Ch 181 – Awakening of an Old Monster

Silence.

In the vast void of space, one can only hear the deafening silence.

In the vast void of space, one can see countless stars in the far distance, like motes of light of all sizes and colors. Some were red, some were yellow, white, blue, and such. Some were big, some were small, and some even looked like insignificant specks of light due to the sheer disparity of distance.

But in that vast void of space, one can see a rainbow-colored streak rapidly flying all around the area. The aura of a grand Z-Rank Demigod emanated from the iridescent streak whose light was akin to a flashy meteor piercing through the void of space.

The streak rapidly approached a ginormous asteroid in the far distance and the rainbow-colored light seemed to gather into two twin swords that were grandeur in design. They were ginormous compared to the width of the rainbow stream, but considering the source of the rainbow stream had a Demigod's aura, such a size difference was only normal.

'Law of Sword.' Nox Aeterna thought in his mind, and boundless sword intent seemed to gather at the edge of his twin swords constructed through magic. He swung the both of them, and the ginormous asteroid in front of him shattered into numerous chunks in just one blow.

The stream continued in its way, and it approached Jupiter with immense speed. It poked through the gassy surface of the planet and entered it without any resistance. Even with Jupiter's harsh conditions where humans have no way to live in it, Nox Aeterna wielded his immense might as a Demigod and entered the planet without any problems.

This is the might of a Demigod, a being just below the realm of almighty Gods!

In there, his immense aura rampaged and he lightly stretched out his right hand. Around it, rainbow light gathered and if one inspected closely, they'd notice the materials in the air were also absorbed by the rainbow light, and the light finally dispersed to show a dark metallic bow.

He raised the brow and grabbed its string, his eyes stared at the gas-filled area in front of him and a scary amount of energy gathered around the bow to form a rainbow-colored arrow.

The higher the realm one reaches, the bigger the difference becomes. The higher one's own realm is, the more power one wields, and the further one can explore the mysteries of the world. Such is the goal of all power systems; either technology, magic, martial arts, or cultivation, they were all born with a single goal: To understand reality and uncover its mysteries.

"Law of Archery," Nox Aeterna muttered. His neck-long rainbow hair lightly fluttered, and his child body at that moment seem incomparably grand as the grandiose amount of mana his Z-Rank soul held felt boundless at that moment.

The whole area around him shook and trembled, yet he poured more and more mana into the arrow and bow, as his immense foundation over the Law of Archery brought a qualitative change.

Comprehension of the Laws of Reality is akin to intuition for reality itself. The higher one's comprehension of a certain law becomes; the further one can influence reality to their own liking.

For example, if a normal human were to wield a gun or use a blade, they can only exert what is to be expected of those weapons. A blade can cut, and a gun can shoot bullets. But under the hands of someone who has a deep foundation of the Law of Blade, a blade can now split the skies, while someone who has the same level of comprehension over the Law of Sword can use a normal gun to blow up mountains.

Reality itself is far more profound than what is normally shown to people who have low comprehension of reality. What is just a river would be akin to a complex structure of reality for someone who has a deep foundation for the Law of Water.

And that is why Gods are strong beyond common sense. They not only have deep comprehension over their specialized law but their own strength elevates their control over reality to an extent far beyond what mortal men can ever achieve.

A God of Technology can produce a simple marble that can detonate stars. A God of Swords would be able to wield a normal wooden stick to shatter the fabrics of space. A God of Wine can create rivers of wine that drive worlds to drunkenness.

Any God, no matter how weak, is essentially invincible to any mortal being.

But don't belittle Demigods, for their might is immense!

Feeling the immense surge of energy coursing through the arrow, Nox Aeterna lightly let go and he watched as the arrow constructed from an immense amount of mana fly through the air. It pierced through the clouds of Jupiter, and its brilliant rainbow light shone brightly like a shooting star.

Just like that, the arrow disappeared into the far distance and alongside it was destruction.

Nox Aeterna calmly gazes at the destroyed area, before his body disappeared with a glimmer of rainbow light.

The next moment, he found himself standing on the vast grounds of Mars. Upon arriving on Mars, he lightly taps his foot to the ground and a wave of mana ripped outwards just like tossing a pebble into a clear lake. But for this instance, the ground was akin to a clear lake and it caused the ground to bob up and down like water.

It was strange to see solid hard ground have the properties of water, but this is the profundities of Laws! They are what reality is! The deeper one can understand laws, the deeper their influence over reality becomes!

His right foot then lightly hovered over the rippling ground, only the tip of his toe barely touching the water-like ground. But in the next instance, his foot smashed down harshly to the ground and mana surged once more. This time, he can sense the Law of Earth in the surrounding area react intensely to the mana he sent out, and the ground rapidly elevated high into the air.

The red ground of Mars gathered around Nox Aeterna like a surging dragon, and it rapidly formed a ginormous mountain in mere moments. By the time a few seconds passed, Nox Aeterna's eyes glanced around the area atop a tall mountain. Only the barren grounds of Mars greeted him, with nearly no signs of life in sight.

But in the next moment, as mana surges once more into the ground, and this time, rapid changes were born. One by one, light blue mushroom caps formed throughout the entire mountain. It was a peculiar sight to behold, for a blue mountain can now be seen on a planet dyed with the color of red.

"Life, huh…" He lightly muttered, before disappearing once more.

In the next instance, he found himself standing over the hot ground, and he looks up to find the searing hot sun radiating its powerful heat toward him. In a normal person's eyes, if they were to even be able to look at the sun in such close proximity without instantly getting blinded, they'll only see the yellow-orange brightness of the sun. The thing they'll only see is this colossal burning ball of flames.

But in Nox Aeterna's eyes, he saw the profound Law of Fire, Law of Light, and other countless claws that helped each other to bring forth the sun into existence. It was truly a beautiful sight for Nox Aeterna, as his immensely deep foundation gave him the ability to see the world from a far different perspective compared to before.

His eyes gleamed with a certain brilliance, and mana coursed through his entire body and erupted outwards. As heat and light gathered into two balls of yellow light hovering around him, he kneels down and grabbed the two balls of yellow light with his naked palms.

Slowly, a strange transformation started to appear. The Law of Fire and Light that formed the two balls slowly altered and changed, transforming into the Law of Life!

As the twin balls of light bathed the surroundings in their brightness, he started to see green foilage form slowly even under the extreme conditions of the planet. They were overflowing with vitality, and under the planet's extreme living conditions, they rapidly mutated and evolved! Their color turned into a brighter hue of green, their vitality became denser and denser compared to before, and their reliance on the meager traces of water brought by the Law of Life was thrown away as their appearance turned monstrous.

'The beauty of life. Life can be considered suffering in itself, but life needs suffering to grow! Only hard times can produce champions, only tribulations can create heroes!' As he watched the plants grow stronger, his own understanding of the Law of Life turned deeper as he recognized one of the mysteries of Life.

Seeing that, he nodded his head and stored the twin balls of yellow light away. With the lack of the light of life stemming from the balls of light, the plants that were struggling for their life quickly wilted away and died one by one, and the planet returned back to its previous state once more.

Though the Sun may be the source of life, it is also the source of death.

And so, Nox Aeterna continued to travel through the void of space, appear on multiple planets in the solar system, and exerted his full strength over multiple laws one by one. With more practice, the more he understood his current strength.

But as more time passes, the more urgent he became as if there was a clock ticking in the back of his head.

"Hmm?" Nox Aeterna halted his movement in the void of space and his eyes turned towards a certain direction. Instantly, he saw a ginormous being in the far distance rapidly approaching his home solar system.

The being was a ginormous reptilian monster, just like a mix between an alligator and a snake. It had black scales, its eyes were shining bright red, and its long tail swished dangerously. One glance alone and Nox Aeterna, with his deep foundation, knows that the being in front of him was a Devourer!

The children of Apotheosis; harbingers of death and destruction; beings who strive to evolve by devouring others!

'A Demigod Devourer?' Nox Aeterna felt estranged to encounter such a being out of nowhere, but he was instantly reminded of a certain little black slime back on Earth, which caused realization to dawn upon him.

'Very well! If you're already here, might as well become my stepping stone for my ascendance to Godhood!' Nox Aeterna grinned, and with that, immense killing intent flooded out of his body.

Seeing the fellow Demigod in front of it turn hostile, the Devourer roared out in response without fear and exuded its powerful Z-Rank aura. Both beings stared at one another with hostility, and rushed at each other!

***

Outside the solar system where Earth is located, one can traces of blue blood splattered everywhere, with asteroids broken into fragments floating everywhere.

Around a certain area with the most amount of destruction, where even the fabrics of space were broken down and ruptures can be seen everywhere, one can find a bloody child missing the entire right side of his body as if he was blasted with a ginormous beam that directly erased that part of his existence.

But with the missing part of his head, one can find a victorious smile as he thought: 'Peak Demigod battle strength, hahaha! To think I'd attain this amount of strength in merely a month… But if I can attain this level of strength in just a month… Then the same can be said to the original…'

At the same time as he was thinking, multiple beings widened their eyes in shock as if they all simultaneously noticed a drastic shift.

"Demigods…" A chilling cold voice muttered in a certain room, and a pair of gray eyes opened.

His hair was long and colored silver-gray, while his silver-gray eyes stared coldly at the air in front of him. Flourishing out of his body, one can sense the immensely powerful Demigod aura emanating from his body.

He lightly breathed out turbid air, and with a groan, stood up. Silver-gray metallic dust gathered around his body, and a silver-gray cloak covered his entire body in one fell swoop.

"Welcome back, Master," A feminine voice lightly called out inside his mind.

"Oh? Whom might you be?" Isaac halted for a moment, before continuing to stand up like nothing happened.

"I am Ai, Master," Ai responded.

Hearing that, Isaac flicked his hand and a blue screen appeared in front of him. But in his eyes, using his immense foundation as a basis, he noticed something quite peculiar: "You… You're actually alive? Strange, it seems like my transcendence to Demigodhood somehow affected the Law of Life and Soul in the area, and due to your deep connection to me, allowed you to leave your technological bounds and be given 'Life'. Strange, truly strange! But in turn, this is also the beauty of the reality we live in!"

Quickly analyzing the situation, Isaac simply accepted the facts presented to him and flicked his hand once more, and a fracture in space opened up in front of him.

He grinned menacingly, and he muttered with an ominous tone: "Let's see how my clone has been doing up till now, shall we?"

"Affirmative, Master."

AN: This chapter has 2275 words.

October 29, 2022 – 339th day of writing)