As though bound by silent reverence—or perhaps fear—the other false Immortals kept a respectful distance from her.
All except one.
The middle-aged Merman stood closer than anyone else, his gaze glued to her figure with naked lust and possessiveness, as though she were already something he owned.
Redal, the red-skinned demon, swept his gaze across the ruined battlefield, eyes gleaming with sharp intelligence.
"There was a clash here," he said with certainty. "Mortals.Several died. One or more escaped—likely with a treasure… or a soul ability."
Many Immortals nodded immediately, murmuring agreement, eager to curry favor. None of them dared speak further. They were not qualified to speak in the presence of these three.
Vincent, the Merfolk, sneered in disgust.
"Even a fool could piece that together with this many clues," he replied lazily. "The real question is whether we pursue the escapees."
He turned toward the black-winged woman, eyes burning with infatuation.
"Isn't that right, Raya?"
---
[RAYA'S POV]
Idiots.
A single glance at the crater and the cocoon hovering at its center told me everything I needed to know.
They wouldn't gain anything from this place.
Because I intended to take everything.
I hated missions like this—especially those involving him. My so-called master. The Elf Emperor. He believed himself subtle, but nothing escaped my Sight. The lust he hid behind authority made my skin crawl, made me ache to skewer his throat with my spear and watch the light leave his eyes.
The demon general's stupidity had already soured my mood. The bastard son of the merfolk Emperor Vincent's openly displayed desire only worsened it.
I could burn his soul in my Hell for eternity.
But not yet.
Suppressing my irritation, I turned my focus to the cocoon.
Activating my racial ability, I pierced through the layers of energy and detected a faint outline within.
A woman.
An elf.
And not just any elf.
Princess Lilian
So fate had a sense of humor after all.
She was known for her terrifying affinity with fire—and Laws. This cocoon wasn't protection. It was a metamorphosis, one that would elevate her into a peak-tier genius.
I smiled coldly.
I can't have you reaping all the benefits.
With a single step, I crossed the distance and placed my hand against the cocoon and tried to absorb it.
A thin stream of energy flowed into me.
The universe brightened.
No—clarified.
My race trembled as evolution surged through my blood. My Laws deepened, simplifying, unfolding like a divine script written just for me. Every aspect of my existence sharpened, refined, elevated.
It felt like watching creation itself.
My breath caught.
Chaos Essence…
The legendary origin energy—the spark that birthed existence.
Joy flooded me.
With this, I could become a Monarch-tier genius.
Completely transforming myself, surpassing even my siblings in pure potential.
With this, I would no longer kneel.
Turning to the gathered Immortals, I masked my excitement with indifference.
"I will be taking this cocoon back to the Empire's capital," I said calmly.
"Any objections?"
Silence.
Then, inevitably—
"How can you take everything for yourself?!" a dwarf Immortal shouted. "Are we to return empty-handed?"
An ugly woman sneered beside him, eyes blazing with envy. "Just because you're beautiful doesn't mean—" backing him up was an ugly slut who was looking at me with Intense envy and hatred.
Voice echoing with venom and jealousy like a retarded, got me wondering how she survived for Millions of years with that character, about sixteen other people also shouted their objection.
I sighed.
Such a waste of time.
Raising my hand, I invoked my Major Law of Death.
"Death Phantom."
The sky darkened.
A colossal figure—three kilometers tall—manifested from black-grey death energy. It was vaguely humanoid, with jagged wings, a hooked chain wrapped around its arm, a malformed hand protruding from its chest, and a massive tail dragging destruction behind it.
I had created this technique centuries ago, inspired by a monster I fought while fleeing my home realm.
With a silent command—
The phantom moved.
Most never saw it.
Descending into a massacre.
In less than fifteen seconds, the dissenting Immortals were dead.
Their souls screamed as they were dragged into my growing Hell.
Dispersing the phantom, I turned back to the remaining figures.
Fear hung thick in the air.
"Any objections?" I asked again.
Redal laughed loudly. "Hahaha! That was the finest power play I've seen in decades. No wonder this stinky fish is so obsessed with you."
Vincent nodded proudly, unfazed by the insult. "Annoying as he is, he's right. I doubt anyone here dares object." his voice turning ruthless at the end.
Without another word, I seized the cocoon and vanished into the distance.
Soon…
I would be unstoppable.
---
****[ARIAN'S POV]****
Far north of Xemini, within a hidden mountain cave—
A bloodied figure lay unconscious on cold stone.
Agony dragged me awake.
Intense agony that threatened to consume me whole.
I groaned, struggling to sit up as pain threatened to tear me apart.
"Shit… that pampered bitch still clipped me," I muttered bitterly. "Could've been worse."
If not for that space treasure, I'd be dead.
I shook my head, ignoring the sting in my chest at the thought of the lost artifact.
"No point crying over it. It saved my life."
Grinning, I surveyed the cave with my Divine Sense. Nothing unusual—just animal dung.
Good enough.
I sealed the entrance with a massive boulder and turned to my storage pouch.
Excitement bubbled inside me.
Holding the storage pouch, I felt giddy and excited for all my effort.
Releasing its contents, the cave instantly became cramped.
The wooden bowl trembled violently, cracks spreading across its surface—proof of how terrifying the liquid inside truly was.
Instead of touching it, I approached the three crystals.
The first contained a single black drop of blood, bubbling gently.
Creepy.
The second held three seed-like objects.
Sun. Moon. Star.
I didn't know how—but I knew I was right.
The third crystal made my head buzz painfully. I stopped looking.
Glancing at all the treasures around me,
A wide maniacal grin formed on my lips, a crazy borderline suicidal plan took form in my mind.
Gathering the life-force plants, the wooden stick, the tome of darkness, and the crystals, I brought them all toward the bowl.
My grin widened painfully.
The reckless, insane plan formed in my mind.
One that could kill me.
Or make me a monster.
"Fuck," I laughed. "I really am a genius.
I can already picture my glorious and awesome self after this seclusion" (yes our Mc is a narcissist).
Taking a deep breath, I jumped into the bowl and activated my soul ability.
ASSIMILATION.
My Assimilator Physique unfolded, mapping my body as if I had built it myself. Though only a C-rank ability, it was terrifyingly versatile.
Every soul had an ability.
Ranks existed.
Potential existed.
And mine?
Mine was hungry.
—---
Meanwhile, almost at the same time, in the same world, there existed a large school or institution rather, rumored to have existed before every Empire.
The sounds of young children barely in their teens, clamoring and shouting echoed in a large hall. Easily accommodating up to a thousand students. Children of different race mingled freely without any discrimination.
BANG!!
With a booming sound, the large doors of the hall were flung open, and walking in was a man with greyish white sparse hair on his head, back hunched, steps slow but steady, carrying a large tortoise shell on his back, displaying his race: tortoise beast clan.
Walking to the podium in the pin drop silent hall, his steps the only sound echoing, he faced the students and asked in a hoarse but rigorous tone,
" As you are about to awaken your various soul ability, I want one of you to explain soul ability and their different ranks".
Without making so much as a single sound, all the students raised their hands to attempt the question. Pointing to a druid girl from the front row,
Standing up feeling slightly nervous from all the stares around her, the druid girl took a deep breath to calm her nerves.
She said in a clear voice,
"As we all know, a person can have just one soul, this soul come with an ability of its own wether strong or not. SOUL ABILITY is something any and every individual possess after awakening either artificially or naturally" exhaling slightly while looking at the old man who nodded lightly, she continued.
"There are ranks to soul abilities, measured by the color of the soul, these ranks are divided into 5 which are:
Green ~ D
Brown~ C
Yellow~ B
Blue~ A
Red~ S
Every soul ability awakened by any individual, falls under this ranking." The druid girl breathed before sitting down.
Looking at the girl with approval, the hunched old man said,
" Now as many of you already knows, the rank of an awakened ability does not disqualify from becoming a powerhouse, as our world Ximini is only a middle ranked world, most awakened ability are below the S rank. Now somebody should tell me the cultivation ranks we have and ranks of worlds as we know it" he finished while sweeping his gaze over the large hall, then he pointed at a student standing at the far back.
The student was startled, looking back to confirm he was the one.
He stood after seeing no one behind him, towering over every other student the giant child answered in a booming voice.
"Cultivation has been said to exist since the dawn of the universe. After the deaths of many people, the people then created cultivation techniques through trial and error for a standard and safe cultivation. Cultivation is said to be divided into three parts: the body, energy, and will path" he said while looking at the teacher nervously.
"The beginning of cultivation which is also known as the Foundation realm is divided into :
# TEMPERING
# MANIFESTATION
# DOMINION
# ARCHON
# PARAGON
Each rank applies to the three paths of cultivation." said the giant sheepishly while scratching the back of his head.
" While the worlds are divided into:
Normal world
Low tier world
Middle tier world
High tier world
Supreme world
They are recognized and categorized based on the spiritual level of concentration, rigidity of laws, size and many more." Nodding in approval, the old man gestured for him to sit down, sweeping his gaze across the students, he sighed in his heart ' I pray you all survive tough times we find ourselves, and become great power houses in the future' he reminisced, his posture looking even more bent like he was carrying worlds on his back.