Owen had felt like everything was going fine. After several seconds of trying to break the energy threads,. the chaos energy seemed to gain a mind of its own and began trying to tear apart and warp the threads on its own. It moved in complex patterns as it forced its way into the threading, before slowly disassembling the energy bit by bit.

Finally, the connection was broken, but that was the only good news. The world seemed to shake and the ground shook from large tremors. Blasts of energy were thrown out in every direction, each of them originating from where the invisible threads had been destroyed. Owen was thrown away from the center as a large blast practically picked him up and threw him.

That wasn't even the worst part, after the threads of energy had been broken, Owen couldn't control the chaos energy anymore and it had continued to pour out of his body and coalesced. Billions of shapes were created in a matter of seconds, but Owen's brain couldn't keep up with it all. He felt like something intrinsic to him was being forcibly siphoned out, but the only thing leaving was large amounts of chaos.

Unable to keep up with everything happening, Owen's sense were finally overwhelmed and he slipped into unconsciousness. When he woke, he could tell it had only been a few seconds at most, as he could still hear the sounds of fighting coming from nearby. Forcing himself to stand, he felt drained and slowly ambled towards the sounds of fighting. His eyes quickly landed on Myra who was fighting several lower level grunts at the same time.

Malik was dancing around and through each of the attacks made by the leaders, all the while bored expression was plastered on his face, until he saw Owen. A wide grin spread on his face and raised both hands in a cheer. Owen wanted to smile in return, but everything felt so exhausting at the moment, so he just forced himself to nod. Like a switch had been flipped, Malik turned into a machine of death as he methodically cut down he of his opponents, though he let Myra focus on clearing out the last of the grunts.

"So, how do you feel?" Malik asked and he sat down next to Owen. Owen just glanced over and sighed. "I'm not sure, I lost a bit of control back there and now I feel like a wrung out rag of a person. Everything feels empty." Malik nodded and pointed towards the cottage. "Did you just need to break that building with your power?" Owen shook his head and forced a grin out. "No, that's just the backlash of breaking the energy threads that tied this area to the sin that created it."

For the first time, Owen seemed to know something that Malik didn't, as he just stared blank faced at Owen's words. Owen struggled to find the right words, but tried to explain using the same words Xerxes had. "Essentially, domains are directly tied to their creator, so the only way to destroy them is by severing the connection between them and their creator. So, I used some of my energy to wear down the threads, until they finally broke. I lost a little bit of control at the end, but it worked out okay."

Myra joined them sometime later and Malik seemed deep in thought, so it gave Owen a chance to sit and relax. The experience was remarkably similar to having a hangover, so he leaned back and tried to go to sleep as they all spent some time recovering. As his mind wandered, he remembered the plan he had asked Xerxes about and smiled. He had been warned away from doing it, but he was happy to see that he was capable of destroying a domain. It was a bittersweet feeling that there was no achievement or title that paired with destroying one, but he was still happy he had done it.

It wasn't against the right sin, but he had proved he could take revenge, at least to a small degree. Now all that was left was destroying the rest of the sin's domains. Once that was finished, he could focus on relaxing and slow down his progress, though that idea immediately felt wrong to him. No, he would continue to push his advancement, but he would need to find a new goal, especially once he removed the sin's influence from earth.

The trek back towards the military base was a slow one and none of them made moves to get back quickly. Malik's movement skill was limited to two people, so he wasn't able to rush both of them back, but neither were especially in a hurry to return. As they walked, Malik finally got tired of the silence and asked out loud. "Would you help me get rid of the rest of the sin's domains?" The question was directed to both of them and Owen grinned. "I have my owns reason for wanting them gone, so I was going to get to it eventually, but I'm down." Myra eventually nodded as well. "The guild is in a bad state right now, but I guess we don't really need to guild anymore."

Owen was more than surprised at the statement and turned to Myra. "But you loved that idea and have been enjoying yourself with it, right?" She nodded, but shrugged. "Yeah, but the whole point was to keep Rochester safe, but now that Rochester isn't around anymore, we can leave that work up to the military. Both Peggy and I have talked about it and we aren't really interested in continuing, but we are sort of trapped."

"I could pretend to kill you both," Malik offered. Owen scowled, but Myra had a thoughtful look on her face. "No, while that is a nice offer, I think we will set everything up to pass things over to the people truly invested in creating something that lasts, though I'm not sure of their odds against all of the other guilds." Malik seemed to agree, before continuing. "Okay, well its on the table if you change your mind. It will take me a little while to mark down on a map where all of the locations are, but once we have them, I am pretty sure we could finish the work within a month after that."

Owen was surprised, so he asked. "Wait, are all of them on this continent? How are they all within a months distance." Malik grinned and pointed at Owen. "I don't think you realize just how fast you can move, but yes, I think all but one of them is on this continent" Owen was about to let his mind wander again, but Malik interrupted him by showing both he and Myra a map. It looked like a map of the earth, but it was so different at the same time. It looked much more similar to the images of Pangaea that had been made.

"Wait, so everywhere on earth is connected now?" Owen couldn't help but ask and Malik nodded. "Yeah, I was amazed the first time I found out as well, but I think it was to make guild wars easier." Owen scanned the map again. "So, one of the sins domains is on an island or something?" he asked and Malik nodded again. "Though I am hoping that by the time we are ready to destroy that one, I will have already taught you guys how to fly."

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Both Owen and Myra gaped at the proclamation. "You can teach us how to fly?" Malik just nodded and in the same moment floated several feet into the air, before dropping down again. "It takes a a lot of control, but as long as you have a hundred mana, it should be easy with some practice." The next several hours of walking turned into Malik explaining the mechanics of flying using mana. Apparently there were several methods of flying and the most complicated method was using a wind affinity.

Owen was barely able to hold in his excitement as he began practicing the mana movements early. Almost twelve hours after he had destroyed the domain, he had begun feeling closer to his normal self and was startled when a system notification appeared.

*You have successfully accomplished something unexpected.

Rewards have finished calculating

You have gained 5 levels for destroying the karma connecting a domain to its demigod

You have twenty unallocated stat point(s)

Your secondary class has gained a level*

"Malik, what is karma?" Owen asked as he looked through his notifications in amazement. Malik just shrugged. "That stuff only matters when it comes to gods or demigods, so I don't know much." Owen nodded, before hesitating for a moment and then shared his notifications with Myra and Malik.

"Well fuck me," Myra cursed. "What level does that put you at now? I had thought we were close, but you just keep pulling further ahead now." Owen winced, but responded anyways. "I'm at level 65 now, decent progress if I'd say so myself." He couldn't help but tease her a little bit and she gave him a light punch on the arm in response. Malik stayed silent for their back and forth. Once they had finished, he spoke. "That speed is amazing, especially if you gain five levels each time." That made Owen want to ask something he had been wondering for a long time.

"How did you get to your level so quickly?" Owen asked and Myra seemed to share his curiosity as they both stared at Malik. "Its simple really, when you know where the best gates were or are, you can farm the easiest ones and get levels fast. You also get a special title if your first gate is a certain tier." Malik said. "I waited until tier four and five gates were spawning and cleared a tier five as my first gate at level one. That got me a title that increases the experience I gain from enemies higher leveled than me. Then it was just grinding the highest leveled gates until now, it helps that my inheritance also boosts experience the less breaks I take."

The first thought that crossed Owen's mind was how unfair it was. Before he could say anything about it, Malik continued. "Which reminds me, be very careful in the future when we destroy the other domains. We will be up against other regressors and while I am the strongest, there is a good chance they will try to overwhelm us. Especially after we have destroyed a couple domains."

Several hours passed as they continued talking and moving towards the base at a faster speed. When they arrived, they parted from Malik to give him a chance to find the other domains. Owen and Myra searched for Peggy and let her know their plans for the next couple days. A wave of relief passed across Peggy's face and she sighed. "You know, it is almost perfect timing, as I was just getting fed up with all of them. They keep expecting me to have answers that are impossible to know."

"Tell me about it, even though I like Mark well enough, Audrey is still a pain." Owen said. The three of them continued talking and relaxing for the rest of the day. They could leave the last of the work for the next couple days, before cutting almost all of their ties. Owen was slightly worried about how Peggy and Myra 's parents would do, but neither of them seemed to have much concern on the matter. They would only be gone for a little over a month, but then each of them could focus on their progression.

They spent the next several days getting everyone ready for their departure and the guild ownership was officially transferred over to Kenneth. They had gotten several promises and guarantees that Moxius's people would be left alone, but still would be expected to help the guild. Once they had finished with everything, they shared dinner with Myra and Peggy's parents. It was a peaceful experience and a part of Owen longed for it to last forever, but a part of him still ached to finish clearing out the sin's domains. He could take things one step at a time after he was done with his goal.

The next day, Malik had a map ready and they set off.

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Lucas fought his way back towards Rochester as the hordes of monsters only continued to get stronger. Something was off, but he couldn't explain it. Areas he had remembered being clear were filled with monsters of all kinds, ranging from the level twenties to several monsters above level 200.

It took him more than a day to reach the far outskirts of where most of the maps made in Rochester covered. Once he was close enough, he sent messages to Owen and the girls. Several hours passed as he waited for responses. When he finally got a response from Owen, he scowled.

"Hey, there were too many gates breaks that were happening all at once. Everyone moved out to the military base, but I and the girls are heading elsewhere to clear out some of the domains." Owen answered.

Several seconds later, a map was sent listing six different locations. One of them was circled and Owen extended the invitation to join. "Damn, if ever there was a main character quest." Lucas cursed as he reread their goal, but he let them know he wouldn't join. He had found the perfect training ground and he wasn't going to give it up to go help with something he probably couldn't help with. He needed strength above all else and he would be able to get it by trying to clear this area.

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Aesona looked and couldn't help but feel sad for the boy. The polymath inheritance wouldn't last long now. For as long as he continued his plot to destroy the karmic links between demigods and the system, he would be guaranteeing his death.

The chaos was already changing his body and even he would be able to notice it after the next set of karmic links was severed. She wished he had a better path laid out in front of him, but even if she played a role in changing his path it would lead to the same end.

Unless you were a god or demigod, there was a reason no one used chaos as flippantly as this boy did. It would slowly corrupt his mana and being until there was nothing left that connected him to the world. It was unfortunate, but that was the choice he had made. Even now he was firming his resolve to complete his goal.

As she formed another set of stars, she reached out into the universe and pulled slightly. A fraction of a percent of the boy's mana was taken and she added her own purified mana to it, growing out his mana until it was enough to form another star. Even as the eons would pass, she would make sure he wasn't completely forgotten. He was the last polymath other than herself and that by itself was worth remembering.

She felt a tiny backlash from reaching into the mortal world as much as she had in the past year, but she would be completely healed of it in a couple months. She looked down one more time, before sighing. She would root for him, but all paths she could see led towards his death, she just hoped he would have enough strength to at least finish his goal.