Before anyone else could react, the dark sphere holding Braun captive shattered as numerous cracks formed on its surface. From the explosion, a burst of blinding colorful lights erupted, devouring a large portion of the replicated Garden of Eden.
The sky, the ground, the trees, the dirt, the grass, they were all covered in a layer of colorful threads and were soon replaced, transforming those gobbled-up areas into an endless void covered in a layer of strings that made up a colossal web.
Adam, being the nearest to the burst of power, was pushed back by thousands of steps and only regained his bearings a moment later. When he did, the web of destiny had already stabilized and rooted itself into reality, transforming into a heavenly kingdom.
“Time for an academic comeback…” Braun had a depraved smile as his backup plan finally succeeded.
Although he failed to acquire the divine cores of both the 3rd Seat Librarian of Akasha and the 2nd Seat Detached Buddhist, and Christopher’s sudden surge in strength made many of his plans in the outside world crumble to dust, he still acquired the divine core of the Testimony of the End and effectively raised his foundation to the pinnacle of Level 7 in one leap!
Clutching one random thread from his side, he pulled at it and manipulated the destiny of everyone present in this realm where two heavenly kingdoms had clashed.
“7th Seat Dao Seeker and 6th Seat Overlord of Technology, overwhelmed by grief and helplessness, suddenly found that the souls of their deceased companion had actually been fused into the end cannon!”
“During the time Adam had sealed Braun, the two had been working hard at recovering the traces of their allies’ spiritual fragments to potentially bring them back from the dead, but unfortunately, Braun’s preparation was finally coming into play.”
“When Adam’s Garden of Eden descended into reality, Braun already had a rudimentary understanding of all the council member’s abilities. Hence, he had prepared clones of his souls in advance and had secretly mixed them in amidst tghe Lord of Death’s undead army, with one fusing with the end cannon that was also a compartment of the Overlord of Technology’s mecha!”
“Receiving the help of both the 5th Seat Lord of Death and the 4th Seat Myriad Beast, they were on the verge of successfully reconstructing those ‘soul fragments’ and potentially opening up the path to their companion’s revival, but this was all part of Braun’s plan.”
“Now one step away from success, they failed to notice the lurking souls in the undead army and the end cannon, allowing Braun to successfully kill them all in one fell swoop with a resounding explosion that carried the divine authority of death, end, destruction, annihilation, oblivion…”
In total, less than a second had passed since he manipulated destiny, and in the far distance, an explosion of destructive light loomed into the sky.
Adam turned to look at the distant swarm of spiraling souls, and his expression turned grave as he sensed the disappearing signs of life that belonged to the council members. Although he had long been on guard of Braun’s ability to manipulate destiny, a power that was second only to God’s power, this unexpected twist of events still left him dumbfounded.
This was reasonable though, because from the very start, Braun had been actively using his control over the domains of the mind to make existences like Adam not think of certain things, allowing his weaved destiny to happen without much problem.
Adam had failed to anticipate Braun’s sudden ascendance to the peak of Level 7 and his ability to make his heavenly kingdom descend on his heavenly kingdom. The council members were too careless and failed to notice the hidden threat, allowing the end cannon, along with the mecha suit, to abruptly explode by having one of the hidden souls take control of Overlord of Technology’s body.
The resulting explosion from a Level 6 entity’s suicide was not something unprepared gods could resist, and with the predetermined destiny of their inevitable death, their lives waned and blinked.
Four radiant lights flew out of the site of the explosion as they hurriedly traveled towards Braun with him intending to assimilate the strength of four Level 6 divine cores, but Adam was not having any of that.
The black surge of origin-destroying shadows tried to twist causality and stop Braun from successfully acquiring those divine cores, but it was simply another trap for Adam. Even against a Level 8 True God, his ability to manipulate destiny, amped to terrifying levels in his heavenly kingdom, could barely affect the ancestor of all mankind.
“Although Adam still kept his cool, the deaths of his cherished teammates left him a little emotionally unstable and he rashly tried to prevent Braun from acquiring the divine cores of his companions. What he didn’t expect was for the four divine cores to fuse into one and transform into an entirely new entity conceived out of nothing, the peak Level 7 God—Myriad Dao Ruler!”
Outside of Adam’s expectations, instead of continuing their path of flight towards Braun or piercing through space to arrive right beside Braun, the four divine cores clashed with one another as an explosion of primordial light gathered into a humanoid figure.
“Every path to ever be conceived in this universe is under my inevitable rule. I am the lord, I am the emperor.” A resonant voice echoed as a pristine man wearing a white robe stepped out from the primordial light. His eyes twinkled with a profound glow and he formed a simple yet profound hand seal.
“Heavenly Kingdom—Myriad Heavens!”
Clouds rolled down from the sky, consuming another significant portion of the Garden of Eden as the two other heavenly kingdoms contested against Adam’s authority. The clouds gathered into numerous layers, each emitting a different color that represented the myriad paths of heaven and earth.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Adam grunted as white cracks formed on the surface of his skin. He grabbed at the empty air and fought against the two heavenly kingdoms clashing against his. More and more cracks formed not just on his skin but on the bare fabrics of reality as well, as if the three different worlds were beginning to collapse from the tantamount pressure.
In the first place, a Level 7 incomplete heavenly kingdom should have no way of feasibly descending onto a near-perfect heavenly kingdom belonging to a Level 8 True God. The only possible way is that the Level 7’s heavenly kingdom descended first and managed to stabilize itself under the brunt of the Level 8’s heavenly kingdom’s descent.
Myriad Dao Ruler’s heavenly kingdom descending onto the current one was a combination of luck, fortune, destiny, and hacks. Because Braun’s heavenly kingdom already existed, it allowed enough room for a third heavenly kingdom to descend, exploiting the gaps in the foundation of Adam’s Garden of Eden.
Now, under this extreme environment of three different worlds clashing against one another, reality shattered.
Bang!
Everything broke into glass shards, and the three found themselves landing in a familiar sea of stars.
“Finally…” A cold voice murmured all throughout space as a giant palm made out of primordial chaos swooshed in, grabbing at Myriad Dao Ruler’s body at inconceivable speeds.
Faint fragments of Christopher’s heavenly kingdom still presided on top of the universe, allowing his divine form to remain standing. Using this opportunity at the height of his powers, and capitalizing on the future he divined, he dealt a decisive blow and held Myriad Dao Ruler’s body with his bare palms.
Upon seeing this twist of events, Braun couldn’t help but squint his eyes.
He’s already escaped my destiny? Braun touched the faint crystalline threads dripping out of his hands and tugged at one of them to confirm his suspicions.
In his preordained future, he made it so that Christopher would transform out of his Divine Form just as the three heavenly kingdoms would disappear, giving him and Myriad Dao Ruler time to recover.
Now, that plan was in ruins because unexpectedly, Christopher prolonged the existence of his fragmenting heavenly kingdom and kept his half-step Level 8 Divine Form.
Unable to resist the full might of a half-step Level 8 True God, Myriad Dao Ruler watched with helpless eyes as the weight of countless stars pressed down on his bare body. Amped by the fading world around him, Christopher willed the strength of innumerable galaxies in the real world, decisively killing Myriad Dao Ruler in the blink of an eye.
He transformed into a puff of white clouds, his non-human form dissipating with the wind.
Braun quickly took action as green flames erupted out of the puff of white clouds. His foundation was swiftly extrapolated and would soon become his, boosting his strength, but Christopher wouldn’t let that happen so easily.
While Braun may wield control over the very foundation that lets super crystals function, Christopher wielded an authority just a level below Zenith. Having divine authority over the source of all creation itself, the singular force that existed in the primordial ooze-like state of the universe in its conception, Myriad Dao Ruler’s divine core was split in half, with one half transforming into a stream of green flames and the other transforming into a river of white light.
As his heavenly kingdom fully dissipated, he landed right in front of Braun with his hands pulled back. A chaotic swirl of colorful lights formed in his hands, with the visage of countless worlds being born and destroyed.
Peak Level 7 Divine Authority!
Manipulating the four fundamental forces and the strength of creation, Christopher murmured, “Big Bang Fists!”
Adam didn’t let this opportunity go to waste as the world in his view transformed into a series of interconnected dots. Grabbing at one of them, he severed Braun’s capability to escape, manipulating causality!
Braun watched as an innumerable number of threads on the web spun by the legs on his back splinter in half, with a thick aura of death looming upon him.
With his death evident and near, Braun’s limitless potential was explosively revealed. Grabbing at the splintered threads on his back, he opened his mouth wide and swallowed them.
As he did so, Christopher’s fists collided with Braun’s stomach, causing an explosion of countless stars to erupt. For a moment, the entirety of the solar system was flashed by a blinding white light, illuminating every dark spot to be seen.
Braun slowly succumbed to his death, edging closer to the afterlife. His body rapidly decomposed, warped, shattered, and degraded into nothingness. In a few seconds, he would completely vanish from the face of the world.
Fuck… What have I been doing all this time?! Braun’s eyes opened wide as a suffocating vortex of black and white light spun intensely within them. He seemed to have undergone a new change as his aura completely disappeared.
“Under the threat of death and his destined end, Braun’s mind was finally enlightened and he could finally picture a vague truth. All of his memories seemed to replay in one single instance as numerous questions began to surface in his mind.”
“Each question seemed to lead to a terrifying conclusion, a truth so horrifying that would send shivers down everyone’s spine. However, grasping the truth and realizing his stupidity, he could finally begin transcending the web that had eluded him all along—Destiny!”
“From this moment on, Braun is no longer bound by fate, and he is no longer bound by destiny!”
All of the threads on his back were cut in half as he roared loudly. His form turned pure black and green flames exploded out of his hollow eyes. Using the capricious situation he was in as an edge to sharpen his strengths, Braun underwent a new bout of transcendence, and overcame the very power that supported his strength.
A weaver of destiny trapped in a bigger web, how ironic, how ironic indeed! He stared at the sky, his dark green eyes fueled by the flames of evolution peering into the truth.
All throughout the cosmos, wrapping the entirety of the solar system he had been born into, was a gigantic web composed of infinite, ever-changing, ever-evolving threads.
I’ve been in a bigger web all along, a web of lies, a web of illusions, a web of false free will. I never gained freedom upon acquiring this power, I had just been a pawn all along!
I finally get it. So that’s why I was so fucking stupid. That’s why I made all of those irrational decisions. The reason why I bided my time for so long to acquire this divine authority instead of just acquiring something else. The reason why I went through all this trouble to prepare one big war against Aegis instead of just leaving Dela in secret, and the world in its entirety!
I had so many options ahead of me, from going into outer space, reincarnation, identity stealing… But no, I stubbornly went through all this bullshit because of one thing!
The preparator… They wanted me to be in this very exact situation!
Fuck. Fuck! FUCK!
The chaotic mass of primordial light slowly receded, revealing Braun’s battered and broken body. A massive hole was formed on his stomach with gruesome cracks spilling all across his skin. His green eyes fluctuated between bright and being dim, his consciousness waning every second.
However, even though he was on the verge of death, his grin widened.
Luckily, my destiny isn’t to end here. I’ll exploit this plot, survive, and transcend everything this universe has to offer!
Green flames flooded from every crack and every hole on Braun’s pitch black vessel. His aura rose by leaps and bounds as his connection with the Zenithral Force underwent a qualitative change. The shackles that bound him were broken bit by bit, allowing him to strive for a life without limits!
Christopher, Adam, and the unknown Weaver of Destiny—Come, let’s tango!