificed more and more sentient creatures to try to stave off the inevitable.

Part of her believed that the course she led her empire on would doom them eternally. They had proof that souls existed, and technically, they were tormenting those souls to draw power from them so they could survive. The "good" thing to do in this case would be to stop and let nature take its course.

Unfortunately, she had over four quadrillion people to consider, and they had enough resources in solar systems without life to trade with races like the Selechi, ensuring they could supply them with the resources they needed for a long time to come. Granted, this course of action wasn't sustainable, but they should be able to maintain it for at least another couple of billion years. That is, if they could find enough souls to create the Soul Cores they needed to ensure the Stabilizers continued working. If not, they wouldn't last the year.

Back to her original line of thought, she was sure what she was having the empire do to survive was probably considered "evil." She could hope that whatever judge existed in the afterlife would see it that way, but she was also practical enough to realize that she was most likely wrong. Especially since the Gods of this Realm had already told her she could no longer utilize anyone within this Realm anymore. Regardless, she was going to try to save her people, no matter the cost to her immortal soul.

***

Anton appeared in one of the empty prayer chambers dedicated to his Patrons. A moment later, the air shifted, and Keres, the Goddess of Death, appeared. "You're back?" she asked.

"Just to visit family for a bit."

"Why is the SYSTEM telling me you are outside of your last recorded Temporal Frame?" Keres asked.

Anton nodded, "It'll be quicker to show you, also, you might need the information so you don't create a paradox down the line."

Keres nodded and established a telepathic link with Anton. After a moment, when Anton shared everything that had happened and also provided their future conversation, Death withdrew the Telepathic link and nodded.

"Did you get everything you needed?" Anton asked.

"Yes, and I've created an Avatar and placed it in Stasis to await your arrival, regardless of whatever happens to me. Fourteen billion years is a long time after all," Keres said with a smile.

"You can do that, just create an Avatar or clone and stash it away for practically forever?"

"Yes, and no. I created the Avatar and worked with one of the Guardians, whom you've seemed to encounter. They've moved the Avatar to the correct time and place, and I have put that encounter out of my mind, except to remind myself not to respond, if I am still around in fourteen billion years." Keres explained.

"So, what now?" Anton asked.

"Now," Keres said dramatically, is approximately ten years after you departed. I know it hasn't been that long for you, but the Guardians tweaked your entry point into this Temporal Frame to ensure there would be no issues."

Anton considered what she said, "You just talked to them between he time when I arrived and after I shared my trip into the future with you, didn't you?"

"I did. Now I have a couple of things to consider. Terra is now Tier 2, or Uncommon Rank, for the most part. The highest rank anyone has seen, aside from a God, is Rare. This is a baby world after all. The Labyrinth Entrance is still in the city of Alifax, 25 miles west of Benson, the city you are currently in. Both cities have expanded considerably as trade between Alifax and Benson has exploded."

"Your family, with Caitlyn and your sisters' help, has carved out a name for itself among the Merchants and Inventors as they've been recreating items and technologies from Earth. By the way, Conquest is ecstatic over this development."

"Why are you telling me all this and not just letting me discover it for myself?" Anton asked.

The goddess smiled, "First, you are effectively a Mythic-ranked creature stepping into an Uncommon world. There is nothing anyone already here can do to you, and I include the Gods in that claim, as we have rules. Second, I thought I'd give you some background so you won't be surprised when you leave the Temple and see streets and shops that resemble 20th-century Earth. Also, as I understand it, you can meld your Class, Rank, and Race as you wish, so you should now be better able to decide what you want to set them to.

Anton nodded, "Thank you for the consideration. In all of this, I keep forgetting that you remember Earth, too. Must be nice to see some of the things you're used to coming back."

A look came over Keres's face that reminded Anton of a schoolgirl thinking about her crush as she said, "Brandon, I mean Conquest, and I get together once in a while to discuss the similarities."

"Do they have theaters yet?"

"Not yet, but television is in development. It's only been ten years after all, and your father is trying to get them to incorporate magic into the digital network."

"Sounds like he's having fun then. Well, if you don't have any more information, I guess I should get out of here then," Anton said.

"As I said, take your time. You also might want to do a quick scan to get a lay of the land and how they're dressing so you can blend in better," Keres said as she made a point to look Anton up and down, ensuring that what he wore offended her. When she was done, she smiled and vanished, leaving Anton alone again.

He reached out with Aura Sense and took everything in Benson. He verified the goddesses' words by identifying the strongest-looking people he encountered. Most were low-ranked in their Uncommon classes, while a few were rare rank.

Anton set his Class to Merchant, his rank to Uncommon, and his Class Level to 83. If someone wanted to identify him and they could get through the rank disparity, that's what they'd see.

Next, he conjured a formal business suit in the typical style he saw throughout Benson, which was available in a few of the shops for purchase, though he changed it up enough so that it was evident that he hadn't purchased the suit he was going to wear. When he was done, he teleported into an empty alley a couple of blocks away and began walking toward his Father's shop. As Death had said, it was like stepping into any city back on 20th-century Earth.

While he walked, he reconfigured Aura Sense into ten 2,000-foot-diameter circles. One scan was centered on him. The other nine begin circling out to scan the whole planet. It would take some time, but he needed to see what the Empire on this planet actually consisted of and how far away their other cities were from Benson and Alifax.

The Information from the Aura Sense focused on his personal location, and he was allowed to enter and update his mind immediately. The information from the other nine areas he was scanning was automatically updated and archived as it was added to his Basic Map. Compartmentalizing his intellect had become a lot easier of late; ever since he picked up that last magical category, technology. He imagined that his brain was working like a supercomputer.

As he walked down the street, he noticed a few street thieves eyeing him, felt their scrutiny, and then their disinterest as they decided to pursue softer targets. It looked like changes he'd made to his Class, Rank and level were working. He hadn't been sure about the level, but it seemed that his perk True Doppleganger was allowing him to set up whatever false identity he wanted. That might be very useful in the future.

Aura Sense allowed him to analyze and identify anything he could perceive at a distance. Some people were sensitive to the scrutiny. They'd detect his use of Identify on them, look up into the night sky at the point above them, and realize that a scry-like effect was remote viewing them and ignore it. Aura Sense by itself didn't trigger the response; only when he focused on Identifying them or Analyzing something they were holding.

Anton finally walked up to the door to his family's shop and stepped inside. His sister, Sara, now seventeen, looked over the counter, did a double take, and ran around the counter as she bolted to him and wrapped her arms around him, "Anton!"

"Weren't you seven the last time we saw each other? How do you know I'm not a stranger?" When she ignored the question, he asked, "Mum and Dad?" Sara stepped back as she answered, "Mom is down in the residence beneath the shop. You know how Mom and Dad are; they prefer to hide underground. Dad is off at the bank requesting another Loan to expand the business again. We have two shops, and he wants to set up a third in Alifax.

"What about Jack, Carla, and Amelia?" Anton asked as he stepped back and guided Sara back to her place at the counter.

Sara closed a book she'd been working on and looked thoughtfully before she answered, "Jack is working with our partners on the invention side of the business. He's got a knack for building things and such. Also, Dad and Mom give him ideas, and then he figures out how to make them work in this magical world. Carla is engaged to be married and spends almost all her time with mom or going on errands for mom or dad when she's not chasing her new man," Sara said with a face that indicated she thought the relationship was icky. "Amelia works for the church. She's not in town a lot. Ever since she received your gifts, she's been working nonstop for the Church. We do see her once in a while, but she's so busy that those occasions have become sparse. Now, how about you? You've been gone for ten years?"

"For me, it's only been about four years, I think. I've been bounced through time a couple of times like Dr. Who."

"Who?"

"Never mind."

"Anyway, I'm back, and right now I don't have any plans. I think I'll head downstairs and talk to Mom while she cooks dinner and wait for Dad to get home."

"Sounds good, I have to watch over the register until dinner time. One of our part-timers comes in so we can eat as a family for two hours, and then I have to come back up until close," Sara said.

"No school?"

"School? What's that, only the nobility send their children to school. The rest of us work with our families to learn a trade, or get incredibly lucky when they're given magical items that allow them to excel."

"Well, then, I guess I shouldn't give you these," Anton said as he placed five gold coins on the counter. Sara's eyes went wide as she quickly grabbed the gold and hissed, "Anton."

"Don't worry, I have five each for everyone else in the family. Also, I dare say no matter how Dad's pitch to the bank went, he'll have the funds he needs to open that third, and maybe fourth location."

"How rich are you?" Sara asked

"Rich enough to make sure you all are taken care of for a really long time, since it looks like Dad invested most of what I gave him before into the Temple for Death and the businesses you currently have."

Sara nodded, "You're not wrong."

"Well then, I'm off to see Mom, help her with dinner, and I guess I'll see you in a couple of hours.

The rest of the evening went as expected as everyone made their way home for dinner, even the significant others of Carla and Jack. Carla was dating a man named Devon. Lucky for her, it looked like Mom and Dad approved. Jack did have a girlfriend, but Anton could tell that the relationship was young. With light small talk, the roast and veggies mom had made turned out great.

After dinner, Anton transferred all but 1000 copper and silver, 100 billion credits, and 100 gold to his father. His dad almost choked on his drink when he realized that Anton had transferred more than 898 billion credits to him. His father had tried to tell him to keep it, but Anton just smiled and explained that there would be no point. His father hadn't believed him until Anton conjured a pallet of gold out of thin air and said in a no-nonsense tone, "If I need money, I have some. If I need more, I can create it."

As the night came to a close, he was led to his room. He had detected it, of course, but allowed his father to show him the way. He'd made sure to act surprised and thanked him for the consideration with a heartfelt hug.

As they separated, his Dad turned and went toward his room with his Mom. Anton's room had all the amenities, including a bathroom with a toilet and a tub. He decided that a hot shower would be nice and stayed in it for a long while. He even cheated a little by targeting the water heater and keeping it full of hot water, conjuring more whenever it dropped below half. It was a large water heater, but he decided to take an extremely long, hot shower.

When he was done, he conjured a new set of clothes for the morning and a set of nightclothes so he could get up and go in an emergency. He slightly modified the bed and the room by making the mattress and the chairs more comfortable, then lay down on his bed and stared at the ceiling.

As he closed his eyes and was preparing to go to sleep, a new Notification appeared in his vision.

Manifold SYSTEM Message.

Greetings, Fate's Arbiter

A new quest is available.

The Quest 'No One Can Cheat Fate' is available.

A Manifold Breech has been detected in your current Realm. Track down the invaders, trace them back to their origin, and ensure that the Empire responsible for the atrocities inflicted on this and previous Realms never occurs again.

Reward: Based on Contribution, Determined upon Completion.

Accept the Quest 'No One Can Cheat Fate,' Yes or No.

Anton accepted the question and closed his eyes. It was time to concentrate on learning as much about this world as possible because somewhere out there, the Selechi were now invading this world, and with them being Tier IV, it wasn't going to be a challenge.

First things first, he had to find where they were breaking through and then verify that they weren't coming through in multiple places. It was going to be a long night after all.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.