Chapter 455: Fear of

"Howl!!"

"?! Hearing the roar of an alien creature, Helusi couldn't help but turn and look up, gazing toward the edge where the sound originated."

"He saw the dark dimension split as if cut by a sharp blade, and bright 'sunlight' poured in through the fissure, dispelling chaos and illuminating everything."

"The source of the alien roar was a colossal beast with a wingspan of five hundred meters, its body and appearance a blend of a male eagle and a lion, bearing an eagle's head, wings, talons and a lion's body and tail."

"Having read extensively since childhood and perused Umbrella's various files, Helusi instantly recognized the beast as a griffin."

"However, Umbrella's files list the griffin as 'non‑threatening', about four meters long with a wingspan of roughly eight meters, rare, living near the Olympus Mountains on Earth in the primary universe, and its temperament is not fierce; it is a tameable endangered animal."

"Because the griffin's utility and research value are limited, Umbrella did not deliberately invest funds in them, only allowing a small number of personnel to care for and feed them."

"To date, there are over 120 griffins housed in the 'luxurious' zoo of Raccoon City, open for visitors from colonies across different star systems and even travelers from other universes to admire."

"But the griffin beast flapping its wings and soaring rapidly toward him was clearly not the lazy, overfed individuals Helusi recalled, who liked to nap at noon and afternoon."

"Upon closer inspection, Helusi also spotted a 'human silhouette' perched atop the griffin beast's head..."

"It was clad in black and dark‑green armor—splendid yet solemn lion‑king plate—gripping a reins to control the griffin with its left hand, wielding a long sword wreathed in burning golden flame in its right, sporting neatly styled golden hair and a beard, its face equally austere: the OriginalBody of the Dark Angel legion, Leion."

"Leion, as if a sword had split a rift in the material universe, rode the griffin into the dark dimension, flew straight to the upper side of Helusi's position, glanced at Se Nie and Jian Qi, used Spiritual Energy to raise his voice, and in a rather cold tone shouted:"

"\"I am Leion, the third heir of the Lord of Humanity, here brandishing the Sword of Governance to issue you both the first and final warning: leave this universe now, immediately, or the Lord of Humanity will not hesitate to transport us here and duel you, to see who is stronger. \""

"\"…\""

"Hearing that, the massive bodies of Se Nie and Jian Qi froze in a daze."

"\"Ka… Kalla!! \""

"Immediately, the outward forms of these two evil deities projected into the dark dimension began to shatter and crack on their own."

"\"Wah‑la!! \""

"In the blink of an eye they disintegrated completely, vanishing like smoke, even their Spiritual Energy traces fading away."

"Clearly, the two evil gods scheming against Helusi had no preparation to confront Sui Bian prematurely."

"Of course, that's the official phrasing; in plain terms, these two evil gods neither want nor dare to engage Sui Bian in a substantive fight."

"Because they cannot be certain of the outcome—whether they would win or lose."

"Winning would be fine."

"Losing…"

"But losing would mean true disappearance, death."

"Don't be fooled by their massive projections and unrivaled power, capable of wreaking havoc across universes and dimensions, claiming divinity; in reality, they are infinitely terrified of 'death'."

"Previously, they could brazenly manipulate humans and sentient races because, in any case, they considered themselves above death, birth, and the so‑called cycle of reincarnation."

"But the arrival of Sui Bian, who can plunder the 'Origin', disrupted the stagnant game, giving the evil gods cause for apprehension and fear; they would not gamble their own lives…"

"However, if it were the cruel or other warlike evil gods, they might accept the challenge and prepare to battle Sui Bian."

"Thus Jian Qi and Se Nie chose to act alone, not bringing the cruel ones to invade the Zero Five Universe, so that once their scheme was uncovered they could escape safely."

"Having succeeded in forcing the two evil gods out of the Zero Five Universe, Leion finally turned his gaze to Helusi below, commanding his 'pet' to flap its wings and reposition in front of Helusi."

"At this moment Helusi had set aside his astonishment, hurried forward with a grateful smile, and spoke first:"

"\"Thank you, brother, for your rescue. If not for father and you, I would have been trapped by those two evil gods, unable to escape. \""

"As for why Leion, who should have arrived in the Zero Five Universe after twenty‑four days, arrived early, Helusi guessed it was due to his Spiritual Energy colliding with that of the two evil gods, and because the dark dimension lacks a concept of time, the material universe had already advanced twenty‑four days."

"\"You're welcome, \" Leion nodded lightly, then briefly added, \"Come up, prepare to leave. \""

"\"Alright. \""

"Helusi did not linger, obeying his brother's command, took a stride to leap off the asteroid he stood on, and with a \"thud~! \" a muffled sound, his four‑to‑nearly‑five‑ton weight landed steadily on the griffin beast's head."

"\"Howl~! \""

"Sensing another person atop its head, the griffin let out a displeased low growl, as if complaining to its master."

"But Leion ignored it, pulling with his left hand to signal the pet to fly toward the gradually closing fissure, while his right hand, wielding the Sword of Governance, swung powerfully…"

"\"Boom~!!! \""

"The seemingly endless golden flames, following Leion's sword swing, unleashed an infinite sea of fire toward the dark dimension."

"In an instant, the dark dimension began to collapse, crumble, and even contract backward under the scorching golden fire, accelerating rapidly…"

"Eventually, the dark dimension contracted to a point, turning into void."

"Before that, Leion and Helusi had already ridden the griffin, that unique mount, out of the dark dimension, returning to the material universe's Zero Five Earth."

"\"Wah~Ying~\""

"The sound of rolling waves reached his ears."

"The blazing sun hung high, shining over the sea north of Manhattan, causing the surface to flash with dazzling colors."

"\"Hoo~! Hoo~! \""

"At this moment, the griffin soaring above the sea with its wings flapping created a uniquely distinct 'scenery' over the waters."

"If the riders were a handsome, mighty warrior and a princess rescued by him, this would be the quintessential perfect fantasy‑adventure film ending. Unfortunately, the two riders are brothers—Leion and Helusi—so it feels a bit 'spoiled scenery'."

"Above New York City, a Titan Class battleship thirty kilometers long was docked, its hull sides bearing the name 'Absolute Rational', indicating it is one of the flagship vessels owned by the Dark Angel OriginalBody."

"Around the Absolute Rational, four Olympus Class ships and numerous Zeus Class vessels, along with countless other ships of various classes, were moored."

"Even without Leion or Helusi's OriginalBody-level vision to read the lettering on the sides of the Absolute Truth, one could still intuitively perceive the breathtaking scene hundreds of kilometers away."

"Moreover, what truly astonished the Zero Five Earth citizens newly adapting to Umbrella and UEG policies was that, looking from the ground into deep space, they could spot three ring‑shaped celestial bodies."

"If viewed from the sun‑facing side, some compatriots with telescopes could even see the metallic outer walls of the rings and the oceans, deserts, jungles inside them…"

"All of this once again reshaped the Zero Five humans' understanding."

"Leaving the atmosphere."

"In low Earth orbit of Zero Five Earth, over twenty‑thousand warships had been deployed at an unknown time, and at the edge of Earth's gravitational sphere stood three massive installations each four thousand kilometers in diameter."

"To avoid interfering with the Earth‑Moon orbit and causing serious effects on Earth, the large installations 007, 008, and 009 all activated stable positions."

Thus, it shows that Helusi's earlier speculation was accurate; his subjective consciousness thought he was in the dark dimension, battling Se Nie and Jian Qi for only a brief moment, but in the material universe a full twenty‑four days had already elapsed.

Helusi cannot know what happened during those twenty‑four days, nor does he know why his OriginalBody elder brother is holding his father's ceremonial sword, nor what the lion‑griffin beast he rides actually is.

Many doubts linger in his mind, but Helusi can only wait until Lai'ang lands him smoothly before he can find a chance to ask clearly.

———————

…

At this very moment.

In the core world of the Never‑Fall Ship, within the top‑level office.

Sui Bian, seated in the office chair, had long confirmed the safety of his two sons by "gazing", and together they rode the lion‑griffin beast toward the Absolute Rationality Ship.

All of Helusi's questions actually have answers with Sui Bian.

For example, he had already "foreseen" that the Ancient One would avoid Taibelos, and that Helusi would personally go to the Mirror World and seize the Time Gem from the Ancient One.

In the Marvel movie universe, there is almost nothing that threatens Helusi, and the Ancient One's performance in the films is insufficient to be Helusi's opponent; even the film version of Dormammu is the same.

But…

Se Nie and Jian Qi, however, can inflict substantial damage on Helusi, even death.

Indeed, he also "foreseen" that Helusi would use the Space Gem, venture alone into the dark dimension to solve Dormammu for the humans of the Zero Five Universe, only to fall into Se Nie and Jian Qi's scheme.

In fact, Sui Bian could have warned Helusi, but he did not; his purpose was to give his son a lesson, to keep him from becoming overly arrogant, "looking down on everyone".

Although Helusi has always remained humble, even when facing enemies he rarely shows a mocking, playful attitude, as an OriginalBody he could still be proud and complacent; a sense of superiority is etched into his bones.

Thus, he also let Se Nie and Jian Qi "lend a hand", giving the reborn Helusi a lesson.

Throughout, Sui Bian "gazed" at Helusi, ensuring his son would not encounter mishaps, and at the same time he conveniently transmitted his ruling sword, using Spiritual Energy, to Lai'ang, letting his third son "watch over it".

The Marvel Cinematic Universe contains many artifacts, but the ruling sword that contains pure Spiritual Energy and, in a sense, is linked to its wielder, can easily destroy the dark dimension dreaded and guarded by the Supreme Mages.

Time, space, and order do not apply to Sui Bian either; even the deeds that the evil gods of the alternate space can perform, he can as well, and he can do what the evil gods cannot control or comprehend.

However, Sui Bian truly has no desire to "ascend", unlike his alternate‑plane counterpart who, like the Zero Three Emperor, has abandoned everything to freely enjoy a carefree life.

Humanity still needs protection on one hand, and on the other, there remain many people or things in the material universe that Sui Bian finds hard to let go.

Upon reconsideration, the Zero Three Emperor truly dumped the entire "mess" onto his shoulders in one go.

"He…"

Thinking of this, Sui Bian shook his head and chuckled lightly, seeming to have nothing to complain about, after all his counterpart had long vanished.

Retracting his thoughts, Sui Bian placed his "gaze" back on Lai'ang's pet.

In fact, that lion‑griffin beast is also an Umbrella creation.

Eighteen years ago, when the main universe expeditionary force was besieging and looting the Zero Three Universe, they captured rebellious OriginalBodies and chaotic Astate, and also seized tens of thousands of chaotic creatures.

Such as skeletal dragons that could exhale corrosive breath, or seductive serpentine sirens with physical forms, and so on.

And the one who laughed the most during that expedition was probably the plague doctor who, in a short time, obtained massive research material, even to the point of being overwhelmed.

The anomalous plague doctor, using research methods and speed that ordinary people would find incomprehensible, helped the human master clone and create a new generation of OriginalBodies, further improving the main universe Astate's physical qualities and Spiritual Energy resistance, and also, by using chaotic creatures as samples together with Umbrella's biotechnology, successfully cultivated a batch of "Pure Creatures".

As the name suggests, they are beings that contain pure Spiritual Energy.

Since the current source of Spiritual Energy for Pure Creatures is Sui Bian and ten OriginalBodies who have already become adults and each lead their own armies, each army's Pure Creatures exhibit considerable differences in appearance, size, temperament, and combat power.

For example, the Dark Angel legion mainly consists of lion‑griffins over a hundred meters long, and the largest, strongest one became Lai'ang's mount and pet.

Moreover, these lion‑griffins' combat power is not inferior to that of a cruiser or even a battleship; after all, they are called beasts, yet they can adapt to various extreme environments and unleash massive Spiritual Energy attacks.

"Chairman." At this moment, the White Queen, who learned through the network that Helusi was safe, also showed a relieved expression and sighed, "I suppose after this incident Helusi will finally grasp the principle that 'there are people beyond people, heavens beyond heavens'."

"Given his temperament, there's no need to remind him further." Sui Bian replied with a smile, then opened the holographic panel and continued:

"Since Lai'ang has already reached the Zero Five Universe, it's time for the alien fragments and the so‑called gods to experience true fear."

(End of chapter)