"Eri, I feel sleepy. I want to sleep now," Olivia said. After eating such a large amount of food, she began to feel drowsy. It was the same kind of exhaustion that comes after going hungry all day.
Once the overwhelming need to eat is satisfied, the body naturally wants to rest and absorb everything.
"Bear with it, Vivi. We will break through quickly," Ella replied eagerly. She had become completely focused on reaching the next realm. Although such impatience might seem unfitting for a god, it no longer mattered to her.
She was not like the others. At this point, her foundation was complete. Every part of her, including her sea of consciousness and core, was steadily growing stronger.
It was only natural that her instincts pushed her forward.
All things were designed this way—to tempt beings to advance until they failed. Even if such a will reached the Divine Space, it would no longer matter. They had already reached their limits. No one could hope for their downfall if it was already impossible to make it happen.
Thinking this through, Olivia could only nod, though reluctantly. She didn't want to disappoint Ella, so she agreed.
"Okay, Eri. I'll do my best."
Ella nodded and didn't waste time. Everything had already been prepared. They had distanced themselves about a hundred miles from the castle. Considering the vastness of the Divine Space, this distance was not a problem. Ella had gone to such lengths for Tia's sake.
As a mortal, even a trace of their aura leaking out could be enough to kill her instantly. That risk had to be avoided.
Still, Ella couldn't shake her nervousness. She had a lingering feeling that once their breakthrough began, it might trigger a phenomenon powerful enough to destroy the enormous Silver Filigree Castle. The concern gnawed at her, and Olivia immediately noticed it.
"Are you worried about that castle?" Olivia asked lazily, her tired eyes glancing at Ella.
"Yeah, it's quite concerning."
Hearing the seriousness in Ella's voice, Olivia wasn't surprised. She had already sensed this worry and shared the same concern. She remembered clearly what happened when they broke through to the Inferno Realm inside the secret realm. It had been earth-shattering. Naturally, they feared the same might happen again.
Although Olivia didn't know how to protect the castle, a sudden surge of unfamiliar knowledge erupted in her Sea of Consciousness merging with her thoughts.
She didn't know where it came from, but as she analyzed the castle's structure and the scale of the surrounding land, she began to calculate a perfect way to shield it from harm.
"Eri, I want to try something. I'll see if it works."
Hearing it, Ella furrowed her brows and glanced at Olivia, thinking it was just a bluff. But as she synchronized with her, she sensed Olivia's emotions and realized she was telling the truth. Thinking it through, Ella recalled that Olivia was currently stronger than her, so she no longer doubted and simply nodded, waiting to see what Olivia was about to do.
Seeing that Ella did not question her, Olivia smiled warmly. She then walked past Ella. When she reached the right distance, Olivia's expression turned slightly serious. She raised her hand and spoke softly.
"Law of Space and Law of Time."
After speaking, her hand surged with trembling force, creating ripples through the air. Temporal distortions followed. A minute passed in silence. Ella stared at Olivia, thinking she had failed. She was about to step forward to comfort her, but suddenly, the space surrounding the Silver Filigree Castle began to shake. The air warped as if pressed by an unseen hand. A perfect temporal balance emerged, accelerating and compressing everything without damaging the structure.
Ella, who had almost moved in to hug Olivia in comfort, stood stunned. Before her eyes, the entire Silver Filigree Castle began to shrink with incredible speed. In just a few seconds, the massive structure had been reduced to the size of a tiny ball no larger than a fist.
"This... what in the world..." With wide eyes, Ella was nearly humiliated by her previous gesture. Fortunately, she quickly composed herself and flew toward Olivia, pretending nothing had happened. She patted her dress and spoke in a calm voice.
"Amazing, Vivi. This is a clever way to reduce the risks so that no one else is affected."
Ella looked at Olivia as if she had expected the result. She acted calm, as though it had been her idea as well. But the truth was far more bitter. She had never expected the gap between them to be this wide.
She found herself pretending not to feel envious, but Olivia noticed the change in her thoughts and could not help teasing her.
"Eri, you can't do it, can you?" Olivia said with a smirk.
Ella's face turned red with frustration as she snapped back.
"What? That's ridiculous. I can do it too. I just... didn't think of it that way. I was simply missing that idea, that's all."
She crossed her arms and tried to speak with confidence, then opened one eye to see Olivia's reaction. But to her surprise, she was immediately teased again.
"Really?" Olivia's red eyes narrowed playfully as she grinned at her. Ella, now shaking in embarrassment, glared furiously at her.
"Vivi... you."
Ella was furious. She had not expected Olivia to have such a mischievous side. It was the first time she had seen her twin tease her like this, making fun of her without holding back. She was angry, but she did not want to spank her or hurt her in any way. No matter how frustrated she felt, she could not bring herself to harm Olivia. So instead, she took a deep breath, calmed herself, and walked past Olivia.
"Enough. We are here to advance, not to play," she said, ignoring her as she strode away to avoid being embarrassed again.
Watching her walk away, Olivia could not help but murmur softly to herself.
"Eri, you really cannot hurt your lovely sister, can you?"
Staring at Ella, who dismissively ignored her, Olivia grinned uncontrollably and began walking toward their breakthrough site.
She wanted to keep teasing Ella but understood that advancing came first. So, she pushed the thought aside and flew ahead so they could proceed without any delays.
Moments later, they arrived at an incredibly vast space, surrounded by white in every direction. Finding it suitable, they immediately settled there to begin their breakthrough. They crossed their legs and started meditating to reach full concentration and avoid any interruptions. Ella then closed her eyes and gave the command to the system.
"System, we will break through now."
After saying those words, the system seemed to synchronize with her thoughts and responded as if all restraints had been lifted.
BOOM.
A deafening explosion followed. White creation flames surged from Olivia, while abyssal black flames burst from Ella. The shockwaves were strong enough to evaporate a small star.
The air trembled violently as their destructive essence erupted. Cracks and fissures spread everywhere. The surrounding white space shattered, exposing the void beneath. Fortunately, it began repairing itself right away, though traces of damage still remained. Sliced gaps and deep cuts lingered in the fabric of space.
Their bodies continued to release destructive essence without pause, growing stronger each second as if trying to break past their current limits. Cracks appeared on their bodies, and their veins burst under the pressure. But thanks to their regenerative abilities, they healed instantly. The pain made their veins tougher, their bodies sturdier, and their Infernal Mantle Cores expanded without limit, causing their destructive essence to grow rapidly.
The expansion continued for hours before gradually slowing down. It stopped once their cores reached thirty thousand miles in diameter—far larger than a small planet. Their cores had reached the final stage of the breakthrough. The leaking destructive essence came to a halt.
Then the system spoke.
DING!
➤ You have reached the Threefold Stage, granting you the capacity to withstand a new form of energy.
➤ The system will now generate a unique energy known as Cosmic Essence.
➤ Absorb as much as you can.
With a cracking sound, two fissures formed, each spanning ten thousand meters, releasing a new energy that instantly shook the surrounding space.
"Fwhoooosh..."
Space trembled as the twins were overwhelmed by an enormous surge of cosmic essence. Their bodies began absorbing it at a terrifying pace. Not only were their cores transforming, but the stagnant Sea of Consciousness within them also expanded, strengthening their souls and sharpening their willpower.
This was all thanks to the cosmic essence now merging into every part of their bodies, refining their blood and evolving their existence further. Their forms shifted, adapting to the new energy as it fused into their Infernal Mantle Cores.
Previously, the twins possessed two types of energy flawlessly combined within their cores, enhancing every aspect of their power. Now, with the addition of a third type, a world- altering transformation began to unfold.
Ella extended her perception, observing the changes within her evolving Infernal Mantle Core. She saw the new, invisible energy merging with her core in perfect harmony. Her core now contained three distinct energies. Then, without warning, her core began to expand uncontrollably. Her eyes widened as the system spoke to her directly.
"Astral Horizon Core..."
Her voice trembled.
"What the fuck... it's developing an inner world inside it?"
Ella focused on the newly formed space within her Astral Horizon Core. It had grown to a staggering five hundred thousand miles in diameter, vast enough to hold countless worlds.
At the center of this boundless space, she saw it—a Abyssal world, three hundred miles across and expanding by the second. It pulsed with life, drawing power from the three energies that now defined her core.
And it was still growing.