While the Absolutes watched in shock as the claw of darkness retracted, Maximus' family was in a panic.
Seeing the pillar of their family lying motionlessly, his body and spirit in disarray, they couldn't help but fear for his life.
Rushing towards him, Emma, Skye, Serene, and the others with healing abilities began to desperately try to preserve his final breath.
"Don't die on us now…"
"Please wake up, Father…"
Feeling his life energy slipping away, some began to cry, unsure of what else to do.
Fortunately, at that moment, Maximus mustered the last bit of his strength and opened his eyes.
"Don't worry, I can't die…"
"Husband, you're awake!"
"You scared us to death, Father!"
"See? I told you Grandfather's been through worse!"
Now that Maximus could speak, it meant his condition had stabilized.
With his means and abilities, as long as he could move, everything else could be managed.
Still, filled with worry, they kept healing him without pause.
"You don't have to worry. I know my limits," Maximus said with a smile, his complexion already improving.
Thanks to their miraculous healing, his battered body and soul rapidly recovered to peak condition.
His core origin, however, remained in chaos, barely hanging on.
If not for the entity of origin shielding it at the last second, Maximus would've died.
The 15-billion-times amplification was simply too much for his body to endure.
Until he fixed the fundamental flaws in the origin explosion, a 10-billion-times amplification was his limit.
Of course, even if the entity of origin hadn't saved him in time, Maximus wouldn't truly die.
Given his methods, he could completely resurrect from death.
Unfortunately, he couldn't predict when. It might take thousands, millions of years, or even epochs.
With the dark disaster about to erupt in a few million years, even resurrection would be meaningless.
"You're too reckless! How could you treat your body ? What if I hadn't arrived in time?" the entity of origin scolded him.
"I was careful. I knew you'd show up."
With the passive ability of True Path guiding him vaguely, he was confident the entity of origin could arrive on time to save him.
"You're still too reckless! Why don't you just ask us for help before acting?!"
Though they couldn't harm the dark beast directly due to their opposing nature, as entities of law, controlling the beam fired by the dark plane blaster was easy for them.
With power rivaling peak Overlords, vast numbers, and a natural connection to the Aeon Plane, they could control the beam fired by the dark plane blaster even better than Maximus.
"Hey, it's too late now. If I'd known what was coming, I would've called you in advance."
With the entities of law on his side, the combined firepower of the dark plane blaster might have even damaged the tier-13 dark beast.
Unfortunately, he hadn't seen it coming.
Who would've guessed that, alongside tens of thousands of tier-12 dark beasts, even the Archon of Darkness would sneak inside?
"Hmph! You'd better take care of yourself. From now on, everything must be foolproof before you act. Don't go courting death again."
"I know…" Admitting he was wrong, the entity of origin left after barely restoring his core of origin.
Meanwhile, seeing his body fully healed, Maximus' family finally let out a sigh of relief.
"How is it? Do you feel any pain?"
"I'm fine. A little weak, but I should return to peak condition soon."
With the entity of origin's craftsmanship and the power of the plane origin, his core of origin should heal within a few years.
"Are you sure you're okay?" they still asked, concerned.
"Yeah, I'm really fine. What about the dark beasts—what's the situation?"
Although the residual power of the beam fired by the dark plane blaster had wiped out 90% of the enemy, a major threat still remained.
"Don't worry. As soon as the claw vanished, the Absolutes sprang into action. They should be able to hold off the dark beasts for a while."
Feeling a little more at ease, Maximus was escorted back to the Shadow Void Ship.
With his core of origin damaged, Maximus couldn't use his powers for the time being.
Left with no choice, he could only stay on the Shadow Void Ship.
"I'm safe here. Go help the Absolutes deal with the threat."
Wanting to suppress the chaos and minimize casualties, they also wanted to quickly rush to the battlefield.
"Go. Take care of yourselves…"
Watching his family leave with heavy steps, Maximus sighed.
It seemed that at every critical moment, he was stuck on the sidelines.
Though he was powerful, it was always his family who cleaned up after him.
Worried for their safety and eager for updates, Maximus called on Wanderer to show him a detailed feed of the battlefield.
"At this moment, over 2,650 tier-12 dark beasts are rampaging through the Dark Void Domain. Furthermore, because of the earlier stunt, the dark plane blaster has overloaded and will need a hundred years to cool down."
"Tsk. Tragic. I wonder how the Absolutes are holding up."
With their greatest weapon out of commission for a century, their trump card was gone.
"It's still stable, Master. With the Void Outpost defending them, they can hold the line for now."
The greatest feature of the Void Outpost was its defense—a mobile stronghold based on the prototype of the Skjǫldrún Stronghold, the sixth architectural marvel of the Aeon Plane.
Although the Absolutes didn't have the raw strength to quickly kill a tier-12 dark beast, their numbers could still grind one down over time.
With a fortress ensuring their safety, holding off the dark beast wave for hundreds of years shouldn't be a problem.
"Good. Seems my preparations over the past millions of years weren't in vain."
"Continue monitoring the battlefield. And report to me immediately if any of my family is in danger."
Though confident in his family's strength, Maximus couldn't help but worry.
"As ordered, Master. Eternal Voyager and I will monitor the battlefield with full concentration…"