"Should we call... him as well?"

Equarios asked, the rest of the Infinities began thinking about it. With everything that Zylarith said, Anomaly was indeed a threat they couldn’t take lightly.

All the Infinities in existence should come together to get rid of it, even the Fifth. Not to mention, the Infinities did not like the idea of doing all the work themselves, work that would also benefit another one.

The Fifth should be a part of Anomaly’s Hunt as well, especially since he was the Universe’s Child.

"Who are you talking about?"

Zylarith, however, frowned in confusion, he had no clue who these people were talking about.

"The Fifth."

Equarios answered as if it was obvious and Zylarith...

"The Fifth...?"

An image of a certain Vampire Progenitor did come into his mind but...

These people wanted his... help?

His?

To deal with that boy...?

Zylarith looked at these people with an absolutely ridiculous look on his face.

"...why would he help you?"

He asked with the same ridiculous look on his face. Equarios frowned.

"Why would he not? It’s his responsibility as one of the Five Infinities."

He spoke as if it was a matter of fact and Zylarith—

"He is that boy’s father-in-law."

He revealed the truth and the Infinities widened their eyes.

"He’s What!?"

"His father-in-law, his daughter is one of his wives.

And this Fifth cherishes his daughter like no other, so no, in no Universe would the Fifth help you kill the Anomaly, if anything, he would be fighting by his side, against you."

"What...?"

The Infinities couldn’t believe it.

"No, no, no."

Orravyn suddenly shook his head even more firmly.

"That shouldn’t be possible. The Universe sees the Anomaly as a threat, that much is obvious. It wouldn’t possibly choose the Anomaly’s ally as its Child. That makes no sense."

"What...?"

This time, it was Zylarith who looked at Orravyn with a ridiculous look on his face. He looked around with the same look, almost as if he didn’t believe the Milk Boy, but—

"That is correct.

The Fifth is the Universe’s Child, we felt it clearly."

Ul’Thakar nodded, confirming Orravyn’s words. The rest of the Infinities nodded as well and Zylarith...

He stood still... shocked beyond belief.

That Vampire was now... the Universe’s Child...?

How was that possible?

Why would the Universe choose him when he was clearly with the enemy? It made no sense!

And as Zylarith thought about it, he noticed the rest of the Infinities staring at him and he quickly shook his head—

"You do not understand.

That man’s only daughter is with the Anomaly, I have seen it myself and I know how much that boy cherishes his wives. There is no way he would stand against his father-in-law, that simply does not make sense!"

"Yet that is the truth."

Orravyn commented, from his tone, it was clear that now he no longer believed anything that came out of Zylarith’s mouth.

Zylarith, however, shook his head—

"You do not understand!

I am not trying to trick any of you!

The Fifth is not your ally, I have met him and I can assure you he isn’t!"

"..."

"..."

The Infinities stared at him in silence. Then, after thinking about it, Seraphielle suggested something else.

"Is it possible that they became enemies later? Probably because of that girl?"

Another theory.

But that theory was quickly dismissed by Orravyn—

"The Universe wouldn’t know that. It can only sense where a certain individual is, if the Anomaly and the Fifth had come in contact before, it would know and it would automatically assume they were close."

"But...

Isn’t that the very core of the problem...?

The Universe can’t sense the Anomaly, or it wouldn’t be throwing fits like this, it would have directly devoured him."

Yes, the Universe held the power to devour any being if it wished to, only the Infinities were the sole exceptions to that rule.

So unless an Infinity was protecting the Anomaly, he wouldn’t have survived.

"What if the Universe can sense him and the Fifth is protecting him?"

"Then it wouldn’t have chosen the Fifth."

The discussions continued until Orravyn just shook his head,

"You lot are thinking too much. All of this discussion is based on the fact that he is telling the truth. How many of you actually believe him?"

He asked with a shrug.

And Zylarith—

"Then call him here."

He suggested.

"The Fifth, call him here and let’s see how he reacts."

"Right, says the one who is attending the meeting through an artifact without revealing his real location."

Orravyn laughed.

"I do not trust you enough to reveal my location."

Zylarith’s answer was instantaneous.

"What a coincidence, he said the exact same words."

Orravyn shook his head, almost as if he had given up and wanted to leave the hall. Zylarith, on the other hand, just sighed.

"Alright then.

You believe what you wish to believe."

He gave in.

"I contacted you in hopes of alerting you to the imminent danger, but if fighting each other like foolish dogs is what you prefer when the real predator is preparing to hunt every single one of you down, then there is nothing I can do to help you."

He spoke, he too, was prepared to end the call but then—

"You have no reason to help us anyway.

We are enemies.

All of us.

And that doesn’t change even if you are in that pathetic form of yours."

Orravyn snorted. Zylarith looked at him and—

"I am not just trying to help you.

I am also trying to help myself, to buy more time for myself."

"Hmm?"

Orravyn frowned at those words, Zylarith too, didn’t hide his true intentions and came out honestly—

"I never believed any of you lot had the capability to defeat all the others and become the sole owner of this Universe, you are just not cut out for it.

You were, you are, and you always will be in the same deadlock, no matter what happens, be it Ul’Thakar becoming the strongest of you all, or him being momentarily weakened.

In my eyes, your deadlock will never break, the Universe will continue to survive, and I will have all the time to execute my plans, ultimately return to where I once was, surpass my past self, and rule the Universe.

Only I should have that right, only I deserve that.

But he...

He isn’t the same.

He has the capability.

He can defeat all of you, and once he does, once he takes over our Universe, my plans won’t matter.

I would mean nothing to him and he will make sure to hunt me down, even if he has to go into the past in order to do it."

He spoke with a grave look on his face. Orravyn scoffed at those words—

"So you are scared."

Orravyn laughed.

He then looked at Zylarith and—

"You have such a low opinion of us, but look at you coming to us the moment you get scared. How ironic."

Zylarith looked back at Orravyn and—

"I am using you."

He answered honestly.

"I am using you to erase the threat I know I cannot remove right now. That is all there is to it."

"Telling us that isn’t the wisest strategy."

"It’s not like I am the only one who benefits from it."

Zylarith shrugged.

"As useless as I think you lot are, none of you agree with me, do you?

Every single one of you is concocting a plan, a plan to defeat the others, none of you deny it too. You might act like allies, but you are each other’s greatest enemies—

That was the relationship we were all fated to have the moment we were born.

But everything you have planned, everything you have waited to develop since you reached the level where you are today...

If that child grows and becomes what I predict he would,

All of it will be ruined.

He will take over everything you have created, everything you protected, everything... you cherished and prided yourselves on."

Zylarith warned as a serious look appeared on his face—

"I am here to protect my own and your plans from being thwarted by a child.

Erase the target before it becomes a threat.

End him while you still have the chance.

And stop this war for God’s sake, you are only feeding him more power."

"What do you mean?"

Seraphielle questioned.

"The worlds."

Zylarith answered.

"That child had been devouring worlds for quite a while, actually, the first time he devoured one was also the time I realized he had... gone beyond the boundaries of what I can control.

Nothing in the Universe happens without a reason, his growth is impossibly fast and I believe it is related to the worlds he is devouring—

I do not know what he does with those worlds, or how he even devours them in the first place, but whatever it is—

It is making him stronger.

And your war is only lowering the defenses of other worlds, making it easier for him to devour more, while you should be doing the opposite and stop him from devouring any more."