Hou felt something tap into his World, unlike Xavier the Collective couldn't freely travel worlds, they needed support or no resistance.
He let go of his defense allowing them to move in, they appeared back inside the room they had left in at the first roundtable. It had been five years but no other roundtables had occured, time was different for gods.
Re-materialising back into the roundtable he routed the door of the Collectives' room to the room he held the roundtable in. They opened the door and bowed.
As they walked in, all three of them, Xavier came next with Araxis by his side. Finally, Zhou Tian was the final member who came in shortly after Araxis. Hou coughed, "Welcome, all."
He organised his thoughts, "Let us go clockwise reporting what we have to say then any questions, then the next person. Starting with Xavier and ending with me." Hou gestured to his left and Xavier started.
Xavier sighed, "I sadly have little to report. My greatest lead was a desert World and after travelling through the desert manually I found what I was looking for."
The rest of them knew what he was looking for, a god. But, they also noted that there was no new member of the roundtable though some remained hopeful.
"There was a living God and I told him of the danger his World is in...he accepted it willingly, he does not wish to fight." He looked around the roundtable, looking for questions.
Zhou Tian leant forward, "He accepted his death but what of his personality? We could tell him that he will die in the end, why not die fighting?"
Xavier shook his head, "It's possible but need I remind you that I am merely a man. I barely escaped by the skin of my teeth, but it is something to look into."
No other interjections occured, and Araxis was next. He leant on his staff in between his legs as he thought, "..." He groaned for a moment, "My World is still in danger. The rifts I have created from excessive Causality usage has opened me up to the Sea of Worlds and many creatures of the other worlds."
Hou was the one to interject this time, "I have been meaning to ask, how is it that there are creatures to fight? Surely if it's open to the Sea of Worlds then there'd be noone there? Only Xavier and the Collective can hop."
They decided to call travel between Worlds 'hopping' it was the term Xavier had used for his own ability anf it was different to what the Collective did (supposedly, they refrained from explaining how they do it) but they continued to use the term anyway.
Araxis nodded, "That is true, there's a few explanations. Me and Xavier had seen this happen in other Worlds luckily..." He shook his head lightly, getting back onto topic, "When other Worlds also have these rifts, usually created from dead gods, we're not sure the qualifications but certain people are able to leave their world and re-enter though changed."
"Changed?" Hou raised an eyebrow.
"They don't retain their memories though do retain their abilities and form. It's as if they are still on their origin World yet acting in another. Luckily, I found you can use a tiny portion of Causality and transform them into something fitting your World."
"Isn't that amazing?! Exactly what we need?!" Hou slammed his palms into the table as he stood up. He stared into Araxis' confused eyes for a few moments–
"Uhm," Wadall, one of the Collective, looked at each party a few times, "what do you mean?"
Hou flopped back onto his chair and explained, "Those people, before transforming, can use their own abilities in a World not of their own? Isn't that exactly how we can fight the Devourer of Worlds?"
Xavier rose his eyebrows, "oh..." He snapped his fingers, "bring the Devourer into a world where it can be transformed to that world's abilities, then fight it with out own abilities?"
Hou raised one eyebrow, "n-no..."
"No?" The rest of the roundtable responded in unison.
"No." Hou shook his hands, "I was meaning to say that– oh it doesn't matter anymore, that sounds a much better plan. It that how we should pivot to other than growing generally?"
Beorn, the tall one of the Collective, spoke, "I believe this is relevant to our report in actuality. If I may interject."
Hou nodded, "That would be perfect, continue."
Beorn stood, "We went back to the Collective and looked around for information related to the rifts Araxis had previously mentioned and found some information that is pertinent."
"While the body is transported,", he continued, "the consciousness stays within the origin World. We call it an entanglement. Where they should have been separated, they continue to manipulate eachother. And yet because the consciousness stays in the origin, the powers used continue to stem from the World rather than the one the body finds itself in. This, I suspect, is also the cause of the aggression and lack of memory."
***
"Fetch me the wine Jar'eel!" The consulate shouted out to his servant. The servant ran out of the room and the consulate turned to the investors.
"I assure you, the quarry project is going to be worth it. We just need a bit more capital for the required masters."
"It isn't the quarry we're worried about, it's your other endeavours. If the empire finds out your...under the table dealings, this whole project will go bust."
In the silence of that revelation, a scream came from outside. Then, suddenly it stopped.
The consulate stood up nervously, "I'm sure it's nothing, I'll just go to check." He rushed off, swinging the door open to find Jar'eel–
Before he could even scream, he was gone.
The investors stood up moments later, they vanished. Not only them, the room they were in. The building that contained it. The country that carried it all. The world.
In an instant, an entire world ended. The Devourer had finished that system of Worlds with that final World. Those stories will remain untold.
The Devourer moved onwards, it sniffed. A leak. It began moving, it would take the World that leaked it's presence with Causality. And it won't stop there, it will devour all those Worlds that live near it.
The Sea of Worlds was relatively empty, the Devourer didn't skip an opportunity.