As the dust settled, no one spoke.
Terresa's spirit even stood where Oregon was last, reaching for him.
"No," she had overseen the death of many Immortal Stonemen and even the Transcendence of Xep, but this was something she never thought would happen.
"My precious son...," she cried, "What have I made you do?"
Unlike everyone else who believed something bad had happened, Null and Ego were sensing something off.
'His flame didn't go out, so he must still be alive.'
'Yes. Only, now he lost his physical form, so we're unable to see him.'
'How the hell are we supposed to help him now? If I had known he would pull such a stunt, I would have just listened to you and pummeled him.'
What Null did was more than teach Oregon a lesson, he gave him opportunity to grow stronger.
Despite knowing that he was alive, the two were not exactly sure what was happening.
"This might be the same as Goldie's situation, Theef!"
Theef, who was still backed off, nodded, "My thoughts exactly. How are we gonna save him?"
"What are you talking about?! Is my baby not gone?"
Terresa was weak due to her actions, but was still present enough to catch their words.
It was at this time that Xep stepped forward as well, "You're simply experiencing an intense mix of emotions causing you to lack awareness, Terresa. You should know best when I say it, but the kid's alive."
His words managed to calm the distressed mother as she trusted his senses.
Despite not having comprehended a Universal Rule, Xep had Transcended due to the nature of his composition.
The alien mineral had been able to emit a noxious fume as a byproduct of its existence.
What should have left the comet it came from to slowly dissipate over time, actually saved it once Terresa put a spirit inside of it.
With the special organs the Stonemen possessed, Xep could simply generate more of it, solving the matter entirely.
He also learned to control the amount of fumes he emitted.
The fumes may have been dangerous for organic beings, but the Stonemen were not spared from their deadly nature.
The truth was that the fumes were able to cause harm to the very soul of a being.
Such a valuable mineral as that made it possible for Xep to Transcend naturally once he reached a certain age.
"B-but where did he go?"
Null focused his sight and the Void Stone inside him shifted to his eyes.
"He's...," Null tried to say after seeing the stone grey aura spread around every corner of the arena and beyond.
"What?! What is it?!"
"He's everywhere!"
Those who heard him looked around and collectively came to the same thought.
"Don't you have a connection to him? You should still be able to talk to him."
Terresa wanted to do nothing more than give herself a facepalm, 'How could I forget?!'
She then tried communicating with Oregon, 'Oregon? Are you alright, my child?'
She waited for a moment before her concern grew, 'Oregon?! My precious baby, please respond!'
Ego shared a message to Null to which he acted.
"Listen closely to the vibrations. He's there."
Terresa did as he said and focused on the connection and vibrations.
There, transmitted through the smallest particles, was a jumble of words.
'Become a planet... Universal Rule... Oregon... Transcend...,' he repeated.
"But how is this condition any better? How long is he going to be like this?"
Terresa felt she was the one to blame for Oregon's current circumstances.
Her questions fell on deaf ears however.
Null had consulted with Ego and they figured out a way to help Oregon out.
Firstly, he conjured some of the Ruler's Greed which he planned to use to gather the molecules that made up Oregon.
Once he locked into each and every one, he changed the composition of the Ruler's Greed to match Oregon's body structure.
This made it so that when the molecules were gathered, they would orderly find their place so as to rebuild him bit by bit.
Since it was an experiment, Null first tested the reliability of the method on a small cluster of vibrating molecules.
Slowly but surely, they started lining up and fitting into place.
The message from the molecules paused for a moment before continuing.
"It's working! I can feel his consciousness stirring," Terresa cheered.
'Looks like it'll work. Don't mess anything up now.'
Null gave Ego a mental side eye, 'Like hell I'll mess something like this up. Who's side are you on?'
Ego left Null without an answer, prompting him to commence the process of collecting Oregon's body.
Time passed as the entire arena went silent in fear that a single peep would disturb the process.
It seemed to be working as more and more molecules were attracted and fitted into place.
After a while, Oregon's features could be made out and he seemed to be more or less put together.
Even the vibrations he gave off seemed to point in a positive direction.
"Achieved it... One last step... Universal Rule of Vibration...," the messages came as such.
"Is he really doing it? And here I thought my help would be needed."
Theef looked to the twins still seated outside of the arena floor, "And you said this guy would be the easiest to join us? He'll probably still want to kill Null after he's done Transcending!"
The twins did not know what to say.
On one hand, the past Cronir was easy going and simple.
On the other, Oregon wanted nothing more than to become the strongest Stoneman in order to surpass Null.
He had been blinded by the features of his special organs and his fighting prowess enough to view Null as a surmountable opponent.
Unfortunately, even if he were to Transcend he would still be stuck behind Null since Null was at the very least Enlightened.
That did not stop the stone-skinned maniac from gaining as much power as he could.
Finally, his body was back together after much anticipation.
'Hmm? Shouldn't that be it? Why isn't he back to normal?'
Null was taken aback after seeing the lifeless Void Stoneman.
'I don't know why either,' Ego was just as clueless at first, but a closer inspection led them to frantically shout.
'He's inside of you!'
They wanted to explain further, but it seemed the perpetrator was finally beginning to act.
Almost immediately after the warning from Ego, Null felt his entire body go numb.
Without a clue what was happening, Null slumped to the ground.
Ego took it upon themself to exit Null's mind as fast as they could and meld their watery form into Null's own.
'Was that another one of him?'
'Just what kind of power does this monster possess?'
Both Terresa and Xep were both at a loss for words, but they knew that Oregon must have forced his hand.
'You got this, my precious. If you don't win I will not let you die. Even if it means losing this planet and all of my children.'
She was not expecting a response as Oregon still seemed to be operating on his path to Transcendence.
'Just watch me.'
Those three words made her feel immense pride as he was still finding a way to win despite the odds.
Back to Null's side of things, it did not seem like he was feeling well.
Parts of his body would not respond to his thoughts.
He looked like he was having a stroke as he thrashed around on the floor.
Ego did their best to alleviate the pain, but they were not going to be able to solve the problem quickly.
They had to pinpoint the molecules that had spread throughout Null's body and neutralize them before they could cause any permanent damage.
'I'm not fast enough! Shit! Why are we trying to help this bastard when he is clearly dead set on killing us?!'
The situation was dire as the vibrations from the molecules messed around with Null's own.
The irregular vibrations disrupted Null's heartbeat, brain synapses, and other functions that made Null incapable of fighting back.
Seeing the situation unfold as it did, the Creator that would have normally been smiling eerily was now frowning.
'This power... How inconceivable for a puny rock. It seems the kid bit off more than he could chew at his current standing. Not that he's in any real danger though.'
Instead of seeing how the battle would unfold, he decided to intervene for once.
'What a waste,' the Creator held the bottle and tipped it ever so slightly so as to let a single drop fall to the ground.
As the droplet splashed on the floor, it seeped into it, releasing the potent energy contained inside.