"Nux...?"

Shadow called out with an uncertain look on her face. Hearing her tone, the rest of the women noticed Nux’s reaction as well and their smiles faded away.

What was the matter?

Why was Nux reacting like that?

They all thought the same thing.

Felberta, who had been watching Nux from the moment this conversation began, started thinking another thing.

Could it be that... Nux didn’t like depending on Lord Azriel...?

She remembered the contest between the two, regarding who would become the Universe’s God first. It was something they decided centuries ago. Most of them had already forgotten about it, especially since everything that had happened, but...

Knowing Nux, he must still remember.

But at the same time...

She also knew Nux wasn’t someone who would let such a vain contest put the lives of his children in jeopardy.

Then what was it?

Did he not trust Lord Azriel would be able to win against the Four Infinities?

That was a possibility as well.

And it wasn’t just him. Felberta herself had been thinking about it too. Lord Azriel, at his strongest, was the strongest being she had stood in the presence of. The air around him was unnatural, she would never deny that.

She also wouldn’t deny that, given time, he would be able to surpass his previous self.

However...

She had also seen the Four Infinities, and they too were not weak.

Yes, they believed that Lord Azriel, at his prime, was stronger than the Four Infinities, but the source of that information was none other than Zylarith and...

She didn’t know if she could trust that man and form a plan that affected the children’s lives based on that.

Was that it?

Was that what Nux was thinking?

She wondered.

"Nux, what is it?"

Vyriana asked in a strict voice. Nux looked at her, then at Shadow, before finally looking at Azriel—

"We do not have thirty thousand years."

He shook his head.

[What...?]

Azriel’s expression changed. It wasn’t just him, the women seemed confused too.

"Are you saying the children won’t even become Semi Saints in the next thirty years?"

Astaria’s frown deepened.

"That is not it."

Nux, however, shook his head again.

"But this is not about them being Semi Saints."

"Then what is it about?"

Lyriana asked.

Nux paused for a moment and that was when Azriel narrowed his eyes.

[It is the difference between the Flow of Time between your and my Universe.]

He spoke.

Nux looked at the Vampire Progenitor and nodded with a hesitant look on his face.

"What...?"

Shadow’s frown deepened.

"But the Flow of Time between the two Universes has always been constant..."

She commented. Nux looked at her and shook his head.

"That was because resources were being used to stabilize our Universe."

The women’s frowns deepened and Nux explained properly.

"The time in our Universe is different from the Main Universe. There is no connection between them whatsoever, meaning that there is no link between them.

A hundred years here could be one there, a thousand years there could be one here, it is all random."

[Are you saying...]

Azriel’s tone became grave. Nux looked at him and completed his sentence with a nod.

"After these thirty years, once we run out of foreign resources, we have no way to know how long we have. We can either have enough time for you to become an Infinity, or we might not. There is no way to be certain."

And the moment those words were said—

A deafening silence spread all over the place.

No one knew what to say. These were their children’s lives they were talking about and every single person here hated that they had no way out of this mess.

The one who had it the worst was Allura.

The Succubus had already sealed her thoughts, making sure no one else knew what she was thinking and in her mind, she started blaming herself.

How could she not?

She was the reason all of them were in this mess. She was the one who couldn’t control herself, she was the one who became carefree, she was the one who conceived knowingly and hid it from everyone till it was too late.

Had she not done that—

Had she not conceived, no one else would have.

Then they wouldn’t have children, meaning that whatever it was that was happening outside, it would have had nothing to do with them.

All of them could stay in the Universe for as long as they desired, the Universe could have grown on its own and in a few billion years, once the Universe was ready, they could have given birth to their children.

And who knows?

In that time frame, Nux himself would have gotten strong enough to take care of their enemies and that would have hastened everything.

If only she had been patient...

Allura clenched her fists even more tightly.

"Stop blaming yourself."

That was when Nux spoke up. Allura looked up and saw him staring at her. She blinked in surprise, she once again checked if she had forgotten to hide her thoughts from him but—

"I do not need a mere link to understand what the woman I love is thinking."

Nux spoke directly, looking right into her eyes. Allura didn’t know what to say and Nux didn’t stop.

"It was not your mistake, you did what you felt was correct."

Nux wasn’t saying it just to say it.

Allura had always been like this, always silently taking care of him without taking any credit. Even during the times when his emotional state was a mess, she was there, using her own methods to keep him afloat.

Wanting a child was also one of her ways of doing exactly that.

Yes, it was true that Allura wanted a child, but that wasn’t the only reason she did what she did. She sensed that more than her, Nux needed one.

A Family.

Allura had noted Nux staring at a family, especially how fathers played with their children, more than once. She had noticed that desire, that longing in his eyes.

Even when he didn’t directly feel that way since he didn’t allow his mind to think of that possibility, deep in his heart—

He wanted children.

That was also the reason Nux didn’t stop Allura the moment he found out.

"It was me."

Nux admitted.

"I let my guard down."

Honestly, even though one section of his mind had always considered the possibility of the Infinities somehow figuring out a way to stop them, he had been terrorizing the Universe for decades. He had manipulated the Infinities, the strongest beings in the Universe, into the exact situation he wanted and there seemed no way out of it.

Everything seemed to be going his way, the two Infinities were at War, the other two refused to move, he had more than enough worlds to devour, it was... perfect.

It was all under his control.

It wasn’t just that.

It had been centuries since Nux had faced a genuine challenge. He didn’t even remember the last time he felt that he might actually lose his life.

He had been... winning and none of his close wins had been... close.

With the power to appear and disappear whenever he desired, return to any of his wives’ shadows in case he died, and other absurd Laws he had comprehended—

He had become... invincible.

That invincibility made him arrogant.

And in that arrogance, the section of his mind that always considered the possibility of the Infinities fighting back continued to be pushed back, again and again and again.

In his mind, the Four Infinities were no longer the strongest beings in the Universe, the strongest enemies he would ever face, or a threat—

They became... people he could easily manipulate.

Beings he could play with and win.

Beings who were helpless against him, despite their strength.

And somewhere along the way, that led him to believe that the Infinities would never win, that he... would never lose.

This was the reason he let go. This was the reason he let Allura and others conceive and give birth to their children, even though he knew this could very well put his children in danger. After all, he never once considered he might lose.

And that...

That arrogance was now coming to bite him.

The worst part?

There was nothing he could do about it but face it head on.

"I’ll figure out a way."

Nux spoke as he appeared next to Allura and gently held her hands. Allura looked up and when she did, Nux felt a foreign force squeezing his heart because her eyes were moist. She was barely holding back her tears.

Nux tightened his hold, his heart started racing. For the first time in a long, long while—

He was scared.

But with that fear—

Came a determination far stronger than anything he had ever felt.

This battle—

He would win it as well.

No matter what it took.

"We will figure a way out."

He spoke, looking at Allura, then at the other women around him. Then, he glanced at Amaya and—

"Let’s start experimenting, this time, without holding back."

And Amaya—

She looked into her husband’s eyes and—

"Yes."

She nodded.