...
Within the emptiness, two streaks of light swiftly darted by.
Compared to the world within, both Laine and Nyx had noticeably declined in their speed of progress and the imposing aura they gave off. This wasn't due to excessive consumption of energy but because here, the 'existence' of the world undoubtedly seemed very faint.
In the classical philosophy of The East that would emerge in later generations, there was a saying, "The Dao begets one, one begets two, two begets three, three begets all things." But if even the 'Dao' ceases to exist, then many things built upon it would also lose their significance.
It was like characters in a game becoming detached from the game itself—they would just be a bunch of meaningless code. Thus, when the 'existence' of the world was diminished, everything built on the world's rules would naturally weaken as well. Compared to Nyx, however, Laine fared a bit better, since he himself possessed a part of the power that could anchor existence.
