Chapter 14, Exceeding Expectations
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After creating the Titans, Lokreum traveled back to the Abyss.
He moved Tier's world into the Apocryphal Domain, letting it reside within a galaxy not too far from Old Earth, which was already relatively close to the Primordial Heart.
Along with Tier's World, he moved the Eldrid's Planet, Asterisk, into the Apocryphal domain.
Though along with this transportation, came adjustments to the world.
He created a large river of Law essence and kreus that snaked around the inhabitable region of the Apocryphal Domain.
A river of essence that was constructed with Apocryphal essence, Space-Time essence, and, Boundary essence.
The river would act as a portal to the world of Asterisk that only Apocryphal beings could enter, but also a boundary that the Eldrids would have to overcome to leave their realm.
As for their realm itself?
Their 'planet' was no longer a planet. It was now it's own dimension that held an infinite earthy expanse.
Now, their world could effectively contain all the Eldrids no matter the amount.
Lokreum was outside of the Apocryphal Domain, floating near the [Gateway to Apocalypse] as he called it.
"Let's visit my first creations." He murmured, entering the river and warping through space.
He appeared within the skies of the vast expanse, a mountainy region far below his feet.
Before he could even fully take in the sight of the world he created not too long ago, he felt an incredible aura emanating off the caves within the highest mountain.
Droves of essence were pouring out of the opening, as with his vision, Lokreum could almost see the liquefied essence flowing out.
His eyes widened, as he sensed the creature these powerful essences came from.
"Seiya~..." He sang under his breath, flying into the mouth of the cave.
He touched down on the ground and looked forward, his gaze landing on the entity sitting in a meditative pose.
"Seiya…" He voiced.
Though he received no response.
Ignoring the absence of a response, Lokreum glanced around the cave, observing the desolate area.
'A good place to seclude yourself while trying to further your power…' He thought, refocusing on Seiya, and stepping towards him.
"Hiding inside of your own mindscape where you can perceive time differently. So that… you can go beyond simply comprehending laws?..." Lokreum muttered.
"You want to go farther then just comprehending laws and imprinting them within your origin… You want to assimilate them and form an intricate bond with these laws, that goes far beyond their Runic Ecritures!" Lokreum was dumbfounded.
Considering he was the being who created Runic Ecritures, the manifestation of Laws, the source of power he dubbed the strongest…
He didn't think someone would be able to go beyond!
Yet here Seiya was, nearly there!
"To sit here for over 17 centuries… your thirst for strength is commendable."
A nearly psychotic smile formed on Lokreum's face as he placed his hand on Seiya's skull.
"I shall help you in your quest for power!"
Reality around the two beings cracked as Lokreum successfully infiltrated Seiya's mindscape.
The space that truly powerful beings would be capable of forming after comprehending the Taboo Law of the Mind.
Seiya's mindscape was an endless white domain, with nothing in it besides himself.
Well, previously there was nothing inside it besides himself…
Now, Lokreum had hidden himself behind the veils of many powerful Natural Laws.
"Damn it all!" Seiya yelled in frustration, his aged voice seeping with anger.
Hearing the way Seiya spoke, Lokreum took note of his new appearance.
He looked millions of times older than his previous teen self.
In fact, he was incredibly different.
He had become a true god, in both power and appearance.
He looked entirely human, with a bald head and a thick white beard.
He was quite buff, with large muscles, and a gut that still somehow had abs.
He wore the cloths one would often see the gods of Greece wear.
And it only added to the aura of power he emanated.
It all made him look like a respectable, yet intimidating old god.
There was even a golden scythe laid next to him on the ground.
'What is wrong with the way you're going about this…' Lokreum questioned, peering into the intricacies of all Seiya was doing.
Within his mindscape, all of Seiya's thoughts were portrayed in reality.
Within the space before Seiya, who was floating in the lotus position, was a construct.
It was a ball of condensed Essence, a ball of Apocryphal Essence to be exact.
Opposite to this ball was another orb, an orb of pure fluctuating black and red light.
It was the manifestation of his soul.
"To fully assimilate a law…" Seiya muttered, bringing the two orbs together.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
"The assistance of both Natural Laws and Taboo Laws is necessary." His hands floated around the orbs, strings of essence releasing from his finger.
"The Natural Laws of Order, Control, Balance, The Mind, and The Soul." The essences of these Laws left his finger tips as their Runic Ecritures appeared, floating around the two orbs.
"Essence of Ruin…" He murmured.
A powerful Taboo law essence invaded the Runic Ecritures around him, dismantling them completely.
"Fusion Essence." He said, the broken Runic Symbols flying arounds the two orbs of light.
"And, The Taboo Laws of Fusion, Connection, Binding, and Assimilation!" With those words, more essence left his hands, and more Runic Ecritures floated around his body.
Seiya watched as the essences formed a gaseous mist that seemed to pull the two orbs together.
"Ruined Essence…" He dismantled the Runic Ecritures of Fusion, Connection, Binding and Assimilation, damaging his mind and deleting his comprehension in all of these Laws.
Lokreum confusedly glanced into Seiya's past, and saw that if he did not have the Taboo Law of Replication in his arsenal, he would not freely destroy such important Runic Ecritures.
"Now…" Seiya inhaled, watching as the orbs became closer and closer as the Runic Symbols orbited them.
"To do something I have yet to try!" A newfound light shone within his eyes.
It was as if he was finally sure of his success.
Lokreum's eyes widened, feeling the essence of a Supreme Law manifesting around Seiya.
"I name this technique, [Assisted Assimilation]!" Titular Essence gushed out from the veils of reality, increasing the effectiveness of Seiya's process alongside it's chance of success.
Thanks to this, a skill formed within his System, showing his victory.
{Congratulations, you have defied fate and walked down a path thought impossible! Thanks to your achievements, despite already having a System to assist you, The [Primordial Sage] has deemed you worthy of its praise.}
{Your system has been upgraded to, [The Defient System]!}
{You have successfully assimilated a Taboo Law! You've ranked up.}
A vast amount of blue screens appeared in front of Seiya before they changed their color to black, though he did not pay much mind to it.
Instead, he was focused on his origin.
Within his origin were 8 universes he had forged with the vast reserves of essence he held, and at this moment, one universe was undergoing a change.
The entire construct was filled to the brim with purple Apocryphal essence.
The essence imbedded itself into every single star and planet within the universe, and interlocked these stars together, forming an unbelievable network of Apocryphal essence within his origin.
{You have been granted the Absolute skill, [Apocryphal Authority].}
The black panel appeared before his eyes before fading away.
Yet Seiya ignored it.
He could feel the changes within his existence on a different level, and he instinctively could tell the differences.
Before, when the Law of Apocalypse was fully comprehended, Seiya received many powerful benefits.
He could utilize Apocryphal essence which was an incredibly destructive energy that could birth chaos within an existence until it faced complete destruction.
When creating, participating or even experiencing an apocalypse, his power would be amplified by many times.
Yet now, after assimilation, of course these abilities still worked, but there was a major change.
"I can create apocalypse!" Seiya chuckled, glancing down at his hands that vibrated with essence.
Though the meaning behind his words were not perfectly clear...
He could create apocalypse! And by this, he meant, he could interfere with reality, and guarantee the end of an existence.
If he wanted to do so, he could freely defy the Natural law of fate without even using Apocryphal essence.
He could simply wish for apocalypse on a being, and unless his target too had an assimilated Law of similar strength, they would have no chance at salvation!
And considering he had just created the method for Law Assimilation.
"I'm unmatched!" Seiya chuckled to himself, fiddling around with the upgraded essence of apocalypse for a few moments.
"What an achievement." A multilayered, fear-instilling voice sounded within the mind of Seiya, his mindscape receding in an instant as he returned to reality.
His eyes were wide open as he stared at the space before him.
An ever altering figure stood before him, forcing his mind into a strange state of fear, reverence, and nostalgia.
"A-All-Father…" Seiya murmured, quickly moving to his feet and stepping towards Lokreum.
He arrived near him, and bent a knee, bowing to the entity before him.
Over the aeons he resided within Asterisk, Seiya had built up quite the name for himself.
He had become known as the one Old God, The God of Disaster.
He had walked the lands for thousands of years, spreading some of his DNA, creating children that too would roam Asterisk.
If they reached a high enough power, they would unlock their bloodline and transform into what he had called, New Gods.
In fact, this was the main reason Lokreum was even in this realm.
He was here to evaluate the strength of the Eldrids, and to see how far they were from being capable of overstepping the boundaries of the River of Apocalypse.
Considering time moved different here, millions of years had passed since the implementation of the Gateway to Apocalypse.
"I am here to evaluate the strength of your kind. Specifically these 'New Gods' I've heard so much about." Lokreum said, Seiya lifting his head as he heard the words.
"As for you…" Lokreum started, gazing deep into Seiya's soul.
'Let's have the Primordial Sage quantify your power.~'
[Status] [Name: Seiya] [Race: Apocryphal God] Titles: [Devourer], [World Eater], [Old God]... Origin: 8 Universes Rank: Cosmic Ruler
[Lesser]: Wind (100%), Water (100%), Earth (100%), Fire (100%)…
[Greater]: Devouring (100%), Poison (100%), Healing (100%)….
[Supreme]: The Ruler (100%), Reward (100%), Enjoyment (100%), Titles (100%)…
[Taboo]: Apocalypse (100%), Limitbreaker (100%), Willpower (100%), Absorption (100%), Fortune (100%), Passion (100%)….
[Natural]: Life (100%), Limits (100%), Fate (100%), Control (100%), Finality (100%), Space-Time (100%)
- Apocalypse
[False]: Essence of the Limitbreaker, Willpower, Essence of Absorption
[Natural]: Life Essence, Essence Limits, Fate Essence, Essence of Control
[Natural]: Life (100%), Limits (100%), Fate (100%), Control (100%), Finality (3.1%), Bloodline (6.9%), Space-Time (9.9%)
- Apocalypse
- Power Evaluation: A being within the Cosmic Ruler realm. With the assimilation of the Law of Apocalypse he can easily erase a universe of two. He holds the power of hundreds of laws and had used this to further his origin. He has 8 universes, which correspond with the possible assimilation of 8 Laws.
"Your power should be unmatched within this Realm of Power as of now, but Midas will soon come to learn of your achievement." Lokreum said, commending Seiya.
The Realms of Power as of now, went as so.
Mortal, Monarch, World Destroyer, Star Forger, Solar Soul, Galactic Origin, Universal King, Cosmic Ruler, and then much higher above lay the Omnipotent Emperor.
For the average being, even if they spent ages comprehending law after law to accumulate their essence, it would take millions of years to reach the Galactic Origin realm.
Seiya was quite unique, it taking him only one hundred thousand years to reach where he was now.
"Y-Yes All-Father, I will show you the way." Seiya responded to Lokreum's words.
Lokreum held it's stoic demeanor, turning towards the entrance of the cave.
"You are the second World Eater." He said, making Seiya who was trailing behind, smirk, as he knew of the Title. "…And maybe one of your... 'Children', can become the Third."
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