Primordial Era
"Haa !" Gohan transformed again.
The dark-gold aura around him flared from a ring into a jet. Black lightning crawled across his body like living ink.
Super Saiyan Two. His eyes fell back to pitch black, while his hair and aura stayed that shadowed gold. The whole of him looked cold, imperious tinged with something uncanny.
Savage fury surged out of his tail and clawed at his mind. Strangely, he could leash it with ease; his reason stayed untouched. His gaze turned preternaturally calm like Son Goku's when he moves in Ultra Instinct utterly unflustered.
"This doesn't differ much from the last form," the Time King observed. "Only your strength climbed again."
"Exactly. Full-power Super Saiyan Two used to boost me about one-hundred-and-fiftyfold. Mutated like this, it's a clean three hundred," Gohan said, unable to hide his excitement.
"Makes sense. That mutation is the Eldritch Qi's gift. Your Saiyan transformations are mostly tail-gene driven. Next."
"Right."
Gohan let the form fall and returned to base then drew in a breath and rose into his Mystic state. The aura that erupted wasn't silver-white anymore, but gray. His eyebrows vanished, brow ridge lifting like a Super Saiyan Three's. His hair spiked high, washed in ashen light; his eyes went the color of dead ash.
The raw increase wasn't as obscene as the Saiyan forms his base was already enormous but it still jumped. Where Mystic had been a five-hundred-fold amplifier, it now crept up by another hundred-and-fifty, settling near a staggering six-hundred-and-fiftyfold.
Emotionally this form was a still pond eyes that looked upon life with indifference. It wasn't the icy calm of his Saiyan states; it was deathly calm.
"Death?" The Time King tilted his head. "Curious. Under the Primordial Qi's influence I'd have expected the Law of Life. The first law I grasped was life, thanks to the Primordial current."
"Maybe the Eldritch Qi provoked it," Gohan said at once. "Life and death come as a pair. No life, no death; no death, no rebirth."
The Time King barked a laugh. "Ha! Cleverer than me in the moment, are you? That tracks. The Primordial Qi must have sensed your Annihilation strand and counter-balanced it with a portion of the Law of Death. In terms of killing bite, Death outstrips Life."
"Next, next !"
"Uh… that's it." Gohan spread his hands.
"That's it? What about the Saiyan God of legend?" The Time King had skimmed Gohan's future and seen the tales.
"I'm eight. Getting this far is already ridiculous. Becoming a Saiyan God isn't exactly a weekend project."
"Ahem. Fair."
"Your Majesty… the riot inside me won't happen again, will it?" Gohan asked, meaning the earlier clash of strange qi.
"Probably not. Those two strands have chosen you as their host. If they stir again, it'll be when you're pushing past this universe." Even as he said it, there was a hint of uncertainty.
"That's a relief." Gohan finally let out a long breath; the knot in his chest loosened.
"And as for what Kasins said about Angels serving as Grand Priest? You won't step in?" Gohan circled back.
"In that future, I'm absent. The Omni-King is a being born from a sliver of my will and capacity, but he's also his own life. If the Angels grow… ambitions, that isn't mine to micromanage." The Time King smiled sideways. "Besides you're there. Heh."
"That's dirty. What's it got to do with me? I'm just a mortal," Gohan grumbled.
"As of now, you're no simple mortal. Keep climbing and gods will start watching. Heh."
"Unbelievable you're a shameless schemer."
"'Schemer'? Meaning?"
"Forget it."
"Don't sulk. To me this cosmos is children roughhousing. With Primordial and Eldritch both inside you, your ceiling won't trail mine by much. Broaden your view: let that future be your tempering. When you break this universe, we'll meet again."
"Uh… if I break through there, will you still know me here?"
"Of course. At the Only-One Realm, it doesn't matter how many timelines there are there's only one you. My era hasn't spawned those messy parallels because I hold time itself down."
"The Only-One Realm? Your Majesty, could you map the godly tiers for me?" Gohan asked, genuinely curious.
"You don't know them?"
"Nope. No one tells me anything. We still measure strength by 'battle power'."
"Fine listen." The Time King laced his fingers. "Folding in your future's terms, gods split into two bands: lower gods and upper gods.
"Lower gods are your Earth's Kami, King Yemma, the Kaiō and Grand Kaiō, and the attendants who serve the Supreme Kai Kibito, Zamasu and the like. Titles grant abilities, but their strength varies wildly. Some can smack an upper god around; some can't even beat monstrous mortals Majin Buu, Dabura, Moro, artificial lifeforms, and so on.
"Upper gods are the Supreme Kai, the Gods of Destruction, the Angels, and that small clutch that includes the Omni-King.
"First threshold is the True God Realm your life level rises to divinity and shrugs off lifespan and samsara. That's why most Supreme Kai are weak in battle: their job is creation, not combat. Many stop at True God and get bullied by certain mortals.
"Above that is the Great God Realm, a proper combat tier. Here you get godly techniques Autonomous Ultra Instinct, its counterpart forms and rule-work like Hakai. It breaks down into early, mid, late, and consummate stages. Beerus sits late; Champa's a shade behind, mid.
"Higher still is the Officiant Realm most Angels. They crush Great Gods, ignore Hakai, weave Ultra Instinct into their base, and command threads of time reversal, stasis, acceleration. Again: early, mid, late, consummate. Trainees like Merus are around early; working Angels like Whis and Vados sit mid to late Whis is late. The Grand Priest stands at consummate.
"Above even that is the Only-One Realm my tier. You become the single instance of yourself across time, beyond the fetter of spacetime, unable to split into parallels.
"As for the Omni-King he's an outlier. No tier. With erasure he can overwhelm all gods. New life he may be, but born of my will, and so he can't tread the Only-One path. Hence an Omni-King in every parallel."
"So a glorified tool, basically. No wonder the Angels might grow ideas," Gohan said dryly.
"Mm. Even so, they can't kill the little Omni. At most they can steer him to their benefit."
"Could an Angel ever break into the Only-One Realm?" Gohan pressed.
"Possible, but unlikely unless they gain fortunes like your Primordial and Eldritch strands. The Primordial Qi of this cosmos sits with me; the Eldritch drifted into you. Their road, practically speaking, is closed."
"Perfect," Gohan said, grinning.
"Don't get cocky. Right now you're far too weak. If they notice you…" The Time King's smile turned mischievous.
"I get it. I'll keep my head down."
"By the way no Saiyans in this era. The Omni-King is new; the universe is rebuilding. It'll be a long while before a race like yours emerges. For now, gods sit above all."
"Figures. Then can you send me back?"
"Simple enough. But when you return, act as though none of this happened. Don't speak my name. Otherwise…"
"I'm not an idiot. I'd rather not get hunted by 'ambitious' gods," Gohan said, rolling his eyes.
"Incorrigible brat. Go on, then."
The Time King lifted his hand. A vast black aperture irised open in the room.
"This gate leads back to your timeline." For the Time King, opening a road through spacetime was child's play.
"Tell Kasins goodbye for me." Gohan stepped into the dark, and the aperture sealed behind him.
"Kasins. Come in."
Kasins stepped through the door.
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