Rumble—
In this vast Tree and Sea Great World, where not even a single lifeform above the single-universe level had ever appeared, five weak-multiversal auras burst forth at once. Their release was like hurling five world-destroying bombs into the boundless, surging ocean of this great world.
The already-formed cosmic sea froze under their presence; its order halted, and the Truth that intertwined with it fell into stillness.
Even the time that threaded through every corner of the cosmic sea was frozen.
At that instant, the endlessly expanding Tree and Sea Great World stopped growing.
It was as though the world's pause button had been pressed.
Centered around Phanes, Ophis, Buer, Dream, and Mio—
Threads of Truth, like capillaries, extended throughout every corner of the Tree and Sea, forming a vast multiversal web that completely bound it from within and without.
The strands of Truth glimmered radiantly, coloring the entire Tree and Sea in iridescent light.
The cosmic sea, too, transformed into a prismatic ocean of light.
Rumble—
The boundless expansion abruptly ceased, the violent shockwave crashing into the Great Will submerged in its endless joy.
At the dome of the Tree and Sea, the Great Will—manifesting as a luminous, rainbow cloud—shuddered violently.
[!]
For an instant, the Great Will of the Tree and Sea short-circuited—but only for an instant.
In that fleeting moment of clarity, it realized with wrath that the entire Tree and Sea had been bound by threads of Truth.
As a multiversal Great Will, it instantly comprehended everything.
It had been deceived.
It had believed it had long since annihilated and absorbed the invading world's will, gaining complete control.
Yet it had all been an illusion—a deception from the start.
That parasitic world had drawn nourishment from it, spreading its tendrils through every part of the world while it remained unsuspecting.
Now, at this very moment, it sought to usurp the entire world.
Rage. Rage. Rage. Rage…
Infinite fury erupted within the Great Will, and its rainbow glow twisted into black and crimson.
A multiversal-grade destructive will exploded from the dome of the Tree and Sea, its black-red brilliance cascading downward.
It would annihilate every parasite that dared to steal its world.
Even though there were five weak-multiversal beings, to it—already having stepped into the true multiversal realm—they could all be obliterated in three mere instants.
Yet before the destruction descended, a presence flared forth—one strong enough to truly threaten it.
BOOM—
At the instant that aura burst forth, the entire Tree and Sea split apart.
Crack—
Like a glass bead, the world fractured cleanly down the middle.
The multiversal destruction scattered into pieces, and even the black-red will-cloud was split in two.
[!?]
The Great Will's consciousness trembled wildly, its gathered power collapsing the moment the world split.
But only for a moment.
Its fury now transcended anger—it became wrath incarnate.
Its will descended upon the source of that power.
"Hahaha—!"
Noah now stood clad in the armor of Super-Primeval, gripping a crimson spear forged from the combined might of all Teyvat's power and his own divine essence.
With that one strike, his full power had cleaved the Tree and Sea Great World in two.
The cosmic sea itself had been divided.
And so too had the Great Will of the Tree and Sea.
If the world could be likened to a body, then its Great Will was its consciousness—not its soul. If a world possessed a soul, it would no longer be a world, but a living being in the form of one.
Such entities did not exist within the superdimension. This was a law established unanimously by all Super-Primeval Gods.
"How does it feel, Tree and Sea? Didn't expect this day to come, did you?"
"When you first thought of devouring my world, I was already plotting how to devour you instead, hahaha."
"But it seems I'm the victor this time!"
Noah laughed as he charged toward the now-bisected will-cloud.
He would not allow even a hint of arrogance.
One must despise the enemy strategically—but take them seriously tactically.
[It's you! It's you! It's you!]
The multiversal echo reverberated within Noah's consciousness—seething with rage.
Rage mixed with madness, fear, and the desperation of one who had staked everything.
The Great Will of the Tree and Sea had realized that this was the decisive moment—its life or death, and that of its world.
[You parasite who dragged your world into my body!]
The Great Will of the Tree and Sea frantically mobilized every ounce of power it could still command.
Though most of its form was bound by threads of Truth, there remained a portion it could still move—
—and it was swiftly severing the threads that restrained it.
For now, this momentary restraint was the only thing that could threaten it. Once this instant passed, it feared nothing.
The multiversal will, carrying the force of infinite universes, surged straight toward Noah.
Rumble—
The collision of two multiversal powers produced a sound beyond description.
Sound? Could such a thing even be called sound?
In that instant, endless universes across the cosmic sea were extinguished. Infinite truths, laws, and primordial forces dissolved into nothingness.
The once radiant, prismatic cosmic sea dimmed rapidly.
In the next moment—
All light vanished from the cosmic sea. Everything ceased to exist.
Half of the Tree and Sea fell into eternal darkness and ruin.
Even the great world of Teyvat shattered like an illusionary mirage.
Phanes, Ophis, Mio, Buer, and Dream stood amidst the emptiness, gazing up in shock at the crimson cloud of will and Noah's form.
Phanes' golden eyes quivered with awe and dread before that power beyond eternity.
"This power…! Even now, I cannot comprehend it!"
Noah glanced sideways at the void where the Tree and Sea once stood, and at Teyvat dissolving like a fading dream.
He was not surprised.
Of course, the Great Will would do this—only by completely rebooting existence could it avert total destruction.
If it killed him, then the power of the multiversal narrative layer would instantly restore everything, as though nothing had ever happened.
With a faint, mocking smile, Noah dove into the crimson will-cloud like a madman throwing himself into oblivion.
[Disappear!]
The Great Will of the Tree and Sea exulted as Noah charged into its will-cloud.
To enter the will-cloud was to face the full might of an entire world's assault. Even beings of equal rank would be devoured and assimilated.
How could one who had not yet reached the true multiversal level survive?
Noah plunged into the storming will-cloud, bombarded by infinite, multiversal power—attacks spanning uncountable dimensions, layers, even narrative strata.
"Idiot! You've fallen right into my trap, hahaha!"
Noah laughed madly.
[Ding! Detected that the host's existence is under multiversal assault. Activating system protection mode—initiating source-level erasure!]
...
What did the inside of the will-cloud look like?
It was beyond description.
It was the totality of will across the entire multiverse—the sum of all existence, consciousness, and life, from the beginning to the present, and from the present into the future.
Finally, it was as though he saw a book slowly closing—a book titled Tree and Sea.
Every page of that book was filled with all things, all events, all existence—and he himself was written within it.
This was the Multiversal Narrative Layer—something only beings of the multiversal level could perceive.
Within this place, everything across the multiverse was merely a single line of text, a segment of information, a fragment of narrative.
A single sentence could determine the life and death of countless universes within the cosmic sea, and the fate of any being below the multiversal level.
From nothing to being, from annihilation to rebirth, transcending limits and surpassing eternity—
All that was supreme could vanish with a stroke of the pen; all transcendence, no more than an illusion.
Noah barely managed to wrench his gaze away from the Multiversal Narrative Layer.
When his power collided with that of the Tree and Sea, and the light of the cosmic sea went out, that annihilation was nothing more than the erasure of all data written on a single line of that great narrative.
That was all.
And at the moment he reached the threshold of the multiversal realm, he couldn't help but doubt—was he still a living being at all?
The world he cherished, the emotions he held dear—were they all merely lines of text, fragments of information, dreams within dreams?
But it lasted only for an instant.
After all, the Multiversal Narrative Layer was merely a higher dimension.
Just as the Almighty God looked upon the universe he himself created, so too did Noah now gaze upon his own reality.
He had only broken free of his former limits—stepped beyond one colossal box.
And beyond the Multiversal Narrative Layer existed a higher power still.
That brilliance shone within his consciousness—the System.
It was a mass of light, transcending even the Multiversal Narrative Layer.
He had long wondered what the System truly was.
Even after becoming a Super-Primeval God, he had never once located its source.
But in that instant when he ascended to the multiversal level—when he charged into the will-cloud—he finally saw it.
At the deepest core of his consciousness, there it was: a radiant, prismatic light.
A tangible brilliance.
A power that surpassed the Multiversal Narrative Layer itself.
Without doubt—
In the superdimension, the multiversal level was already the ultimate boundary.
Those so-called infinite multiverses or endless beyond were nothing more than greater expansions of the same state.
The System?
That light—was it the System?
Yes… and no.
It only appeared as a System because he believed it to be one, and so the light took on that form in accordance with his perception.
Now he finally understood what it was.
Within the superdimension, over ninety percent of worlds were born naturally.
In some vast realms, gods existed who could create universes—those worlds were their handiwork.
Smaller worlds and planes could likewise be shaped by divine beings.
Then how was the superdimension itself—the totality encompassing all multiverses—born?
As the familiar voice of the System echoed in his mind, Noah stared deeply at that prismatic light within his consciousness, the corners of his lips curling upward.
In the instant he saw it, he understood its origin.
It was the first light that gave birth to the superdimension itself.
Just like the singularity that ignited the Big Bang.
Where did that singularity come from? Why did it appear?
It was a cycle wrapped within another cycle—a box inside a larger box.
This light had traveled backward from the farthest future to the very beginning, igniting the moment of the superdimension's creation, then drifted forward with its growth to the end, only to leap once more to the start.
Endless. Eternal. A paradox of paradoxes, the omnipotent of the omnipotent, the eternal of the eternal, the narrative of narratives…
And Noah—he was merely the fortunate one who made contact with this drifting light.
The first lifeform ever to do so.
What he called protection was nothing more than this—because that light was the one and only, absolutely indispensable essence of the entire superdimension.
To attack its host was to attack the superdimension itself—and thus, any such act would invoke the full oppression of the superdimension.
Even a multiverse, when subjected to the full oppression of the entire superdimension, would find its will erased.
While the multiverse itself would not be destroyed, its consciousness would be utterly annihilated.
This drifting light had undoubtedly passed through countless worlds.
Many world-wills must have encountered it before—though not understanding what it was, some had even attempted to attack it, only for their consciousness to vanish instantly.
The Toaru world was one such fool.
He had once wondered why that super single-universe world possessed no world consciousness—now he understood.
It had been crushed directly by the oppression of the entire superdimension; its will completely erased.
This light could, in truth, be described as the causality of the entire superdimension.
Buzz... buzz... buzz...
Deep within his consciousness, a certain mechanism within the prismatic light was triggered.
At that moment, beyond the Tree and Sea multiverse, a force beyond description descended—one surpassing even the Multiversal Narrative Layer.
The entire Tree and Sea universe froze.
No—not froze.
To Noah, it felt as though a three-dimensional object had been forcibly compressed into two dimensions.
The will-cloud of the Tree and Sea was overwhelmed with terror; its previous ecstasy shattered in an instant.
[What is this!? What is this!? What have you done, you parasitic worm!?]
[No! Don't!]
[Aaaah…]
Its terrified screams barely began before vanishing without a trace.
It was as if an indescribable, unknowable eraser had simply wiped it off the canvas of reality.
When the will-cloud vanished completely, that unfathomable power faded away.
Noah slowly descended from the vantage of the Multiversal Narrative Layer.
By now, the entire Tree and Sea multiverse had surpassed its critical point and was rapidly expanding without end.
As one who held partial control over its substance, he instantly assimilated the entire Tree and Sea.
Crack...
At that moment, he truly stepped into the multiversal level.
Even before completely descending from the Multiversal Narrative Layer, Noah's essence began to rise once more.
This time, it was not merely his vision that elevated—but his very existence.
The Multiversal Narrative Layer resembled a book—and now, he was slowly emerging from within its pages, standing atop it.
"This is the true multiversal realm—also known as the narrative level. Within the multiverse, all is but story, and every story rests upon my fingertips."
"This is the true reality—where all things visible and invisible, existent and nonexistent, arise from my power."
Noah lightly touched the surface of the narrative layer with his fingertip.
Lines of text, fragments, and threads of information began to reappear upon the blank white page.
These were the very records erased by the Great Will of the Tree and Sea.
Now, as he restored them, the Tree and Sea multiverse—no, the Teyvat multiverse—returned entirely to its previous state, not a single atom displaced.
—
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