"Anyways, I still need time to run more experiments, only then I would be able to say anything with certainty."

Amaya spoke. The rest of the people nodded and then—

[Do we know anything else? What triggers the fate of the world? How strong must the trigger be? Anything?]

Azriel asked with a solemn look on his face.

The Vampire Progenitor could sense it.

This was the final moment, a moment that would change the very fate of their Universe and the worst part?

He was not ready for it.

He was still... weaker than his prime self.

It wasn’t a war he could participate in, he needed more time and right now, the only thing in his mind was to buy that time.

Amaya looked at him for a moment, then she nodded slightly.

"That’s what I am trying to find out. My experiments are still ongoing, I wish to see what triggers the reaction out of the four of them.

I am thinking of trying assassinations, starting with a common thief, to a corrupt noble, then a World Leader, I would see how the Infinities react to them all and see what triggers a reaction. Coming up with an accurate answer, however, would still be difficult."

[Because they would sense what you are trying to do.] 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Azriel muttered with a solemn nod and Amaya nodded back.

"That is correct. The more experiments I do, the more they would realize that their reaction only gives us more information, while they get nothing in return, other than our puppets, of course."

[But?]

Azriel raised an eyebrow, he knew there was something else the Devourer wanted to say and... he was correct.

"But I am sure I would be able to get the answers I need before they set their traps.

After all, like us, they too are walking onto a path they have never tread on before. They too must not be prepared to take any chances."

Azriel nodded at those words.

He then stared at the rest of the women, before his eyes fell on Nux and—

[Are you sure about your decision?]

He asked. Nux, however, rolled his eyes and—

"Yes, I am. Now before you say anything, please stop. I am not taking any risks, I have made it plenty clear. Not a single child of mine will be leaving my Universe."

Nux spoke with conviction, he had no intention of backing down.

He knew why Azriel was asking what he was asking, now that he had closed the Universe, Azriel could no longer meet Samael, his grandson and Nux regretted that too.

He had seen how close Samael and Azriel had gotten, he had seen the warm side Azriel showed to the boy, the side Nux had only seen him show to Aeliana before, he had seen how much Azriel valued Samael but...

With everything going on outside, with Zylarith out there planning... who knows what...

Nux did not wish to take any risk, even when he knew that sending his child to Azriel, where he would most probably be safe since no one in the entire Universe could sense where Azriel actually was, he... he was still paranoid.

Of course, Azriel understood that as well.

If it were up to him, he would have done the exact same thing.

After all, the fact of the matter is, right now, Nux was stronger than Azriel and Azriel still needed time to reach the level he was in the past.

But still—

[What about the children?]

Azriel asked directly.

And the instant he did, all the women turned towards Nux and Nux...

He, ignoring Azriel, looked at all his wives and finally...

"That’s... not just my decision to make."

He answered honestly.

"We make it together."

He looked at his wives and spoke with a silent nod, a nod that would have put a smile on their faces if this was a normal situation but...

This wasn’t a normal situation and there was... no smile on their faces.

They just seemed... unwilling.

"How much resources do we have...?"

Felberta asked directly.

It was already clear from the very beginning, their own Universe, although it could help them support life, growing it was an entirely different thing.

They were using foreign resources to force the Universe to support their children’s growth, it was something they needed to continue, at least till their children reached the Primordial Stage, then, they could wait for the Universe to catch up to them and allow their children to grow naturally.

That was the plan.

But...

Now, that plan wasn’t feasible anymore.

Devouring more worlds now seemed impossible, at least not until they found a way around whatever trick the Infinities were using to stop them.

And clearly, that needed time.

Till then, they needed to use the resources they had been saving all this time.

And none of them liked that feeling, after all, if they needed to use the existing resources with no way to renew those resources, it meant they had a limited amount of time, and they needed to fix this mess before that time ran out or their children wouldn’t be able to grow like they should.

Till now, this wasn’t a problem since the children were frozen in time right after the gathering all those years ago. They decided to make it so because they knew they needed time to understand what was happening, and for that, they needed all their focus here and not on the children.

Of course, the limited amount of resources they had was another reason they decided to freeze the children.

But...

That couldn’t continue any longer.

They were already missing the children, but even more importantly, keeping them in a time freeze any longer than they already had would damage their minds and their bodies at some level.

After all, time was a powerful concept, their bodies weren’t strong enough to bear its burden, not right now.

Therefore, they needed to release the children, and this was exactly the reason Felberta asked what she asked.

How long did they have?

Once the children were awake and started using those saved-up resources for their growth, how long would those resources last?

And the one who answered that question was Shadow.

"Twenty years."

The moment the women heard those words, they blinked in surprise.

"Twenty...?"

Astaria tilted her head in confusion.

"That’s it? We have devoured hundreds of worlds! How do we only have... only twenty years’ worth of resources? That makes no sense."

She complained.

All these years, they weren’t just devouring Low Level Worlds, they had even devoured High Level Worlds, worlds that were on a similar level as Umbrasol—a world that the moment Nux devoured it, he became an entirely different level of existence.

How could... they only have twenty years of resources after devouring such worlds...?

Shadow looked at her sisters and instantly realized what they were thinking, and their thoughts made sense at some level but...

"You are forcing a literal Universe to do what would usually take it billions of years, you think that won’t come with a price?"

Shadow asked a simple question and the women turned silent, Shadow however, wasn’t done.

"And don’t think the children aren’t at fault."

She chuckled as if she remembered something amusing.

"What do you mean?"

Felberta frowned and Shadow—

"Oh come on."

She laughed.

"Have you not seen those little things? They are barely ten and no Semi-Saints have what it takes to stand against any of them. Some of them could give even Divines a hard time.

Sure, it makes sense since they are his children but...

Do you really think that’s it?"

The women didn’t say anything, they just turned towards Nux, who, instead of looking at them, looked away, not wanting to look into their eyes.

Shadow then chuckled softly, almost as if she found all of this to be silly and—

"He used extra resources to strengthen them."

She revealed the truth.

"What...?"

The women frowned, Shadow on the other hand, just shrugged.

"You all must have sensed it as well, no? Our children are much stronger than usual and I am not talking about their cultivation—

Most of them are only Great Sages or Semi-Saints, but their bodies, or their abilities—

They are strong enough to affect even Divines with their abilities, did you think that was just a coincidence, or was it because you thought they were his children so it made sense?"

Shadow asked as she looked at her sisters and then—

"While all of that may be true, the real reason behind it all is that Nux has been using extra resources to strengthen the children.

He isn’t directly affecting their cultivation since that depends on the amount of work they put in, but his actions are making their bodies and their abilities stronger."

"So that’s it..."

A few women, especially Astaria, Vyriana and Aeliana’s eyes shined with enlightenment, these were the women who focused more on their children’s strength than others and they often found it strange how quickly those little things grew.

But if the reason behind their growth was because a certain someone was using extra resources to make them stronger then...

Then it all made sense...

"How long will the resources last if we stop strengthening them?"

Amaya asked with a solemn look on her face and Shadow—

"Thirty years."

She answered.