The In-Between

King Oberon watches through a portal as the Warden of the Red Plague unleashes the Red Plague, spreading the enormous mass of glowing red liquid into the air towards the void creatures. Void creatures that are just beginning to notice her arrival and target the planet.

The swarm of Red Plague continuously spreads out to blot out the entire sky before it clashes with the void invasion and quickly begins to devour it, not giving the lower Class void creatures even the slightest chance of fighting back.

“Are we sure this is a good idea?” Elara, the newly designated First Princess of the Fae and contracted partner of the Blood Calamity, asks with a frown as she floats next to her father.

King Oberon stays silent for several seconds as the Red Plague devours the void creatures, with the Warden constantly pulling the Red Plague back into her to absorb the reality energy from the void creatures. And every time she absorbs it, her level and total EXP shoot up nonstop.

“There’s no other choice but to fight a universe level threat with another universe level threat,” Oberon eventually answers. “I believe she won’t be a problem in the future.”

“I agree with you, Father. But what I’m worried about is if the poor girl isn’t able to control the Red Plague.” Elara says, making Oberon finally glance at her. Then she pushes on, asking, “What if she completely loses control of it and it results in the end of both the universe and the Farshore?” She pauses for a second before adding, “What if grandmother’s work ends up being pointless?”

The king doesn’t say anything for several seconds, just watching the Red Plague devour the void invasion.

“Then we must prepare for the end of everything,” Oberon eventually says, not even hiding the consequences of that.

His daughter’s eyes widen in both shock and fear before she turns her gaze to the one-sided battle below. Where the void army is being devoured whole by the constantly growing Red Plague.

But despite that, the void creatures continue throwing themselves into the Red Plague with abandon.

Unlike what many people might assume, the void creatures have no intelligence. No sapience, no intelligence, no ability to tell apart danger or threats.

All the void creatures can do is attack the living, with a specific draw towards sapient living creatures.

Their entire purpose is that of the anti-life. To destroy everything and kill all living beings.

So the two Royal Fae continue watching as they all throw themselves into the Red Plague in a pointless attempt to eliminate the intelligent plague, only for the plague itself to devour them instead.

“It’s terrifying,” Elara says while turning her gaze to the apathetic look on the Apex Predator’s face. A look that shows just how indifferent she is to the current greatest threat in the entire universe. “The Red Plague is truly terrifying.”

“Yes,” Oberon says, sounding quieter than normal as he watches the granddaughter of his contractor nourish herself on the universe’s direct enemy. “That it is.”

But no matter how terrifying the plague and the girl are, they’re the only hope of saving the universe.

Oberon feels more than a little warry by the idea of her competing in the tournament with the Red Plague. Even if he knows that she won’t likely use if for offence if she is told how it will kill the other competitors even if they choose to turn on the anti-death law in the artificial universe he made for the competition.

At least, not in battles against those with the anti-death law enabled.

From what he’s heard of the girl from a certain doting grandfather who speaks about her more often than Oberon would like, the girl isn’t against using what she has to kill. Even if it basically means she’ll be devouring them alive in a sense. She would only hold back if she knew they didn’t want to die in the tournament.

Oberon sighs as he continues watching the chaos. But after a while, he begins to notice a shift in both the Red Plague planet and the void invasion.

Both of them begin to move in the direction of the random, dead planet the Warden is currently on.

Oberon’s draconic eyes narrow slightly at the sight.

The Red Plague planet is moving towards its Warden, that’s clear enough. But are the void creatures moving towards the biggest threat? The only threat that has been able to fight back against them so far?

He frowns at that thought. Because if it’s true, then the void invasion does have some minor instincts after all.

Instincts to target the biggest threat first.

Of course, not all of the void creatures across the world are moving towards the world. Not even the vast majority of them are.

Only the void creatures within the galaxy she is currently in. One on the other side of the universe to Earth.

Oberon turns his gaze back to the swarm of Red Plague above the planet, along with the indifferent girl controlling it all and occasionally reabsorbing bits of the Red Plague. And when he looks at her level through his System Access granted to him by his status as the King of the Fae, he can’t help but frown.

She has leveled up nearly twenty times in just the last hour. If she keeps up the pace she’s at now, considering the increase in necessary reality energy per level…

His eyes widen and he begins to turn away from the portal.

She’ll reach around level 1700 by the time the tournament begins.

A level that Oberon feels is high enough to win. Especially with her Apex Predator skill giving her a 100% boost in stats against the Knights, who are barely a hundred levels above that.

“Let’s go,” Oberon tells his daughter, who quickly follows after him. “We have a tournament to prepare for.”

At the very least, The Reaper doesn’t have a fae to compete for.

Right when they’re about to teleport to the new universe he created temporarily, he glances at his daughter and adds, “And I wish you luck in the tournament as well, young Elara.”

She nods her head, following which they both teleport, making the portal behind them vanish without a trace.