The Netherworld.
Lin Feng wasn't just in the Higher Realms. He was in the enemy's headquarters. A lamb thrown into a universe of wolves, armed with a weapon designed by an even greater predator. The Static had played the long game, and its infected seed was now planted in the most fertile soil imaginable for its growth. He would not just be a World-Breaker; he would return as an Abyss-forged apocalypse.
This was no longer a personal rivalry. It was a countdown to extinction.
The decadent scene in my throne room, the feeling of absolute dominion, suddenly felt petty. Trivial. I had been playing for the throne of a single, isolated kingdom at the bottom of the sea, while the real game was for the fate of reality itself.
"Unit 734," I said, my voice cutting through the silence. Lyra and Seraphina both flinched, their strange domestic ritual forgotten. "Project a real-time analysis of Lin Feng's probable growth trajectory in the Abyssal Plane."
[Acknowledged,] the Librarian replied. A holographic star chart bloomed in the center of the room. A single, angry red star—Lin Feng—was shown at the center of a swirling, dark nebula representing the Netherworld. [The subject's 'System', the infected 'Primeval Edict', is a weapon of consumption. The Abyssal Plane is a realm of pure, consumable demonic energy and countless warring souls. It is an all-you-can-eat buffet for the entity.]
The red star began to pulse, growing brighter and larger with each passing second on the accelerated timeline projection. [His growth will be exponential. He will be hunted, and he will devour his hunters. He will be enslaved, and he will consume his masters. Within ten years of this realm's time, it is my projection that he will have consumed enough power to challenge a minor Demon Lord. Within fifty, a Demon King. Within a century... he will likely have consumed the Netherworld itself and will possess the power to begin breaking the barriers between realities at will. His first target will be this world. His primary target will be you.]
A century. It sounded like a long time. In the grand scheme of cultivation, it was the blink of an eye. The world I had left behind would be the first casualty in a war it couldn't even comprehend.
"And The Architect?" I asked. "What is its response to this?"
[The Architect's agent, Seraphina Vane, is corrupted,] the Librarian stated, gesturing with a silver hand towards the woman who was now staring at the star chart with a look of manic glee. [Her primary directive is to 'harvest' the World-Breaker. She will likely be unable to differentiate between the original plan and this new, accelerated threat. The Architect will likely not intervene directly until the threat is mature, as direct conflict with The Static is a high-risk variable. It will observe. It will wait.]
"And the Sages?"
[The Sages will attempt to fortify this realm's defenses. They will preach, they will teach, they will build walls of faith and order. Their methods are passive. They are preparing for a siege they cannot possibly win.]
Everyone was playing defense. Waiting. Reacting.
"No," I said, standing up from my throne, the decision forming with absolute, chilling certainty. "Waiting is a death sentence. The board has changed. We will not wait for the apocalypse to come to us. We will take the apocalypse to them."
Lyra looked at me, her eyes wide with confusion. "What are you saying?"
"I am saying," I declared, my voice ringing with the authority of a true sovereign, "that our time in this sanctuary is over. The mortal realm is no longer a cage to be escaped. It is a resource to be plundered. A stepping stone to be used."
I turned to the Librarian. "Unit 734. The gateway to the Higher Realms is gone. But you are a piece of the Omnistructure. You understand its laws better than anyone. Is there another way?"
[There is,] the AI replied instantly. [Ascension is not just about reaching a destination. It is about achieving a specific energetic frequency. The gateway was a shortcut. The original, primordial method is far more direct. You must accumulate enough power to personally 'Sunder' the veil between realms. To literally punch a hole in reality and step through.]
"How much power?" I asked.
[The minimum required threshold is the peak of the Heavenly Realms,] the Librarian stated. [Specifically, you must reach the peak of the Heaven's Mandate Realm. At that level, your will is acknowledged by Heaven itself. You will have the authority to challenge its boundaries.]
The Heaven's Mandate Realm. It was four full realms above my current state. A journey that would take a normal genius thousands of years.
I did not have thousands of years. I had a century at most.
"Then we will accelerate the process," I said, a ruthless plan forming in my mind. "I will not sit here and wait for treasures to fall from the sky. I will go out and take them. I will devour every Fated Opportunity, every hidden sect, every sleeping beast on this continent. I will drain this entire mortal realm of its power and use it as my personal fuel to break through the heavens."
It was a declaration of total war. Not against a single faction, but against the entire world. I would become a locust, a plague, consuming everything to power my own ascension.
This was the true path of a sovereign.
I opened my new, custom Quest Board. The 'Path of the Sovereign'.
[NEW MAIN QUEST CREATED (BY HOST): 'THE GREAT DEVOURING']
[Objective: Consume all major sources of power within the Mortal Realm of Aethelgard.]
- Devour the Heart of the Crimsonwood Ancestor.
- Plunder the Sunken Tomb of the Sea Serpent.
- Absorb the Yin energy of the Moon-Lotus Cave.
- Ransack the treasuries of the Great Sects.
- Consume the Imperial Dragon Veins beneath the Ravencrest Empire.
[Goal: Achieve the power necessary to Sunder the veil and ascend on your own terms.]
It was a checklist for armageddon.
"Lyra," I commanded, my voice sharp. She looked up, her subservience absolute. "Your role as a librarian is over. You will be my vanguard. I will restore a fraction of your power. You will travel the continent ahead of me, using your knowledge as a regressor to identify every hidden treasure, every sleeping guardian, every secret sect. You will be my scout."
"Seraphina," I said, turning to the mad oracle. She giggled, her eyes swirling with chaos. "You will be my weapon of mass destruction. Your new, unpredictable power is the perfect tool to sow chaos amongst my enemies. When a faction needs to be shattered, when a city needs to fall, I will unleash you."
I had my court. I had my plan. I was a king, and it was time to conquer my new kingdom.
But as I stood on the precipice of my grand, world-consuming crusade, Unit 734 projected one final piece of data from its analysis of the Void-Eater's Hand. A detail so small, so fundamentally strange, it was a twist that had been lying dormant in my own soul since the forge.
[Administrator. A final note on the 'Void-Eater's Hand',] the AI's voice echoed in my mind. [My analysis of its conceptual matrix is complete. You successfully fused a demonic spirit and a divine core. However, the paradox of their opposing natures could not be truly resolved. To achieve stability, the artifact drew upon a third, unexpected source of conceptual energy.]
"What source?" I asked.
[It drew upon the latent 'Glitch' in your own Nexus Core,] the Librarian explained. [The artifact is not just a weapon of devouring and manifesting. It has inherited a fraction of the System's own, hidden, reality-altering potential.]
[Specifically, it has one, single, undocumented function. A 'Sovereign's Edict'. Once, and only once, you may touch a willing, living soul with the gauntlet and issue a single, unbreakable, conceptual command that will permanently rewrite their very existence.]
[Example: Command 'Become a Sword', and they will transform into a living weapon, bound to you forever. Command 'Forget', and you can erase their entire identity. Command 'Heal', and you can cure any ailment.]
[It is a single-use 'wish', with the power to rewrite a soul.]