Death... and me

Fila and Gem had known each other for many, many years. Research leaders of the Vuvre Organization? No, Soul Gem wasn't anything like that back when they met each other. Fila and Gem met way, way back, back when Soul Gem was still a Nascent Soul expert. That being said, it was impossible that Fila had been put as a spy to watch Soul Gem from the very start.

Then again, he truly couldn't understand why she had attacked him at this crucial moment. Haven't they always been friends? They had gone through many things together. Simply put, Soul Gem trusted Fila more than anyone else in the Universe, or so he did until this moment.

In the end, Soul Gem ignored the confusion in his mind as he used his Spiritual Sense to ask while coughing up blood, "Why? Just why you, of all people? I don't understand..."

However, it was then that he noticed. Fila's eyes were blank, as if her soul wasn't even there anymore. However, although they were blank, Soul Gem could see the tears flowing out of her eyes. At that instant, rage filled his mind as he understood what had happened. "I see...that time in the Golden Realm while we were fighting Tuana's Wafrol Forces."

The Vuvre and Wafrol Organizations had been at war against each other for even longer than Soul Gem was alive. Both sides knew that one day, the Universe would meet its end. Soul Gem and Fila entered the Vuvre Organization much later.

One of these battles happened in a place called the Golden Realm. Due to certain circumstances, a powerful natural treasure gave birth to that realm, and both forces were battling for it. At that time, Soul Gem and Fila were at the forefront, trying to contend against the Wafrol Forces. Although he wasn't the head yet, Soul Gem had already occupied a very high position in the Vuvre Organization.

Unfortunately, they were at a disadvantage due to the reaction speed after the realm was discovered. The Wafrol Forces arrived much earlier, putting the still small Vuvre forces on their backfoot. It was at that time when that happened. The Wafrol Forces launched a surprise attack, catching the Vuvre Organization unaware, preventing them from reacting.

The battle quickly escalated as the Vuvre Forces were killed one after another. Eventually, Fila, who was commanding one of the groups, was taken down by the enemy. At that time, Soul Gem thought she had died. Even so, he gritted his teeth and controlled his fury. He kept managing all the forces until finally, their own reinforcements arrived. And just like that, three days of battle kept going, with the Vuvre Forces losing time and time again.

The situation was quickly controlled, forcing the Wafrol Organization to retreat. Of course, it was still considered a big victory for the Wafrol Forces even though they didn't wipe out the Vuvre Forces completely.

Soul Gem didn't care about any of that, though. As soon as the situation stabilized, he took a group and went to the battlefield where Fila was last seen. It was then that he found her. It turned out that Fila had used some kind of secret technique that hid her in a subspace hard to detect. Nevertheless, she was unconscious and would take over a year of healing and resources to simply wake up again.

Even so, Soul Gem was surprised that it worked. Even if that subspace was hard to find, considering how deep into the enemy's line her group was, they should have eventually noticed it. However, he decided to attribute it to luck. Perhaps the Wafrol Forces were so focused on wiping the entire Vuvre Forces out that they missed this point.

After many years, Fila had recovered completely. Also, since she went back to act as she always did, Soul Gem didn't think anything was wrong with her. Besides, he had checked her soul for any damage but couldn't find anything.

Back to the present, Soul Gem finally understood that things weren't so simple as it is now. "Tuana, you've really done it this time."

*Boom!*

Spiritual Energy burst out of Soul Gem's dantian, blasting Fila away from him. Even though his injury was extremely severe, he was still a peak expert of that Universe. He wouldn't go down that easily. Soon after, a few of the experts around Soul Gem captured and sealed Fila's cultivation.

Nevertheless, the damage was already done. The Space-Time Formation was destroyed during that minute gap when Soul Gem lost control over it.

"Hahaha!" It was then that Tuana's cackle echoed in Soul Gem's mind. "You're correct. It was back in the Golden Realm that I took her. I have to say, for someone with your intelligence, I'm impressed that you never noticed anything. Perhaps that's just how important you consider her to be that you didn't even think of this possibility."

Tuana continued, "We had the absolute advantage in the Golden Realm event, so how come your forces were still able to hold for three entire days? Don't you think it was weird?" Tuana couldn't help but recount those events. "The truth is, making this girl my slave would have been impossible in any other circumstance. However, I simply had to tell her that if she didn't accept it, I would wipe out your forces, including you. She knew that I could do that, so she accepted my offer. In exchange for becoming my slave, I would let you survive that calamity."

"Did you know?" Tuana asked. "She had always hoped that you would notice the problem. That you would stop her before she could do anything. Unfortunately, you never doubted anything. Soul Gem, this is what happens when you go against the rules of the Universe. Its extinction has already started. That's the natural order of things. Now, give up and accept your fate."

Soul Gem grieved as he looked at Fila, muttering, "I see... so that's why..."

He looked around and saw that his companions couldn't hold back anymore. The experts on his side had also used a lot of their energy in the Severing Formations Array, so they were at a disadvantage against the Wafrol experts as well.

Soul Gem bitterly smiled at the sight, letting out a sigh as he said, "It seems like this is my only choice."

Soon after, Soul Gem's dantian radiated a white and dark light as he embraced the Control Orb.

At that moment, Tuana had a bad feeling, prompting her to shout, "Stop him!"