[=]

"Is this one clean?"

"Yep. He isn't in this one, Love."

"I was worrying he'd eaten more than that chat, Pride. How does someone eat a mental link of all things?"

"You have no idea, Love. I'm not even going to explain the rest of the stuff he told me. I want you to read this and tell me whether we should continue squabbling over him. He needs all of our help."

"What?"

[Pride is sending a file. Accept?]

[Yes] [No]

"Agh! Did he get in here again?"

"No, Love. I copied that over. It was pretty brilliant if you ask me— adding a file transfer to a mental chat. We can send thoughts and ideas in addition to words."

"Oh, okay. I'll accept."

»[Yes]«

Chronovoid

Your fate is forever pinned to the chosen pivot. You can no longer die, for even if your will and body are destroyed, your fate has slipped far outside the bounds of fate itself.

Chronovoid invariably claims all.

None shall escape.

Pivot Type: Evolution

Related Fates: ??????????, ??????????, {err...}

Bonuses: ??????????

"You have GOT to be kidding me. This is the fate talent he was talking about?"

"It gets better. Count the question marks in the items at the bottom."

"Ten. For all of them. Don't tell me..."

"How much do you want to bet they all say 'Chronovoid?' And that error— that means it failed to load more for some reason. How many more, I don't know. This talent is reinforcing itself in an endless feedback loop."

"Yep, you guessed correctly. Sorry, I didn't know it blanked out that part of my talent."

"AGH! How the hell do you keep doing that?"

[Chronovoid (Maw) is sending a file. Accept?]

[Yes] [No]

"Ugh."

"You asked, Love. I deliver."

"At least your chat role is honest now, my god."

"I lost that compulsion for honesty I had as a dragon. It was jarring."

"Wait, why'd you change your role?"

"I'm not a dragon. I'm an Annihilation Maw. Look, just read the file."

"What?"

"Did you notice you typo'd your name as Chronomet last time you were in chat, my god?"

"No, but now that you point it out. Huh. Guess it got to me. Losing my species, I mean."

"You're even talking differently, my god. Shorter, more forceful. You didn't say 'Hruh.' You used to only talk like that when you were angry."

"I am angry, Pride, but I'll keep tabs on it. Thanks for looking out for me. Love, accept the file already."

"I'm still stuck on the fate talent, mentally."

"I don't know what to do about it either, sorry."

»[Yes]«

Void Will

Your Will persists across the void.

"What does that— why do you have such baffling talents?"

"I used it to help people with memory problems. I figured, it must be the opposite of Endless Will, the sciolation talent. Nope! It helps with memory because it infuses my Will, and thus my Origin, into the void space between quanta. Everywhere. This blocks past uses of Endless Will, which helps others' memories. But, rhem. I'll eventually infect the entire god realm with my Origin without me so much as ascending. Soon, I'll see what you guys are doing as if you were linked with my Origin, like Pride. Also? All mental connections touch the void. Any time you make a new chat, I already immediately and involuntarily eat it. It's that bad without me even ascending."

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"So. There's nothing we can do."

"No, I'm on your side. If we can't fix it, but you do find a way to permanently kill me, in spite of my fate talent? I'm up for it. I do NOT want to spend all of eternity as an endless killblob."

"My god... You're an incredible being to be putting your own safety last when it matters."

"Being? I'm the antithesis of being. My safety comes last by default, doesn't it?"

"It takes a lot to admit that, Chronovoid."

"You guys don't get it. It takes nothing to admit because I'm becoming nothing."

"Don't be so hard on yourself, my god."

"No, listen. Insanity would be my only escape. Except, as you pointed out, my fate talent may keep evolving. Wouldn't it get rid of a mental state like insanity? What if I start to want to devour everything?"

"Alright. This has gone far enough. I'll accept your intentions, Chronovoid, and try to rally the others. Let me do it, though. You can watch... Or, I don't know if you can avoid watching?"

"I can, but you'll need to block me out if you're in a region I've infected. It's getting to where I can't in some areas."

"You CAN'T, my god? Your Origin doesn't work that way with me, right?"

"Right, but Void Will disperses my Will across the void. It didn't have any notable effect the first time I used it. The second time? I became able to see and hear a lot. Even some peoples' thoughts started to involuntarily pour into my mind. Since then, it's only gotten more pervasive. I imagine my Origin has continued spreading."

"Spreading... I don't want to know. Chronovoid, we do have a few weapons that may counter your talent. Try to ignore us until it's all taken care of, okay?"

"Sure thing."

[=]

Alright, while they're discussing, I'll make an effort to ascend to the god realm.

I feel myself begin shifting to another plane.

It's funny, that's all it takes? I didn't want to leave, so I didn't leave. I wonder what was blocking Pride from—

*kshh*

That sounded like a lineage seal breaking. Except, my lineage is already unsealed.

Status, Lineage.

Lineage: Void Origin

Annihilating the seal placed upon you has greatly enriched your void power. Your disjointed lineal, spatial, and mental states are now unified. Your exceptionally well-balanced features now allow for more rapid evolution.

...

Seriously? That wasn't meant to seal the gods; it was supposed to seal ME?

Roh, please no—

Status, Chronovoid.

Chronovoid

Your fate is forever pinned to the chosen pivot. Even death empowers you, for fate itself embraces your finality.

All shall become Chronovoid.

Pivot Type: Evolution

Related Fates: Chronovoid, Chronovoid, {err...}

Bonuses: Chronovoid

Damn. There was a loophole in 'None shall escape.' Technically, I could let others exist as a part of myself like Aitos at worst. But— that loophole's been closed. Seems Pride was correct about my next evolution.

"My god, what happened? I felt something."

"Rehm, you can ascend now."

"My god, why would you keep eating?!"

"I didn't try. According to my new and improved Void Origin, that block on ascension was actually focused on sealing me. Somehow. So, when I tried to ascend, I basically rammed into it and involuntarily ate it."

"Then, your fate talent..."

"You were right. 'None shall escape' became 'All shall become Chronovoid.' I'm sorry, even though my word is worth nothing."

"Your word is worth plenty, my god. I know this looks hopeless but, we'll figure it out in time."

"I doubt you need the details; you're smart, Pride. But— our time just got A LOT shorter."

"Yes, my god."

He didn't thank me for praising him. He really DOES have the pride scared out of him. I feel shameful doing that to my proudest dragon.

Whom, even if I were prouder than him, can't be me anymore. I'm... Not a dragon.

My nearby temple and its rocky terrain vanishes. A lush and grassy plain suddenly graces my sights in its place.

I begin sensing my surroundings. Then, I stop.

Why am I getting excited? There's no memories to eat around here.

I examine an area where I just sensed.

I'm greeted by a thick and dense layer of Origin Crystallization. As I use my Will to examine it, the layer expands like a blob of paint that's running down a wall. Except. In every direction simultaneously.

Rah, THAT'S what it means to merge my lineal and mental states. This is spiraling out of control faster than I can keep up.

I shake my eldritch head and begin walking. Then, I stop moving aimlessly for the same reason. I'm getting excited.

I examine under my feet. The same solid layer of crystallization is in my footsteps. The spot where I was standing looks more like a white, fractured tear in existence than a blob of paint.

RARRGH! That's the spatial part!

I spread my wings and fly upward to avoid touching the ground.

I can't avoid the air itself, but, I wonder if—

I zoom very close on a rock in my mental map, then mentally examine the rock. At the first moment I examine it, there's no contamination.

YES!

Except... Now I feel REALLY excited. What gives?

I examine the air around me.

White crystal, flooding out everywhere— like a torrent.

Damnit, NO! It's spreading through space directly because of my wings!

I drop back to the ground by retracting my wings.

As I impact the ground, Origin Crystal silently splashes out from my feet. Like I just jumped into a pool. It stretches through space in ways that don't quite make sense.

...

Hrah?!

...

The longer I stay in this area, the more excited I'm starting to feel. It's not hunger. It's a powerful sense of happiness and oneness. Like I want to... Let go. To release all of my Origin Crystallization. To eat everything.

All shall become Chronovoid, hruh? I'm starting to enjoy it. This talent's altering my mentality; just as I'd feared.

"Pride."

"Yes, my god?"

"I discovered a few things up here. Chiefly, the talent isn't waiting for me to go crazy. I'm starting to find the void positive and enjoyable. I'm still in control for now, but... It's possible I may eventually stop cooperating."

Reah. I've spent my entire short reincarnation trying to keep myself in check. I'm starting to feel like I don't want to any longer. This is beyond bad; it's catastrophic.

"I'll— I'll let them know, my god."

I run quickly over to the nearest town, trying to get far away from that huge spatial blob of Origin Crystal.

...

When I arrive, I see a number of Rank 1 and Rank 2 gods milling about. Despite them being gods, it doesn't look much different from—

Rah, reah. That town I once visited.

image [https://timjames.net/data/acd/images/147.png]

Please, PLEASE don't become a massacre.