Christopher could only describe the state Dela was in to be utter chaos. Out of nowhere, in the past week, the number of avatars just going wild and killing a bunch of supers, monsters, and even other avatars had increased to an abnormal rate.
It was as if they were all rushing for something, which was a detail that Aegis didn’t miss. The only strange thing was that what were they rushing for?
One of the major things they noticed was that through constant battles, the general combat power of each avatar was rapidly rising, with any of the random avatars they found being at least Level 3 in strength, which was shocking to say the least, as there are hundreds of them out there running in the wild all throughout Dela.
Moreover, it wasn’t just their superpowers or their multiple superpowers that had reached the peak of Level 3. Every aspect of those avatars, whether it be their bodies or souls have all reached the peak of Level 3.
They were all forces to be reckoned with, with Aegis’ regular team captains proving no match to a single one of Lucas Hum’s avatars.
Not only that, but as he slowly approached the distant city set by the sea on the northern front of Dela, he received reports of the continuously increasing activities of the avatars. They had long thrown away their attempts at hiding from Aegis’ eye, with many of them even fighting out in the streets of cities or deep in the mountains and forests.
Aegis’ demigods were forced to spread out to handle the turmoil brought by their madness, while also having to deal with the fact that evidence of superpowers was becoming widespread amongst the populace. Time after time, they had to wipe the memories of the people to keep the truth in check.
Aegis’ management team also had to work overtime to quell any leaks posted on the internet that revealed evidence of the supernatural as nearly everyone in the organization was stressing over the current status of Dela.
Christopher would have preferred to be dealing with the avatars in nearby cities right now, but there was a more pressing issue he had to deal with. As he saw the city in the distance divided into two islands, he suddenly remembered something and looked at the vibrant sun in the sky.
It’s already my birthday… A bittersweet grin appeared on his face. “I’m already 17 before I even realized it.”
He sighed softly and continued to fly through the air, leaving behind a trail of white clouds behind him. The city quickly approached his view and he slowed down his speed.
Members of Aegis assigned to that city seemed to have noticed his presence as he saw a woman with blond hair quietly standing on top of a random building in the left island part of the city and approached her with an amicable smile.
“You must be Talia Woods?” Christopher asked the woman as he flew down and landed on the building’s flat rooftop.
“Yes, sir,” Talia respectfully answered, bowing her head.
“What’s the situation with the artifact?” Christopher asked while walking towards the stairwell.
“It’s…” Talia furrowed her brows and sighed. “It’s not looking too good, sir. The containment unit of Artifact4-214 is already struggling to contain the chaotic surge of karma inside it.”
“Any leads on why that’s happening?” Christopher already knew the details regarding the artifact and didn’t need that much of an introduction since it was his job this time to maintain the seal. The only thing he didn’t know was why is the seal struggling so much? What caused the artifact to start acting so crazily all of a sudden?
“We believe that it should be because of the increase of monster activities that continuously attack the city, which made the usually chaotic Right Isle less chaotic as the four gangs are in tacit agreement to put a ceasefire over their conflict for now.”
“In fact, the four gangs had been unusually quiet the past week and they only revealed themselves to the public eye whenever monsters began to attack the city.”
“This should have made the karma of the city off balance, which is causing the artifact to react to the imbalance.”
“I see…” Christopher inwardly sighed at the strangeness of the artifact and habitually pulled out a pair of glasses from a crack in space.
Putting the glasses with the ability to perceive clouds of fate, he took a casual glance at the hallway leading to an elevator. The moment he did so, he froze in his tracks and stared at Talia with a peculiar look.
She didn’t notice the peculiar look he gave her though and she kept on walking towards the elevator, and Christopher quickly made sure he didn’t appear strange.
Taking off the glasses and storing them back in his pocket space, he stood beside Talia in the elevator and remained silent.
She has turbulent clouds of fate… She has the clouds of destiny around her.
Christopher was alarmed by this and he inwardly regretted forgetting to check the overall fate of the city, but considering the low level of the artifact, it would have just resulted in an amalgamation of all the clouds of fate in the city. That would cause the cloud of destiny to remain inconspicuous, blending in with the rest of the clouds around it.
It is strange though that the only cloud of destiny I see around here is emanating from her. The others all have normal clouds of fate. Christopher subtly frowned as he tried to closely observe Talia.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
He observed her soul, her body, and even her past.
Christopher had long lowered his bottom line, especially when it came to matters concerning Braun, so he didn’t mind using one of his various abilities to view her history. Unfortunately, there was nothing noteworthy about her past, and he only got to see the other two team captains of the city in advance.
Ayan Wallace and Laura Fields.
Christopher kept those two names in mind as they finally arrived at the Central Hub of the eastern Aegis branch of Insea City’s Left Isle. Glancing at the familiar structural style of the Central Hub, he quietly nodded his head and followed Talia into an inconspicuous hallway with an elevator at the very end.
Just like before, the two entered the elevator and began their descent deep into the depths of the base. Floor after floor, the elevator didn’t stop moving.
It’s strange, the only source of the cloud of destiny I had seen inside this base is coming from Talia. There are no other clouds of destiny inside this base except for hers.
He squinted his eyes and silently willed his power to activate, enveloping himself in a transparent layer of warped gravity unnoticeable to the naked eye. Even Level 3s with sharp senses would fail to sense the gravity field he had set in place due to gravity’s mystical nature.
The elevator then went past floor 50 and soon enough, the elevator stopped moving, and a melodious ding resounded in a long, seemingly empty white hallway.
Of course, Christopher wasn’t fooled by its appearance. There were tons of traps set in place along this hallway. There were also many layers of anti-divination and anti-detection added to keep the secrecy of this place to the maximum.
Although the space inside this hallway was sealed, with his Demigod-level power, he ignored the restriction altogether and kept his power active. He really didn’t like the fact that the only source of destiny he had seen so far was Talia and was apprehensive over any signs of destiny because their presence usually signified the presence of none other than Freidrich Braun.
Putting on the glasses, he stared intently at the end of the hallway and saw a huge cloud of turbulent fate. It was like a bright flame lighting up the vast darkness. It’s basically impossible for him to not see it.
Damn it… Christopher cursed as soon as he saw the cloud of destiny and already realized what was up. Braun’s here.
Christopher restrained himself from acting rashly. Braun’s avatar was in such close proximity with the containment unit. If he recklessly attacked, they would be forced to retaliate and most likely break the containment unit, pushing the entire city into chaos and affecting the hundreds of thousands of lives within this place.
That was not something Christopher wished to see, so he silently approached the end of the hallway, his gaze emotionless and cold. The moment he arrived inside the room where the giant metallic sphere resided, Laura was already standing right beside it with a wide smile on her face.
Karmic lights continuously formed from the dharmic inscriptions placed on the surface of the metallic sphere, allowing wisps of black and white to float like smoke. Laura playfully tapped the surface of the metallic sphere and gazed deep into Christopher’s eyes.
“Damn, the original is one cruel guy, isn’t he?” Laura said, her eyes glowing green.
“Hmm?”
“Huh”
Both Talia and Ayan looked at Laura as she spouted some cryptic nonsense the two of them wouldn’t understand, but she had never given a damn about those two’s perception of her in the first place.
Right now, the main cast in this room was her, Christopher, and Braun. Those two are just side characters that are gonna get swept in the eye of the storm known as Braun’s devious schemes.
Inside a vast expanse of darkness, Braun floated in the sky with a massive web formed from illusory threads hovering in front of him. Incomplete level 4 crystals floated in the air beside him as he pressed his hands into the giant web, increasing its power to an entirely new level.
Green flames spewed forth from his palms, enveloping the entirety of the pocket dimension with the light of transcendence. He could already feel his connection with the zenithral force reacting violently to the situation as if it could clearly feel his upcoming ascension and the threats that obstructed his path.
His connection rapidly grew, increasing the luminosity and size of his flame.
The eight arachnid legs behind his back, along with his two arms, stretched out and tore open holes, revealing random spots throughout Dela. An innumerable number of weapons and artifacts floated behind him, shooting through those holes which would then close and reopen to another location when objects flew through it.
His heart thumped wildly with excitement as the web continued to evolve and grow.
Braun’s vision pierced through countless layers, transcending space-time as he soon saw the area underneath Insea City.
“Happy birthday, Christopher…” Braun smiled wickedly.
Laura made her move as she struck the metallic sphere beside her, but Christopher moved quicker.
Time around them came to a standstill as the world turned monochromatic, with Laura having her outstretched hand just mere centimeters away from coming into contact with the metallic sphere.
And that’s why I love mind manipulation. I can affect the intelligence of others to a certain degree that’s more than enough for me to exploit. Braun smiled, stretching out his hand. He really tried to stop time against me.
His hand seemed to pass through countless layers, and as he clenched his fist, he pulled back his hand into his pocket dimension. In his hand, a pair of black and white eyes resided, glowing brightly with karmic light.
Braun’s gaze burned intensely with joy, as he mumbled to himself, “First part, done.”
“Now, I only have to run like a maniac and successfully ascend to Level 4. This should be a piece of cake,” Braun muttered and stared gleefully at the void ahead of him.
Space was torn open, revealing Christopher’s mad stare.
“Have fun with my other selves, you enviable chosen son of destiny!” Braun slammed the black and white eyes into the crystalline web in front of him, and the foundation of the pocket dimension began to rapidly shatter.
…
Out on the surface of Insea City, Poppy quietly looked at the corpses of all four divine beasts around him, each laid in their respective cardinal direction, and he looked at the bright blue sky with a smile.
Level 3 Blood, Flesh, Bone, Personal Soul, and Personal Mind should have been used to create my Level 4 Self Mastery ability, but with the addition of the four divine beasts, it looks like I’ll take a rather interesting route in my journey to godhood.
“Control nature and divinity with one’s body, mind, and soul!”
“Hahaha! At long last! I, Poppy Pauley, a mere avatar, could also bear witness to the heights of the divine!”
The four crystals slammed into his chest, and all of the crystals inside the metaphysical space inside his body began to crumble into crystal fragments that then soon gathered in one spot. Bright, iridescent light illuminated the void, outshining even the vibrancy of his zenithral flame.
“BEAR WITNESS TO MY ASCENSION!”
From a mere mortal full of envy to those geniuses, to now a being that has persisted through the oppresiveness of Aegis, Braun was truly a magnificent individual worthy of praise.
In a mere four months, Braun can finally get a glimpse of the godhood he had longed for since the very start. Like sparking a blazing inferno, all across Dela, tens to hundreds of avatars had the same thought in mind.
Life’s so fucking fun when you’re a genius!
In a moment that would be forever embedded into the annals of time, humanity was presented with a scene that defied all logic.
Hundreds of avatars, each at the peak of Level 3, initiated their ascension to Level 4.