CHAPTER 57: | THE MINIATURE WORLD OF THE FIRST SEGMENT | 13
---
The portal closed, and a violent wind exploded upon its sealing.
I let out a sigh, then glanced up at the griffins and wyverns, now working in unison to destroy the surrounding pillars.
Flames of different colors, combined with wind, melted the stone pillars I've created.
It was quite funny to see them only trying their best after their sovereign died.
And yet, I felt pity for them.
Even as a record from the past, the fact that they are alive in this very moment saddens me.
"Why struggle death when it is destined? I may not have known when and how you died, but isn't it better to be dead than alive?"
I questioned.
"Why did they try only now? Just why did they cowardly watch their sovereign die and not charge along with her? Just why?"
That was one of the few things I couldn't understand about these beings.
They possessed complete emotions, unlike me, who lived solely for my desire.
And that was the very reason I searched for emotion and why I sought to develop my own.
I wanted to know if this was truly what I wanted, or whether I should just be satisfied with my life, to truly feel the sadness of losing someone precious, to feel love, heartbreak, and to live like them.
I envy you mortals, who are born with souls, with emotions, with a mother, with a father.
I truly envy you, for you have something that I couldn't have.
Truly...
Silence.
The summit went silent as I closed my eyes and pondered.
"Why couldn't I just be any other, so that I wouldn't desire it, so that I would live normally?"
But this was my destiny, my fate, my fortune, my karma, to be born this way, to desire it so that I could be complete.
To be a villain of the dimension was the very purpose of my existence.
I closed my eyes, then snapped my finger.
The ground shook violently, and a throne made of stone rose from it.
I sat comfortably, crossed my legs nonchalantly, and pulled the 'Golden Maiden Scripture' out of my inventory, beginning to read its contents.
It was now time for me to read of the blessings Liora gave me.
I knew she was extraordinary, so perhaps these records of hers would be a key for me to reach greater heights.
I flipped the book.
The first page and the thousandth page were entirely the table of contents, a book of Liora's insights into different powers and her theories to create something formidable.
Just who is she?
Who was she to gather such vast knowledge, knowledge that could only be accumulated after billions of years of extensive research?
A mind akin to that of a monster, a mind so unfathomable that even I, with the records of billions of cycles sealed within me, fall short in her theories.
Flipping to page 1001, the entry name was [Enlightenment and Theories of Mystique That Controls Everything] was truly unbelievable.
Liora noted down her discoveries of what Mystique could do and her theories on how to utilize it more effectively.
One concept was creating an intricate mana vein that would automatically increase every second, growing to become infinite and more powerful, allowing the body to become akin to that of an elemental, but still retaining a mortal body of flesh.
It was a terrifying concept, to create mana veins that would increase every second, from one to 60 in a minute, then from 60 to 3,400 in an hour, to 86,400 in a day, and to 31,536,000 in a year.
With enough affinity and density, mana would become akin to an Ascendance, Liora said.
But the problem was creating that.
Even she, from what I read, a genius of calculation, couldn't create this very concept.
Thus, it was labeled as a concept called [The Golden Maiden Infinite Veins].
A vein of hers, the Golden Maiden, was not yet complete, as Liora needed more than the World of Intent.
But I smiled at this theory, with my vast knowledge, which recorded every power of the dimension, I could create it.
"Truly, Liora, you have shown me why I was a frog in the well. But thanks to your theories, I have resurfaced and become a dragon that shall soar to the sky to become a god."
My voice echoed as I smiled with delight.
"But even if it takes me 500 years to complete this theory, since it is missing 99 percent of the formula it needed. Even so, Liora, I could make this complete with my vast knowledge, so I shall thank you for this concept you've blessed."
Her enlightenments, her theories, were not something I could have produced in billions of years, as I don't possess the qualities of her mind, of how her thought of process works.
But obtaining it was easy since I only need to unseal my authority to completely assimilate Liora into me.
But I won't do that, since I've greatly owed her a favor for her theories and enlightenment.
Then I read the pages about her enlightenments regarding Mystique, with words as small as twenty micrometers.
I nodded in agreement.
Liora said that Mystique was the very thing that operated this dimension, the very energy that created all, an energy one could convert into divine power, into demonic power, as long as one understood it.
Liora said that skills stem from Mystique, which the [Dimensional Record] records as skills.
One could acquire a skill through repetition, just form your mana into a sphere again and again, and you'll obtain 'Mana Sphere.'
Then, make that sphere spin and launch it repetitively, and you shall obtain 'Mana Volley.'
To further acquire a skill, you need to add more concepts into it.
For example, adding wind makes it a 'Wind Volley' with fire, it becomes a 'Fire Volley' with all elements, it becomes an 'Elemental Volley.'
The more concepts you add to your skills, the more they improve.
Her enlightenments about that part were practically correct.
I summoned the 'Torrent of Extinction' into my palm, shaping it into a miniature sun levitating there.
I compressed it again and again until it was as small as a centimeter.
Then I muttered silently as I engraved it with runes that Liora theorized would enhance the spell's efficacy by tens of times.
I then began to pull the mana from the atmosphere towards the sphere as it began to expand, then compress, again and again.
I then chanted runic engravements from my knowledge and Liora's extensive knowledge, combining her theories with the ideas that popped up inside me.
Then I snapped my finger.
The miniature sun, now resembling a true sun, hovered above my head like a halo of pure destruction.
I then muttered in the ancient language of the sterile universe, a language now lost to history, a universe I destroyed in a fit, as I declared.
"Halo of the Godless Land."
Such was the name of this new spell that hovered in my head like a constellation only higher beings possess.
Its function were very simple.
It was either to defend me, or to be used as a projectile that would explode like a black hole, devouring everything within a mile and compressing it into a sphere.
But the problem with this skill was that it was too much work for my current self, mentally and in my mana reserves.
Since 700 units of my mana were gone just like that, leaving me with only thirty percent.
And it wasn't even recognized by the [Dimensional Record], as the method I used to make this spell resulted in a 'false skill.'
So, this new spell couldn't exist as a true skill due to having no proper medium but awakening it was still a viable option.
"..."
Why didn't I think of that...?
What if I could make this the [Torrent of Extinction] awakening pathway, to modify its awakened form into [Halo of the Godless Land] so that it could be elevated further?
But the problem right now was that I was too weak to initiate the skill modification, and it's such a bother to do that.
Since it would take me a year to awaken it to [Halo of the Godless Land] and it's not worth my time to attempt it right now.
Then I closed my eyes as the mana in the atmosphere began to violently swirl into a typhoon before entering my core, which refilled in the next moment.
I sighed, because Liora's knowledge and theories, combined with my extensive knowledge that spans for a few epochs, made all of her theories came to reality.
But the time and effort needed for that was too much for my lazy self, so maybe finding her and making her my research 'dog' would do.
Well, that would do, since changing the properties of my skills, my mana, or creating a mana circle or core was simply too easy for me, as it wouldn't consume too much of my time.
And the more reason I should subdue Liora as a research 'dog' was because she was theorizing of how to create the [God Core].
This would require compressing all of one's records and even their soul into a single point, making it a weakness but also a source of power that would increase everything by a thousand times at its basic form.
However, its destruction would erase one's existence so completely that even the Supreme Mother wouldn't be able to revive them.
It was a dangerous theory, and even I was rethinking her insanity.
Why was she researching how to create a [God Core] when it was even too much for me to imagine how to complete this theory that lacked 99 percent of its concept to make this a reality?
Perhaps Liora was searching for a power beyond just that of an Ascendance, or perhaps she was researching to be free like an Ascendance who has reached the state of a true god.
"..."
Quite the terrifying lady!
She was hiding her true nature behind her cute facade, one that even I was not able to detect.
But then, a realization dawned on me as excitement pounded on my chest, and I began to imagine why she gave me this.
"Perhaps... Liora's theories were now reaching their completion after learning the World of Intent."
It was an outrageous idea, but perhaps Liora had already completed a semi-condensed [God Core] in her body right now with the help of Intent.
But it's impossible, even if that was what she was missing, since the World of Intent would only allow one to see the intent of the world, and there's divine power even more powerful than that.
But even if Liora had given me this scripture as a form of gratitude for me teaching her the World of Intent, still I was still grateful for obtaining theories that I could complete in a matter of time.
Now that I have a grasp of how to create the core of a God, a core that would enhance my combat strength beyond normal, that would grow and become comparable to that of the Supreme Mother, or maybe even beyond them.
Cold sweat formed like a bucket on my back as I bit my lips, pondering Liora's genius.
How could one think of such a dubious idea?
"Hahahaha!"
Perhaps with this, yes, perhaps with this incomplete theory that Liora put here, yes, perhaps I could create my very own variant of God Core with my extensive knowledge.
But first, I needed to overcome the crisis that I was in right now, as the titans had finally arrived, their chieftain standing tens of meters away from me with a height of 500 meters.
As the other titans surrounded us, they knelt on the ground, their clubs striking the earth.
They struck a pose, then shouted in unison.
"We, the Forest Titans, ask the Heavens to acknowledge the sacred duel of our chieftain! Oh, Heavens, we ask for you to verify this sacred match!"
Their words continued as a smaller eye made of lightning appeared in the sky, gazing below us with divinity.
The titans shut their mouths and struck their chests like a drum as the battle began.
The orc chieftain gazed at me as he shouted with incomprehensible anger, pointing his club at me.
"I, Terror, have sworn that the day I find you, murderer of my son, will be the day I dismember and grind your existence to dust! So now, human, fight me like a warrior!!!"
Terror's shouts echoed as I gazed at him with amusement, my lips curved into a smile as I shouted.
"Then let our fight begin, oh, father of the child whom I ate!"