In the turbulence of uncertain directions and space, Samuel was grinning malevolently. “Arrogant bastard. Reading my mind is such a rookie mistake; I excel in the manipulation of thoughts and actions.”
Samuel, upon sensing that Kang was actively reading his mind, altered his output to something making him less of a threat. He now became special, but not someone who could escape his grasp, and especially not a danger. In a sense, Kang was correct in his assessment. Samuel could not hide within the Kalhistarn Universe, but who said he was confined here?
Samuel knew for damn sure he was not in Nullspace IX, meaning he somehow traveled between the protection of two universes to end up here. As such, the very notion of him being trapped was flawed. If he could enter unbeknownst to him, then he should surely be capable of leaving at will.
While most would be lost to the spatial storms and subsequent chaos, Samuel was akin to a fish in water. He was moving leisurely towards his goal: the void. All universes have a piece of void. The reason is unknown, since they’re all separated from the nothingness and each other, but the void remains true nonetheless. Due to Samuel’s heightened familiarity with the void, its energy, and the instability it houses, he found it the most prudent place for escape. Additionally, Kang, irrelevant of power, would be incapable of teleporting haphazardly to and within the void. The ticking of time will thus be more lenient. For now, however, Samuel only has to stay drifting “aimlessly” to deceive any prying eyes. To further his image of being lost, scared, and forced into a corner, he even manipulated certain injuries to appear on his body while keeping his whole focus on disallowing their healing. No onlooker could ever imagine his situation to be an act.
Unwilling to lose focus, Samuel kept his attention aptly placed on the matters at hand. Even though Samuel was yet to discover or process the changes to his being, he was not restless. He was now mere minutes away from his targeted destination. He will slowly and thoroughly figure out any and all differences in his abilities and powers after safely maneuvering his way the fuck out of Khalistarn. Oh, so sweet becoming more overpowered shall be!
An especially turbulent few seconds consumed Samuel as the threshold of the void was crossed. Due to the different nature of the space, the spatial tunnel collapsed in on him, hurtling him further into the void. Just as he planned. After tuning into the energy and presence of the void, Samuel further increased his speed, sensing the looming threat approaching ever closer. He has only one chance at this. If he succeeds, then his revenge will be delightful; if he fails… well, he’ll be dead. With the stakes high and the threat nigh, Samuel began uttering strange incoherent nonsense. Pure gibberish seemingly without meaning. Simultaneously, he used By Creation without casting its incantation.
A tremendous rumble shook all of the void, causing the unseen edges to be disturbed. Incomprehensible ripples and quakes appeared in the universe and its barrier. Utilizing the moment of weakness, a tear in reality appeared before his eyes. This was no regular tear though. Runes similar to his previous spatial rune consisted of the majority of its matter creating a dizzying array of incomprehension. More stunned than the space around him was Samuel. Upon wishing to open a passageway to the nothingness, he entered a trance, while his body fulfilled his task. He was aware of what happened but remained confused and dazed throughout. Samuel could not fathom the portal in front of him, nor the strange mutterings bringing it to fruition.
Forcing Samuel out of his moment of confusion was a terrible cold and the smell of blood. A stench so vile and potent it threatened to render him unconscious hit him similar to a truck. This unholy abomination of smell, chill, and dread warned Samuel of Kang’s imminent arrival. Despite not fully trusting the “trance portal” he created, it would regardless be safer than idling around in wait for death. Thus, Samuel leapt with such gusto it rendered even he himself awed, into the mystery hole.
Upon Samuel’s entry, the portal closed behind him, leaving only the cosmic quakes and trembles as evidence of his presence. And the wrath of Kang, of course.
Approximately 20 seconds ago, the great Weapon Emperor realized Samuel’s deceit upon sensing his entry to the void. No spatial tunnel without the purpose to do so would be capable of connecting near the void. This left only one possibility; he’d been had. With unending and unrelenting fury, Kang teleported as close to the void as possible before using his vastly superior cultivation to force his way into the void without being restricted. Instead of treading the void, it would be more apt to describe it as the void parting for Kang, allowing him free passage.
After spending 18 seconds getting to his location of desire, Kang spotted the blemished rat arrogant enough to plot against him. Two seconds is enough for Kang to destroy half the universe, much less Samuel, but for some reason when he launched his famed attack, Bloody Butterfly, it became disoriented and reflected back onto him. Normally, this would not be a problem, but Kang’s recent breakthrough was for energy cultivation and the mind, while his body was stuck at previous levels. This caused the attack to be much more potent than what he could effortlessly handle, forcing him to defend himself, and consequently losing him the chance to destroy Samuel.
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“ARGH!” The Khalistarn Universe was to see an increase in bloodshed and instability for the near future. Kang’s wrath is not to be underestimated. Since Samuel could deceive him with such meager power, it shows how cunning, talented, and dangerous he truly is. He could not allow such an entity with animosity towards him to rise, lest he would pay the price. The only way to ensure his safety and respective revenge would be to reach godhood as quickly as possible.
Kang was “rationing” the populace of his domain for the purpose of sustainable growth, but Samuel put an end to that. If he could no longer spend millions of years to reach godhood, what use were extra creatures? They shall all die for their grand Emperor Kang! …
“Too close! That was way too close.” Samuel found himself lying on a slab of rock floating towards a giant pit of darkness, panting for dear life. He just escaped death countless times over. Not only did he nearly die to Kang, but the mystery portal was definitely cursed as well. He encountered spectral entities within hell bent on destroying any and all traces of him. To proceed one kilometer worth of distance, he’d need to defeat one specter, and they all increased in power level the further he went. Since the barrier of the universe covers quite some distance, he had no option to escape were something to go wrong, as death would be all left to greet him. Death, death, death. No matter what he tried, he was met with death. Were the first thousand specters he met not so weak, then he’d be better off just perishing. The last specter he faced was nearly at the level of Kang. He escaped one homicidal maniac to encounter another. His luck is truly too poor. However, Samuel was already quite some distance away from Khalistarn when this happened, so he ran away like a true hero. But the terror it inflicted upon him combined with his exhaustion from fighting thousands of specters left him shaking.
It was so crippling he could barely move. That combined with the lack of energy for him to absorb left him nearly paralyzed floating on his way into one of the many abysses in the Nothingness.
The abysses in the Nothingness are the opposition of the universes. They are a place similar to the void, but much, much more dangerous. They’re places of pure darkness, death, despair, and pain. All the negative aspects of existence gather there. This concoction of misery is damnable for all creatures borne outside its confines. Not only is it madness inducing to merely be present within their darkness, but the creatures habitating them are lethal to the extreme. A near infinite amount of technically immortal abominations of blasphemous power seeking to destroy all life restrict most who have entered from leaving.
Once, many years ago, one specific monstrosity of the abysses was born. A raid had just taken place to require certain valuable resources from the Huland Abysses, which are a chain of abysses near the Huland Universe. A massive team of trillions of cultivators from hundreds of thousands of universes gathered to cooperatively succeed. No one universe in this region of the Nothingness possesses the power to raid abysses alone, so this was the best solution. An immense slaughter of both sides commenced in this search for riches and necessities. Everyone knew that when an abyssal creature is killed, they don’t really die. They enter a slumber of sorts before merging with the abyss to create a new form. However, what they didn’t know was that when countless of these creatures in a link of abysses die at once, there won’t be enough sustenance for their rebirth, so a compromise is made. A few more powerful creatures will be created instead to increase the effectiveness and consequently their lethality. In this situation though, since resources were plundered and the stench of the universes began to infect their cores, the abysses were left with no choice but to cooperate in the creation of creatures, or rather, one creature. Starved of their abilities and time, they needed to channel all the souls into one being, N’hitan. An entity so powerful it was born as a God King. Instilled with a will and familial bonds with the abysses it began to massacre all the cultivators.
Normally the abyss creatures are mindless forces of destruction, but N’hitan was an exception. Its thoughts and abilities were no longer limited by the abysses. So, after ridding the abysses of their final assailant, it proceeded to fully exterminate the universes participating in the raid. Afterward, it disappeared, never to be seen again. Rumors say its resting within an abyss, merely waiting to unleash its wrath upon the Nothingness once again, others say it ascended to a higher plane with the other God Kings before it. While some believe it never even existed. Those last ones are fools.
The barely physically recovered Samuel whipped his head in the direction of the abyss to his east, and with no hesitation whatsoever, he ran the fuck away. It didn’t matter if he didn’t have any more qi or if his feet hurt, or if he couldn’t breathe or think; there was no chance of him stepping foot within that abyss. Hell no! Tapping into his physique, Samuel began to make the trip back to Balamier. The only difference between the two trips was the difficulty and strain Samuel felt. It was much easier making the trip with a full tank. Regardless he powered on with the sole motivation of getting away from yet another instance of death. Ideally, he would have enjoyed figuring out his newfound prowess before going back, but living was more important.
And it was a good choice indeed, because on the slab he was resting on earlier appeared a man, staring directly at him, even through the odd teleportations Samuel was executing.