To his surprise, almost immediately, a fair portion of the mystery resolved itself. Amongst Ziusudra's clothes, one spot had very conspicuously not been frozen by his Eternal Ice, attracting his attention.
This was when a certain 'metal' shard came into his possession.
'What exactly is this?'
Scrutinizing it closely, at first glance, he couldn't really make heads or tails of it. There were too many metals in existence, with innumerable worlds having their own, special ones. Therefore, for him to not instantly recognize it was a given.
'Let's try this, then...'
Although it usually took a backseat in comparison to his Array Formation expertise, he was also quite experienced when it came to Alchemy. With no real clue so far, he first intended to refine a little bit of this material, to see how it would react–and into what it would be purified.
Utilizing his plentiful Energy, he created a small but intense flame underneath the shard, which he had fixed in mid-air via invisible threads. This kind of fire was usually referred to as the 'Refining Flame', and every alchemist worth their salt had to know how to create it.
It was pretty much useless in battle, as nobody would give their opponent all the time in the world to slowly set it all up. However, its 'destructiveness'–or rather, its temperature and its ability to refine any material if enough Energy was invested–was top-notch and could obliterate even the very best of defences.
'Oh? So that much wasn't enough? Impressive!'
Furrowing his brows with a slight smile, Theodore stared at the shard in amazement. Although the current heat would be enough to eradicate most Dawning Numen Stage experts, it wasn't sufficient to cause even the slightest change in it. Not one to accept defeat without actually having tried, he naturally infused the fire with far more Energy.
The minutes passed by excruciatingly slowly, and even the space around him had long since become incinerated. Only by making use of his Eternal Ice was he himself capable of withstanding the extremely high temperature. That was when, finally, the lower part of the shard began to heat up.
'... got it!'
For a fraction of a mere moment, he felt a slight change, sending out his ice to carefully seal away the minuscule part of the fragment that he had purified–and which had been about to fall into the Refining Flame below. If he hadn't prevented this from occurring, then it would have been destroyed instantly.
'Blood? Hmm... I've got a suspicion now. Let me make sure.'
Dispersing the Refining Flame whilst inspecting what the shard had reluctantly yielded to him, he was met with a singular, gorgeous drop of blood. Even if its owner was nowhere to be seen, it alone exuded a grace, elegance and power that was entirely incomparable to regular mortals. This was the blood of someone who had ascended and become 'divine'.
Extracting another drop of blood, but from Ziusudra this time, Theodore pulled out various test tubes filled with a plethora of substances, eventually settling on two whose contents appeared identical.
'There they are. I knew I wasn't wrong to have prepared these–I just didn't expect them to come in handy this early.'
Dripping the two drops of blood into one of the test tubes each, he waited patiently, until the substance within transformed into a regal purple. Ziusudra's was a lot less intense, but its colour was still identical.
'It's exactly what I thought–their blood has the same origin, the Ur Family.'
Performing a test like this was extremely simple for every somewhat capable alchemist, therefore it was no wonder that this was one of the cards in his repertoire. But instead of focusing on that, it was much more pertinent to analyse the results of this little experiment.
The 'shard' was most likely a tiny fragment of an Ur Family member's body. There were too many possible reasons as to why it would appear akin to metal, but considering that there were those who insisted on training their bodies until they became pretty much 'indestructible', transforming themselves into hulking 'metal' mountains... it wasn't too strange.
Alternatively, it could be a fragment of a weapon or armour that had drunk Ur Family blood–but in that case, except for that drop, he should have also refined some other materials out of the 'shard'. Which simply hadn't happened. As a result, he was far more convinced of his first hypothesis.
'I cannot be certain how this ruler managed to extract the blood and make it his own, but very likely, this 'shard' wasn't always this unremarkable and clean. It's not unthinkable that it might have been partially covered in blood when it was originally found.'
Evidently, Ziusudra had been madman enough to inject it into himself, for whatever reason. It was even more astonishing that it had actually worked, and hadn't killed him.
'But if this is evidence of what I suspect it to be, then it's no wonder. Being one of the hidden cards that the Ur Family has played, they would have ensured that whoever found the fragment would know exactly what to do with it.'
Now, there were only a few questions left: Why do so to begin with? Was it to 'grow' many Heaven's Chosen native to the event venue, which they could then make use of in some way? There was no way to tell yet.
Aside from that, if there was one 'shard', then it was likely that there were a lot more. This Enki Imperium alone was but one single result of their plan. Who knew how many others there were, or in which rounds' event venues they could be found?
'I'll have to keep a lookout for more information in the future. Now that I've dealt with one of their hidden means, it's only a matter of time until we come to blows. What a headache...!'
Making use of his Refining Flame once more, and increasing its temperature to extreme heights, he resolutely incinerated the entirety of the 'shard', then he chose Ziusudra's 'Foundational Element Conduit' Talent. He would definitely not keep anything with the Ur Family bloodline on hand, or incorporate it into himself. After all, who knew what methods that they could employ?
The four Foundational Elements of fire, earth, air and water were based upon a rather primitive understanding of all worlds, so the majority of beings ruled over by the Heavenly Court did not take them too seriously. However, this didn't mean that manipulating them and channelling them through oneself couldn't lead to extraordinary powers. At the very least, to Theodore, it was equivalent to a small boost.
After carefully examining himself and making use of this new ability for the first time, to his joy, he discovered that his Eternal Ice had undergone some improvements. It would be more difficult for foes to escape from it or eradicate it now. It hadn't seen a qualitative change, but even if the difference was a mere single percent, it still shouldn't be ignored or overlooked.
'Come to think of it, Mei'er's long subdued this man's son. I wonder what his Talents will look like.'
Before he could go and satisfy his curiosity, there was still one more matter that needed to be taken care of. All this while, Enki XVII's World's Will had suffered, and was filled with strong grief. If he didn't want it to make trouble for him someday, then he should try to appease it a little.
Teleporting all over the world, he realigned the Energy Veins and formed them into a peculiar, natural Array, which automatically activated once every part of it was in place. Almost instantaneously, the background noise-turned wailing of the World's Will came to a halt, confusion and joy radiating from it instead. It was difficult for regular people to pinpoint where these feelings were coming from, but for cultivators like Theodore, it wasn't a mystery.
"Apologies, big guy. In the name of the Winter Family, I promise you that as long as this world is under my control, no more battles like these are going to burden you. Now, heal up and recover well–I won't disturb you any longer."
Casually making a rather solemn oath, Theodore showed a small smile, then picked up his Teleportation Array Disk. It was time to harvest the other worlds that had been promised to him.
"Theo, you're finally here! I've missed you so much~"
As soon as he arrived in Enki XII, directly next to the spot where Xie Mei had set up her Compound Array Disk, she embraced him, clinging to him tightly. Only after plenty of hugs and kisses did she finally let go of him, then proudly presented her 'catch'.
From Enmerkar and Ganzer to millions of regular local soldiers, they all were unconscious and 'piled up' nearby, waiting for him. Following his instructions, she had taken out everyone who had tried to attack her, but not laid her hands on anyone else–after all, only those who showed enmity to them could be seen as their foes, therefore 'making the cut' in Theodore's eyes.
"You've worked hard. Well done!"
Stroking Xie Mei's cheek, he planted a gentle kiss on her lips. At the same time, his prey was encased in ice, which then shattered, leaving nothing behind. After indulging in pleasures for a little longer, Theodore set off again, but he took Xie Mei with him.
From one world to the next, he cleaned up all of the captives that his Subordinates had taken, amassing everyone at his side. Finally, he left them behind temporarily in the last world that belonged to him, then he alone teleported to Enki I again.
Spreading out his perception without a care, he soon was met with two sights which he had expected. Half of the universe was entirely devoid of life, now akin to a realm of death, with corpses strewn all over, but most of them incinerated. And then, there was the violet-red haired beauty responsible for this bloodbath, gracing him with a carefree smile.
Having awaited his arrival, Eleanora was very close to the spot where she had suspected that he'd teleport to–and she hadn't been too far off. Flashing through space rapidly, yet in an unhurried manner, it took her a few seconds to make it to his side.
"Like we've discussed, I've already taken my half of this world–I hope you don't mind."
Her voice gentle and respectful, she stood in stark contrast to the universe-spanning massacre that she had just partaken in. Very clearly, her repeated killings had borne fruit, as the danger that he felt from her was a lot higher than before.
"Naturally, there's no issue. Pleasure doing business with you."
Bowing slightly with a grin on his lips, Theodore retained his calm. From the very beginning, he knew what kind of person he was collaborating with–and truthfully, he wasn't much better either.
"Likewise! By the way, I'm done here, so do whatever you'd like with this world."
Feeling generous now that she had taken many, many more steps forward, Eleanora 'gifted' him her half of Enki I. To be fair, though, she legitimately had no use for it. Giving it to Theodore could at least earn her some goodwill.
"Oh? Thanks, that's quite generous of you. Don't mind if I do!"
First raising an eyebrow, then nodding and smiling in acknowledgement, he felt relieved. This world was by far the best spot to create a new base, therefore he had been hoping that his partner in crime would part with her 50 percent. He had even been prepared to pay a bit of a price for it, so this gesture came as a welcome surprise.
"Just don't forget our next meeting, alright?"
With a playful wink, she brushed past him, then made her way to an already prepared Teleportation Array and departed from here. His gaze lingered on the spot where she had disappeared for a while, then he shook his head and dismissed all distracting thoughts.
'I should first check whether she's left behind any 'surprises' for me, then I'll have a look at all of this time's gains.'
Although they were working together, naturally, neither of them trusted the other–for good reason.