My heartbeat quickened.
"The original bloodlines...The curse had always been there."
I frowned.
"What?"
"It had been sleeping inside every survivor from our original universe. Theras hadn't planned to defeat us with armies."
Her voice became almost a whisper.
"He defeated us with time."
She closed her eyes briefly.
"Saints suddenly fell back to Transcendents. Demi-Gods lost realms of cultivation they had spent millennia reaching. Some died on the spot as their souls began breaking apart."
The image alone was horrifying.
"The stalemate ended in a matter of months. The Eternals become stronger. We became weaker. And while we desperately searched for a way to remove the curse..."
The old woman's expression darkened further.
"...the Eternals revealed another nightmare.The native races who died in battle no longer passed on naturally."
Her voice carried unmistakable disgust.
"They returned. As Phantoms. And later as Abominations."
She sighed heavily.
