From above in the membrane, it feels like only a matter of seconds have passed.
The harder we pull, the faster time is ripped away from all of the life left in this galaxy.
The enormous amount of ether flowing into my physical form and sea of consciousness has made everything even more effortless.
Moments ago I still had to use parts of my active mind to see through the membrane, now it just feels like another remnant left in this underwhelming universe. I can see and feel everything without even straining my senses.
The 96 billion light-years of space is easily observable, and even plunging portions of my mind into the Void Creeper's Domain surrounding us is no longer a high energy demanding monumental task.
I can allow portions of my consciousness to rest within that strange space, and view the last glowing tablet that shines even brighter now with the many Void Creepers that have come to watch.
Every few billion years that go by within the Upper and Lower Realm, I send another drop of Emperor's Essence down inside to see through my avatar with mortal eyes.
The slow decline of the bright yellow and white stars is an extremely long process.
It takes some of the B-Tier Civilizations over 5 billion years to fully burn out, and another 10 billion or so for the majority of the strongest 1st Grade World's stars and resources to be fully consumed.
The Lower Realm has become almost entirely cold and dark.
There are only a few dozen ancient A-Tier megaports that have consolidated and concealed their remaining energy within advanced ether constructs to preserve their remaining stars.
The high-density white stars from Noble Grade Worlds used in the only 2 S-Tier Civilizations have significantly dimmed, but they show no signs of burning out.
One is located near the center of the galaxy, the port run by the Galactic Trade Commission, open to all races and factions. The other still holds its human roots of Fisher and Lydia's offspring as their elites, even preserving the origin world of the Emperor in one of the private containment chambers.
However, now, even on the last remnants of the Lower Realm, the majority of living beings that live here are guards or maintenance workers.
Over 99.99% of the current links of loyalty have all migrated to the Upper Realm.
The population stayed quite consistent for a while, but during the last few billion years, there has finally been a sharp and noticeable drop.
This is because all of the built-up storage towers in the cyan and blue zones have been slowly depleted.
Almost everyone that resides in the Upper Realm lives out their whole lives within their virtual constructs. Doing so is far less energy-exhausting than the bloated population living within the raw space of the Upper Realm.
However, with so many lifeforms being born and dying over such a massive scale of time, their energy is slowly siphoned out of the Origin Plane.
It is mostly exhausted as pure flawless-grade ether that continuously fuels Maria and I as we watch the natural progression of life begin to decline.
In the blink of an eye, we have witnessed more time pass than the total of every Overseer's Eras in this galaxy combined.
Our linked levels pass [Lv. 9,000,000] just as we send another drop of Emperor's Essence down into the Upper Realm.
The population has fallen back down to about 1 septillion souls remaining.
There are no famines or extreme energy shortages visible on the surface, but I can see deep into every storage tower. The slow rise in prices, less availability for True Core compressions, and even a decline in opportunity for some of the purple zone's legacies that require large amounts of higher-purity ether to obtain, these are all small signs that the peak of this galaxy's strength has come and gone.
The drive for endless expansion into the unknown is over, even with the virtual constructs that many races live in.
As every generation passes by, they opt for more cost-efficient models, lessening the amount of divine threads, ether, and even mana density within their home dungeon constructs.
When I see Abby open her eyes again, thick plumes of green and white fog drift off of her ancient legacy.
She wakes up every few million years to check on the running systems and reconfigure all of the ether pathways. This energy expenditure has compounded over time, continuously taking a few years in total off her life as time passes.
Yet, I can even see that her dormant state has become harder and harder to maintain.
There is only so much a mortal lifeform can withstand.
I witnessed the slow fading process with every ascended lifeform in the past, and Abby has too.
Maria and I do not say a word about it, but the three of us know that the reality of this Immortal Healer's aging is imminent after this visit. When we dissolve back into the membrane and pull the Origin Plane as we have before, the many bright soul ties dwindle and snap at a much faster rate than they regrow.
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Author's Note:
If you're enjoying Dungeon Diver and want to follow Jay on his journey ahead of schedule, check out the Patreon link in my profile bio.
There's custom chapter art for every new daily upload too!
Thanks for reading:)
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