Death... and me

However, a question still remained in all their minds. "Senior Huban, just... how the hell is this Fragment resealing the same type of energy as the Extinction Sphere?"

Huban looked at them. "So you can tell it is the Extinction Sphere's energy, uh? Seems like Hyeoumu was right about your chances. Anyway, since you know about the Extinction Sphere, you know it was the reason for the Universe Splitting Phenomenon, right?" Rean, Roan, and Kentucky nodded and waited for Huban to continue.

"That's just my theory, but I believe the impact of the Extinction Sphere's explosion caused some of its energy to fuse with this Fragment in particular," Huban explained. "I know, it is hard to believe. After all, the Extinction Sphere's Energy should be the nemesis of the Universe Foundation Pillar."

"But then again... the Universe still survived the explosion. That said, what if, and this is a BIG IF, the Universe Foundation Pillar had part of itself change to match the Extinction Sphere's Energy? What if this Fragment was just the Universe's own way of saving itself after Soul Gem used his formation to destroy the extinction sphere?"

The twins' group couldn't deny that possibility. After all, Sister Orb was the previous Universe Sentience. If she had a sentience back then, she might have purposely done what Huban just suggested. Too bad she didn't have access to those memories anymore.

Rean then noticed something. "If what you say is true, then this Fragment isn't the only part affected by the Extinction Sphere's Energy. It is better to say that the Foundation Pillar Itself now has a part of it with the same Remnant Energy of the Extinction Sphere."

Roan went even further. "Not only that, this part of the Foundation Pillar that is fused with the Extinction Sphere's Energy might be causing the rest of the Pillar to deteriorate. Perhaps this is one of the reasons for the Universe to be dying."

Huban was surprised they could figure that much out of his initial words. "Smart. I also considered the same scenario. But then again, I have no idea how to revert it... if I'm right. Don't forget, everything I said was just a theory. I might be completely wrong."

The problem came with the fact that Huban might be right instead. If he is right, then the Foundation Pillar is also affected. How exactly will they purge the energy of the Extinction Sphere from the Foundation Pillar? Of course, such a thing might not have really happened.

*Pin!*

Suddenly, the System's Voice echoed in the twins' minds.

[Hosts have reached a critical point in the restoration of the Universe's two halves. To save the Universe, restoring its foundation is absolutely necessary. For that, all fragments must be acquired and cleaned from any harmful properties. However, such a thing had never happened before in the Universe's history, so no one knows how to clean the Extinction Sphere's Remnant Energy.]

[New Quest Available: Find a way to restore the Fragment to its original form.]

[Quest Reward: 10000000 Destiny Points.]

[Time: Unlimited.]

[Failure Penalty: Universe's Destruction.]

Rean and Roan immediately understood. The Soul Gem System wanted them to use this Fragment as a testing item. Suppose they could find a way to clean the Extinction Sphere's Energy from this Fragment that had been modified. In that case, they might be able to do the same with the part of the Pillar that got affected by the same issue.

However... 'Just how does the system expect us to find a solution?' Rean and Roan immediately felt lost. From the looks of it, they will not be able to take this Fragment away today.

Rean then turned to Huban. "Senior Huban, you figured these possibilities a long time ago, so you had a lot of time to think about it. Have you thought about any means that the Fragment can be cleaned of the Extinction Sphere's Energy?"

Huban sighed in response. "There isn't a single day that goes by that I don't think about it. However, the problem is that the Fragment isn't just affected by the Extinction Sphere's Energy. Instead, it is fused with it. The Fragment itself is capable of releasing this Remnant Extinction Sphere's Energy pretty much forever, showing they are well connected to each other."

"I truly can't think of a way to separate them both. It's not like we can refine it, you know?" Huban concluded.

Yet, his words immediately lit up a spark in Rean's mind. "Wait! What did you say?!"

Huban looked at Rean. "I can't think of a way to separate both. Didn't you hear me?"

"No, the second part!" Rean immediately shook his head. "That's right! It might truly be possible."

Roan also looked at Rean thorugh their Soul Connection. 'Are you talking about refining the Fragment?"

Rean nodded. 'It might be possible. If you look at it in the most basic way, the Foundation Pillar and the Fragments are, after all, a type of ore. They are hard but can be manipulated. So much so that they are able to change form and fuse back to each other once they are close enough and the conditions are right. Since that's the case, why wouldn't it be able to be refined?'

Roan and the others understood the logic, but the practice... 'And how exactly will you do it?'

Rean pondered a bit, and his mind ended up on the Soul Gem System Reward list. To be more specific, he thought about the Soul Gem Blacksmith Workshop. 'So far, the system has been upgrading the Blacksmith Workshop and allowing me to make things no one was ever able to do in this Universe. Perhaps... the end stages of the Blacksmith Workshop Upgrade could even allow me to refine the Foundation Pillar itself.'

Roan heard that through their soul connection. 'If that's the case, perhaps it is not just the Blacksmith Workshop.'

Rean agreed with him. 'Indeed. Nowadays, my best weapons use everything. The forging techniques, the concoction liquids of your alchemy, and the inscriptions of the circuitry formation repository. To refine that Fragment... we might need all three of them.'