38 System Hours until the end of the world

The spell started without much issue. However, as expected, it proved itself to be quite the endeavor. Any spell that encompassed a world required a truly astronomical amount of mana. The energy requirement was simple enough to fulfill. While the mountains of batteries that powered the behemoth of a spell had not been easy to make, his “modest” wealth over the years had sufficed. Filling the mana banks to the brim was not a particularly difficult thing, either. It had slowly accumulated as he'd prepared everything else. The true hurtle came from mobilizing the mana on such a scale.

The batteries were expected to be almost completely drained by the end of things.

Such a task could not be overcome by simply plugging cables between the matrix and batteries.

With more time he might have been able to engineer a tool that could do just that, but time was tight, and he had better use for his time and resources. While taking the task into his own hands left room for error, he didn’t have the time to waste on an endeavor that could be accomplished just as easily with a little work.

While it might have been shameful for an artificer to admit that their bodies were more reliable than a tool they could make, was it not more fitting for such a person to regard themselves as the most reliable tool?

This little work, however, had left him completely drained. This was not a superficial physical or mental fatigue, either. He'd squeezed every fiber of his body, exhausted to the point of withering the last bit of his husk of a body. Over the course of a couple days, the mana accumulated over the centuries by a Tier 7 Mage streamed from his mana banks into the spell matrix, guided through his body into their respective locations. It was an immensely delicate process despite the scale and scope, but he was no stranger to work of this nature.

As the hours passed, the array of artifacts prepared for this moment faltered one by one as his withered flesh evaporated, unable to accommodate the power flowing within. His body burned and his spirit experienced pain unlike any he had felt before.

However, his will stood firm.

Magical apparatuses built into the Mage Tower mended the holes in his form with mercurial Soulium and then stitched these fillings closed with Soulsteel filaments. This stopgap had been prepared long ago; the breakdown of his body an expected outcome.

A patchwork body like this was no permanent solution, but it didn’t have to be. It only needed to last long enough. Halfway through his body was already more Soulsteel than flesh. By the end of it, his purpose-built equipment had all become useless and the entirety of his human body had been completely vaporized.

Indeed, by the time the spell finished, and his mark had been placed on every being in this broken world, he could already not be considered human. As he was now, he existed as a construct of pure energy, a soul - a pattern - made manifest through will and magic alone. It was a shape reminiscent of elementals, though warped beyond compare.

It lacked any and all of the elegance and attunement with nature elementals might possess, existing as if to spite every last natural law there was instead. His new body was chaotic and unstable, but more than enough for the next step of this plan.

While lacking a body of flesh and blood did make him more vulnerable to a certain extent, it would make his transition into an artifact smoother. Additionally, his body had been overdue for a replacement for a long time, but he'd stubbornly held onto it out of sentimentality alone. This endeavor was as good a send-off as it could get, serving as tinder burnt to catalyze his sublimation. Such a mission would be the most important it could ever have.

The feeling of not having human senses was rather unique, though his mind was too exhausted to fully describe it. It differed from [Soul Projection], as he felt nothing tethering his soul to the physical world. Just a push was needed to send him straight into the Starry River. That said, there wasn't much that were qualified to give such a push.

After all, this form had been fashioned with efficiency and combat in mind. As such, it lacked many of the amenities an ordinary body would have. To put it in more straightforward terms, it was little more than an aggregate of mana arranged to form basic sensory organs. Not only could it socket perfectly into his new Artifact, but it also possessed fighting capabilities he could only imagine when still confined by his human form. With his overwhelming mana liberated, he was stronger than ever before. A necessity, as a battle must be fought. It would be a vain hope to believe his targets would surrender their lives easily.

As he settled himself, he activated all the contingencies he'd prepared and put every automatic system on high alert. With everything in motion, Eldridge’s bloated form compressed into a ball, falling into unconsciousness, finally letting his weary soul get some rest. It would be the last time he would need to do so.

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18 System Hours until the end of the world

Finally waking after nearly a day of sleep, the first thing he did was assess his body’s situation. Everything was in order. His tower had handled his metamorphosis flawlessly, just as he had outlined.

While his soul had remained largely unchanged, he knew that body and soul were reflections of each other. A change in one would invariably lead to a change in the other. Through numerous experiments, he knew that his current state should be stable for years, but those tests were done on beings far weaker than him, and not everything scaled up translated perfectly, so the less time spent in this shape the better.

There was no reason to stay as he was now for long, either, as he had a more perfect vessel lying just in front of him. Now was not the time to savor the moment. The stage had long been set, and the actors were finally starting to move.

“That ignorant snake finally decided to move. I guess that little push was necessary after all. Though his reaction was less enthusiastic than I'd hoped.” Eldridge mused.

If there was one thing he missed about his human body, it would have to be his voice. Talking to himself just didn’t have that same satisfaction anymore now that what came out of his “mouth” sounded so unnatural. It was like a cacophony of voices each screaming individually, none in sync. Paying attention to one might allow for something intelligible to be discerned, but one voice alone would not convey the entire message. Trying to listen to it all together was even worse, as it would only result in a garbled mess sanity reducing sounds.

“You try souls just a few times to see why so many races gorge themselves on them and your own warps into something indescribable.”

“Bah, I must still be tired. Thinking of useless things during such an important moment.” With a sigh that was not really a sigh, Eldridge gathered his thoughts and focused once more on his plan.

Looking at the trend of the pieces on the board, he had a few decisions to make. There were a few minor deviations from his layout, but they weren't a large problem. That their actions diverged from his initial expectations only hurt his ego and nothing more. His ideal scenario would have been for the dragon to gather together every one of import and crusade against him head on, saving some time and effort.

He'd hoped the situation would prove dire enough to force the deity out of his hole.

As an artificer, he knew very well the importance of fighting in an arena of one's choosing. The force multiplier provided could be critical. Furthermore, strong as he was, he could not ignore the limitation excessive distance proved. Even in perfect conditions, this colossal undertaking, a weave that encompassed everything in the world, inevitably had a few weak points within it.

Despite centuries of planning, these shortfalls were unable to be patched, and the farther from him the pronounced those holes were. It was due to his weakness that he was forced to choose a world like this.

It was well worth the time to pin this place down, as well. Here was a world where all the pieces fell into place: lacking suppressive characteristics, contained signal-boosting nodes buried all over the place, and most importantly, not completely under System control. Had any of these conditions not been met his reach would likely not even span a continent, to say nothing of whether his plans would be smothered in its infancy or not.

Though originally considered just a bonus, these signal nodes ultimately showcased their importance by expanding the scope of what was once a continental ritual to a worldwide one. While traveling around scouting for possible targets, his attention was drawn to this world quickly by their presence. He was able to identify them to be the leftovers of a [God Eater] that passed by. The natives had no idea of how to properly dispose of it and merely dug pits to hide them away. A rather primitive method, in all, but it made things cheaper for him so who was he to complain?

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From the residue, he concluded that the [God Eater] was of greater strength to him, but even so he had no qualms about using its parts for his ends. Taking advantage of it’s remnants would be of no consequence. The loss of a single signal marker likely wouldn't even register in its simple mind. As, unlike him, even with their world-ending strength those creatures were relatively mindless and knew only how to feed.

Or perhaps it was because of their lack of intelligence that they were able to get so strong. If true, then the price paid for their race’s strength was heavy, indeed.

In any case, the thing had likely already forgotten about this place and had no reason to return. Knowing their kind’s characteristics, since the beast had already successfully feasted on this world’s laws it should already be far, far away from this place. Maybe it’ll return after an uncountable amount of time passes and this world advances, able to accommodate higher-tier laws, but whether this world can last until that point was a more pressing question. After all, it received a near-fatal bite to the head from the [God Eater], and what he’s about to do might very well cut off its path to recovery for good.

These nodes were long abandoned by their owner and were entrenched for a long time in this world. Retuned and repurposed, their corruptive influence made everything far easier than he’d predicted.

Despite this massive assist from that unknown [God Eater], there were still places that he had difficulty reaching. One notable example was the domain of that vegetative dragon. While there was a massive gulf between their respective levels of existence, the dragon’s connection with the world was nothing to scoff at.

His caution was warranted, as his skill set was not built around fighting, nor did he have much experience in doing so. When it came to fighting, he could only say that his ability to run was unmatched among those of similar level, and that he only took fights where there was certainty in victory.

Measured and calculated were the foundational principles with which he’d made his ascent, tempered through a number of unnecessary adventures forced as a result of his naivete in his younger days.

“Even so, this is the greatest gamble I’ve taken in my lifetime. With the odds so stacked in my favor, I can only hope the dragon doesn’t have a way to break out of this dead end I’ve set up. None of his abilities indicate anything threatening, and he lacked the ability to hide from my gaze.”

"He doesn't seem to have the ability to self-detonate or sacrifice future potential for current strength. That wouldn't match his character. His character profile has been good enough. I can mostly guess his thoughts and pursuits, but caution is still necessary.”

"This somewhat passive position will lead to some fish escaping the net, but that couldn’t be helped."

To his knowledge, some had already fled the world themselves or smuggled a few others out, but a few grains falling from the bowl were inconsequential in the face of the whole meal. That was not to say he wasn’t saddened by their departure, but it wasn’t worth the extra effort to hunt them down. He was only disappointed to see a few buzzing flies escape. After all, even mosquitoes had meat, no matter how minuscule they were. And, for beings like Eldridge, they could just as easily derive sustenance from the insect's soul as well.

“At least these weaklings had the self-consciousness to know not to disturb this layout during their escape. Saving themselves along with a few others is the extent of their abilities.”

At the end of the day, they were the ones that stood out from the rest. Skilled enough to have the ability to notice something was wrong and escape.

All of this tied back to strength. In a multiverse filled with the schemes and conspiracies of old monsters like himself, one needed to constantly grow in strength, or else they'd die from an unknown AOE. Even he was no exception to this. A behemoth he may be, but he was still an ant in the face of those higher than him. Even a damaged lesser world with only one main planet and a few fractured subsidiary planes like this required meticulous scheming to bring to heel, to say nothing of higher-order ones. There was always a Heaven above Heaven, an Abyss below the Abyss.

After today, however, he can say with confidence that he will be one giant leap closer to the summit he can currently see.

The total distance, however, was quite literally an infinite number of steps away. He could take the easy route and pledge himself to the System, but that was not true immortality. Not true [Detachment], and not true freedom. The path ahead would be forged by his will alone. While his vision had been broadened by those indescribable beings, he refused to be bent in their shape.

He was almost half-step [Detached], a stunning feat for such little time, but he lacked any sort of truly infinite characteristics that would allow him to cross the threshold. His power was unfathomable and could be considered infinite by most, but that was not really the case. His mana pool was massive, but not infinite. His knowledge was profound and comprehensive, but not infinite. He could bend and break laws to meet his every whim, but that was mere child's play in the eyes of the [Detached].

Perhaps from their eyes my actions were nothing more than the silly flailings from a silly little pawn, randomly jumping from board to board and never into a player's seat.

He believed that this spell would be a pivotal step in that direction, however. While not bringing with it a substantial increase in power - in fact it will likely greatly reduce his strength - it will give him time. It wasn’t true eternity as he could still be killed, as unlikely as that was, but he would still have countless ways to save himself. Worst comes to worst he’ll just have to cash in some favors. One benefit to knowing the existence of those at the top was the ability to bargain.

After this, I’ll take it easy for a while. Maybe I'll live out a period of retirement. Go slow and simple. I’ll have plenty of time to grope my way forward. Stability is the only thing I need with the foundation all laid out.

He wasn’t vain enough to plot out the entire path towards [Detachment] or to imagine that this would get him to the end in one go. He knew the massive gulf between him, a relatively fancy chess piece, and those who were actually playing the game. He could make quite the stir in the board if he wished, which was why he'd been recognized by the System, but that little recognition was all there was.

Eldridge referenced the marks placed and saw that many were already converging towards a position not too far from him. He reckoned that they’d soon arrive. Even more those in the middle of the pack among the transcendent, travel time meant little so long as one wasn't opposed to paying a price.

The people the god was able to rally against him were pitifully weak, their levels not even touching the thousands. Furthermore, they all lacked something truly outstanding that could distinguish them, with the skills and stats provided by the System the only things that made up their abilities. Varied as they were, they all drew their power from the same origin, an origin he was intimately familiar with.

But their weakness was expected by him. If they'd reached a height similar to level 1000 defined within the System, the dragon would have had to share some of the world’s authority, and that deity's circumstances simply couldn’t let that happen. To allow Tier 6s, or what amounted to Demi-Gods, was the limit.

What he didn’t expect, however, was the System’s ability to assimilate the native power system so comprehensively. This was the first time he had properly surveyed these individuals. Such unscrupulous means of detection would have exposed him in the past, but now things were past the point where such a thing mattered.

For beings born before the System touched their world, they threw away their roots surprisingly quickly. The world's former Paths of Transcendence was completely gutted by the [God Eater], yes, but to embrace the System with such open arms?

He'd expected at least a few of these people to hold abilities unique to them and the world. This place hadn’t completely fallen under the System’s control, but it seemed that to the people that lived in it, it might as well have. From the records he could view with his current authority, it had only descended upon this world a few thousand years ago, a mere instant in the eyes of a world, and it had already dyed nigh everything in its color.

There was a few in the group that still held fast to their world's original techniques. Unsurprisingly, though the dragons had taken advantage of the System, their patron deity cared more for them and didn’t allow them to base the entirety of their existence revolve around it like his ragtag followers. Eldridge could see a whole mix of things in there but was unable to completely look through it.

Hmm... Perhaps it wasn't a matter of kinship at all. Rather, he was experimenting with them? I suppose they were as close a sample to him as he could get.

Once this was done he’ll need to thoroughly dissect those unique creatures. Beings with the potential to assimilate a world a viable path weren't found every day, after all. Though the prime example likely couldn't be saved, as he couldn't allow himself any handicaps in this battle. Those lesser imitations, however...

Could I transition my Artifact core into a world by leveraging its roots as a World Core? What are the prerequisites for a place to be regarded as a world? Is it even worth it if it were possible? Already so many questions I'd love to find out the answers to.

Therefore, the only ones of importance were the dragons and the deity's avatar. They'd be the only ones that could surprise me, unlike those rigid System Adherents. The avatar most of all. Its ability to channel the power of the world, along with the god's hidden capabilities made it noteworthy. Perhaps through it he could unveil a part of the ontology's abilities.

"[Sever Earthly Attachments], [Return All Tethers]"

With only a simple sentence, a prescribed script activated. The vast majority of souls in the world were ripped from their physical bodies and dragged toward the Northern Everfrost, reeled in like a fish on a hook. The first wave composed of mostly fodder, as only those that lacked the barest defenses against such an attack would find their souls pulled from their bodies so easily.

Across the world, countless lively cities filled with commerce and industry instantly became still. Their denizens fell to the ground in unison, crumbling to the ground like puppets whose strings had been cut.

Panic, fear, and ultimately hopelessness set in among those that remained. They could not see an enemy to fight or blame. Like birds caught in a storm, they could only attempt to brave the circumstances. However, they would not be able to experience these complex emotions for long.

Soon, even the strong would not be able to hold on, finding themselves pulled along as well. Pulled straight towards the Northern Everfrost.

17 System Hours until the end of the world