Beyond the Bloodline-Chapter 362: Loose Ends

Either they were projecting their voice from a distant location, though Jamie should have still been able to determine where, or they were an existence capable of completely concealing themselves from him.

And that was a feat he found genuinely impressive, given his nature and deep affinity with the concept of space and everything within it, extending even beyond the conventional three dimensions.

In response to the question, Arthur rubbed his chin for a moment, as though deciding how to phrase it, and then replied,

"Well... Death?"

His answer drew a confused look from Jamie, which made Arthur chuckle as he finally sat upright from his reclining position.

Just then, the voice returned, echoing once more throughout the space, despite the fact that its presence now felt significantly farther away than before.

’It’s strange... I can’t pinpoint exactly where they are. It’s like they’re spread across everything south of here.’

While Jamie was still processing that observation, the speaker directed their next words to Arthur.

[I also detected a loose end from the mess with Olympus,] the voice said.

Hearing that, Arthur raised an eyebrow.

"A loose end? I’m pretty sure we cleaned up all loose ends so no one would find out about the contents of "the script"."

His voice turned cold as he said this, but the voice responded without hesitation.

[It’s not something that concerns your "script". It’s something else entirely. A loose end from one of the fools who dared to go against you.]

Arthur, now more curious, asked,

"And what is this loose end?"

[I sensed the power of Cursed Death on my way here,] the voice answered. [I took a detour to investigate and found, in the hands of some ants... Gáe Bulg.

Interestingly, I sensed a presence similar to that of the Immortal near you, also heading toward that location. I gave them no more than a passing glance, however, since I was more concerned about the Spear of Cursed Death.]

That statement caused Arthur and Jamie to exchange a glance, surprise clearly marked in their expressions.

"Gáe Bulg?"

"A presence like Jamie’s?"

They both spoke at once, overlapping each other, but the voice only addressed Arthur’s question.

[Yes. Like him. I believe he’s the one referred to as the Immortal Anomaly.]

Jamie couldn’t help but wonder about the existence whose presence felt similar to his own, but that curiosity was soon eclipsed by the mention of the Spear of Cursed Death.

"Wait, what’s this about Gáe Bulg you two are talking about?" Jamie asked again. "Isn’t Gáe Bulg supposed to be all the way in the First Multiverse with Cú Chulainn?"

To Jamie’s question, Arthur responded in a very calm voice.

"Cú Chulainn is dead."

Jamie blinked, momentarily stunned by the answer.

"Wait, what?"

Arthur chuckled lightly at his baffled expression.

"You’ve got the same expression everyone makes when I tell them. But yes, it’s the truth. Cú Chulainn is dead, and Gáe Bulg escaped after his death.

It should certainly be considered a loose end, but..."

Arthur rose from his seat, picked up one of the red grapes on the table, and tossed it into his mouth before continuing.

"Leave it, Elaine. We’ll handle Gáe Bulg when we’re done with this more serious matter. Where’s Layla?"

[She’s on her way,] the voice responded. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

After hearing that, Arthur turned to Jamie.

"This is going to seem abrupt," he began, "but in the coming years, some very serious shit is going to go down across the Cosmos."

He gave Jamie a level look as he continued.

"The whole mess surrounding the end of the candidate selection, which I’m not entirely sure you even know about, hasn’t actually ended. Things weren’t properly resolved, and it’s going to crop up again in the future and cause an even bigger mess.

On top of that, I’ve recently uncovered some very troubling information tied to this Current Era, and to the Cosmic Forces of Chaos and Order, as well as the force of Balance, which you are an Envoy of."

Hearing that, Jamie raised an eyebrow and asked,

"So you’re giving me a heads-up that I’m going to get caught in the middle of whatever cosmic disaster is about to go off in the next few years?"

Arthur gave a wry smile.

"Glad you’re quick on the uptake."

Then he raised his right hand and pressed a few buttons on what looked like an armguard inlaid with several glowing gems. Immediately, cosmic energy began to condense around him, rapidly forming into a swirling gate rimmed with multi-coloured light.

As the gate began linking to a faraway location, Arthur spoke again.

"I did say I’d drop by in Zanerth, but I never actually got around to heading there. Been kind of busy these past few centuries."

Jamie waved him off.

"Ah, take your time. It’s not like anything serious is going down in Zanerth right now."

"Oh well. Hopefully, that’s how things remain," Arthur responded with a laugh, then his expression turned thoughtful again.

"There’s also the matter of our reunion in Valmone with Artemisia, Beatrix, Evan, and the others. Did you know that Ranus actually placed some sort of reality bind on us?

Basically, if a certain number of us were to converge somewhere in Valmone, it would send out signals to the rest of us, wherever we are in the Cosmos, and try to drag us all the way over there."

Jamie nodded in response.

"Yeah. I noticed when he did it. But despite how long has passed, enough of us haven’t converged for it to trigger."

Arthur nodded solemnly.

"Indeed. The situation in Valmone now is not too good, after all."

Then, with a long sigh, he added,

"And I hope it doesn’t happen until we’re done dealing with all these messes on our plates."

When Arthur spoke, his voice carried a quiet longing for peaceful days, and then, turning towards Jamie, he asked, "Can I count on your help when shit hits the fan?"

To this request, Jamie simply replied, "Nah, no problem. I’ve also been off the spotlight for quite a bit, so it’ll be fun to get back in again."

This response pleased Arthur, and he nodded before addressing a different matter.

"Whoever it is you lent your power to, it’d be best if you got it back before then. Your current state is not going to be enough to handle those issues that are eventually going to pop up."

"Haha, I’m planning to regain everything in a short time anyway," Jamie replied with a laugh.

"It better be a really short time," Arthur said, "because if there’s one thing I’ve learned over the past few thousand years dealing with you long-lived beings, it’s that your definition of a short time and my definition of a short time are NOT the same.

Can you imagine the bullshit Ranus pulled? He was talking about something and he said ’some time ago’, and look at me thinking he meant maybe a few hundred years or maybe a thousand years, but no, this bastard was talking about SEVEN HUNDRED MILLION years ago."

Jamie burst into laughter at that and said, "It’s a difference in perception of time, Arthur. And no, when I say a short time, I mean a really short time. Like a few years, give or take."

"Less than a decade?" Arthur asked just to confirm, his skepticism still clear.

Jamie laughed again and said, "Yes. Less than a decade."

Hearing this, Arthur heaved a sigh of relief. "That’s good to hear."

Just then, the door opened and his other companion, Layla, stepped in, glancing towards the cosmic gate that had formed in the room and then back at Arthur.

"We’re leaving now?"

"Yeah, Elaine has located them," Arthur responded, and after saying that, he extended a hand towards Nicole, who took his hand, and he helped her to her feet.

After he did that, he glanced towards Alexia and said, "See you later, Alexia."

Alexia responded with a lazy nod.

"Yes. Whenever you’re done, I’ll be here anyway, drowning in paperwork upon paperwork upon paperwork," she lamented, clearly tired of her unwilling position as Overlord.

Arthur just chuckled while Layla hopped over to her and said, "I’ll come by to help you when Arthur and I are done with our business. See you later."

"See you later."

After giving Alexia a light hug, she hopped over to the gate and stepped in, with Nicole following afterwards.

Arthur then held out his hand and said, "Lostvayne, Celestia. Time to go."

With a burst of cosmic energy, his two Ego weapons warped over to his location, with Lostvayne quickly taking advantage of the opportunity to revert to sword form and then dematerialise completely.

Following them, space split open, and the Galaxy Sword in its humanoid form stepped out.

[Hey, why do you guys leave me behind?]

Arthur, ignoring the Galaxy Sword, fist bumped Jamie and said, "See you around."

Jamie responded with a light nod, and with that, Arthur stepped into the Cosmic Gate, which closed behind him, leaving Jamie and Alexia behind.

"Imma go take a tour of your empire while Sarina and Chrono are talking. I’m curious to see how things have changed."

With that, he got up, and Alexia, looking at him with narrowed eyes, said, "You better not go to any restricted are—never mind, I’ll just follow you."

She gave up halfway, and Jamie, laughing a bit, asked, "Why does it feel like you’re using me as an excuse to avoid your administrative work?"

To which Alexia responded, "It’s just your imagination."

Of course, the way Alexia grabbed Jamie and fled the room when one of her assistants came over to drag her back to work after sensing Arthur’s departure only confirmed Jamie’s words.