Chapter 979: A Companion Beyond the Cosmos.
Chapter 979: A Companion Beyond the Cosmos.
Born from a tangle of Chaos, my Essence spread across the Cosmos in search of understanding.
At first, I didn't understand what I was doing, what I was, or what awaited me. The only thing I knew was that I needed understanding.
To comprehend. To understand. To learn more about the infinite vastness of the Cosmos... I must say, such a decision both delighted and completely vexed me.
In pursuit of understanding, I encountered various annoying specimens of Light, incomprehensible Beings that did not share the same Essence as I, Beings who somehow sought to use my Essence.
As if they could. All that remained for those who touched what they did not understand was pure and genuine madness. In my quest to understand the Cosmos, I came across another annoying thing outside of these specimens of Light.
A barrier. A limit. A restriction imposed upon the entire Cosmos by forces even I could not comprehend at that time. No matter what I did or how much I attacked the barrier, I couldn't break through.
It was at that moment that I learned my first emotion: Anger. Anger at not being able to fulfill my primary objective. From that anger, motivation arose.
Nothing would stop me from achieving my primary objective. It was at that moment that I made a decision. I would learn more, and my attention turned to those Beings of Light, as I no longer had the goal of just driving them away. Instead, I would consume them.
Arriving at a gigantic sphere in the Cosmos, I saw hundreds of thousands of Beings of Light, and I thought, 'This will do.'
Many tried to stop me, and some even sacrificed themselves while saying words that I did not understand, but in the end, it was a futile effort. Nothing could stop me if I desired something, and I instinctively knew this.
As I consumed that sphere completely along with the Beings of Light, changes occurred within me, and I understood the Cosmos better thanks to the knowledge of those Beings.
I knew about the 'Primordials,' the barrier that separated the Sectors, and what they called me.
Beast of The End, they said.
That name irritated me even more deeply. I was not a beast created by a mere Primordial. I was something more, and I instinctively knew this.
Another change that occurred when consuming that sphere was that my own presence seemed to be warping all of reality as my 'body' grew so large that it consumed stars and entire galaxies.
Apparently, those Beings in that sphere were quite 'competent,' and this allowed my Power to grow even more.
It was when I was drifting in the Cosmos, sifting through the hundreds and billions of memories that I had consumed, that suddenly, I 'stopped.'
Four figures appeared in front of me, and I immediately recognized them.
The Universal Tree, Limbo, Death, and Infinity, the 'Primordials' that those Beings of Light spoke of.
"Death, is this your doing?" The Universal Tree asked.
"No, it is not," Death replied.
"Then what is this?" The Universal Tree asked again. "It seems to contain traces of The First, but... It seems corrupted in some way? As if something is not right? A Creature from The Abyss?"
"It did not arise from the remnants of my actions if that's what you're mentioning... As I said, this is not my creation."
"A bug in the System that needs to be corrected," Infinity spoke. "That's all it is."
"Agreed." Death raised a hand towards me and tried to erase me, but a mere Concept of Death would not affect me. I was born from Chaos, and to Chaos, everything will return.
Even Death was no exception. I wanted to move or do something, but I couldn't; it seemed like the Space around them was an infinite distance from me, and between them, even my body, which could distort reality, was not functioning as I was accustomed to.
Clearly, they were responsible for this.
"... This is concerning... He was not affected by me."
"... If he wasn't affected by you... Then he's an Outsider..." These words from The Universal Tree left the four figures extremely serious.
Suddenly, several things began to be thrown at me as they were using their Authority to try to eliminate me in some way, but nothing worked. I understood this; I understood that they were enemies, but like those Beings from that planet I eliminated, I was powerless before them.
And it angered me... It angered me in a way that I had never felt before, and from that anger, my body reacted.
"This is bad. Creation itself is being consumed! We need to drive away this Outsider as soon as possible!"
"Drive away? Drive away to where? Wherever he goes, Creation will be consumed. We need to seal him." Infinity pointed out.
"I have a place... Infinity, transport him to my home. We will use that place as his prison until we have an idea of how to deal with this."
"Okay."
Suddenly, I was no longer floating in the Cosmos but in a completely dark place where the vast Creation I was accustomed to did not exist.
As more figures arrived, my anger completely clouded my judgment, and before I knew it, I was alone again.
With my emotions calmer, I assessed the place where I was, and I realized that I was in some kind of closed Dimension where Infinity and the 'End' trapped me.
I became angry again, an anger that I had never felt before. My body 'expanded' and distorted everything around me in an attempt to escape, but it didn't work.
I don't know how much Time passed, but eventually, I grew calmer. I began to assess my situation and realized something. I could get out of here. Given enough Time, I could escape from this place.
My maturation would take longer because of this incident, but I would definitely get out of here by consuming this Prison... But I wasn't willing to wait that long, so I worked on something.
Just as in the beginning when I spread my Essence, I did the same this time as I made several spheres so tiny that they would be imperceptible to all, and I placed the Essence of various Gods from this Sector that I consumed. This was a precaution in case one of these Primordials found these spheres.
Most of these spheres were covered with the Powers of the other Gods, but... Its Core, deep within the Core, my Essence remained hidden there, observing everything and consuming everything in small particles and sending it to me.
The process would be tediously long; after all, I was trying not to attract attention, but it would be worth it. By consuming the Prison and the Creation outside, I could become stronger and mature.
Time passed again as my plan worked. Several Beings found my Essence, and the fools used it to add to their Power, unaware that it was tainted by me. Every time these Beings gained Power, half of what they would normally gain would be transferred to me.
The fools were handicapping themselves, and they didn't know it. But thanks to them, I could have entertainment while continuing to consume this seemingly endless Prison.
As I watched everything as a spectator, I looked on with interest as a God used his son, who had the Power of a Divinity called 'Concealment,' to open a portal to a Lower Sector and throw a sphere he created with his Power into that place.
Apparently, this God had the same idea as me, and he used his Essence to do so. Little did he know that this Essence was no longer his but mine, just like his whole Being. He used so much of my Essence to become stronger that he became completely corrupted so I could absorb him from here and add him to my strength, and no one would know how he died.
Except for the 'System,' an existence as hateful as those Primordials.
That thought appeared in me for a few seconds, but I quickly dismissed it. Even if I absorbed that Being, my strength wouldn't change much. Instead of doing that, I simply observed him making a plan that was incredibly similar to mine and throwing his Essence into the Lower Sectors.
Apparently, his son was able to create that small hole in Space leading to the Lower Sectors because he had two problematic Divinities: 'Concealment' and 'Penetration.'
The latter was what I coveted the most. If I could absorb that boy, perhaps my escape from my Prison would be quicker. Unfortunately, he didn't have my Essence yet.
His father was a greedy man, and he wouldn't give up 'his' Power so easily.
When the sphere was thrown into the Lower Sectors, I suddenly gained a 'vision' of places in the Cosmos that I couldn't see before... And, I had to say, I was disappointed.
Just as the name suggested, the Lower Sectors were indeed Lower Sectors, and their Existential Space was so small that not even half of my body could fit, and there were more Stars and Creations than truly powerful Beings.
I was disappointed, but I didn't dwell on it too much. After all, it was a new sight, and something new was always welcome to alleviate my boredom. I began to take an interest in the Lower Sector when a God of Destruction took my Essence.
And when he brought me to his Pantheon, I was shocked to sense an existence close to a Primordial here.
'How did I not sense this before?' I wondered, and I got my answer.
This Sector was strange... The Primordial, Limbo, made this Sector his home and remained there. Simply because a Primordial remained here raised many questions. It was also because of the fact that the Primordial was here that my senses were suppressed.
After all, something that all my Essence had in common was not to try to attract attention when the Primordials were nearby.
....