Two years passed in the blink of an eye, and Nial did not… make it.
He was not able to finish the third Darkness Temple…
Though his progress was much better than expected since he finished the Darkness Temple by more than 80%, he was not yet done. If they would have traveled for three more months, he might have been done, but now that they ended up descending onto a planet where millions if not billions of Originals and Ascenders absorbed Mana his progress would slow down drastically.
That was only obvious but he was fine with it. He had enough dark energy stored in his Sea of Darkness to finish up to 95% of the Darkness Temple. As for the remaining dark energy, it could be absorbed in the following months.
With that in mind, he would still finish his third Darkness Temple before a total of three years passed. Nial was pretty impressed by that and he chose to pursue the completion of his third Darkness Temple before doing anything else. He was just feeling like it right now, and there was not much else for him to do, either way.
He didn't really have any responsibilities and could do whatever he wanted with his time. The Grand Elder left him to make sure that he would complete his responsibilities. That was something the Grand Elder had to do, finish his job neatly and do everything needed to make sure that his race would progress.
The Grand Elder had an important job, which was not the case for Nial. His only desire was to return home, and becoming stronger was one way to achieve that. Basically, by advancing to godhood, he should have accumulated enough strength to pass through the Meteorfield. At least, once he researched it a bit.
There were a few things Nial had to research, including the box that prevented him from using his dark energy properly, and the weapons that could be used with mana and dark energy even though his control of dark energy had been severely lacking.
Of course, there were many other things that he had to test. Taking all of these things into consideration, Nial was not sure how long it would take to finish researching everything he had planned but he was not too worried about the time he would need. At the end of the day, his research would take some time whether it was a year, a decade, or a century.
He could still feel his connection with all of his Devils, which meant that they were saved. That also meant his sister and Mathias were fine. It was also equivalent to his father and the Orion Shelter being fine because Nial was pretty sure that his Devils would travel back to the Orion Shelter where they would wait for him while taking care of the people he loved.
They would focus on becoming stronger, which meant that Nial had to do the exact same. Becoming stronger in any possible way should be his highest priority, alongside finding a way back to the Origin.
Nial would only start worrying once his Devils were to start dying like flies. However, as long as that didn't happen, everything was perfectly fine. As long as nothing happened, he had all the time in the Universe. Worrying was useless and it would actually harm him in the long run, restricting his progress.
Half a year passed after he landed on the closest planet to the Meteorfield. The only race he encountered until now were Demihumans and they looked at him with complicated emotions. Some people bothered him too much and they interfered in his cultivation progress that Nial started to permanently use the Ancient Devilization. The Devil Roc's wings manifested, Nial looked like some kind of Demihuman with only a few monster traits.
He was far from a Demihuman but they accepted him a little better as long as he had the Devil Roc's wings jutting from his shoulder blades. It didn't affect him negatively but gave him the calm he needed to finish his third Darkness Temple.
It was a great achievement and something that was worth celebrating. However, instead of celebrating in a normal way, Nial started to research the Meteorfield by jumping through space with his newfound strength. His abilities, the potency of his dark energy, and the limit of his techniques increased drastically with the progress of his cultivation rank.
That way, Nial ended up his journey through the Meteorfield where he collected a bunch of resources. He mostly ignored the wild beasts living in the Meteorfield, but with time passing and lots of research using the Achiv of the Demihumans and the knowledge he procured through his own analytical skills, he got to know what he was looking for.
He found out who the culprit for the nonexistence of dungeons and Worldbridges in the entire unknown parts of the Universe. It was a being that was considered stronger as Beast Gods and the Descendant of the Universe itself, a Primordial Creature that was even more revered than all the Greater Dragon families together; The Origin Leviathan!
Nial was not sure where exactly the Origin Leviathan habituated or what that thing was actually doing in this tiny Universe, but it was quite obvious that he either required its help or a way to avoid it. After all, every single piece of useful information he procured led back to the Origin Leviathan!
Everyone in the unknown part of the Universe had to collect their resources from stellar systems that couldn't be habituated but were overflowing with highly valuable resources, or they would collect their resources in the outskirts of the Meteorfield where it was still somewhat secure.
Nial was doing the same but he used his own range of perception and Mana Sense to search for the resources he was looking for. His powers were vastly different from the Demihumans around here. They were not as much at war as he had been on the Origin where it felt like everyone was trying to behead him.
It was peaceful in the territory of the Demihumans but that made the fighters lazy and it permanently decreased their power. They weren't even trying to pass through the Meteorfield because they were content with their life.
Nial was different, and he would do everything it takes to get back home, even if that meant he would have to wrestle with a Primordial Existence.
Not that he had a chance of victory, but who cared about such a small, negligible thing?