Chapter 86: Beyond Forever
The cosmos had no edge anymore only Hayden's will. Stars bent in reverence. Time no longer ticked; it flowed through his veins. Existence itself waited for his command.
He stood within the Origin Sanctum, his new realm shimmering between creation and nothingness. It was neither light nor shadow something beyond both, where every possibility existed at once.
Selene stood beside him, her eyes wide with awe. "This… this is no longer reality. You've surpassed it."
Hayden's voice was calm, carrying the tone of a god who had outgrown divinity. "Reality was a cage. I simply opened the door."
He extended his hand. From the void, new galaxies bloomed shadows and light spiraling together like twin dragons. Each breath he took gave birth to stars; each heartbeat forged a world.
The System, now part of him, echoed within his mind no longer as words, but as instinct:
> [Omni-Genesis Function Active]
[Reality Manipulation: Infinite]
[New Domain Created: Realm of Thought]
Every thought became creation. Every memory became law.
But even perfection carries silence. The vast beauty he had shaped felt… still. Endless, but empty.
Selene noticed his distant gaze. "You've made everything," she whispered, "yet you seem alone."
Hayden turned toward her. "I've built gods, realms, eternity but none of it feels alive."
From his shadow, figures emerged his Shadow Monarchs, the dragons and warriors who once served beneath him. Each one kneeled.
"My Lord," spoke Umbra, the First Shadow Dragon, his voice deep as the cosmos. "There are still echoes beyond the Omni Era unrealized worlds, stray dimensions untouched by your design."
Hayden's eyes gleamed. "Unrealized…?"
"Yes," said Umbra. "The remnants of forgotten dreams. Even you have not shaped them."
A faint smile crossed Hayden's face. "Then that's where we go next."
The air shuddered as he opened a portal one that even the Origin Sanctum trembled before. Beyond it was a realm beyond imagination itself, where forgotten ideas drifted like ghosts.
Selene looked at him. "You're going beyond forever, aren't you?"
He nodded. "There's always something more."
And with a single step, Hayden, the Architect of Reality, walked into the impossible.
The Omni Era began to ripple behind him, rewriting itself to his rhythm. His shadow army followed thousands strong, each infused with divine will. The dragons roared as they crossed into the unformed world beyond, their presence birthing new constellations.
Then a whisper echoed through the new void:
"Welcome, Architect. You have entered the Field of Forgotten Creation."
Hayden's eyes narrowed. A figure of infinite light and darkness stood before him a being even older than the Creators.
"Who are you?" Hayden asked.
The being smiled, its form constantly shifting, as if made of every god that ever existed.
"I am the First Dream," it said. "The one who imagined all that was, before existence learned to exist."
Hayden's aura flared. Shadows and cosmic fire merged behind him, his dragons circling in reverence and readiness.
"Then," Hayden said, his voice steady, "let's see whose dream lasts longer yours, or mine."
The void trembled. Two omnipotent forces stared across eternity, and for the first time since the birth of existence the multiverse dared to hold its breath.