“Haah… I’ve already found a few promising candidates for the other ones, yet I still haven’t found anyone that’s perfect for the Fatebreaker Apparatus.”

With a frown on her face, Theresa scratched the back of her head in exasperation as she went through multiple profiles on the monitor before her once more.

Having become a Lesser Goddess, Theresa thought that she would now be able to enjoy a nigh-infinite life ahead of her, wielding a level of power that would undoubtedly instill fear in the hearts of men.

Yet, not even ten thousand years into her tenure as a Lesser Goddess, her mundanely long life had been rudely interrupted due to an event that caught the attention of every being in the First Cosmos.

The First Cosmos was beginning to crumble.

Unsurprisingly, fear and panic had begun to seep into the hearts of many thanks to that piece of news, causing galaxies and even universes to wage war with one another in the hopes of finding a way to get out of an already sinking ship.

Though, once they realized that the wars were accelerating the First Cosmos’ demise rather than hamper it, everyone in the First Cosmos unanimously agreed that wars would now become a thing of the past.

Instead, they would focus all of their efforts into lengthening the life of the already dying First Cosmos. Of course, if that didn’t work, then they would find other ways that would allow them to escape their current situation.

To many, it could be said that it was only during this period that the entire First Cosmos worked as one, working as a giant machine that was composed of many gears and mechanisms.

In fact, their efforts had even borne fruit, giving them over ten million years of leeway before the First Cosmos showed signs of crumbling again.

However, rather than laze around after this piece of good news, the denizens of the First Cosmos got to work once more.

After all, now that they had more than enough time to prepare for the inevitable, it was time for them to formulate a true escape plan.

And thus, the New Cosmos Project was born.

“I’ve already checked the galaxies part of the Lesser Cosmic Alleys at this point, yet I still haven’t found anyone that meets the criteria.”

Having scrolled through the monitor for years on end at this point, Theresa felt as if she was losing her mind.

Letting out a long sigh to compose herself, she then returned her attention to the monitor once more, asking the heavens beyond the First Cosmos to guide her as she would do her final candidate search for the meantime.

“I seriously hoped it didn’t come to this…” muttered Theresa to herself. “But it seems I’ll have to check the Cosmic Void Zone.”

Out of all the places she had scoured in search for perfect candidates, Theresa had saved the Cosmic Void Zone for last.

Of course, it wasn’t the fact that the Cosmic Void Zone housed a great number of galaxies that made them as large as the strongest cosmic clusters of the First Cosmos. Nor was it the fact that the Cosmic Void Zone housed a few beings that even the strongest of the First Cosmos feared.

If anything, the reason why she saved the Cosmic Void Zone for last was the fact that almost all of the beings had no connection to the energy that formed the First Cosmos in the first place.

“Then again, the ability to manipulate Stellar Energy is just an optional criteria I should keep in mind when choosing candidates for the Fatebreaker Apparatus,” said Theresa, resigning herself to the fate of having to scour through trillions upon trillions of beings from the Cosmic Void Zone.

However, not even an hour after starting her final search through the profiles, Theresa stared at the profile before her with immense disbelief.

“I can’t believe I found the perfect candidate just like that,” Theresa murmured to herself in slight shock, glancing at the document she had opened by the side to remind her of the criteria she had to keep in mind for chosen candidates.

For one, the candidates she had to pick should not have any deep attachments whatsoever, whether it be an organization, an alliance, a religion, or anything along the same branch.

Then, once they were confirmed to have no deep attachments, they should then have no deep relationships with any being.

To be honest, Theresa had an easy time finding people that fit these first two criteria, with the majority of the profiles she had come across doing just that.

It was the last third criteria that forced her to search through billions to trillions of profiles for years on end, hoping that she would get a lucky break at some point and find the one that suited the Fatebreaker Apparatus.

Someone whose aspirations extended far beyond themselves.

Of course, such a being was not simple to find, even though many profiles Theresa had come across in the past showed that some of these beings had aspirations where they wanted to be rulers of their own dominion. In fact, she had even come across those whose aspirations extended beyond their own planets, wanting to become rulers of their own cluster.

Yet, even that level of aspiration was far from enough to fulfill the criteria she was given.

According to what she was told, the candidate should have a level of aspiration that would normally be considered nigh-impossible to achieve, an aspiration that was considered so absurd that it would be considered a miracle if it were to happen.

It was only with that kind of aspiration would the candidate be able to see the undertaking bestowed upon them to the very end. And with great success at that.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“Arthur James Marshall…” Theresa read through the perfect candidate’s profile. “A denizen of Gaia.”

“Approximate age of 22 years in relation to the planet’s life-giving star. Is part of a local planet faction since birth, but has no deep attachments to it.”

“Used to have deep familial relationships in the past, but due to some circumstances, he had separated himself from these relationships. Currently has perfunctory relationships at best.”

“His aspirations… to live out his dreams of gradually becoming an omniscient and omnipotent being as reality. To take the whims of fate for himself and forge a path that only he could control.”

“A great contrast to his currently mundane life.”

Coming to this point, Theresa had an amused smile creeping up on the edge of her lips. After that, she moved the man’s profile towards a certain spot on the monitor, releasing a few strands of unique energy from her fingertips in the process.

“With the power vested upon me, I, Theresa of the First Blank Citadel, have chosen Arthur James Marshall as the chosen candidate for my Fatebreaker Apparatus.”

“May the power of fate guide this man towards me and may the gods bless this man in preparation for the undertaking he shall receive.”

With each word she uttered causing the space she was in to rumble, a terrifying aura began to suffuse throughout the room, eventually reaching a level where it was slightly above the level of power Theresa exuded.

Though, like its appearance, this aura was ephemeral at best, being replaced by a strand of condensed golden energy that slowly made its way to Theresa’s mind.

Accepting this strand of energy wholeheartedly, the smile on Theresa’s face turned genuine as she sunk into her seat. Then, with a content sigh, she turned off the monitor before staring off into the vast space beyond the confines of her own.

“And with that…”

“I’ll let fate do its part.”

----------------------------------------

“Man… this sucks.” Walking along a dimly lit alleyway, Arthur let out a slightly exasperated sigh as he kept an eye for his surroundings.

Though he had already walked through this alleyway multiple times to the point it felt like his backyard, the young man continued to remain vigilant, only easing up the moment he had arrived at his apartment’s door.

Then again, such wariness was not without reason, especially after hearing from his neighbors in the past that many innocent people had become the victims of ruthless murderers in such alleyways like the one he was walking through.

And there was no way Arthur wanted his life to end this quickly, especially since he hadn’t achieved his goals yet.

“The boss really wants me to work on the holidays,” complained Arthur under his breath, lamenting all of the frustrations that appeared throughout his day on his way back home. “If I was getting something extra out of this, then I might have accepted.”

“But he’s not even giving me a single additional cent whatsoever! Doing it for the greater good, my ass!” At those words, Arthur let his anger get the better of him as he screamed out his grievances, awakening a few loitering animals to the point they caused more noise.

Unsurprisingly, his screams had caused the people within the houses lining the alleyway to wake up as well, prompting a few curses here and there to be thrown along his way.

Apologizing to those he had inadvertently woken up, Arthur continued to walk through the alleyway as he let out a sigh, feeling like his day so far was the shittiest it had ever been in his life.

“Then again, it’s not like it could get any worse, right?” asked the young man to himself with a slight chuckle.

Comforting himself as he repeated these words over and over again in his mind, Arthur continued to walk through the alleyway, inwardly letting out a sigh of relief as he noticed that he wasn’t far away before he returned to one of the main streets.

Yet, as if the world felt the need to answer the question he blurted out earlier…

Puchi.

Out of nowhere, a hooded man appeared just before he could exit the alleyway, plunging a sharp object into Arthur’s stomach before the latter could even react.

“…!” Feeling an intense wave of pain wash over body, Arthur overcame the initial feeling of shock he felt from the situation, his mind now working on overdrive as he assessed his current condition.

Making use of the adrenaline coursing through his body, the young man began to move closer in the hopes of pinning the man that stabbed him down before using his phone to call out for help.

However, rather than allow Arthur to do what he wanted, the hooded man retrieved the sharp object he had plunged, revealing to the young man that he had been stabbed by a gruesome-looking dagger.

Frozen in shock once more after his weapon was illuminated by moonlight, Arthur was about to tackle the man and pin them to the ground… only for the hooded man to make his move first.

Puchi! Puchi! Puchi!

Without any hesitation, the hooded man plunged his dagger into other parts of Arthur’s body, putting all of his body weight into it to make sure the entire blade was embedded deep within.

In response, waves of immense pain assailed Arthur’s body once more, blanking out his mind to the point where it could not remain rational.

Nevertheless, the hooded man continued to attack him, making sure that his dagger had tasted every inch of Arthur’s body as he began to methodically work through his body parts.

The arms, the legs, the lower torso, the upper torso, and finally… the head.

At this point, all thoughts of escape or retaliation had left Arthur’s mind, instead feeling his vitality gradually dissipate with every passing second. With that, he began to wonder what he had done to deserve this plight, tears barely welling up around his eyes as he stared at the night sky above.

Though, before he could even breathe his last, the hooded man barred his view of the night sky.

“Any last words?” As he stared directly into Arthur’s eyes, the hooded man’s guttural voice sounded out, each word making the young man feel a sense of dread.

Then again, as he was dying, he did not care about these minor details, instead staring at his killer with immense confusion.

“Why?”

“Why?” the hooded man repeated back, letting out an amused chuckle as he moved his dagger towards the young man’s forehead.

After that, he put all of his body weight into it once more, surprisingly piercing through the man’s skull as he watched the young man’s life disappear right in front of his eyes.

“Call it fate,” said the hooded man, not caring whether the young man had heard his response or not.

Allowing his dagger to stay in the young man’s forehead for a bit longer, the hooded man eventually retrieved it after seeing that Arthur was well and truly dead. With that, he nodded in satisfaction before spreading a layer of gray powder over the young man’s body, dissolving the corpse in a matter of seconds.

“With this, yet another candidate has been chosen.” Muttering these words to himself, the hooded man stared at where Arthur’s body was for a bit before letting out a long sigh.

“Though, only time will tell if doing this was the right choice.”

Turning around, the hooded man began to walk along the main street, his appearance changing into that of a senile old man within a matter of seconds.

“May the gods bless that young soul,” muttered the man as he continued to walk, his voice tinged with a hint of divine power.

“And may fate lead him towards the right path.”