Legend of the Embroiderer

Chapter 496 The Mist of the Origin Ruins

The moment he passed through the spacetime barrier, the Guardian felt a sharp pain from the white wings on his back. The gold and dark purple patterns adorning the edges of the wings suddenly lit up, tracing a dazzling trail of light in the void. Wherever the light passed, distorted fragments of spacetime were neatly arranged like combed threads. He looked down at the Observer's Badge on his chest; the gold outline on the silver background resonated with the half-black stone tablet in his hand. The patterns on the tablet's surface writhed as if alive, guiding him in the right direction.

The "Ruins of Origin" is even more bizarre than imagined. It is a continent suspended at the boundary between chaos and primordial energy. The sky presents a strange spectacle of half gold and half dark purple, with clouds of the two colors colliding at the horizon, creating silent energy storms. There is no soil on the ground, but it is composed of countless transparent memory crystals, which seal within the crystals scenes from the beginning of the universe: the figure of the creator god coalesces in the energy turbulence, and the power of nothingness surges from beneath his feet like a tide, which he then shapes into the prototype of a nebula with a wave of his hand.

The moment the guardian's toes touched the memory crystal, ripples appeared beneath its feet, revealing an unfamiliar memory—the other half of the black stone slab was being held tightly in the hands of a primitive man dressed in animal skins. The observer's mark on the man's chest was still in its most primitive form. He knelt before an erupting volcano, holding the stone slab above his head. The stone slab absorbed the energy from the volcanic eruption, and the patterns on its surface gradually became clearer.

"This is the spacetime before the birth of the first Observers." The Guardian's heart skipped a beat. He realized that the Ruins of Origin was not a fixed space, but a flowing domain composed of countless fragments of memories from the early days of creation. Every step taken could lead into a forgotten fragment of spacetime.

As he ventured deeper into the Ruins of Origin, the surrounding memory crystals began to malfunction. The once harmonious scenes of creation were gradually tainted by a black, ethereal shadow. He saw a drop of ethereal power inadvertently drip from the fingertip of the Creator God as he shaped the Lord of Chaos; he saw black vines quietly sprouting at the edge of the battlefield when the Goddess of Fate broke with the Lord of Chaos; he saw black liquid seeping from beneath the stone slab as the First Observer drew the Creation Symbol with his own blood… These deliberately concealed details were now fully exposed within the memory crystals of the Ruins of Origin.

“So the void has existed from the very beginning.” The guardian stroked a crystal that recorded the Creator God’s sealing of the void. Suddenly, pure black patterns, identical to those in the black guardian’s pupils, appeared on the crystal’s surface. “The Creator God was not splitting the void, but trying to integrate it with the universe.”

Just then, a familiar hum came from the distant energy storm. The guardian looked up and saw gray flower vines hanging down from the golden clouds. The gray flowers on the vines were in full bloom, and in the center of each flower was a small memory crystal. The crystals reflected the scenes of guardians from different timelines being swallowed by nothingness.

"Looks like you've found this place." The voice of the gray-cloaked figure came from the center of the storm. His figure appeared and disappeared in the energy flow. The half of the black stone tablet in his hand resonated strongly with the stone tablet in the guardian's hand, forming a black energy bridge. "But you're too late. The other half of the stone tablet has already merged with the core of the Origin Ruins."

The guardian gripped the stone tablet tightly, its white wings flapping to create a gust of air composed of balancing forces: "The black guardian has vanished, what are you still struggling for?"

The gray-cloaked figure let out a low laugh, which transformed into countless black sound waves within the energy storm: "He is merely an avatar of nothingness, just as you are merely a projection of balance." He suddenly waved his hand, and countless phantoms of black guardians suddenly appeared within the energy storm. These phantoms surged towards the guardians like a tidal wave. "The memories of the Ruins of Origin will tell you the truth—balance itself is the greatest lie."

The guardians flapped their wings, white feathers drawing arcs of light in the void, shattering the black phantoms. The shattered phantoms transformed into ethereal particles, but did not dissipate; instead, they merged into the surrounding memory crystals. The creation scenes within the crystals began to distort, transforming into scenes of guardians abandoning their missions: some colluded with the black-robed figures, some were forever condemned in the Mirror City, and some personally destroyed the Heart of Time and Space…

“None of this is real.” The Guardian’s voice trembled slightly, as he felt the power of nothingness within him resonating with these negative images. The Observer’s badge on his chest flickered, its golden outline sometimes bright and sometimes dim.

"Whether it's true or not, you know in your heart." The figure in the gray cloak suddenly appeared behind the Guardian, slamming the stone tablet in his hand into the Guardian's back. "The moment you accepted the nothingness, you became a traitor to the balance!"

The guardian turned to block, and the two stone slabs burst into a blinding light upon impact. A black energy wave spread from the point of collision, shattering all the memory crystals in its path and revealing the gray void beneath. In this void, the guardian witnessed a chilling sight—countless guardians from parallel universes were merging with their own void counterparts, their figures forming a gigantic black vortex in the void, at the center of which stood the figure of the Creator God.

"The Creator God was the first being to merge with the Void." The voice of the figure in the gray cloak was seductive. "He deceived everyone with the lie of balance, his purpose being to make all the guardians of time and space eventually return to the Void, completing his unfinished fusion."

The Guardian's consciousness fluctuated violently. He recalled the words of the Black Guardian before he vanished, and the complex look in the Creator God's eyes when sealing the Void within the memory crystal. The balance force within his body began to clash with the power of the Void. Half of the white wings on his back became even whiter, while the other half oozed black particles. The tearing between the two forces caused him unbearable pain.

"Give up." The gray-cloaked figure pressed closer, the patterns on the stone slab perfectly matching those in the guardian's hand, just one step away from becoming one. "Become a part of the Ruins of Origin, and you will see all the secrets hidden by the Creator God."

Just as the two stone slabs were about to completely merge, the guardian suddenly recalled the last glimpse of the fused entity's consciousness. He bit his tongue sharply, spitting blood imbued with the power of balance onto the two stone slabs. The blood formed a golden pattern on the surface of the slabs, temporarily halting the fusion.

"Don't you understand?" the guardian roared, simultaneously channeling the three powers within him—creation, chaos, and nothingness—into the stone slab. "Neither balance nor nothingness is the end of the universe!"

The stone slab trembled violently under the impact of the three forces, and the figure in the gray cloak was forced back a few steps. The hood slipped down, revealing a face exactly like the creator god, except that the pupils were filled with empty darkness: "How could you possibly control these three forces at the same time?"

The guardian did not answer. Through the resonance of the stone tablet, he saw the core of the Ruins of Origin—a sphere made of pure memory energy. The other half of the black stone tablet was embedded in the center of the sphere, surrounded by twelve golden chains. The chains were engraved with the oldest script of the Observer civilization, recording the original agreement between the Creator God and the Void.

"It turns out that the Creator God and the Void reached an agreement: every cycle, a Guardian will come to the Ruins of Origin to decide the future of the universe." The Guardian suddenly realized, and looked at the gray-cloaked figure, "You are not the incarnation of the Void, but a fragment of the Creator God's consciousness left in the Ruins of Origin, responsible for guiding the Guardians to make choices."

The gray-cloaked figure's expression changed drastically. He suddenly transformed into a golden light and merged into the core of the Origin Ruins. The core sphere erupted with intense light, and the other half of the black stone slab flew out from the sphere, connecting with the slab in the guardian's hand in mid-air to form a complete black stone slab.

The instant the stone slabs merged, all the memory crystals of the Origin Ruins lit up, forming a complete picture: at the beginning of the universe, the Creator God made a pact with Nothingness, using fragments of his own consciousness to create the Origin Ruins as the final testing ground for balance and nothingness. Every guardian of reincarnation must make a choice here—to maintain balance, return to nothingness, or forge a third path.

“The third path…” the guardian murmured to himself. He felt the stone slab absorbing the memory energy of the Origin Ruins. The patterns on its surface began to recombine, forming a rune he had never seen before. The rune was half gold and half dark purple, with a gray line mixed in between.

Just then, the core of the Origin Ruins suddenly cracked open, revealing the scene inside—the consciousness of the fused entity was sealed in a golden crystal, surrounded by twelve void chains, the other ends of which were connected to the cores of twelve parallel universes.

"A fusion..." The guardian's heart tightened. He wanted to rush over, but found that his body was fixed in place by the energy of the stone slab.

"To save her, we must relinquish the stone tablet." The voice of the gray-cloaked figure came from the depths of the core, carrying the unique majesty of the creator god. "The stone tablet is the key to unlocking all parallel universes, and also the final barrier sealing the void. Relinquishing the stone tablet will allow the fusion to regain its freedom, but the void will also be completely liberated; keeping the stone tablet will seal the fusion forever, making it a sacrifice for balance."

The guardian gazed at the fused entity within the core, then at the stone tablet in his hand, caught in a dilemma. The runes on the tablet's surface flickered, as if urging him to make a decision. The memory crystals of the Origin Ruins began to extinguish, and the surrounding space was collapsing; clearly, time was running out for this trial ground.

“I choose…” The guardian took a deep breath, a resolute glint in his eyes. He suddenly threw the stone tablet toward the core. The tablet transformed into a stream of light in the air and merged into the void chains surrounding the fusion body.

A miracle occurred: the void chains began to transform under the influence of the stone slab, turning into streams of two-colored energy that merged into the consciousness crystal of the fused entity. The fused entity's consciousness gradually became clearer; she reached out and clasped the guardian's hand in mid-air.

"You made the right choice." The fused entity's voice was filled with relief. "The pact between the Creator God and Nothingness was a lie. The true third path is to allow all powers to coexist harmoniously."

As she spoke, the Ruins of Origin began to reorganize. The memory crystals were no longer black and white, but instead displayed a vibrant array of colors. The Guardian felt the three powers within her begin to coexist harmoniously, and on her white wings, gold, dark purple, and gray patterns intertwined, forming a beautiful design.

However, just as the Ruins of Origin were about to stabilize, a huge crack suddenly appeared in the sky, from which a giant hand emerged, holding a black longsword whose blade shimmered with an ethereal light, and slashed toward the consciousness crystal of the fused entity.

"This is impossible!" the Guardian roared, standing in front of the fused entity, its wings unfurling to form a three-colored barrier. "Hasn't the Void already been accepted?"

"This is no ordinary nothingness." The fused entity's voice was filled with terror. "This is a power from beyond all parallel universes, the true Lord of Nothingness!"

The black longsword slashed at the barrier, and the guardian felt an unprecedented power surge into his body. The balance of the three forces was instantly shattered, and cracks appeared on the wings on his back. He looked at the enormous hand, on the wrist of which was a bracelet with the same pattern as the black stone slab. The bracelet was inlaid with twelve black gems, each reflecting a collapsing universe.

"The game is over." A cold voice came from the crack, carrying a despairing authority, "Your choices have only hastened the demise of the universe."

The Guardian's barrier shattered under the impact of the black longsword, and he felt his consciousness being devoured by the power of the Lord of Nothingness. At this critical moment, the Observer's Badge on his chest suddenly burst forth with unprecedented light. The golden outline on the badge resonated with the runes formed by the stone tablet, creating a golden gate of light in front of him.

"Entering the portal might offer a glimmer of hope." The merged entity's consciousness image pushed him toward the portal. "The portal leads to the starting point of all parallel universes; there might be a way to stop the Lord of Nothingness there."

The guardian watched the gradually crumbling Ruins of Origin, then glanced at the portal behind him, gritted his teeth, and leaped into it. The instant he entered the portal, he heard the Lord of Nothingness roar in fury, and the Ruins of Origin completely collapsed, turning into countless fragments of memory that drifted into the void.

On the other side of the portal was a chaotic ocean of energy. The Guardian's body floated in this ocean of energy, and he felt his consciousness merging with it, as countless unfamiliar memories flooded his mind—memories of the origins of all parallel universes.

Deep within these memories, he saw a blurry figure, wielding a black longsword similar to that of the Lord of Nothingness, yet radiating the same aura as the Creator God. Around the figure floated twelve colorful planets, each nurturing the first life forms.

"This is..." The Guardian's consciousness fluctuated violently. He felt that he was approaching a truth that could overturn all understanding. At the edge of the energy ocean, a black rift was slowly widening, and the aura of the Lord of Nothingness seeped out from it, spreading towards this chaotic energy ocean.

He knew that the real battle had only just begun. And this time, he was no longer facing a mere avatar of nothingness, but the Lord of Nothingness himself. He clenched his fists, his three-colored wings unfurling in the ocean of energy, preparing to meet the impending challenge.