Endless Journey: Infinite Realms

Chapter 446 Artificial Worlds

The Legend of the Four Moons.

This story can be considered to be the most famous and the longest-lasting story in the history of the Four Moons World.

After all, this story ’supposedly’ talks about the origin of the Four Moons, and their effects on the life of the people, especially during the Calamity Era.

Up to this day, the influence of this story cannot be denied, with many film adaptations, books, and other stories created from this legend alone. To say that it is a vital part of the culture in the Four Moons World is not a wrong thing to say.

But even with its fame, many does not have trust on the story’s credibility. Many do not believe that this story is true, as its details were just plains unbelievable.

After all, in the age of space travel, the mere notion of a person being turned into a moon is just flat-out absurd. There’s just no way that 4 princesses were suddenly hi-jacked and turned into moons.

With this kind of mindset, everyone only treated the ’Legend of the Four Moons’ as a nostalgic folklore, that was meant to display the colorful past of the Four Moons World.

It is nothing more but a cultural icon, something that everyone in this world treats with respect.

Alex however, does not think the same way as them.

"If what the original Alex thinks was right, then it will be the moons that will save this world from Emperor Litch." Black Alex, who was busy on adjusting the symbols currently carved on the floor, suddenly said as he stopped moving.

His pitch-black eyes glowed slightly as he clenched his fists, as if the words that he just said were enough to evoke some kind of emotion within him.

"Well, that will only happen if the original Alex is indeed right." White Alex replied, who at this point, was still guarding Wisteria’s unconscious body. "Black Alex, what do you think about the conclusion that original Alex made? Do you believe that he’s right?"

"The original Alex said that the ’Legend of the Four Moons’ had a semblance of truth in it. He said that the moons were indeed created by someone, although there’s no live people that were sacrificed to make these moons. There’s a lot of evidences that point out to these moons being artificially made." Black Alex replied in a bored tone. "He then further said that these moons were created for 2 different reasons"

"The first reason is that these moons were used as a prison for the Divine Beings." White Alex chimed in as he patted Wisteria’s back. "Lingo, Peina, that angel, and Malthus were the Divine Beings captured and used to provide power to the people in this world. For them to be imprisoned inside the moons is something that their captor must have decided to do. As for why they have to be imprisoned in those moons, the reason is not yet clear."

"With the way that the situation has unfolded before, it is safe to say that the first reason is valid." Black Alex said in a hoarse tone. "The original Alex had seen those Divine Beings being imprisoned on those moons, so there’s no denying that."

"But as for the second reason, that is something that is hard to believe yet." White Alex said as he looked at the symbols that Black Alex wrote on the floor. White Alex only gave these symbols a cursory glance for a second before he went back to talking.

"According to original Alex, aside from imprisonment of Divine Beings, the moons were also made to suppress the Four Moons World itself. Not only that, but he said that like the moons, the Four Moons World was also artificially made." White Alex murmured as an amused smile appeared on his face.

Whether this smile was meant to mock the original Alex was still unknown, as White Alex did not make any scathing comments about him.

"(If the moons were artificial, then there’s a chance that the world itself is artificial too. )That’s the exact words that original Alex said to his allies before." Black Alex mumbled as he began looking at the items gathered by White Alex.

"If the Four Moons World is indeed artificial, then it makes sense to use the moons to suppress it." White Alex said quickly. "After all, the combined power of those moons, if used right, can stop an Artificial World from forming its own World Soul..."

"So in short, original Alex was saying that the moons were made to stop the Four Moons World from forming its own World Soul. The Abyss... is extremely amused with that theory." Black Alex mumbled as he scratched his chin.

"Yes, that theory might be good, but the original Alex only made that through indirect deductions. There’s really nothing concrete that can prove that theory of his." White Alex said as he began shaking his head. "After all, it is hard to know if a World is artificially created. Most of them just appear like normal worlds, so it is almost impossible to identify one quickly as artificial. For the original Alex to even think that this world is artificial... is kind of reckless in my opinion."

"But you can’t deny that this theory is interesting. And if it was right, then we will have an easy way to win." Black Alex said as he gave White Alex a wilting gaze. "Even the Abyss agrees with my assessment."

"Well, I hope that original Alex’s theory is right. Because if it is not, then we only wasted all our efforts for nothing." White Alex said with finality as he let out a sigh.

*********************

In reality, there are two kinds of Worlds.

There’s the Natural World, and then there’s the Artificial World.

Just like what its name says, Natural Worlds were Worlds that appeared naturally in the Multiverse. They were created from the steady accumulation of materials around them, with no intelligent beings aiding in their creation.

Natural Worlds just appeared by themselves, and nothing willed them to be created.

Artificial Worlds on the other hand, were Worlds that were created by someone that has the power to do so.

There’s a lot of reasons to create an Artificial World, with most of these reasons related to powers themselves. There’s numerous power systems that could lead to the creation of a world along the way, and sometimes, powerful beings just thought of making artificial world.

In one look, Natural Worlds and Artificial Worlds can be said to be similar to each other. Each type can support life by themselves. This similarity alone makes it hard to treat an artificial world differently, as it was doing what a world should do. It still supports life.

However, due to the way that they were created, there was one big difference that Artificial Worlds has compared to the Natural Worlds.

Artificial World, in most cases, had no World Souls of their own. This absence is attributed to the fact that the Multiverse, which was the source of the World Souls themselves, were only indirectly related to the creation of Artificial Worlds.

This indirection relationship made it hard for the Multiverse to validate the existence of an Artificial World, hence the lack of their World Souls.

Of course there have been some cases were Artificial Worlds were able to form their own World Souls, but such kind of cases were extremely rare, and numerous factors like luck, resources, and serendipity were needed to reach these cases.

Sierra, the World Soul of the Esper World, was one of these lucky cases.

No matter which way one looked at it, the Esper World was in essence, an artificially created world. But that kind of state did not stop this world from creating a World Soul, which eventually ended up as Sierra.

Since an Artificial World still had a chance to form a World Soul, many creators of Artificial World hopes to see their Artificial Worlds form their own World Souls.

After all, having a World Soul in your creation is something that is worth waiting for. This is the case for many creators.

However, there are some creators who does not want to see a World Soul forming on their created worlds.

Even when there’s only a low chance of a World Soul being born, these creators might do everything that they can to prevent these worlds from having their World Soul.

There are many ways that this can be done. One of these ways was by using the pressure from celestial bodies to suppress the lingering consciousness of an Artificial World.

As long as the pressure that comes from these celestial bodies were high enough, then there’s a 0 % chance that a World Soul will be formed from an Artificial World.

Of course to be able to do something like this requires a lot of resources and power, something that no ordinary powerhouse can do.

Only those who reached god-like levels can do this feat, a level which Alex had not reached yet.

Even with Alex’s experience in the Undying Empire, he still was unable to witness someone using their power to suppress an artificial world. However, this inexperience might change now that Alex is here in the Four Moons World.

With the way that the moons were created and the abnormality of their situation, Alex had a slight hunch that these moons and the Four Moons World exhibits a relationship similar to that of an Artificial World being suppressed by celestial bodies.

Of course Alex was not entirely sure with this guess, as just like what White Alex said earlier, he only made this theory from several indirect deductions.

But even with this level of uncertainty, Alex, who was already used on taking risks, has decided to bet his stakes on this theory of his!

The plans that Alex made for the past days all hinged on the fact that the Four Moons World is an Artificial World. This meant success for him if he was right, but it also meant catastrophic failure if he was mistaken.

Such kind of reckless behavior is something that Alex will not do before. But with the way that the situation has spiraled out of control, Alex was left with no choice but to pursue this path.

After all, doing something like this is better than just waiting for your enemies to arrive.

*****************

After White Alex gave out his ’warning’ to Black Alex, he relaxed his body as he set down the unconscious Wisteria beside the coffin.

He then ignored Wisteria after doing this, placing back his attention on the waiting Black Alex.

"Now that all our preparations are set, it’s time that we do this." Black Alex began to say as he saw White Alex’s actions.

"With the Abyss as a witness, I shall hereby start this ritual. I hope... that the Abyss will honor my efforts here." With a tone similar to that a child praying to his god, Black Alex began to say these words as he fed his Abyss Energy on the symbols on the floor.

"Hong~" These symbols began to light up in reaction to the power fed by Black Alex, with more and more symbols slighting up as time passed by. This created a fascinating sight which Kid Alex and Wisteria will surely appreciate.

As the symbols reacted to Black Alex’s actions, White Alex, who appeared to be a bystander on this point, kept a safe distance. He stayed in this state for a few seconds, and it was only after all the symbols lit up that White Alex made his move.

"Rustle..."

Dragging his feet along the floor like a seal, White Alex began setting up different items on the different spots on the floor. There was no pattern on the way that he placed these items. He appeared to be just randomly placing these items on the floor, which made him look like a panicking person.

But the look of pure focus on his face says otherwise.

Both these two men kept their focus to their peaks as they continued with their actions. No mistake can be tolerated at this point, as one misstep will mean the death for the both of them.

Even if they were just fragments of Alex himself, the notion of dying is something that these two does not want to face.

"...." This focus led to a moment of silence inside the vault, something that the two did not notice.