There was a second of silence.
Then Atticus spoke.
"...Is there a way for the world to cross over to the next plane?"
Whisker smiled so wide, his sharp teeth flashed through the darkness.
Atticus's sharp gaze scanned him from head to toe, looking for even the slightest shift in expression. He still didn't fully trust Whisker.
In fact, he didn't trust him at all.
But he couldn't deny it, the information he was currently receiving was beyond valuable. At the very least, he would find out just what was happening.
But Whisker didn't even bother to hide it. His smile only stretched further across his face, his teeth gleaming like white fangs through the gloom.
"Ding ding ding!" Whisker chirped. "Once again, you're proving to the world why you're my star actor!"
Whisker looked thrilled, but Atticus was anything but. He was far from it, in fact. Now it all made sense.
'So that's why they're expending so much effort...' Atticus thought grimly. 'If a world can rank up to the next plane... then it'll mean more power for them in the middle plane. Ozeroth, did you know about this?'
Ozeroth's voice came quickly. 'Don't look at me, bond. I never left the spirit world. I only fought in wars against the aliens targeting our world.
"Then why do you always say your name is feared across different worlds?"
Ozeroth cleared his throat... and then went silent. Atticus could feel the
embarrassment coming from the spirit.
Whisker watched him in silence, still smiling, while Atticus processed everything.
After a few seconds, Atticus finally said, "How?"
Whisker tilted his head slightly. "How the worlds cross over?"
Atticus nodded once.
"Well..." Whisker dragged out the word, then raised a finger. "Power"
"Power?" Atticus repeated, his gaze narrowing again.
"Yes. Power." Whisker's grin didn't fade. "You see, when you absorb a world's core and become its god, both your strength and the world's strength skyrocket. You evolve. You reach heights you can't even imagine."
He paused. "But that alone isn't enough to cross over."
Atticus frowned. "Then how do you reach that level?"
Whisker raised his hand.
The red orbs that were once blue now turned red, began to shift.
Slowly, they started merging together, one by one, folding into a single glowing mass of swirling red.
"You absorb more worlds," Whisker said.
Atticus's eyes slowly widened at the revelation.
He took a second, letting everything settle, digesting the weight of what had just been said. If everything Whisker said was true, it meant it didn't just stop with Eldoralth. They would still take over more worlds.
Then his gaze refocused on Whisker.
"That's what you and your siblings are trying to do?"
Whisker nodded without hesitation.
To Atticus, the questions only kept piling up, layer upon layer of madness. He had so many thoughts...
Atticus shook his head. 'One thing at a time! He forced himself to regain his composure.
He looked at Whisker again. "You still haven't fully answered my question. What's the end goal?"
Whisker's grin remained on his face. "Exactly what we're trying to do here... but on a bigger scale."
Atticus's eyes sharpened as he realized.
"They're trying to move to a higher plane..."
Everything began aligning in his mind, like puzzle pieces snapping into place. One by one in his head, he listed the facts.
First, Whisker and his siblings had been sent to the lower planes to conquer worlds by absorbing their cores and becoming their god.
Second, it was possible for an entire world to ascend to a higher plane. Not just the beings, but together with the world itself.
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