He saw it again.
The whole place was an ethereal, celestial white lake. Unlike anywhere else, the currents of both space and ti materialized here.
Varian could feel their potency even at the very edge from the center.
The center....
The center was the monstrous hole which wriggled and struggled to expand against the opposing force.
And this hole, it was devouring the very fabric of space-ti, the possibility of life and death, the state of order and chaos.
It was devouring everything and turning it into nothingness.
Into void.
Varian focused his senses onto the figure at the very center of that gaping hole.
He stood there like he was there since the beginning of ti. As if he’d remain till the end.
Varian steadied himself and took a step forward. The sheer force of the space-ti currents was enormous.
It’s like wading against the raging currents of a mighty river. There’s no mont to rest. It’s a relentless struggle against nature itself.
A high rank 1 wouldn’t even able to advance a quarter distance to the center. A low rank 2 wouldn’t reach half way. Only a mid rank 2 would barely reach the center.
The clone was a peak rank 1. Yet, Varian felt the difficulty of this movent.
He took step after step, always keeping an eye on the man at the center. As he closed in, the flux of space-ti was growing exponentially.
The clone could survive for a thousand years without a problem. But here, it wouldn’t last a single year.
A thousand tis reduction in lifespan! For just staying here! That’s the trendous power of these currents.
After an exhausting journey, Varian reached the center and stood re feet away from the man who split the galaxy into two.
Before coming here, he wondered what he’d feel after eting him at last.
Surprisingly, his mind was mostly devoid of such thoughts at the mont.
Instead, he glanced at the eyes imprinted on his soul. They were smiling at him now. An arrogant smile. A knowing smile.
"Thoren Aur Deus." Varian said.
"Varian Konstant." The deep voice erged from the silver silhouette.
A mont of silence took over.
"What do you know about him?" He asked.
"Architect." God Emperor was still mostly obscured by the silver light, but his smile was vaguely visible.
"Architect?"
The eyes in his soul squinted, seemingly angry.
"Where is he? What does he want?"
"He is everywhere and nowhere. He wants destruction of the universe." God Emperor shook his head.
It was a terrible news for all of creation if its own maker wanted it destroyed.
"Why didn’t you stop him?" Varian asked.
"Why should I?" God Emperor sounded amused. "This world deserves to be destroyed."
"You..." Varian wasn’t hoping for this man to be a saint. No, he knew from the start this man wasn’t a good person.
All he sought was a common ground for saving the universe from that lunatic maker.
And yet...
"Do you think I’ll let you do it?" Varian’s aura flared.
The might of a peak rank 2 slowed even the mighty currents of space-ti.
God Emperor’s own aura rose. A peak rank 2 as well.
"You’ve got it all wrong, Konstant."
Space and ti were crunched into a single point and launched at Varian.
The attack was more than enough to destroy a full galaxy. And yet, this man threw it so casually.
Varian’s power of chaos surged, dispersing half of the attack while order took away the other half. Such a great attack was nullified, so easily.
Yet, God Emperor showed no panic. "You are not the one letting do what I want. I was the one who let you do what you want...which in reality was what I want."
Varian’s brows frowned as he noticed the state of the God Emperor.
It wasn’t apparent until he made a move. But it’s clear now.
"You’re a clone."
"So are you." Thoren Aur Deus replied with a chuckle.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The power of death washed over the God Emperor’s clone like a red tide. He made no move to resist.
So, it took him. And it’s also then that Varian noticed sothing else as well. Even though it’s just a clone, it revealed information about the main body.
The vitality...
"Your vitality is mostly gone." He said in disbelief. "God Emperor is an old man in his twilight."
As the power of death nibbled him away, God Emperor’s clone laughed.
"So I couldn’t fuse the slivers of life and death in my state. I needed you."
Varian’s head buzzed.
"Are you crazy? He will awaken once the slivers are fused! All the slivers are fused now!"
"Not all." God Emperor raised his hands.
Varian saw the mini-slivers of space and ti. But they weren’t fused.
"What the..."
"They wanted to fuse long ago. I was stopping it since a long, long ti. But I’m going to let them fuse now. After that, I’ll co for you. And do what I must." God Emperor spoke in a casual tone.
Varian threw a punch in rage, blowing away half of the clone’s body.
"Your clone is nowhere as strong as mine. What gives you the confidence?"
"Heh." God Emperor rely chuckled, unbothered by the whole fight. Pointing to the tear, he said. "With complete fusion, the tearing has accelerated. This clone can’t sustain much longer. You’ve arrived perfectly on ti. I’ll leave this to you."
"Coward! Co and fight instead of hiding! Don’t you call yourself God Emperor? What are you doing now?" Varian yelled.
The whole region was bombarded with trendous explosions, mirroring his turbulent emotions.
God Emperor paused at those words before saying. "I will co. I will fight. At my own timing. Until then, Varian, do all the things you can think of. You won’t be able to stop what’s coming."
Boom!
The clone’s body exploded into pieces and silver specks rained in the region.
Varian stood as the winner, yet felt that he lost.
And the tear...
Without the God Emperor to hold it back, it doubled in an instant.
Varian groaned and raised his head. His divine powers erged, blocking the expansion.
But the force was relentless. He wouldn’t be able to fully stop it. It’d gradually expand.
’Was it always like this? Or did it change after Samsara was fully fused?’
Varian’s clone closed its eyes and focused on stabilizing the crack.
anwhile, Varian’s true body leaped into the God’s Eye and surveyed the region with a hawkish gaze.
"Thoren! Where are you?"
Varian searched for him everywhere. Now, he even searched in the God’s Eye. God Emperor was nowhere to be seen.
"What is this...?" A familiar connection was forming between him and the region.
God’s Eye was the forbidden region of space and ti.
With Thoren withdrawing from here, Varian was recognized as the master. So, he instinctively understood a few things.
The single tear was supposed to be actually many and scattered all across the universe.
But God’s Eye localized it and kept it confined to just itself.
And this destruction was there even before slivers were ford. In other words, Universe was already breaking down before slivers even fused.
For reasons unknown, the fusion of slivers was accelerating it.
There’s no external force destroying the universe. It was tearing itself.
This was what the Primordial Gods seed to try to fix and fail.
[Destruction is pre-written into the universe.] Logos muttered.
(Slivers are only accelerating it, not causing it. But why is it designed like that? And why are slivers even playing a role?) Samsara was confused.
Varian gave up those questions for now and focused on mastering the authority of this third forbidden region.
"Huh?"
A familiar aura was felt and he appeared in a location.
"The aura here feels like..." It was a speculation but it was really similar.
[It really gives that feeling. The corpse of the Primordial God. Just like in Heaven tribe.]
(Did the corpse explode here too? Or was it destroyed by the tear?)
Varian shrugged.
Co to think of it, he t the remnant spirit of the primordial god in Life and Death region. But he never noticed the corpse itself.
Were they all exploded by this ’Architect’ guy for a reason?
He pondered for a while but realized that there were no more answers to be found here.
Varian left his clone to keep the region stable and returned.
What followed was a period of peace.
The greatest peace Eden ever witnessed.
Right before the greatest storm.
*** *** ***
A/N: End of Volu.
Next is the final Volu: [Path of the Divine].
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