Chapter 299: Abyss, Begin Your Annexation
Lumine was overjoyed.
The Master of Law—a rank above even Almighty God.
Even holders of the Pseudo Star Map Creation could only reach Almighty God, their final limit being single-universe level.
But the Master of Law was a truly ultimate existence, transcending the limits of the universe itself. While not on par with the Master of Truth, within the boundless superdimensions they could still overturn countless great universes with a mere flip of the hand.
Though she still lacked the ability to leave the Teyvat Universe, she had a good brother—what he knew, she would know as well.
Before, she had been unwilling to accept that her brother was stronger than her. But now, she had surpassed Aether in one leap, and at last could speak to him loudly again like before.
Well... she had always spoken to him loudly.
Noah pinched Lumine’s lips with his fingers. "Alright, stop taking advantage of me."
"But now that you’ve become the Master of Law, you are my Sustainer. A Sustainer must follow their duties well. Otherwise, I can strip you of your position anytime. Understand?"
Lumine brushed his fingers aside, placed her hands on her hips, puffed her chest out, and raised her head. "Don’t worry. I’m now also the mistress of Teyvat—I will definitely protect my Teyvat."
Heh, it may look like Noah had completely taken advantage of her, but she had profited greatly—profited beyond measure.
Now, she was the woman of the Heavenly Principle, and the mistress of the Teyvat Universe.
Just thinking of it made her drool.
She could already imagine the next divine assembly, where she would sit upon the highest divine throne, overlooking all the gods of the universe.
Hehe, hahaha—
And not just that—Zhongli, Venti, and even Aether would bow respectfully before her.
Just imagining it felt incredible!
Wherever she went, the great gods of every Divine Collective would treat her with caution and flattery.
Ahhh—too good, too good...
Noah flicked her forehead. "Wake up, stop daydreaming."
As expected of Lumine—the undisputed bully of the Teyvat Universe.
"The duty of the Master of Trailblaze is to expand the Teyvat Universe, linking all galaxies, space-times, and planes together."
"Since your Traveler Pantheon is basically Teyvat’s street wanderer, I’ll give this task to you. It’s tied to your strength."
Lumine protested, "What do you mean street wanderer? It’s traveling—proper traveling. I’ve helped many pantheons solve problems, you know. I have great relations with them."
"Ow~"
Noah flicked her forehead again, making her cover it in pain.
Of course the Divine Collectives liked her—just give her a bit of merit and she’d eagerly lead her pantheon to help them, doing the job well and beautifully.
Such a useful tool—what pantheon wouldn’t like her?
"Of course, among the Four Shades, Paimon is the most idle. I’ll have her work with you."
The moment he finished speaking, Paimon suddenly appeared before Noah, looking confused—though she understood in the next moment.
Noah grabbed her big head, snapping her back to attention.
"Ah! Master!"
Noah said sternly, "Among the Four Shades, you’re the laziest. Every shift you just stand there clueless. After switching with Baal, you run off to Wanmin Restaurant."
"What else can you do besides spacing out and eating?"
"Think I can’t discipline you?"
He smacked her backside, making her cover it in grievance.
"Wuu... Master, I was wrong. I... I won’t sneak food from Wanmin Restaurant anymore."
"Eat openly, you mean?" Noah rubbed her big head with both hands.
"Wuu..."
Lumine was fine, but Furina’s mouth hung slightly open as she watched Noah mercilessly tease Paimon.
To them, the lofty Sustainer of Heavenly Principle—who oversaw everything—was just a pitiful little thing who could only be bullied in front of the Heavenly Principle, even calling the Heavenly Principle "Master"...
Oh~
Only now did they recall that among the nine Sustainers of Heavenly Principles, four were shadows of Human Principle Phanes. Since Phanes was the greatest mistress of Teyvat, her shadows naturally had to call the Heavenly Principle "Master."
Otherwise, if they addressed themselves the same way Phanes did, wouldn’t that be an act of outright rebellion?
Aside from them, there was also the Ruler of Ice, Esdeath, who hadn’t attended the last divine assembly.
Among the nine Sustainers, eight were strong single-universe level, while only Esdeath was standard single-universe level.
Because of this, she was most eager to fight Asmoday.
After all, only Asmoday and her peers could be her opponents.
The last divine assembly was missed because Esdeath, in a reckless move, picked a fight with Phanes. Phanes thought Esdeath was far too unruly and slapped her straight into the Temple of Truth.
So she missed the assembly entirely.
This sort of self-inflicted beating was something Noah wouldn’t interfere in—Esdeath liked it that way.
Once fully healed, Esdeath stopped challenging other Sustainers and instead sought out holders of Pseudo Star Map Creations.
As a result, Raiden Makoto and the others had been avoiding her.
Zhongli had even descended to mortal form, disguising himself as an ordinary man in Liyue Harbor to live as a retired elder once more.
This time, Zhongli’s retirement was entirely due to Esdeath forcing his hand.
After all, holders of Pseudo Star Map Creations could only unleash single-universe-level power briefly—how could they dare fight Esdeath?
Even if they wouldn’t die, they’d lose all dignity.
"...I didn’t call you out just to scold you," Noah continued.
"This time, you’ll team up with Lumine to expand the universe—laying down the Silver Rail across the cosmos to link it all together."
Noah kneaded Paimon’s big head firmly as he spoke.
Paimon was stunned. "Huh? Team up with Lumine to expand the universe? Lay down some kind of silver... what?"
Before she could process it, Noah had already vanished before them.
Lumine’s eyes sparkled as she rubbed her hands together. "Hehe, Paimon~ we’re teaming up again~ It’s been nearly ten thousand years since last time~"
With Paimon at her side, expanding the universe (and running wild) would have no obstacles. Hehehe~
Furina patted her chest. "Then, let’s start from my Fontaine, Lumine."
...
At that moment, Noah arrived in the Abyss Universe, walking through the vast cosmic void.
"Looks like Aether is fully prepared. Time to begin."
"The Abyss’s own annexation mission—without the involvement of any other Divine Collectives."
A vast tide of black beasts, spanning hundreds of thousands of galaxies, roamed the Abyss Universe.
In the Abyss Universe, these black beast tides were part of cosmic order itself, acting as cosmic repairers—moving planets and pulling galaxies.
They varied greatly in size. The largest, the size of an entire star system, swam around the supermassive black holes at galaxy centers, guarding the passages to other great universes and preventing gods who violated order from entering the Abyss illegally.
The smallest Abyss creatures were no bigger than mosquitoes.
The strongest Abyss creature had reached weak single-universe level.
That was the Apocalypse Emperor Beast, Trihexa, originally drawn into the Abyss from the DXD world by the Abyss Lord. In biblical mythology, it was called the Beast of 666.
According to its mythological origins, if this world-ending beast ever crawled out of the Abyss, it would signify the end of countless worlds and the destruction of two-thirds of the main universe.
Even without emerging, a mere glance from it could drag beings into the endless Abyss.
It was the embodiment of the Abyss Lord’s will.
A weak single-universe level Apocalypse Emperor Beast indeed possessed the power to destroy the universe.
It was now a part of the Abyss Universe—its every move a tidal shift in the Abyss’s structure.
Moreover, Abyss power inherently corroded everything in the main universe, so even opponents at weak single-universe level were as vulnerable as standard single-universe beings before it.
Sensing the will of the Universe’s ruler descending, the Apocalypse Emperor Beast abruptly opened its blood-red eyes.
In the Abyss Universe, thousands of eyes, each tens of thousands of light-years in diameter, appeared.
An overwhelming tide of Abyss power poured forth.
Its size was the second largest in the Teyvat Universe.
First place still belonged to the True Red Dragon God Emperor, Dream, eternally flying in the Dimensional Gap.
Compared to that, the Apocalypse Emperor Beast was small enough for the Red Dragon God Emperor to crush in a single claw.
Hea—Hea—Heavenly Principle!
After a brief flash of terror, thousands of galaxy-sized eyes narrowed into crescent moons, and a sycophantic Abyss will spread across the universe.
The monstrous being, terrifying in form with thousands of massive heads, now resembled a fawning husky, sticking out black tongues dripping with corrosive venom.
"Your arrival in the Abyss fills me with honor. To witness your holy visage is a glory that even at the universe’s end I could never forget."
"Pfah, pfah—you see my foolish tongue! Teyvat is eternal and indestructible—how could it have an end?"
"I’ll just twist off this head that displeased you."
Crack...
Each head spoke, then turned to glare at one of their own—before furiously tearing it off.
Black, ominous blood splattered across thousands of galaxies, which instantly grew hundreds of times more active upon contact.
Nearby black beast tides surged like piranhas, swarming to fight over the spilled blood in space.
The shrill roars added another layer of terror to the Abyss.
Noah’s expression didn’t change, but inwardly he was already making snide remarks.
Slave-master Aether’s dog-training skills were truly becoming more and more refined.
Whether Abyssal beasts or Abyssal gods, all of them were ultimate lapdogs.
The kind that would literally twist off their own heads for entertainment.
"Enough, Big Dog, go guard the Abyss Wall."
"Yes—your will is our will."
The tens-of-thousands-light-year-long Apocalypse Emperor Beast instantly curled its head and body into a ball and began rolling away through space.
Inside, it howled with excitement.
Lord Heavenly Principle has given me the name ’Big Dog’! From now on, I am Big Dog!
Noah’s eyelids twitched as he lowered his gaze. The Abyss Monarch Aether appeared before him, placing a hand over his chest and bowing slightly.
"Lord Heavenly Principle, I’m honored you could come to the Abyss."
The moment Aether felt the Heavenly Principle descend into the Abyss, his entire body trembled, his heart surging with joy.
He knew Lord Heavenly Principle must be here to assign him a task unique to the Abyss.
This was an Abyss-exclusive mission, unrelated to any other Divine Collective.
Otherwise, the World Gates would not be something only the Abyss possessed.
For this mission, exclusive to the Abyss, he had made thorough preparations.
He had already used the Abyss will to spread mobilization orders to all Abyssal gods above True God level.
The black beast tides had been swelled to ten times their previous size in a short time.
Even before, a beast tide of such scale could sweep through a standard-universe-level world containing several single-universe-level beings.
Now, the beast tide could cripple an opponent even if they had a dozen or more standard-universe-level entities.
As for the possibility of encountering strong single-universe beings?
That was impossible—Teyvat’s annexations always fought with overwhelming force.
"From the look of your preparations, you’ve already guessed, haven’t you, Aether?" Noah said with a faint smile.
Aether now possessed weak single-universe strength, and with a Pseudo Star Map Creation, he could even fight two or three Aeons on equal terms. With the endless supply lines of the Abyss Universe, he could eventually wear down and kill one or two Aeons in a prolonged battle.
Aether quickly replied, "I wouldn’t dare guess your will, Lord Heavenly Principle. But I did sense, near the Abyss Wall, the aura of another great universe, so I made extra preparations."
Noah waved his hand. "Alright, I’m not here to reprimand you. I just claimed Lumine for myself—no need to be petty and rub it in your face."
Aether’s face twitched; he almost lost his composure.
Though he knew Lumine couldn’t escape this fate, hearing it now still made it hard to keep a straight face.
Noah stroked his chin. "Hmm, I must say—your sister is very smooth. And she’s got plenty of ’water,’ enough to compare with the Hydro Archon Furina."
Though flat-chested, Furina’s greatest asset as the Hydro Archon was her extremely abundant water element—practically a waterfall.
Aether suddenly felt a stab in his heart. It was one thing for Noah to play with Lumine, but did he have to tell him how satisfying it was? How black-hearted could he be?
Noah continued, "To follow up on what you said, yes—I do have a separate mission for you."
"A Great Universe. One you’re quite familiar with—the homeworld of that Aeon who invaded my Teyvat."
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