Pain.
All-consuming, bone-shattering, mind-splintering pain. It tore through me from every angle, as if my very existence was being rewritten, reshaped, and crushed at the same time. I screamed, though the sound felt foreign in my own mouth. My body convulsed violently, muscles spasming, veins burning, and somewhere deep inside… something else was intruding.
I fought.
I am Tom Riddle. I am the Tom Riddle. I have always been precise, calculated, the master of control. Yet, my own body betrayed me, shaking violently as a foreign presence—an alien consciousness—sought to intertwine with mine.
And then, amidst the chaos, my mind snapped into clarity.
I reached inward, not physically, but with every shard of my being, and I found it—another soul. A human soul. A mind that called itself… Jackson. Curious. Intelligent. Fragile, yet sharp. But I am Tom Riddle, and I am dominant.
I pushed. I took. I became.
Pain gave way to awareness.
I opened my eyes, though the world was still a blur of white-hot agony, and immediately, instinctively, I began to sift through Jackson's memories. Flashes of Earth, of strange devices and incomprehensible machinery, of "anime worlds" filled with impossible powers, and futures where unimaginable events unfolded.
Interesting.
Jackson was clever. Smarter than most mortals. But he was nothing compared to me. Not yet. I allowed his knowledge to flow into me, like a tributary feeding a river. My mind expanded, calculations running at speeds far beyond normal. I saw connections, probabilities, secrets hidden in plain sight. My magic, my inherent power, had grown. Not merely increased—multiplied.
I flexed my fingers experimentally. Sparks of energy danced along my fingertips, tingling with delicious potential. The heat of magic surged through me, pure, raw, and unrestrained. Even my old limits—the carefully measured, meticulous control I had always maintained—were now laughably small.
And then it appeared.
A system.
System Detected: Soul Fusion Complete.Dominant Soul: Tom Riddle.Secondary Soul: Jackson.New Attributes Acquired: Intelligence +∞, Magic Amplification +∞, World Knowledge: Partial (Multiversal Insights).Initial Quest Available: Explore Self, Integrate Powers.
I smirked, though the pain still lingered as a dull thrum beneath my heightened senses. So, this is what the Omnipotent wants. Entertainment. Challenges. A game to amuse a god. How… pedestrian.
I began running mental calculations. Jackson's memories, combined with my own, contained knowledge of technologies, magics, and worlds I had never encountered. I could manipulate probabilities, anticipate outcomes, and, most deliciously, see the ways to manipulate people far more effectively than ever before. My intellect had become a weapon. My magic, a blade.
And yet, there was one thing I noticed immediately. Jackson's personality, while intelligent, was cautious, hesitant, bound by morality and "human limits." Pathetic. I allowed just enough of him to remain conscious to provide insights when useful—but he would never control me. I am Tom Riddle. I am the master now.
The world outside this pain, this fusion, waited. And I? I was ready.
A new sensation pulsed through me—a small thrill, subtle, almost imperceptible. The system's interface glimmered in my mind, each notification a whisper of potential. This was no ordinary power. This was evolution, transcending my already exceptional abilities. I had been gifted—or perhaps cursed—with infinite possibilities.
And I would make them mine.
The screaming faded. My body no longer shook violently. I rose—or rather, I felt the power to rise, to bend reality itself, and yet chose to remain in the stillness for a moment longer. Anticipation hung like a tangible weight in the air, and I tasted it like fine wine.
Let the game begin.
And in that instant, I knew: the boy called Tom Riddle was gone. In his place stood something far more terrifying: a being of unparalleled intellect, limitless magical potential, and a mind capable of mastering not just one world, but all worlds.
And I would bend every one of them to my will.