The World's most Overpowered Side-Character

Chapter 303: Sleep.

[Creation Tier Unique Skill; Annihilation]

Ikaris's palm which pressed against the General's forehead glowed golden, and the man let out a single gasp before cracks emerged across his entire body and light burst from him, spilling into the void and burning the reality it occupied around them.

His body faded from before her like dust scattering with the particles dissipating while Ikaris stared in Sol's direction, their fight had been overshadowed by something much more serious, ending on a low note as the man had been unceremoniously erased from existence with his soul banished to a greater hell, where he would answer for everything he had done.

"Sol," Ikaris clasped her hands as if in prayer, and hearing his name Sol snapped out of his train of thoughts and looked up, linking to her mana and summoning her to his side.

"What happened?" Ikaris asked as soon as she arrived, leaving glances at everyone and then diverting all her attention onto him with a concerned and worried expression masking her face.

She sunk into the seat next to him and held his hand passing through the veil which Dina and Arla had been too afraid to approach, looking directly at him and smiling worriedly when he stared at her with his eyes slightly narrowed from still overthinking.

"You are scaring everyone, Dear," Ikaris rubbed her thumbs across the back of his hand and raised it, kissing his fingers and smiling again. "You have yet to take a breath."

"Oh..." Sol suddenly gasped, releasing the tension in the atmosphere and smiling at her when he could feel her mana seeping into his body and calming his own. "Thank you, Ikaris." He smiled at her again and then took another deep breath slightly exerting himself as he and everyone present vanished into a warping infinity, reappearing inside of his collective on earth by the front of his estate.

"All of you; I'm sorry about what just happened, I wasn't thinking clearly for a moment there," Sol looked around at them and then towards the Estate grounds."

"Are you going to keep us in the dark?" Dr'ul asked, and Ikaris hummed taking his hand and leading him up the first flight of stairs.

"I sensed Lumi's presence, did she come with some kind of warning or threat?" Ikaris quizzed seriously while Alpha pushed the doors open for everyone. "Is it something you are unable to disclose between everyone?" She asked again, looking behind them at their allies from all walks, but Sol shook his head and fanned that idea away.

"Nothing of the sort, Lumi only raised the veil back there because unlike here where we can speak freely and without causing a fuss; the Grand Collective is filled with beings who are always watching, always listening, it was a countermeasure she made to prevent that information from falling onto the wrong ears," He explained taking a seat and gesturing to all the other available seats in the large lounge while Sara placed Talia in his lap and retreated to the kitchen with a bow.

"And what information would that be? What caused you such worry, love?" Ikaris sat in his seat resting her head against his shoulder and smiling at their baby girl, creating a small orb of mana and placing it in her grasp while Renia stared worried, seeing the child play with something packed with enough destructive power to easily level an entire city block with ease.

"It concerns Umbra," Sol added more mana to the orb causing Talia to laugh as she sloppily handled it, inciting more fear in everyone around them when it became visibly unstable.

Sol then went on to explain his and Lumi's conversation to them and at the end of it he wore no shock when Ikaris took the little ball of doom from Talia and gave her a regular ball while her and the others showed visible signs of panic.

"Is... is it even possible for someone to possess that much power, that not Lumi nor any other emissary, not even as a collective body of emissaries would dare challenge?" Ikaris asked, unable to raise her head from looking at Talia who still played without a care in the world.

"Primordial Darkness; the first darkness, the first consciousness in existence, how could such a pure entity become evil?" Adonai asked with a visible lump in his throat, looking at his sister for an answer, but like everyone else, the knowledge of Giza's existence and who she had allied with left the goddess of war speechless, how are you supposed to win against a being that commanded the power to end a collective with just a thought?

"Abandonment," Ikaris answered Adonai's question after mulling over it for a few minutes in their shared silence.

"However she came into being, it only makes sense that she has existed all this time alone, likely bitter, if she has existed in the inverse of The Grey from the start of time then Umbra is the first being she has ever truly made contact with, she has been in solitude since the birth of creation, or worse, she was ignored by the light after it was born of her existence; light cannot exist without there first being dark, but darkness cannot exist where there is light, so it has to be abandonment." Ikaris theorised.

"Well, be that as it may, she has sided with Umbra who has openly declared that he wants to destroy everything the light touches, so I can only assume that is also her goal, this makes her our enemy, this makes her the enemy of the grand collective as much as he is; the Emporium would do good to heed my warning but from what I have seen from them, both from Alpha's spying as well as personal encounters, they will not listen; the Empire is full of shallow-minded people who can only see the greed before them and nothing else.

"Indeed," Cecelia agreed with that sentiment.

"They will never listen, and they will never heed any warning until it is far too late, they will continue to pursue you and her Highness with everything they have; especially now that their plan to capture you has failed and led to the destruction of the 100th fleet and the death if the ninth General, asking them to see reason is impossible, they want nothing but our heads."

""Yeah, that's a given, I suppose," Sol answered her statement with a sigh. "It wasn't like they'd have been of any use either; not against the ancient darkness."

"I apologise," Cecelia lowered her gaze, and along with her everyone else did the same, the only one who raised their head was Ikaris. "With the power we have, it is impossible to help you, Master Vestic," She stared at her hands depressed.

"All this time, I used to consider myself strong, especially after I had surpassed her Highness' peak before she vanished some years ago, but after meeting you I have been humbled, there is no way I could be of use in such a fight, yet I had boldly declared that I would offer myself as a weapon." She sighed.

"I already told you all," Sol shook his head at Cecelia and then at the others who he knew shared the same sentiment as she did. "Umbra is my fight, your jobs are as Ikaris's retainers, you stand by her until the Emporium falls to its face and then you stomp it out of commission, you don't rest until there's nothing left, understood?" He stared at them one after the other.

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"Understood," Cecelia answered first, and then there was a chorus of replies from everyone else in the room one after the other, ending with Ikaris smiling and nodding as she too uttered "Understood" and then fell into a brief silence.

"And what of you, Love, what will you do about the current tipping of the favours?" Ikaris asked with her brow raised, genuinely curious since with all her knowledge she had fallen on blank thoughts every time she thought of the Dark and Light struggle for power over all which resided beneath them; such a topic was Sol's to handle indeed, he seemed to have bad luck and the most experience when it came to encountering Primordial and Celestial classed entities.

"I don't know just yet, I'll sleep on it and try thinking of a solution, or a compromise later."

"Sleep?" Sara stopped from sharing his meal and stared at him shocked. "You?"

"Indeed," Ikaris nodded. "You already know how he gets when something he would rather not dip his hands in surfaces and leaves him no choice," She wiggled her brows at the maid who nodded with a nostalgic smile.

"Ah, it has been a while has it not?" Dr'ul asked with a chuckle.

"It truly has," Renia answered confusing the new members of their alliance when Sol stood and walked away without uttering a word more, and Ikaris followed suit with Talia in her grasp, and then Dina and Arla after the two of them, and finally Sara after bowing to them all.

"Take care of him, Sara, Master Vestic has a lot on his plate this time," Renia added seeing the maid quickly follow the others up the stairs and then looked at the remaining cast.

"What just happened?" Keele asked, confused.

"Master is tired, he will sleep," Alpha answered, conjuring doors to the guest rooms in the estate for everyone. "You should all sleep," She gestured at the doors.

"I still don't understand what's happening," Jenifer admitted but walked towards the door and stood there looking at Alpha, but the system/maid only smiled and gestured again.

"It will make sense after a good rest; I have prepared special luxuries and elixirs for you to help you fall asleep if you find it difficult."

That evening, alpha sat in the kitchen eating cake with her smaller Variant that resembled Jenifer who she had let remain a separate entity for days like this where there was nobody to serve for whatever reason.

"They have all fallen asleep, the gods included," The little Alpha looked at the original also eating cake and swinging her feet like the child she personified.

"Wonderful," Alpha placed her fork on the table and stared blankly.

[Starting Assimilation; Targeting All]