For the first time since Etz Chaim began speaking, Dante's expression changed greatly. Previously, everything had been an uninteresting backstory about everything and how things reached this stage, so he did not have much of a reaction.

However, the revelation that it was Lara who created the Zero Gate as well as the First Gate changed everything. These two locations and phenomena were integral to all his plans and also formed the current core of the entire framework of all the universes in existence.

For what reason would Lara design such a thing?

"The purpose of the Zero and First Gate is to weaken my power bit by bit until she can break free." The avatar of Etz Chaim seemed to see Dante's question and answered him right away.

"I see. I always felt like something was off when I found out Lara was sealed by Luka and that she had split clones of herself down to the multiverse. The more I interacted with her and found out her true nature, the more I understood that she was someone for whom every second spent in lower space was like swimming in feces. Dante began analyzing things pensively.

"Someone who can endure such a thing has to have a goal that they were pursuing at all costs that could make them ignore such suffering and discomfort. Immediately, I knew she was seeking methods to break free, but I was not sure exactly how she planned to do so."

Dante smiled bitterly and rubbed his forehead. "My first thought was that she was planning to refine all the lower universes and use the collective energy to break her shackles. My second thought was that she wanted her clones to gather power on their own and become stronger, then return to the main body to boost her up enough to break her prison."

The avatar nodded with appreciation. "Those are very well-thought- out assumptions and would be likely if Lara was not an insane despot. You have already realized it even as you speak, but the two options you suspected are not even close to what she wants."

Dante sighed. "Yes. To her, we are the epitome of filth, no better than plague-bearing rats. She would never let energy from our collective multiverse touch her because who would bathe in mucky water or drink it?"

"Likewise, her clones have been tainted completely since they were made to be born in the various universes naturally, so she obviously discarded them from the moment they were sent down. This is exactly why they cannot connect to each other or connect to the main body, as Lara doesn't want their filth to reach her."

The more Dante spoke and analyzed Lara, the more he realized the problem she presented. This was a bizarre creature with peak power, peak arrogance, and peak insanity. She was truly one of a kind, and Dante began to understand a part of the difficulty Luka faced when confronting her.

"All correct. You are beginning to understand how she thinks, and honestly, much faster than Luka did back then. It is only by understanding her that you can beat her, so I will tell you her purpose in creating the Zero and First Gates." The avatar said with a hint of approval towards Dante.

Dante nodded and listened attentively, also wanting to know the exact reason despite formulating his own guesses and theories just now.

"All things have a balanced development. When Luka created the lower universes, he established a basic cycle of life and death for all things. Universes would be born from chaos energy roaming the void and would grow through time, spawning various life forms within its boundaries."

"These life forms contribute chaos will in minute amounts to the universe, which causes it to expand slowly. This expansion creates space for more life forms to be generated along with the resources to sustain those life forms, leading to more chaos will being sent to the universe for expansion, and so on."

"This formed a cycle during the lifespan of universes, which came to an end when they reached a limit in expansion that could not be broken through. Resources then become finite, and the universe starts to contract rather quickly compared to its expansion, leading to the apocalypse of all races."

The avatar sighed. This is the natural cycle. Luka did not create any other method for universes to acquire chaos will nor a plane for them to fight each other for control of territories."

Dante nodded. "Even worse, all of this new chaos will has to come from somewhere, right?"

The avatar nodded with satisfaction. "Correct. Technically, we are supposed to dual host it, but right after wresting some of my authority from me and creating the system, Lara threw most of it back. As such, I bear a huge majority of the cost for maintaining all the Zero Gates as well as the First Gate."

"Why not just destroy them and reset everything back to its original state?" Dante asked the obvious question.

"Oh, how nice that would be. Unfortunately, Lara is very insidious. When creating these things, she directly linked them to the core of the multiversal entity. It is no longer a separate aspect but a core feature, so removing it would be no different from removing a crucial organ from your body. You can imagine the consequences."

Dante couldn't help but glance at Lara's sealed body, or at least where it should be in the tree. He couldnt help but feel that for a madwoman, she was incredibly meticulous and careful in her actions.

"So what's the objective? To weaken you enough so that she can break free?" Dante inquired further.

"Exactly. As you yourself analyzed, she disdained relying on others to achieve her goal, so in her mind, if she's going to break free, it would be using her own power." The avatar replied.

Dante was skeptical. "Ha? But isn't that still relying on us filthy lower-dimensional beings?"

The avatar shook its head. "From our point of view, yes, though somewhat indirect. From her point of view, she is not relying, but using, which is more true actually. The system she created is more lucrative to you lower-dimensional beings than any of us. She doesn't need to beg you to use it; you fellows descended upon it like locusts and raised it on the highest pedestal."

"It is not asking for help but throwing a bone to a dog knowing that the dog cannot resist chasing it. After all, even if I revealed all this with evidence to the entire multiverse, none of you would hesitate to still use the two entities, no?"

Dante was speechless. Clearly, Lara had a firm grasp on the minds of sentient beings as well as how to manipulate them. This was an elaborate trap that one would willingly walk into, and the killer part was that technically, this did not affect lower-dimensional beings.

The one suffering and paying the price would be Etz Chaim, a higher-dimensional being, not them. Much like how the poor and less fortunate felt when the rich encountered trouble that caused them losses, the prevailing thought would be: 'well, they are rich, so they probably wouldn't feel it anyway.'

"So what is the solution? How do we prevent this from happening Dante asked Etz Chaim. Since it had come here to talk to him and had even chosen him to sponsor wholeheartedly, it must have some plan or two.lightsnovel

"I considered many avenues. One was to simply hand the authority to Lara so she bears the cost of her own actions, but..." the avatar paused there.

Dante didn't even need to think to understand the problem. "Lara doesnt have the same scruples as you. The moment she feels the drain, she will happily destroy the things she created and everything else along with it without hesitation."

"Precisely. So in the end, my best bet was to find someone else to nurture to bear the cost while I focus all my efforts on suppressing her day and night." The avatar continued before glancing at Dante deeply.

Dante was startled. "Me? You want me, a lower-dimensional being, to bear the cost of all the universes and their ever-expanding power?"

"Well, yes and no. When you do become ready to handle the authority I give you, you will not be a mere lower-dimensional being, but something - hopefully - on par with myself and Lara. At that point, handling this should not be much of a problem, and Luka did leave resources to help manage the universes, which I mostly rely on to keep the balance." The avatar quickly stated as if worried Dante would chicken out.

"Sure, I'm in." Dante responded with a smile.

"l know this might be a lot to take in suddenly, but...huh?" The avatar began to try and reassure Dante before actually processing his words and being left dumbfounded.

"You... agree?"

Dante chuckled. "Of course I do. What do you think live been fighting for ever since I became an adult? It's for power, recognition, and success. Recently, I've been in a slump because that damned bird told me I can never become higher dimensional, so my thought was that I could bypass that and achieve that kind of power by gaining an authority."

"Now I'm being told that I will be sponsored to reach such a height and then be given an authority on top? I would be foolish to say no."

"Uhh, but the cost?" The avatar was still befuddled and couldn't help but ask this dumb question.

"What good thing in this world is free? Even your sponsorship, which I thought was free, comes with a condition, so it's just another price to pay on the road to success." Dante said honestly.

The avatar was silent for a spell as it transformed from Dante's visage to that of a young girl with a mixture of black and white hair that reached her waist. Her skin tone was bright yet flushed, full of vitality and energy.

Her eyes shone with a pale green luster, and her features were nothing short of spectacular, though she did look far younger than even Dante and Beatrice currently. At best, she looked 16 years old, which made Dante wonder why such an aged being would present such a youthful front.

"Okay, you now qualify to see my true form, something I've only shown Luka like twice." Etz Chaim spoke in a lovely and cute voice that was matched with her bright smile.

Dante sized her up and down. She was floating in the air, her long hair billowing around her ankles while her body was covered by a dress of tightly woven leaves - leaving nothing visible - which was definitely the peak of conservative dressing.

Rather than any awe or amazement, the only thing he had in mind was, 'Who does this pipsqueak think she is?'

lightsΝοvel Obviously, he didn't say that.

"So how do I reach the standard you set for me?" Dante asked as he folded his arms, his tone becoming more casual.

Etz Chaim didn't notice this, thinking that Dante was now more trusting of her since she had showed her true form. She couldn't help but feel smug within, since Luka acted the same way when she stopped using his own form to talk to him and appeared as her true self.

Truly, she was a paragon of social interaction!

"It's simple. Take Quantum Entanglement to the EX Rank and capture all of Lara's clones across the multiverse." She replied with a smile.

"Yes, very simple..." Dante muttered speechlessly.

"Is there any time limit?" Dante asked with a serious expression.

"Hmm... maybe a few million years? Right now, most of my energy is spent dealing with Lara, handling the various universes is more of a slow drain than a major one." Etz Chaim thought carefully before answering, not seeing Dante's forehead creasing.

"If it's so far away, why make it sound so rushed earlier?" Dante asked with gritted teeth.historical

"Huh? Far away? Is it really? I feel like it could come at any time." Etz Chaim seemed surprised.

Dante became deflated. Okay, he was an idiot for getting angry at a being whose sense of time was different from his. She had existed for so long and was part of the highest echelon of beings in their entire universe, how could she possibly count every single year like humans did?