As Poppy tore through space, he found himself standing inside a decrepit dark room with moldy walls and stained floors. He casually grabbed a creaking chair to his right and sat down on it, unpacking the huge sack of drugs that could last him for an entire month.

“Drugs,” he mumbled with a pissed-off grin and gnashed his teeth. “God, I know I need drugs but I shouldn’t have accepted that deal. Now she even has access to Personal Mind.”

“That’s one less edge I have over her…” Poppy shook his head, but then froze.

“Wait… Wait a damn minute…” He swiftly activated two of his abilities—Personal Soul and Personal Mind—to inspect his mental state and recall his interaction with Laura.

Immediately, he realized that after a certain point in time, just after Laura stopped attacking him to save her cat and dog, her aura shifted to one that was more pleasing and persuading, and his thoughts even seemed to alter, making it so that he would subconsciously want to listen to her more.

“Beast Tamer, and some charming ability… FUCK!” He cursed loudly, brushing back his hair.

“I GOT SCAMMED! THAT BITCH MANIPULATED ME!”

…

Laura wore a mischievous grin as she assimilated the tiny crystal in her hand, and acquired the corresponding ability: Personal Mind Mastery.

With this ability, she could better control how her mind functioned, allowing her to do feats like splitting her consciousness to multitask or hasten the evolution of her cognitive functions.

Hehehe, with my sunflowers, I’d be able to gather energy from the sun and transform it into energy that my body can utilize for evolution. With Personal Mind Mastery, my mind will be able to grow exponentially, and being able to control an entire city’s worth of plants would be feasible!

Space-Time, Beast Tamer, Plant Manipulation, Nature Spirit, and now Personal Mind… Fufufu, I finally caught up to those first-generation avatars.

All that’s left is to raise every ability I have to the peak of Level 3. Every ability I have synergizes well with one another, and fusing them all into my Level 4 ability would most likely result in a powerful superpower.

Laura’s eyes flashed with a dark green light as she remembered the words every Avatar received on that certain day.

She was still a weak Avatar who only had Space-Time Manipulated as her sole ability, hunting out in the mountains with her feeble body. Just as she killed the living plant Monster that granted her her Plant Manipulation ability, a voice suddenly resounded in her ears.

“Prepare for your ascension to Level 4, the destined day awaits you all.”

“Survive, and I’ll grant you freedom, free from your status as a mere Avatar. Die, and be sacrificed as a mere pawn.”

Even though his words were short and straight to the point, the profound impact it had on every Avatar currently operating, and later operated, was huge.

If the original’s words were true, then they would all have a chance to ascend and reach the level of a Demigod, to transcend their mortality and acquire power beyond the grasps of mortal men.

They all knew that they were being used as mere pawns for the original’s selfish needs, to be used as mere fodder for whatever plan he had in store for his own ascension, but no one cared.

Even if his words of them acquiring freedom were false, the allure of godhood was not something any Braun, a being whose desire for great power was boundless, could hope to resist. They were like moths attracted to a bright flame willingly burning themselves for that ever-elusive star.

Every Braun was a daring individual who would risk their lives to achieve their goal. All of the avatars believed they had a chance at succeeding and acquiring their freedom no matter how little that chance actually was.

With access to zenithral power, the original rose to such great heights in a mere three months. What about them, avatars that knew everything the original did, had access to a broken ability called Space-Time Manipulation, and could move freely without Aegis constantly monitoring them?

Laura herself already achieved the peak of Level 3 in just a month as a second-generation Avatar and was mostly complete with the abilities she wanted for her ascension to Level 4. Now, all she has to do is act according to the original’s orders and uncover the mystery of the destined day he prophesized.

She softly sighed at the approaching figure, and muttered to herself, “Insea City, where order and chaos coexist side by side.”

“Just how unlucky am I if this place really is the center of the storm? Of all the avatars to be chosen, it just had to be me.”

…

Christopher stood quietly in the sky as he raised his arms, with gravity around his body warped to the extreme so that time would flow back. A few hours had already passed and he was almost done pushing back the state of the entire school to before Braun’s attack, and it wouldn’t be long before everyone else was saved.

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Abbie King stood guard beside him as she watched her disciple hard at work, smiling to herself.

“You’ve grown strong in just a month,” she commented.

“I was given a Level 4 Crystal by Aegis, it wouldn’t be long before I reach the peak of Level 4 myself,” he replied lightly and continued controlling gravity with great skill. “Of course, the domains I occupy still need a lot of work.”

“That’s good. Rushing your completion would just decrease your future potential. Look at me, I’ve spent over three decades already and still going at it.” She smiled softly.

“Besides that though… You look a little unwell.” She squinted her eyes and pointed at the peculiarity she noticed regarding Christopher.

“It’s nothing,” he said softly.

Abbie King turned her eyes into slits and expressed through her bodily movements that she knew Christopher was saying crap.

“I’m just tired, that’s all,” he added.

“Uh huh,” Abbie King hummed.

“I promise you, it’s nothing that bad. I was just… Lucas Hum is just way more scary than I initially thought. Not to mention his ability to wield a Level 4 power, but the sheer fact that there are over a hundred potentially Level 3 avatars running around is just…”

Christopher already shared the entirety of the fight with Abbie King a few hours ago except for a few vital information that he withheld in secret, so she understood why he would feel that way.

“It’s terrifying indeed,” she agreed, a sigh leaving her mouth. “An unknown past, multiple superpowers, and hundreds of avatars. And to think he’s just Level 3. Once he reaches Level 4, the havoc he could bring would be unprecedented in scale.”

“Yeah…”

Christopher remained silent for the rest of the event as he quickly patched up the school, turning back time successfully and bringing back everyone else from the dead except for a select few students who had been turned into avatars by Braun.

“I’ll be taking my leave now, I still have to go to other cities…” he bowed to his teacher respectfully.

“Take your time, kid. That’s a heavy responsibility for someone who’s just going to turn 17 the next month.”

“Oh yeah, my birthday is approaching soon.” Christopher smiled, but a cold light flashed in his eyes.

And his birthday is the same day as mine.

He calmed down his emotions and bid his final farewell, stepping into a crack in space and disappearing into the void.

Abbie King sighed as she saw her student leave and mumbled to herself, “I wonder what kind of secret he is hiding from me.”

…

The next day.

Christopher stood on the rooftop of the hotel he was currently living in and swept his glance at the entirety of Dery City to observe the clouds of fate.

As he did so, he saw many different traces of turbulence scattered around, which was far different compared to the one he saw in Civer City where the turbulence was just concentrated in one single area.

In Dery City, the turbulence was like trails of flames that quickly lit up the surrounding environment. Trying to find the source of turbulence in a city like this would be much harder compared to his first attempt, which finally explained why all the other Demigods assigned the same task as him were having a hard time finding Lucas Hum’s avatars.

Just like how the second seat described Braun, it’s akin to a plague of destiny. When people interact with any of his avatars, they get infected with traces of destiny and acquire free will, which would then infect other people that they encounter, eventually spreading like a virus.

The good news is that those traces of destiny would eventually fade, but as long as the source remains wandering around in the city, the turbulent fate would continue to spread without stopping.

Not only that but there would be multiple avatars roaming in the same city, further adding a layer of depth to tracking the avatars down.

This would be a much longer search compared to before…

However, while he was indeed here to find Braun’s avatars, he had another reason why he decided to take Dery City as his next post.

Opening a rift in the void, he arrived inside one of the city’s Aegis branches and soon met the branch’s team captain.

A man respectfully stood in front of him, his head lowered without daring to appear arrogant in front of his superior.

“What can I help with you, sir?” the man asked subserviently.

“Give me all of your files regarding the individual known as Tabia Azikiwe.”

“Tabia?” the man was surprised by the request, shaken upon hearing that familiar name. “What do you need her files for, sir? I’m not trying to sound rude, but… she was a valuable member of our team before…”

He lowered his gaze, with memories of the past flooding his mind.

Christopher sighed and patted the man on the shoulders.

“This is for an important mission. Her death might concern the secrets of a certain villain,” he explained cryptically and made sure to not divulge any high-end information.

“I see…” the man composed himself and quickly retrieved the corresponding files.

Grabbing them, Christopher nodded his head and entered a private room to read them.

“Tabia Azikiwe, Level 2 Super with the ability named Concealed Domain…” Christopher briefly read the summary of her details before proceeding to the end of the files which listed out her death in clear detail.

Around a month ago, a group of migrating bird monsters were heading their way into the city and their branch was assigned to deal with them. Everything was going well up until a certain point when the birds suddenly decided to attack Tabia, which caught everyone off guard.

With over ten monsters launching a single attack at the same time, all targeted at one person, even a Level 3 Super would have a hard time defending against it, much less her.

She quickly died, her corpse exploding into a splatter of blood and flesh as torrents of winds blasted her apart.

The birds then quickly retreated after eating her corpse, never to be found again.

There was also a short little tidbit where higher-ups from Aegis assigned investigators to locate the flock of birds and attempt to regain her scattered corpse, but the search resulted in failure.

Christopher stared at the files in his hands, and all of the mysteries regarding this case were quickly answered in his mind.

Braun was clearly the one who orchestrated her death to retrieve her incredibly rare and useful ability—Concealed Domain—which was used for anti-divination!

As for the birds, they must’ve probably been some animals he controlled or even avatars that he used to kill Tabia and steal her crystal.

But how did he manage to elevate its strength to Level 4? While it isn’t as mystical and as profound as it should be, it’s raw power is still at that level.

Damn it, it must be that strange ability of his. That would be the only reason why he managed to reach this level in just three months to the point that even Demigods are needed in taking him down.

If only… if only I killed you back then, this wouldn’t have had to happen!