Building My SSS-Rank Universal Empire: From Trash to Cosmic Overlord-Chapter 138: Is that so

They stood there and just stared blankly at the room, as if staring hard enough might bring him back.

"He’s gone," Slya said in a harsh voice. She walked into the room, trying her best not to fall to the ground below. Tiber joined her, and they began to search the room, but nothing was found.

"Tiber, he’s gone," Slya repeated. She froze, expecting Vale to blast through the wall or melt through, but what greeted her was silence. A chill ran down her spine then. "What are we going to do?"

Tiber watched her, his eyes darker than usual. His face rippled as if it would crumble, but then it stilled, and he remained expressionless. "We will find him."

His voice was short and blunt, and Slya grabbed hold of it quickly. ’Of course, they’ll find him...why wouldn’t they? Even now, Vale would probably blaze into the room...this is not the first time he’s fought a terrifying opponent...right...right.’

’Only this time, his opponent was different and not something even Vale will get out of easily.’ Slya shook her head and shut off that line of thought. "How? How will we look for him? Yes, we should start from the Scuffed Bones buildings. That Errant Knight Frexon must still be hiding here somewhere..."

"Slya!" Tiber shouted, his deep voice like cold water splashing into her face. She was panicking, and he understood. Vale had been like a blazing rock since they met him, something to rest their backs on—someone who swore and had been doing the impossible since he took them in.

To have that suddenly taken away was like a strong wind passing through their lives. Of course, they knew he had been kidnapped and not killed...yet. But they also knew the Scuffed Bones and just what awaited Vale, and where it would lead.

Slya was grateful for Tiber’s callout. It was as if it was infused with clarity. ’Yes. If I...we want to save him, then we must plan things and not just rush.’

The only thing keeping Tiber calm was his mind power, and he was drawing into it as much as he could. "He’s not dead. Our power is still working. We’d know it if something happened to him.

"Our first priority now is to get to safety. We don’t know if Frexon will be back for us, and we can’t help Vale if we’re captured too. Also, don’t forget we might just be the most hated people in the second layer right now, and with Vale gone..."

He let the words hang, but Slya caught his meaning, and she grimaced. "Oh, shit. The other Flagbearers will all be sending their people. Yes. Let’s hide first, before the news that he’s gone spreads."

They took one last look at the room and then retreated, running down the stairs and then outside. Using the shadows along the wall to hide, they ran.

---

"What are you going to do now?" Serdan asked. They were back at the residential building. The three of them stood in front of the rank 1 building that had been reduced to something dragging through the ground.

Her question was met with silence, as if each person was debating what to say. Finally, Dlodus grinned. "I’m ditching this place and joining the forefront."

Serdan didn’t seem surprised. It was something that had happened again and again. There was once a Layer Three and Four too, but they eventually just merged with the forefront. In time, this place would also turn into something like Layer One.

She snorted. "You seem happy that all this is happening."

Dlodus shrugged. "What? Do you think everything will always remain the same? Change will come whether you want it or not. It will sweep you over, or you can ride it. But always, at the end of such change, new beautiful and cruel things will grow."

Serdan looked at Dlodus as if she couldn’t believe her eyes or that she needed a drink to process what he just said. Probably both. "You’re the last person I expected to hear something like this from. It’s jarring to the ear."

Dlodus simply smiled. "I don’t hear you telling me what you plan to do."

"Return to the city. To civilization. To my nonexistent Clan," she sighed. "I’m tired of all this. But I guess I have no choice but to go to the forefront as well. Find a vice-captain position for myself. Or I could be cleaning their wine cellars."

Dlodus laughed. "Who will give you that kind of job? Only a drunk would assign you to that kind of place."

She sniffed, then her eyes turned to the silent one among them. "And you, Manefor? What are you going to do?"

Manefor looked down at her solemnly. "I will join the Chief. There are things that need to be done. Old ways might be coming back, and there are oaths that might need to be fulfilled."

Serdan blinked. "Oh...okay. Do...huh...do that."

She didn’t expect that Manefor would have that much to say, even though she didn’t understand most of what he was saying.

Manefor nodded at the two of them and then walked away.

The two of them watched him in silence before Serdan shook her head. "What an odd guy."

"He’s odd for sure," Dlodus agreed.

"Well, I should go too. These coming days are going to be chaotic. I’m shivering just thinking about it. And I’ll be scolded if I drink too. Why did Vale create such a mess of things?"

She looked at Dlodus out of the corner of her eye. "What do you think is going to happen to him now?"

Dlodus frowned and rubbed his chin. "Let’s see. He’s taken by the Scuffed Bones, right? They’re crude and will find the simplest way to give him pain and then the most brutal way to kill him. A pity. I was really starting to like the guy."

She shook her head and began to walk away. "For some reason, I can’t picture him dead."

Dlodus smiled. "Is that so? Ahahahaha."

Suddenly, his eyes hardened, and the lightning in his gaze leaped and flashed as he looked towards the darkness in front of the broken wall. He stood and watched for a few seconds before he relaxed and turned.

He made a cloud beside him and sat, sighing. "How will I find those two now?"

---

The darkness in front of the wall darkened and pulled together. A face appeared, made of flesh and darkness fused together. It was Kren. "That guy, he noticed me. He’s not that simple. I should hurry as well. What an interesting time to be around."