A sole man enjoyed a wondrous, picturesque view. A view to kill for. Which he had done already, a lot. Everywhere he could see was an endless sea of multicolored clouds. The man slowly walked up the spiral stairway made of pure white and perfectly smooth metal that reflected the rays of the bright sun high above. He was taking in the surrounding beauty with a contented smile. Far in the distance, he could see mythic birds and legendary dragons flying peacefully or resting on the mounds of rainbow clouds.

How many of those guys have I slayed this time around? the man, known to many as the Devil of Terror, to others as the Great Savior, and only to a little few as Edward King, thought to himself as his gaze fell on the powerful flying beasts. I guess more than in the last seven times combined. I’m surprised that so many of them are still alive, though. Or were those intentionally preserved by the Gods so that the winner could enjoy the scenery? I’d rather have them on the ground, so I could’ve transformed their meaningless lives into EXP for me to finish the Ninth Ordeal faster. It doesn’t matter now that I’m already here, but still, what a waste.  

Ether Expansion Points, aka Expansion Points or just EXP, was what allowed a being to become stronger and advance in Tiers. It was really similar to Experience Points from Role-Playing games, and for a hardcore gamer like Ed, someone who viewed an Apocalypse that was destined to bring the humanity to extinction, as just a very tough game he should complete at all cost, EXP was the most important resource. For that reason, in his eyes majestic beasts that would make normal humans kneel in fear and awe, even worship, were nothing but walking—or in this case, flying—Expansion Points. Just a means to an end, just like everything and everyone else in the world. 

At that moment, Ed looked far from what one would imagine when thinking of the most powerful human in existence. Wearing a colorful Hawaiian shirt, jeans shorts, and simple slippers, he unhurriedly walked up the seemingly endless stairway. And yet, despite the visible ease of his pace, each slow step brought him hundreds of meters higher—that was nothing unusual for someone who had fought the strongest beings of the Ninth Ordeal World, and prevailed. Even the mind-blowingly high Ether Pressure of the Stairway to Heaven only moderately slowed him down. 

Despite advancing at a decent pace, his destination was still nowhere in sight. That wasn’t surprising, for the Divine Throne was positioned thirty-three miles above the ground level, at the stratopause—the boundary between the stratosphere and mesosphere. And yet, getting  there wasn’t even considered a trial, but a relaxing trip for anyone who could make it so far. 

A lighthearted smile was plastered on Ed’s handsome face as he enjoyed the last little hurdle before his goal. He seemed to be in his early thirties, but that impression couldn’t be further from true. Even his physical age was beyond a hundred, let alone his mental age that had been accumulated through having his mind travel back to the past again and again. His vivid hazel eyes hid experience and wisdom that had been impossible for anyone to have back on Earth. Too bad that all of this only made his personality even more extreme than it had been to begin with. . .

As Ed reached the stratosphere, the giant flying creatures became just distant specks to him. The view began to change until he could see the planet below the rainbow-colored clouds—it looked so familiar and, at the same time, so foreign. It was the Ninth Ordeal World, a planet named Neo Gaia, though some called it Another Earth, or Future Earth. It wasn’t known for sure if that place was actually the cradle of humanity changed with the passage of time, or if it was just a very similar planet, but the fact was that it looked almost the same as the Earth Edward and other humans had come from. Or rather, had been kidnapped. As for the perpetrators. . . Ed was about to meet them soon enough. Again. 

While breathing in the freezing air with barely any oxygen, Ed was moving through an extreme environment with seemingly no effort. It also didn’t matter that he was lightly dressed and that this world was vastly different from the Earth where humans had originated from. In fact, just the Ether Pressure of the Ninth Ordeal World alone could instantly destroy even the toughest Earth materials like diamonds, let alone living beings. Of course, it meant that the clothes Ed was wearing weren’t as simple as they looked, but they weren’t anything special for that place, either. Unlike his Relics and Artifacts used for battle, those were just cosmetic items he had chosen in the slim hope to get on the nerves of certain divine beings. 

Before he knew it, Ed reached the end of the seemingly endless spiral stairway. For someone like him, the passage of time could be barely noticeable sometime. At the peak of the pure white stairway, with the beautiful blue planet below and boundless sky filled with stars above, a majestic throne waited for him. It was a chair like none other, made of countless gems of each possible color, radiating an exquisite light that filled one’s heart with veneration, emitting a breathtaking amount of Ether. It was a peerless masterpiece that couldn’t be described with words alone, each of its parts from the top to the bottom betraying no flaws. That chair was the goal of every human that had been thrown into the Nine Ordeals—the Divine Throne. And at that moment, Edward King reached it for the third time. 

Ed stood at the last step of the stairway and looked at the throne in front of him with his hazel eyes. His casual clothing, light stubble and disheveled auburn hair made a very sharp contrast with the regal image of someone worthy to sit on the royal chair before him. And yet, no one could stop him from sitting on it, for he had earned this right with sweat and blood. More often than not, the blood hadn’t been his, though. . .

It has been a while since I felt so excited and anxious at the same time, Ed thought as he listened to the hurried pounding of his heart, which he could perfectly hear thanks to the almost complete silence of the near-space. I shouldn’t fail this time. I meet all the conditions they told me the last two times. I sacrificed so much to reach this point, and if I fail now. . . The next time, I won’t be able to just close my eyes to all the death I bring to unrelated people. This time I still have the room for failure, as everything would just start anew anyway if I fail, and I’ll just revive everyone if I succeed. And this is exactly why I won’t forgive those guys if they change the rules and feed me more bullshit again. . . 

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

The stakes couldn’t be any higher—the fate of the entire human race was resting on his shoulders. Using his centuries of experience, Ed calmed himself down and focused on the task at hand. It couldn’t be any simpler—he just needed to take his rightful place at the Divine Throne. The real challenge would be next. The worst challenge of any possible, for he had no way to change its results and could only to hope for the best. 

“Here I go,” Ed whispered as he gave the blue planet —Neo Gaia—the last passing glance. And then, he sat down on the most extravagant of chairs at the top of the world, while making sure to do it in the most carefree and undignified way he could think of. Ed just jumped at the throne, his buttocks forward, like someone would jump on their couch after a long, tiring day. Before he could enjoy the surprisingly soft seat of the Divine Throne, bright light enveloped Ed and forced him to close his eyes momentarily.

When Ed opened his eyes, the scenery before him changed completely. He was floating in the middle of a pure white void. Surrounding him in a broad circle were nine Divine Thrones, each hosting a divine existence. While the thrones looked very similar to the one that had brought him here, that was only at a first glance. In reality, it was like comparing an original piece of art made by a genius master and a cheap fabrication bought from a suspicious vendor at the market. Obviously, the chairs before him were the originals—they were bigger, more detailed and gave an indescribable aura of holiness just like those that were occupying them.

“Hey, what’s up, guys?” Ed said cheerfully as he looked around, giving a passing glance to each of the transcendent beings. With a toothy grin, he waved his hand to one of them—an androgynous person of supreme beauty with pale skin, a waterfall of black-and-white luscious hair, and eyes with two whirlpools for irises. Even more distinctive was their attire—from their neck and to their toes, that person was covered in watches and clocks of all types and sizes, from electronic wristwatches and to flat father clocks, the only variation that lacked was the hourglass. 

“You’re as lively, as ever, Edward,” the clock-covered being said, their enchanting voice echoing through the void. 

“I see you changed your style, Chronos,” Ed replied nonchalantly. “The last time, you wore a giant hourglass instead of clothes. Honestly, I like your new attire better, even though it’s still all over the place.” 

“Oh my, thank you, my dear Apostle.” Chronos gave Ed a seductive smile.

“Stop it, don’t flirt with me, that’s gross, dude.” Ed made an exaggerated step backwards. “I’m not into men, okay? Not even as hot as you’re, no homo.”

“I’m not a man, I’m a God,” Chronos argued, a smile still plastered on their face. “As the God of Time, I don’t have biological sex or even gender. I can be male, I can be female, I can be neither.” 

Ed faked a sigh of relief. “Oh, okay. As long as you don’t have a penis, you can flirt with me whenever you like.”

“I have a penis right now, though.” Chronos winked at Ed.

“Why would a God even need one?!” Ed exclaimed.

“I never said that it’s mine,” Chronos added.

Their little comedic routine was interrupted when someone cleared their throat and said, “Let’s go to the business, shall we? I’m not interested in listening to your antics, Chronos.” Unlike the God of Time, the deep voice’s owner looked distinctly non-human. He was a skeleton with unblemished white bones and two crimson light orbs for the eyes. Adding his pitch-black mantle and bloodstained scythe, it was extremely easy to guess what type of God this being was.  

“You’re not fun, Thanatos.” Chronos pouted. “Would it kill you if you stop being such a prick?”

The God of Death, Thanatos, snorted. “There’s nothing that can kill me. I’m the one who does the killing.” 

Ed gave the Nonary Gods around him another passing glance before saying, “It seems that, this time around, only the bad guys decided to take their human form. Well, other than my pal Chronos.” 

Indeed, out of the Nine Gods, only four were what you could call humanoid. The rest existed in their more conceptual forms. 

“Don’t compare us to humans, mortal,” a booming voice complained. “Some of us just decided to grant you the honor of seeing our Greater Avatars because your performance slightly impressed us.” 

Ed gave a glance to the speaker—the muscular giant of a man who was towering over others at ten-foot in height despite still sitting on his throne. Crimson armor was covering every inch of his body, including his face. The God of Destruction, Katastroph. 

“Don’t be so hard on the boy, Roph,” said another God, “he really showed us something interesting this time, didn’t he?”

“Don’t call me that, Chaos,” Katastroph grunted.

The God of Chaos was peculiar for more than one reason. For one thing, his Divine Name was identical to the name of his authority—Chaos. While his current form was roughly humanoid in stature, he was even more bizarre than the Gods that decided to keep their conceptual forms. His body was a monstrous fusion of different creatures—even his head had parts of fishes, birds, and animals, each of his eyes was different in size, one that of a cat and another that of a reptile. His voice changed in frequency and volume, making it very uncomfortable to listen to. 

“What else did you expect, my dear Apostle?” Chronos shook his head with a wry smile. “With how much blood you shed and how much chaos you brought to the Ordeal Worlds, it’s only natural that only those three will be delighted. As for our dear girls. . . They aren’t so pleased.” 

The three Goddesses—those representing Life, Creation, and Law, said nothing as they hadn’t even bothered to take a form suitable for communication. The first looked like an exquisite tree with all sorts of exotic fruits, the second like a miniature Earth with a Moon orbiting around it, and the last a complex mixture of rainbow-colored geometrical figures. At the end of his sixth run—the last time Ed had made it so far—all three of them had showed up in their eye-pleasing human forms, each being a woman attractive in her own unusual and unearthly way. 

As for the last two Gods—the God of Space and the God of Void—Ed  hadn’t seen their Greater Avatars even once. Just like the last two time he’d made it to the Divine Throne, the former was just a sort of portal to a space with a spinning galaxy on the other side, while the latter was just a miniature black hole with a white dot at the center. 

“I hoped to see all Nonary Gods attending our final meeting, but it seems I’m less important than I thought.” Ed shrugged as he looked at Chronos. As his Patron God, they were here to meet him each time Ed had made it to the Divine Throne. “This is going to be the last time I’m here, right? I finally completed all your conditions. Don’t even think about telling me that I failed again for some nonsensical reason.”

“Don’t worry, this time you won,” Chronos chuckled. “Congratulations on becoming the Human Sovereign, Edward King. As expected of someone I’ve personally chosen as my Apostle. Now you only need to ask for a Wish!"

Thank God there’s no more bullshit they try to throw at me, Ed secretly sighed in relief. He thought that he was just one step away from his Perfect Ending.

Little did he know that he had just been completely trolled by his Patron God. . .