Chapter 307 – Image

In the fractured dimension…

Luna and Iris reentered the tomb, and naturally, there was only one reason they could be there. 

The four who had passed on their powers were now nothing more than egos, and even these egos were only supported by the power of those above them. 

“So you’ve come.”

“Have you made your decision?”

“Will you remove the bond, or are you accepting it despite that?”

“...”

Life, Creation, Annihilation, and Death. 

These four apppeared before the sisters and asked those questions. 

It was Iris who made the decision, since even now Luna couldn’t do it. 

“We’re doing it, so tell Order and Chaos to hurry up.”

“Hasty, but there’s no reason not to be. Very well.”

Creation nodded to them and closed his eyes. 

And Life smiled at the two. 

“This will be the last time we meet then.”

“Why?”

“Once you two accept the final inheritance, this tomb will collapse and be lost to the infinity of Totality and its unending Time. Of course, if you achieve the impossible, then nothing is impossible for you who will stand above all. But, if not, then we shall leave having known that we did not forsake our purpose, and handed off the torch.”

“Either way, you will succeed the Archons, and rid the Totality of those usurpers! Those fakes who merely defiled a graveyard!”

The cyclops, Annihilation whose name was Adonios, roared in both rage and happiness. Perhaps because he was no longer bound by his concept, he was far more emotional, not unlike a mortal. They all were. 

Luna smiled back at Life, whose name was Oraios. 

“Don’t worry, you’ll have your place with us.”

“Then If I’m accepting your generosity, I only need a garden.”

“I’ll take a forge.”

“Give me the blood of thousands.”

“...”

They couldn’t help but chat, and Luna reaffirmed in her mind that the conceptss really did relinquish one of their free will. While the concepts could turn one into a god, it also came at the price of their ego. They were forced to embody the concept itself, and there was little room for one’s own thoughts and feelings. 

Even Luna knew how different she was, but despite that, she coudln’t and wouldn’t do anything about it. 

Instead, she was about to take a step into the deep end. 

She turned toward the figures in the distance, those colossal bodies that eclipsed entire galaxies. 

The figure with purple skin and a third eye, the one whose word was absolution and whose gaze was divinity. 

Order, whose name was Saboth. 

And his counterpart, a figure wiith no shape. A mere pit of both nothing and everything. The abyss of oblivion seemed to flash with everything that has ever existed and yet contained the darkness of unholy nullity. 

Chaos, whose name was Pronoia. 

These two who represented the highest laws of the Totality, that which all of existence was founded upon. They were everything and more. Nothing existed without them. 

And yet, even those two had been rendered useless, now corpses that drifted through space as mere relics of the forgotten past. 

Luna had questions, though there may never be any answers. 

But that didn’t matter. 

“Are you ready?”

Oraiosasked, seeing how Luna kept her gaze on Order. 

Iris answered. 

“Hurry up.”

“Hehe, alright.”

Oraios sighed. 

“Go on, and seek the origin of all things.”

With that, Life, Creation, Annihilation, and Death, all warped, their egos transforming. 

Turning into mere wisps of power, they formed two portals, both leading to nothing but darkness. 

The sisters looked at each other, giving one last smile, before stepping through. 

……

…

Luna emerged from the darkness. 

Around her was a steel castle, nothing but dull gray, and no decoration that a king might brandish to display his wealth. 

Luna looked around her at the throne room, a simple hall with uniform walls and a single staircase that led to the throne. 

And atop the throne sat a wisened old man. 

He was the spitting image of a valiant king, one who might lead his armies into battle personally. 

He had purple skin and a third eye on his forehead, along with a battle uniform and a deep red cape. His attire was worn and scarred, but underneath the veil of age lied an impossibly intricate design and flawlessly crafted structure. 

His face was sharp, his beard kept. His eyes carried the deepest profundity, and the space around him seemed to bow to his existence. 

But he was defeated. Slumped on his throne, even his sword had been shattered into pieces that lie spread across the ground at his feet. And perhaps an eternity passed, but he looked to be on the verge of dessication. 

Saboth. 

“Your image of me is more flattering than pitiful.”

Luna heard a voice, once that was deep and buttery. 

“My image?”

“It is impossible for you to comprehend the image of my existence, therefore, your mind replaces the impossible with your own reality. What you see now is only your projection, your belief as to what I am. Right now, you’re no different from a mortal gazing upon an angel, or an angel gazing upon a god. There exists an infinity between us that cannot be surpassed if the one above does not will it.

“But, I do.”

He spoke those words, and the scene around Luna changed. 

Darkness returned. 

And what appeared was a cube. It existed across infinite dimensions, taking on every amount of form that made it impossible to distinguish between it and reality. From it, Luna could see the entirety of the universe. A single thing that was everything. 

Luna’s brow raised, as her mind simplified to be something she could comprehend. And what was left was a cube of light.

“Square?”

“The first instance of form to grace the Totality, forged out of the nullity of eternity. It became the heart of Order, and from it spawned ego. That ego went on to form the foundation of the known universe, generating the concepts and giving them lower forms. And when Chaos attained its own ego, if you could call it that, the universe was filled with conflict.”

“And it grew into intelligence, which over time created factions that spanned galaxies, and gods that controlled the very concepts that founded the fabric of reality.”

Luna finished his train of thought. She herself had generated an entire galaxy that went from mere dust clouds across the expanse of space to a galaxy full of life. 

Having become Life and Creation, she knew all there was to know about Order. There was just one missing piece that kept her from becoming Order itself, the highest concept in the Totality. 

That cube, the heart of Order, and the source of infinite everything. 

That was all she needed, and Saboth would give it to her. 

Before that though, she had a question. 

“Who did this to you?”

“That doesn’t matter.”

He answered back quickly. And although it seemed like he was refusing to answer the question, Luna could tell that even he didn’t know.

In that case, it really didn’t matter. There was no point in knowing, as a being that could do such a thing was so far beyond everyone that those below it simply had no right, nor the ability, to fight back or worry about it.

To force Order itself to resign to fate. 

Not even Luna had the right to care. So she simply nodded. 

Saboth, in the form of a cube, spoke his last words. 

“Now, accept the fractured power of Order, and retrieve the missing pieces from those who dared to steal it.”

The cube flashed, and after a moment, the light sunk into Luna, engulfing her in a cocoon of infinity. 

……

…

In the dark abyss of Chaos…

“Give it here, bitch!”

“You know, I was going to do this like Order, but so be it! Amuse me one last time! Show me what it means to be killed!”

“I’ll swallow your soul!”

Two masses of nuclear oblivion clashed in conceptual space. Such a battle could annihilate entire galaxies merely through collateral damage. 

It was for an unknown amount of time that they used the entirety of their infinite power. 

But when the battle quickly ended, the loser was obvious. 

“Hah! Lick my lips, naive girl!”

“Damn…”

Iris lay defeated, having been completely restrained and put at the mercy of true Chaos. 

In her fox form, she writhed within a trillion chains that dug into her very existence. It was as if reality itself had restrained her. 

Chaos, taking the form of a little girl that Iris found boundlessly irritating, laughed for ages. 

“Idiot! Dumbass! To think you could kill me! I guess I got too heated, because how could I ever die?”

“You could kill yourself.”

Iris snarled, and surprisingly, Chaos, known as Pronoia, nodded.

“You’re right. I can only die by my hand! Because I’m the best. I was there even before Order. I formed the beginning of existence. I’ve lived countless enternities. A little child like you cannot fathom the slightest hint of my existence. And the only reason you will do so is because I say so. So open up.”

Pronoia smiled while drifting before Iris. 

The fox growled before calming. Her eyes looked into Pronoia’s, seeing that endlessly deep gaze. 

“Are you finally relieved?”

“...”

Pronoia didn’t immediately respond, but she stopped in her tracks.

She pondered for what may as well have been an eternity.

“...Forever doesn’t mean anything to me, nor Order. Time doesn’t change us. We have always remained the same. I am Chaos, but I am only Chaos, and in that way I am never changing. So, I have a bit of advice for you, and a wish.”

Pronoia tapped Iris’ nose. 

“Keep fighting Order. Never stop. Endlessly devote yourself to annihilate the universe and bring death to all that exist upon it. Make that the entirety of your ego, the only thing that ever crosses your mind. You shall be the incarnation of all that is hate, sorrow, and depravity. And…”

Her gaze deepened, a piece of her true self slipping out for just a moment. 

“I wish that one day, your ego escapes the shackles of forever. Find the End, and move toward it with that special someone.”

She had a soft smile as darkness engulfed Iris’ figure. 

And then, everything vanished, collapsing into nothingness. 

…

…

…

Dream raised his head. 

Before him stood a girl, one that was wonderfully familiar. 

Alice smiled back at him. 

“Finally. I found you.”

Sp4de

Hello all. An update for those that were curious about my new stories to be released. 

The first two will be coming next week, probably when the next batch of OS chapters drop. As for the other few, I'll be posting them on my Patreon and they'll hang around there for a week or so before going public. 

At the latest, all my new stories will be out by the first week of November. After that, chapters will continue releasing at 2-4 a week per story. 

Look forward to it. 

-Autho