Death, despair, loneliness, fear, love......
These emotions, alongside others joined together would form a transcendent mathematical equation that equalled the end of all Free Will.
Implanting the certainty that all life is hopeless and freedom was a futile concept, effectively dooming those who heard it to despair.
Anti-Life...... The enemy of Freedom. A living, sentient formula that could dominate the will of any sentient race in the universe.
Capable of distorting reality to achieve complete dominance, it gained its name from the concept that if you had no will of your own, you weren't truly alive.
The God Of Tyranny once came across the Martians whose whole philosophy was based on the Life Equation.
And with that knowledge, he began to scour the multiverse in search of the opposite. Destroying planet after planet so all of existence would be his to rule.
Yet nearly a million years ago, the formula itself had leaked from the Antimatter universe during the destruction of the Old Gods.
Having its own sentience, it sought to corrupt and control the surviving remnants of the ones of old within their weakened state.
It succeeded.
The Gods of old were all dominated under Anti-Life, their wills enslaved to its power.
Few managed to resist its erosion as time went by. While many eventually succumbed to its power.
Arzaz, the old God of order was one of them. With the destruction of his planet, all inhabitants of Urgrund were infected with Anti-Life. In his weakened state, he released his divine authority and sealed the ruins of the old world, trapping the Anti Life equation within.
After the sealing of the Necropolis, he had resisted the power of Anti-Life for thousands of years.
“...... You seek the Undoing". The Dregg uttered hoarsely with darkening eyes.
Amari could see that the Old God was faltering. Years of resistance had left Arzaz weaker and weaker.
He should have won. After all, Anti-life was ultimately an Equation at its core. It was meant to be wielded, and controlling an entire civilization of weakened Gods was more than what could be sustained after all this time.
This however, was where the source Mark came in. The destruction of Urgrund had devastated the Old Gods yet opened them to greater source power at the same time. Those who survived would have their bodies filled with excess source energy with time.
The Equation drew power from the Source Mark of the fallen Gods to maintain there mindless state.
“Not seek it. More like stumbled upon it” Upon Apokolis's destruction, he had sensed the power of Anti-Life that carried the signature of the Antimatter universe.
When the planet was destroyed, it quickly began to dissipate into the surrounding space like salt in water.
And so, Amari turned back time, once again trapping the Equation within the Necropolis.
Looking at the Dregg before him, he opened his mouth and continued.
“You probably don't know. But a multiversal tyrant has been destroying worlds across the multiverse trying to locate it. So.....”.
At that moment, he shrugged slightly.
“..... Since I've discovered it, why pass it up?”
Honestly, he found this situation interesting.
Darkseid had destroyed numerous planets all over the universe searching for it. Yet, it was quite literally under his feet the whole time.
Thousands of years, the destruction of so many civilizations across the multiverse..... All of it was pure waste of time.
Arzaz's dark face, if possible, grew darker.
“The undoing should never fall into the hands of anyone. Its very nature does nothing but bring chaos and destruction. Those who possess it will be corrupted by its power and use it for such”.
“And?” He raised an eyebrow. “What does it matter to me?”
“I will never allow this”.
“Then stop me if you can”.
The face of the God of Order turned cold.
“The consequences of your actions will bring war to all realms. To obtain Anti-Life, you will have to battle the fallen Gods it now controls. Even at my peak, I am no match for their newly combined strength”.
In the throne room, the dark marks continued to inch up his neck with everything passing moment.
The white eyes of the Dreggs darkened rapidly.
“I warn you for the last time. Leave this place, or suffer the consequences”.
Amari felt like laughing. It was quite clear that the old God was at the end of his rope. Even at full strength, it was questionable if he could even put up a fight much less in this state.
“I appreciate the warning”. His glowing eyes thrummed with power as he raised his right hand again.
“But I think I'll take my chances”.
“Then you leave me no choice”.
The body of the old man began to leak large amounts of source energy. A complex circular pattern appeared underneath his throne, exuding white lights.
“Forgive me Sirius”.
His voice was nothing more than a soft mutter.
A wave of energy surged from his being, impacting everything in the surroundings. The soul of Arzaz escaped from his body, just before his body turned completely pale.
The dark lines extended all the way to his face, growing right beneath his closed eyelids.
Outside.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
As Arzaz lost control, the bodies of the dreggs were retained by the glyphs.
The one once possessed suddenly lit up with a bright white color. Following which, a phantom shot out of it, heading straight towards Amari.
“I will not allow Anti-life to enslave the universe”.
Without so much as moving a muscle, Amari watched as the soul form of the God Of Order flew into his body.
“Even if it means having to destroy your soul”.
Area uttered solemnly as he exerted the last of his divine power without restraint.
His strength was weak, much weaker than at his peak. But A God was still a God.
Gathering the last trace of divine power he could muster, Arzaz launched an attack, bypassing physical defenses all the way to Amari's soul.
His goal was simple. Destroy Amari, take the body for himself, and seal the Necropolis in the process. When he gathered enough power, he would search for a way to open a portal to the antimatter universe, banishing the Dreggs and The Undoing back to its dimension alongside it.
This was the final countermeasure the Old God could think. And so, it flew into Amari without hesitation.
Bang!
A shockwave emerged from the collision and was reabsorbed in nanoseconds.
The floating soul of Arzaz rebounded with a face full of shock and disbelief.
“You done?” Amari's eyebrows couldn't get any higher. This was the second time someone was attempting to destroy his soul.
“I...... Impossible”. Arzaz was filled with utter disbelief.
The Old Gods were once at the top of the universe. Despite the passing of a million years, the changes experienced shouldn't be this great.
The first being he had encountered after so long was so powerful.
“Good. Now it's my turn”. Amari's eyes narrowed with chilling murderous intent.
“You...... What are you?”
“The last thing you'll ever see. I didn't want to kill Darkseid, as doing so would mess up the multiverse. You on the other hand......”. The same concept applied to Arzaz before him.
This old man was the God of order. In regular circumstances, his absolute death would lead to chaos in the multiverse........ But that was before Nabu and the Lord's of order arrived.
After nearly a million years of absence, his role had been replaced long ago.
With that thought, Amari stretched out his hand towards the floating soul and his eyes glowed.
The next moment, Arzaz's face changed drastically.
His soul form began to rapidly deconstruct right before his very eyes.
“Stop!” The Old God exclaimed in terror and attempted to flee.
'Freeze'.
However, he found himself bound in place.
Crack!
“No! Stop! You can't do this”. Watching his Godhead begin to shatter.
“Watch me”. The ice-cold tone could freeze a planet.
Crack!
“I am Arzaz. Do you hear me? I'm the God of order. You can't kill me”.
“Hehehehe.....”. Amari didn't know why, but he suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu today.
If he remembered correctly, Darkseid said the same thing earlier. Well, it would be just right to reply in the same way.
“Newsflash, I don't care”.
Bang!
It happened then. Just when the Godhead was about to crack, the sky rumbled with a flash of blue thunder.
'Seriously? What bad timing'.
The thought had barely flashed past his mind when the weather changed rapidly. In the blink of an eye, dark storm clouds covered the entire underground city with flashes of lightning crackling within.
'A storm? In an underground Labyrinth?'
Boom!
Thunder boomed and lightning crackled. Hundreds of large bolts of lightning were thrown towards him from all directions, emerging from the storm cloud in the sky.
Boom!
The impact caused the earth itself to shake crazily, disturbing the energy shield that shielded this city from the perception of their neighbors upstairs.
The convergence of so much destructive power in one spot caused the earth to be uprooted, dust and debris flying in all directions.
A flash of white light expanded rapidly as the energy generated began to cover the buildings around it and expand.
Rawrrrrrr!
The Dreggs closest to the area were immediately swallowed by the expulsion of divine energy, disintegrating to atoms when caught within.
From the looks of it, it seemed that all of Urgrund's ruins would be swallowed by the power equivalent to a nuclear bomb and growing rapidly.
However, the divine energy suddenly halted before shrinking back just as fast as it built up. Less than a second later, everything receded back to the point of origin, all absorbed into Amari's physique.
Amari's figure could be seen once again. His posture straight and his clothes as spotless as ever.
The same couldn't be said for his surroundings.
Right now, his body floated above a very deep ditch that expanded for more than ten miles.
Everything within this distance had been razed to the ground, leaving nothing but rubble and ashes.
Typical. However, he couldn't care about this even if he wanted to.
Because right before his eyes, six figures could be seen floating high in the skies above him.
Their faces were ghastly pale, their eyes as black as night. Unlike the Dreggs below, these ones had gone a step further down the corruption phase.
Not only were their faces pale, numerous Anti-Life glyphs emerged on the exposed areas of their skin, radiating a deadly orange color.
These were the Old Gods of the first world who survived the first destruction and began the Godwave.
“Ok then...... I'm guessing you're the one responsible for that”. His eyes fell on one located near the end of the group by his right.
The Dregg had a clear feminine figure with a face covered in a striking black helmet. Two bolts of glowing blue lightning were held within her grasp as she, alongside the rest of them, stared at Amari below coldly.
They didn't speak, neither did they growl and roar like the other Dreggs below.
Seeing that they weren't attacking, a frown appeared on his features. Were they scared?
Not likely.
As for why they didn't attack, Amari didn't know and honestly, he didn't want to. And so, he stretched out his right hand and a ball of destructive energy converged on his palm.
With each passing second, more and more energy was adding into this small ball of destruction.
This had gone on for long enough. He didn't want to stay here too long.
It happened then.
The flying Gods of the old world finally made their move. However, this move wasn't in the form of an attack. Instead, they all proceeded to hold hands with each other. Following which, they opened their mouths and an orange substance emerged from within their being, floating into the air above them.
Amari watched with surprise as the glyphs on their skin disappeared and a cloud of orange energy emerged above them.
Eventually....... This energy changed color rapidly, from a sinister looking orange to a pitch-black cloud, forming the silhouette of a black shadow.
A large black shadow enveloped the entire city at that moment. The mass of black energy condensed to form arms, a body, and a face hidden under a cloak of darkness.
Now standing before Amari was a being of colossal size, emitting high waves of antimatter energy from its form.
There were no eyes within that cloaked face. However, he could feel a piercing gaze boring into his very soul.
“You.......”. The hoarse tone couldn't possibly get any more demonic than this.
“....... Are different”.
The ball of energy continued to condense.
“Now what should I call you?”
First it was the Dreggs, then Arzaz appeared....... Now this.
“I am the dark at the end of everything. The end of universes, gods, worlds…of everything. I........ am Anti-Life, the Beast of Judgment”.