Reincarnated as an Energy with a System

Chapter 1956: The Promised Day

Ning arrived in a small town south of Bronveria almost immediately after learning what Tritus was doing, appearing high above a collection of low stone buildings, narrow roads, and farmland.

The place would have looked peaceful under ordinary circumstances if the entire area had not been trembling beneath a succession of increasingly violent earthquakes.

People poured out of their homes and gathered in the streets, frightened families clinging to one another while they waited for the earthquake to pass. They weren’t aware that this was no ordinary quake and that it wouldn’t pass so quickly either.

Immediately, Ning turned toward the source of the disturbance far away and took to the sky.

He saw the boy first.

Jun’Tal lay on the ground several kilometers outside the town, unmoving but still alive, while a man stood beside him with one hand stretched toward something far larger than either of them.

Ning saw no one else there, so he could only imagine this person was none other than who he was searching for.

Tritus.

The man looked human at the moment, though Ning could see through the illusion to the inhuman form that lay beneath the facade. A pointed squid head lay on top of what he could only describe as the body of a 1000-year-old mummified corpse. His arms weren’t tentacles. Instead, one was the claw of a falcon and the other the claw of a chicken.

He didn’t have legs but an ever-blowing steam that seemed to make up the entirety of his lower half.

If Ning wasn’t sure before, he was now certain that this had to be the Celestial Will of the Constellation that many had grown to know as Tritus.

Behind Tritus was a portal.

Ning stopped in the air and looked at it.

The thing was enormous, easily several dozen meters across, with the space inside it twisting and folding around a circular opening that seemed to be forcing two completely separate places together, while waves of energy poured through its edges strongly enough that the land surrounding it trembled every few seconds.

Ning couldn’t help but frown at the sight of it.

That was not Jun’Tal’s power.

"System, what is that portal?"

<It’s a portal that connects Hyrron to a different planet>

Ning’s expression changed slightly.

"Another planet?"

<Yes>

"Did Tritus create this?" he couldn’t help but ask. "But then, what is Jun’Tal doing here?"

<The portal is being sustained using the pure energy created through Jun’Tal’s awakened ability>

Ning looked down at the unconscious boy, realization finally dawning as to what was happening.

The ability Jun’Tal possessed could convert water directly into energy, and even a tiny amount of mass transformed completely would release an absurd quantity of power. Which meant all Tritus had to do was somehow find a way to use that energy and feed it directly into anything he did.

In this instance, he was feeding that power into the portal instead of allowing it to explode outward.

That explained the earthquakes.

It also explained why the portal had grown so large.

Ning descended after realizing as much.

Tritus noticed him long before he reached the ground, although the Constellation made no attempt to run, attack, or even interrupt whatever process continued pulling energy from Jun’Tal.

He seemed completely unafraid of Ning in this situation, though that made sense given the fact that he was only ever worried about Ning ruining his plans. Now that his plans had taken effect, he believed it was too late for Ning to do anything.

"You were supposed to be my Herald for this," Tritus said without even looking toward Ning.

Ning landed several meters away, and though he heard the Constellation speak, his attention remained on the portal.

Through the portal, he could see another world that was most definitely not Hyrron.

Dark-red clouds covered a blackened sky on the other side, beneath which stretched a landscape filled with jagged mountains, rivers that glowed like molten fire, and enormous structures built from dark stone, while winged creatures moved through the distance and things resembling demons walked across the scorched ground.

Ning stared for several seconds, understanding a portion of what it was that Tritus was trying to do.

"That looks unpleasant."

Tritus smiled faintly.

Ning finally looked toward him.

"What exactly are you trying to do here?"

Tritus couldn’t help but let out involuntary laughter.

"There are worlds beyond this one that you people do not know exist, worlds filled with races, powers, and civilizations you cannot imagine. And after today, one of those worlds will be making its way over to this one."

Ning looked back at the portal for several seconds. "So your plan was to bring them here."

"You believe you are strong now, but you do not understand the pain you will be in when you see the ones coming," Tritus said. "The world will soon know a true threat, and every lip will quiver when they speak the name of the one who brought on the apocalypse. Mine."

Ning stared at the portal for several more seconds in silence. He could see figures on the other side beginning to react to the portal’s presence and preparing to come over.

Ning turned toward Jun’Tal, who lay unconscious on the side, as though in a sleep. This was no different from all the other victims in the hospitals that were still in a coma. Was the same happening to them as well?

"I see," Ning said finally. "So this was your plan all along."

Tritus looked smug. "You still have a chance to become my Herald."

Ning ignored him and continued studying the demonic landscape on the other side before something else bothered him far more than the creatures themselves.

"Whose world is that?" he asked.

Tritus frowned.

"What?"

"The world on the other side," Ning said. "Whose is it?"

The Constellation stared at him without understanding why the question mattered.

Ning sighed.

"You made an agreement with the other Constellations in Meghilars that each of you would remain on a single planet, influence only that world, and never interfere with another Constellation’s territory, so I’m wondering how you’re doing this without breaking the agreement."

Tritus stopped smiling.