CH 635-637: Shocking Truth

That night, Sol had gone to sleep for a much-needed rest. Just as he was about to drip off to dreamland, he was pulled into a dream, deep in his sea of consciousness.

Opening his eyes, he blinked a little as he found himself once again in front of hs Gate of Truth. Unlike in the past though, the Gate was wide open, showing an interior similar to a shrine with a large book on it.

Walking in, Sol gently caressed the book that looked more like an old grimoire and decorated with an apple on the Cover.

“Pretty beautiful, don’t you think?” A voice, eerily similar to his own, asked from his side. No surprise etched Sol’s face.

“I thought you were supposed to vanish,” Sol mentioned as he pivoted toward the man. His relationship with Adam was… complicated, to say the least.

“How cold, brother. After all I did for you, not even a ‘glad to see you’. I feel hurt, you know?” The man made a mock gesture as he placed his hand on his chest but Sol simply gazed at him expressionlessly.

“...”

In the end, Adam simply sighed out loud, “Well, know that while I would love to vanish from this space… I can’t. Or rather, I could, but I don’t want to affect you negatively.”

Sol furrowed his brow but soon realization dawned upon him. “I am assimilating your existence.”

“Bingo. I must say the Law you obtained is quite nasty. Either way, it’s slowly devouring my power and using me as a source of energy for your advancement.” He shrugged before adding, “I don’t really care about that, but it seems like if I let myself go you will also assimilate my memories.”

The frown etching Sol’s face only grew deeper. Scratching his head, he sighed out loud before offering, “Thank you.”

Obtaining Adam’s power and memories would mean getting the power and knowledge of someone who was once the supreme overlord of this entire universe. However, that came with its own set of existential baggage.

“My existence is still too small,” Sol said in a calm voice. Even if he added the years he lived in his other life, he would only have a few decade's worth of memories. How could he ever hope to compare to the billions of years that Adam had under his belt?

If he made a mistake, he would likely stop being himself and either become Adam in all but name or become a third entity resulting from the fusion between him and Adam.

Neither of those possibilities interested Sol.

Adam grinned. His white faceless figure slowly morphed until all that was left was a black-haired tall young man, seemingly in his twenties, wearing a pair of glasses covering bright golden eyes.

Looking at him, one would never think that they were facing some kind of universe creator.

In fact, from the modern clothes he was wearing, Sol had the impression he was facing a university student from Earth. This was quite unnerving to say the least.

“So, this is your true appearance?” Sol asked, curiosity filling his words. He could objectively say that the young man was very handsome but outside of that it was not the impressive figure he imagined.

“Prejudice is not a great thing you know? Did you imagine me as some old guy with a white beard?” Adam laughed and then stretched. “As for this?” He looked down at his hands and clenched his fists. “Well, you could say that it’s indeed my original appearance with a few modifications that I picked up along my journey.”

He sighed and approached the book, caressing it with a nostalgic expression.

“Anything I should know about this book?” Sol asked.

“The Book of Genesis was once my friend and closest ally. Sadly, its spirit died. A pity, I once promised to give her a new name but until the very end, I only called it Genesis.”

Sol felt silent, there was a feeling of incongruity that was continuously gnawing at his mind.

Nothing was making sense here. He had seen some of Adam's memories and from what he knew, Adam was born with this universe, and as such was its origin.

However, why then was Adam showing his current appearance? Why was he donning clothes from his old world if he was an entity of this one? And why the hell was he claiming this to be his original appearance?

“You must have many questions.” Adam eyed Sol as he spoke, causing him to roll his eyes in exasperation.

“I swear to everything I hold dear, If you say something like, it’s too soon, or I am not ready yet, or it isn’t time, I am going to riot.”

Sol hated cryptic bullshit. Yet, it kept happening to him in each step of his journey.

Adam exploded in laughter, which once again unnerved Sol. The Adam he remembered had an otherworldly feel to him, a clear presence that screamed his godly power.

The Adam he was facing almost felt… human.

Seriously? Sol thought. It cannot be, right?

If his suspicions proved to be correct, the ideas he had about this universe would need a lot of reshuffling.

“I can see your brain overworking from here.” Adam stopped laughing and shook his head.

“To start, I would like to urge you to not worry. Previously, I couldn’t share the secrets with you, not only because you were too weak to protect that information but also because those matters had no reason to be of any importance to you. Now, though, things are very much different. You are starting to step into very dangerous waters, so I owe you some explanations.”

Adam closed his eyes and sighed. “I am sure you have many questions, but answering them one by one would feel very disjointed and a waste of our time. So, let me steer the direction of this discussion, ok?”

“You are the boss. I am listening.” Sol nodded and two chairs appeared, between them. This discussion was going to take some time.

“So, where should we start?” Adam pondered, causing Sol to chuckle.

“How about, from the very beginning?” Sol snickered.

“I like your wordplay.”

The two shared a smile but soon Adam adopted a more serious expression, after all, he was about to share one of the greatest truths of this world.

“Let’s start with one simple truth. One you should be aware of by now.”

Sol waited patiently for Adam’s next words.

“This first piece of information is pretty clear. For you who have been reincarnated in this world you should be aware of it by now, right?”

Adam closed his eyes as if savoring the words he was about to utter.

“The universe we live in is part of a greater whole. One composed of a near infinite convergence of different realities.”

Sol was not shocked. This was indeed easy to guess. After all, he was not from this world and no matter how he searched, it was clear that Earth in itself was not part of this universe.

Yet, so many things from Earth influenced this world.

Adam opened the book and thousands upon thousands of shining planets manifested on its pages.

“Consider each of these planets as a verse. Once you have enough power, you will be able to breach the crystal wall and enter other verses. The coordinates are all here. Quite handy, right?”

Sol stiffened as Adam bragged about having coordinates of thousands of universes as though he was collecting marbles. He had never even heard about this crystal wall he mentioned but its functionalities were quite easy to deduce.

Adam was happy that Sol did not interrupt him and so he continued, “The Crystal Wall is the natural protection of a universe or a dimension. The stronger the World Will of a universe, the stronger its crystal wall. As for the World Will, it’s what you call Fate. An unfeeling, emotionless system with the sole mission of protecting the universe it oversees.”

It seemed like Adam was determined to shatter all the understanding Sol had of the world as he kept bringing more and more new terms and from the smile on his face, he took great pleasure in it.

“To be honest, I wouldn’t try leaving this universe. At least not until you reach Eve’s level. Otherwise, you will most likely die getting crushed by the void between worlds, get stranded, or get captured by some outer gods.”

“Eve…?” This time, Sol simply couldn’t help but ask. Which prompted Adam to nod.

“Eve. She was… I guess you could say that she was my wife. Though it seems like she went crazy and split her soul after I died. Nowadays, she goes by two names.”

“Don’t tell me.” Sol gasped.

“You must have guessed by now.” Adam smiled bitterly as he shared another shocking truth about this universe, “The ones known as Mother Goddess of Order and Mother Goddess of Chaos were once the same entity.”

***

Sol stayed silent, digesting the information he had just received. Chaos and Order, the two highest goddesses in this world and those who were publicly known as the creators.

For all their powers, the two goddesses were shrouded in deep mysteries. The ambiguity of their existence resulted in very few people directly worshiping them. Even the Wings of Freedom who waved the flag of Chaos and its subsidiaries prayed to Ymir. Meanwhile, people of the Mortal Realm prayed to one of the fourteen goddesses or a pair of the twin goddesses.

Sol had many questions regarding them, one of which was why they remained asleep for so long.

“I don't know why or how Eve went through the road of separation. The process is extremely dangerous. Due to the opposing concepts the two selves hold, they are more likely to fight each other than cooperate. But the situation is what it is.” Adam intoned, his voice carrying hints of indifference and apathy. It was hard to reconcile his current emotions with the information that Eve was supposed to be his beloved wife.

“Well, either way, I can’t tell you much more about her. What I can tell you is that, after my Death, Eve should have become the de facto Guardian of this universe. She has the highest authority and her words dictate fate. But this authority was split. Weakening the Crystal wall and allowing the possibility for intruders to enter through a specific means.”

“… Reincarnation?”

“Bingo. You are pretty smart, as expected of me.” Adam grinned. “There are various ways to enter a universe. But you see, universes don’t like intruders and make sure to suppress them as much as possible. A foreign god entering a universe might become only as strong as a demigod, and this suppression worsens the stronger the universe and its World Will. According to my estimate, if a foreign god tried to enter my universe they would only be able to project the power of a King realm. Even the gods of the Prime Universe can’t escape this suppression.”

Unbridled pride echoed off in Adam’s voice, he made no effort to hide it. Forced to live in a soul body for so long, it seemed he wanted to feel good by bragging about his accomplishments, even if a little.

“To avoid this suppression, the best way is Reincarnation. Going through the cycle of life and death in the new universe and getting imprinted by it. In a way, I guess you could say it’s not unlike getting a permanent Visa or a Naturalization. The currently ruling goddesses have been abusing this system, it seems. They took souls from the Prime Universe and brought them here, allowing them to reincarnate into my universe.”

The smug smile hanging on Adam’s face twitched as he mentioned the shenanigans of the goddesses. Those girls were reckless. They were lucky that no foreign gods had managed to slip through their recruitment and reincarnate in this universe. However, there was another dimension to it. Most gods were wise, thus, they did not dare intrude into his universe even after his supposed death.

It went without saying that they knew very well how much of a headache provoking Adam would yield.

He started to doubt the circumstances behind Sol’s reincarnation in this universe. Some of the gods might have guessed that Sol's previous life was related to Adam so when Luxuria searched for a soul they could have made sure to send Sol to get rid of a possible time bomb, so to speak.

Adam explained his speculation to Sol which only left him speechless.

“You are me. But the version of you as a human definitely would have never succeeded in controlling End. The only possible result was you going berserk and destroying the Prime Universe. Who knows, perhaps one of the gods even has a hand in your death.”

“This…” Sol did not know what to feel about this piece of information. Should he be happy? Sad? Angry? In the end, he chose to sigh. The speculations were, ultimately, just that— speculations. There was no need to worsen his mood by ruminating on this topic.

“Well. I believe I have more or less told you everything of importance. However, you are still far away from grasping such concepts. You now understand why sometimes wise people withhold information, right? Knowing all this doesn’t mean you can do anything about it— nothing changes.”

“So now, let me give you a piece of information that will affect you and your future path.” Adam waved his hand and one of those universes appeared closer. From this distance, it looked more like an egg than a planet.

“Let’s resume things where we left off. I have told you about the existence of innumerable universes. But how are those universes born? The thing is… All verses have a specific creator. You must know the legend of Pangu and how he separated Heaven and Earth, right? It’s something similar albeit.”

Adam caressed the egg with a gentle expression, “Some individuals are born with what I call a seed or an egg. The embryonic forms of a verse. Those individuals are beloved by destiny and hold infinite potential. Potential high enough to give birth to a new universe. I was such an individual. I called my Seed The World. Back then, I would have never guessed how accurate it was.”

He chuckled then pointed at Sol, “You also have a seed inside you. What you call the Mirror Dimension or the Inverse World. But your seed is quite different from mine. Because it was affected by the laws of this universe, it became like a dimension and thus mirrored many laws of my universe. Normally this would have been pretty bad. But you were lucky. After all, it copied My universe.”

Adam laughed. Normally, a seed should have had nothing. Only pure chaotic energy. Then once the creator started the beginning of time, new laws could be made to house the creator’s ideal world.

Back when he was a mortal, Adam’s seed, [The World, developed a path that incorporated the laws of the Prime Universe. To do that Adam had to fundamentally learn all the core laws that bound the Prime Universe— Gravity, Time, Space, Electromagnetism, Strong Nuclear Force, Weak Nuclear Force, and innumerable branches that shot off from the fundamental laws. Just remembering all the efforts he put into this made him want to barf.

He even went further and incorporated the laws of Dream and Reality, thus invoking the power of Legends.

This was the reason the main planet of the Mortal Realm was so similar to Earth in the Prime universe.

This was also why Names and Legends from Earth had so much influence in this universe, thus capable of making Kings, Demigods, and even Gods.

“You are different, and I must say, I am quite jealous.”

Was it because Sol and Adam shared the same soul origin? Or perhaps because of some unexpected influence? Adam could not say. But in the end, while Adam had to build everything from scratch, Sol was able to start with a full-on template and a world filled with completed laws.

“Of course, everything isn’t without consequence. Because you started in such a way, your control over your Universe is extremely minimal. Not to mention, your universe doesn’t have a spark of life or a World Will. A dead universe that is nothing more than a copy of a copy. At your current level, this might seem powerful and it truly is. But after you taste the true power of Fate, you will be able to realize the limits of your powers.”

Adam was not trying to insult Sol. He simply stated things as they were. Sol’s dimension was just that— a dimension, an ideal superimposed on reality rather than a reality in itself. If nothing changed, the highest level it could reach would be something similar to a Divine Territory. This was perhaps the lousiest result someone who had a seed could reach.

“But fear not. You have three different options to choose from.” Adam raised three fingers, “The first is to do nothing. Really, you don’t need to do anything. It isn’t like you seek to become the strongest. As long as you have no plan of ever leaving this universe what does the strength of your seed even matter? I am sure that you will be able to reach a level similar to Ymir and even surpass her. But that's about it. Don’t even dream of fighting Eve. Even if she split her soul and body, she is still this World's Guardian. The apex of this world’s existence.”

Sol frowned but continued to listen. If possible, he didn’t wish to fight Order or Chaos. But leaving his future to the whim of those two crazy goddesses felt unwise.

“What about options two and three?” Sol asked.

“Your second option is to completely separate your universe from mine and start everything from scratch. It will be painful and it will take time, perhaps billions of years really. You will fall into a deep slumber as you fuse with the Origin of the universe in order to bring a new Beginning and ignite Light and Life. This way has 100% chances of success and zero dangers.”

“But…?” Sol knew there was always a but in this kind of situation.

“But you will also become a foreigner to my universe. I think as a Creator you will be considered the highest level of enemy by my universe so even entering back will be nigh impossible. As for your women or should I say the women who manage to survive by the time you succeed in creating your verse, well, they will also become foreigners in the universe you create. The only way to not face continuous suppression will be for them to die and reincarnate in your universe.”

Adam chuckled, “But I know you. There is no way you would choose this option. You should know more than anyone what reincarnation truly means.”

Sol nodded. Reincarnation was not changing one’s body. One would never be the same after reincarnating, even if they managed to keep all of their memories. This applied to Sol, and the same would happen to his women. Sol would never choose this option unless he was left with no choice.

“So, this leaves us with option three. You already have the gist but you need to think bigger. Grow your dimension, strengthen it to the highest level possible, and finally— fuse it with my own universe. Wrestle control from Eve and the goddesses and stand as the new Almighty God King!”

Adam opened his arm wide in a dramatic fashion, shouting those words with emotion as if he could already see the epic battle on the horizon.

Sol sighed, nonplussed. He could see that Adam was having too much fun with his theatrics. “You already knew that I wouldn’t take the first two options. Why not start from here?”

“Hahaha. What can I say, I like drama after all. They didn’t call me The Magician for nothing. So, what will you choose?” Winking at Sol, Adam asked with bated breath, eyes twinkling with mischief.

“Is there any need to ask?” Sol stood up and sauntered away from the gate. “I guess I need to add Universal Conquest to my list of things to do.”

His voice was calm, but his decision was made. He had already planned to steal the Mortal Realm. So, things didn’t change all things considered.

The target only became bigger… Much, much bigger.

***

Adam watched Sol leave with a small smile, cracks branched along his skin, pouring out a dim glow.

“I don't have much time left.”

By all rights, he should have already vanished long ago. However, he was serious when he said he did not want any harm to befall Sol due to him.

With Sol’s strength and will, he could resist the overlapping effect to some extent. However, it was inevitable for him to be irreversibly changed.

Not time yet.

He clenched his fists and willed the cracks to stop spreading and branching out. Immediately, the cracks winked out of existence, leaving his skin and body pristine as though they had never existed in the first place.

I should be able to hold on for a few more years. At the rate he is growing, the time should be more than enough.

Of course, Adam had not been entirely selfless in his decision. He had his own goals and thoughts— one of them being able to see his beloved once more or rather beloved, now that he thought about it.

He sighed, remembering the innocent smile of the short and bubbly woman who stood by his side no matter how nonsensical the circumstances they were pitted against.

He knew that his death and the massacre he caused would have affected her negatively. However, he still hoped that her mental strength was enough for her to not fall apart.

Now though… He didn't know.

Would things have changed if I had been more forthcoming?

He closed his eyes. What was the use of thinking about it now? The events had taken place uncountable eons ago, leaving only pain and regret in its wake. Thinking about it wouldn’t change anything.

[...]

Suddenly, an ethereal voice imperceptibly murmured in his ears, making Adam laugh. He gazed fondly at the oversized grimoire placed in the Altar.

“Old friend. It seems your return is imminent. Though I guess you won't be the one I once knew by then.”

The true spirit that birthed alongside the creation of the weapon had already perished. However, Genesis was a Divine Weapon, of the highest magnitude too.

Now that Sol had awakened the book, it was only time for a new weapon spirit to form and the book to usher its divine knowledge once more.

“Speaking of… I wonder what happened to my second divine weapon.”

A puzzled look enveloped Adam’s face. The Book of Genesis and the Pen of Knowledge. One divine weapon was bestowed upon him while the other was created by a mortal and elevated to Divinity. The Pen of Knowledge wasn’t dissimilar to Sol’s Eye of Akasha in that regard.

His other Divine Weapon was both powerful and dangerous, no matter the hand it fell on.

He frowned for a moment but in the end, decided to stop thinking about it. The Pen and the Book were connected. Now that Genesis was about to awaken, the World Will of this universe would attract the Pen to Genesis one way or the other. The two divine weapons would surely reunite.

As for what would happen then, it would be up to Sol to figure out.

This was going to be very entertaining.

***

Leaving his inner world, Sol found himself back in Lustburg.

His conversation with Adam was both deeply enlightening and somber, highlighting the truths that constituted reality. All this talk about infinite verses and their intricacies was far too removed from his current circumstances.

At least I should be able to share some of that information with Anubis.

Sol distinctively remembered that one of Anubis’ ultimate goals was finding the way back to Earth, their home planet in the Prime Univers.

His desire was so deep and haunting that he embarked on a journey to explore the whole universe. In turn, a rift formed in his family and he had to sacrifice the time he could allot for his wife and daughter.

If I can make Anubis stop exploring the universe, I will have another powerful demigod close by when something happens.

Anubis was one of the strongest demigods alive. Having him close by would be extremely beneficial for Sol. Anubis was also a demigod born in the Mortal Realm, and using that identity he could enter the realm without facing any suppression and limitations.

Now I should focus on our growth.

Though relying on external powers was a valid option, the nature of his plans did not promote that. To speak facts, personal growth, namely the power of his Dimension, was at the core of all his future endeavors. No matter what he did, be it integrating the Mortal Realm or the whole Universe that Adam created, he would need to strengthen and nurture his dimension.

The good thing was, he already knew how to make the Inverse World stronger. He had all the pieces for that on hand.

Simply by allowing others to use his dimension as a place to create their territories, he would be able to increase the vitality of his universe and reinforce the laws that governed and shaped his verse.

If I can make Ambrosia move her territory to my dimensions it would be even better. But I shouldn't be too greedy.

Ambrosia was the Thousand Spells Witch. Her book of Akasha held all the knowledge of all witches who had ever existed. Even if it wasn't quite at the level of Law, all this knowledge would change his dimension and accelerate the growth tremendously.

But even if he couldn't have Ambrosia, he had the other four witches.

The four of them were unable to become demigods in Adam’s universe. However, that was not a problem for his dimension.

All the laws were free for the taking.

In fact, “What if I make a False God enter my dimension?”

Tiamat’s path to power was blocked because the Concept of Pride had already been taken. Even after changing her road, it was hard to shake off Superbia, the goddess of Pride’s, influence on her.

But the Concept of Pride was ownerless in his dimension.

Theoretically speaking, it should be possible for Tiamat to become a goddess in his dimension.

Sol clenched his teeth.

“I can not just be satisfied with theories.”

How could he swallow Adam’s universe if his dimension couldn't even accommodate the birth of a god?

Sol focused as he made an important decision. The day he could create gods would be the day he would compete for the hegemony of Adam’s universe.

For now, however, the Mortal Realm would have to make do.

I think I can absorb a part of the Astral Realm now.

He was quite confident of his chances, however, he did not wish to hurry and fumble. He simply needed to conquer all the kingdoms. Since he had an excuse in Luxuria giving him such a trial, he would be able to act with a certain impunity without any of the goddesses noticing his true goal.

Speaking of the goddesses… Things have been rather calm. I thought Invidia would have done something by now.

A frown colored Sol’s face as he thought about the matter. Even though he only had a few dealings with the goddess of envy, they were enough for him to get a good grasp of the shrewd goddess’ personality.

Sol’s plans were not perfect by any means, and the suspicious movements they enacted during the final battle were enough for the extremely petty goddess to be spurred into action.

Something is fishy. Sol thought grimly. He wasn't naive enough to think that it was luck. This seemed more like the calm before the inevitable storm.

As if answering to his worries,

“My Lord. I bring an important message.”

A feminine voice echoed from beyond the door and Sol recognized Clara’s voice.

“Enter.”

The door opened, showing the fiercely loyal and beautiful elf, Clara.

For Sol, many people played an important role during this war. Clara was undoubtedly one of the MVPs for him. She lacked the power to affect the battle but her skills pre and post-war were invaluable.

Clara was usually the image of calmness and serenity, however, he was alarmed to see a worried expression marring her face.

“What is the matter? You seem worried.” Sol asked, causing Clara to react in surprise as she schooled her expression.

“Many news came one after another and I am…” She spoke but she shook her head. “I apologize.” As a servant, spewing excuses like this was quite unsavory.

She gave a slight bow before continuing, “Your Highness I am the bearer of both good and troublesome news.” She adjusted her glasses as she looked at her King.

“The first set of good news is that Southern Pride finally agreed to organize an official meeting with them on neutral ground. The Queen herself declared that she would be part of the meeting as a form of respect towards the Dragon Emperor.”

Sol chuckled, “I guess they don't want to look like they are bowing their heads to Wratharis. No matter. We can allow them to keep their pride.”

Sol couldn't help but think of his beloved Nefertiti. Another MVP of this war. He owed far too much to her with far too little to show for it.

Clara nodded at Sol’s words, knowing it was necessary to not meddle with the elves’ pride. The elves were extremely proud by nature and the Queen would lose all support if it looked like she was bowing down to a human prince.

The title of Dragon Emperor was a helpful tool to provide the illusion that she was keeping face.

“You said there was both good and bad news, right? What about the bad?”

“Well…” Clara hesitated slightly but continued, “There are two bad news but in a way they are linked.”

She cleared her throat, “We received two messages. The first one came directly from the flying city of angels and stipulated that Chloe Diligentia’s training was shortened and she needed to be back to the flying city in three months.”

Sol’s expression darkened ever so slightly but he waved his hand, “Continue.”

“As for the second news… The dwarves sent a notice of Impeachment to the International Court and the angels and accused Lustburg of propagating and promoting the usage of undead, thus mocking the sanctity of life.

“They also accused us of breaking the International convention and using Undead during the war.

“Finally, they accused us of breaking the tacit understanding that was reached regarding the occupation of foreign territories during the war and thus disturbing the peace that was so hard fought.”

Sol was speechless. Listening to this made him feel like Lustburg was some kind of evil organization that wanted to conquer the world.

The fact that they technically were not wrong was irrelevant, however.

“The Dwarves have quite the plan, huh.”

His next goal had been to silently develop and assimilate Wratharis before doing the same with Envilya. But now he was starting to wonder if he should just declare war and erase those greedy bastards from the map.

“Half of what they said is bullshit,” Sol intoned.

He massaged his forehead, his eyes gleaming with dark thoughts.

“The dwarves are cowards. There is no way they would openly try to impeach us based on those flimsy reasons. Unless of course, they already have someone to back them.”

Sol grinned. If he was right, it seemed like the angels had decided to send the first probing move and the dwarves were nothing but the cannon fodder they used.

“Well, since this is what you guys want to do. Don't mind me breaking your pawns.”

Sol stood up, his eyes gleaming.

“What is the date of the next international convention?”

Clara felt a chill go down her spine at the coldness dripping from his voice. However, she did not feel fear only joy and anticipation.

The darker Sol acted, the more excitement she received.

“Four months.”

“Four months, huh… I guess they are truly the nation of sloth.”

He laughed. It seemed like the angels were confident of their power.

But Sol would make them understand that the worst all his enemies did was give him time. For ageless creatures like angels, four months might be nothing but a blip in their lifespan.

But for Sol… four months was more than enough to change the world.