I started searching for a way out of this maze that the System had created, but it was to no avail.
There was no escape from this universe. The reality of it dawned on me. And just when I thought it couldn't get any more hopeless—that's when it happened
I felt a presence so immense and authoritative that even my singularity trembled under its force. For a moment, I forgot I even consumed. The universe itself seemed to halt, as if gazing upon that being.
And then, I heard a voice.
??: "I commend you for the resistance you have shown until now!"
At that moment, a white strike slashed vertically through the universe, as if it sought to cleave everything in half. It rushed toward me with terrifying speed, yet—rather than destroying or erasing, it was creating.
Wherever the strike passed, it formed a permanent pocket in the universe, ensuring nothing else was affected except for the one it had locked onto—me.
I reacted instantly.
Drawing in the spacetime fabric, I propelled myself sideways, barely nicking past the attack by a hair's breadth. The space I had just left quickly warped and disappeared from the cosmos. Stars and planets drifted ever closer to one another—compensating for the missing pocket in the universe.
??: "It was because of you that I was created."
Suddenly, it appeared beside me.
??: "You have my Gratitude!"
It formed a blade from the World Creed in one hand and descended upon me. I widened my event horizon, attempting to engulf it whole—but the moment my event horizon even came close, it shattered into nothingness.
The blade closed in on my core.
I pulled every ounce of the spacetime fabric I could gather and hurled it toward the blade.
??: "Oh? You are just as I learned from the Arbiter."
The very spacetime itself disintegrated under its blade as it spoke.
The Arbiter?
I maintained my distance, calculating my next move.
??: "Huh? From the information it imbued within me, you were the one it was chasing—until you destroyed its precious dog. And yet, you claim you don't know of it?"
It fired a beam toward me, reshaping reality in its wake.
Dog? Does it mean the Hound? Then the Arbiter must be...the System?!
I dodged it, leaving behind yet another erased pocket in the universe.
??: "Correct! "
I tried to create as much distance between us as possible with every movement.
So I was correct. Huh? Why could it hear my thoughts?
Suddenly, it traversed beside me—and swung its massive Creed blade, slicing through a portion of my event horizon.
I barely escaped in time, consuming the spacetime fabric and reappearing a few light-years away.
??:"Isn't it because you're asking the questions yourself? Don't blame me for anything you ask on your own accord! I'm already doing you a favor by answering your questions! Can you please be a little more sensible?! I was just born, you know?!"
Asking it?
Oh! I get it now!
me: "Baby? Who's the baby here?! I may be a Singularity now, but even I was human before this! I don't know much about babies, but I do know one thing—they're not as lethal as you the moment they're born! Don't stain their name!"
Suddenly, it fired a lance toward me.
The lance tore through space, racing toward me with unstoppable force.
I quickly applied Creed Flow on the celestial objects nearby—just as I had done with the Singularity when battling the Hound.
For a moment, I increased their gravitational pull, causing the lance to falter—giving me just enough time to devour it.
??: "A human? You were a human? Interesting! Even I didn't know that. Then... this form must feel home to you."
Its massive, many-armed form—each limb holding a weapon forged from the World Creed, with a poorly shaped yolk-like core at its center—began to change.
Before me now stood a humanoid figure. Two arms, two legs, a head—it had taken a human form.
me : "It doesn't help one bit!"
It threw multiple reality-warping lances toward me.
??: "It doesnt? But why? Dont I look the magnificent in this form too? Or... is something's off with it?I know humans look just like this, though..."
The sheer volume of the lances forced me to dodge continuously, weaving through space at high speeds.
me: "'Too?' You never looked acceptable in that yolk form either! Everything's off with it!"
P.S. Author's Note:
Thanks for all the support! I know the story got a bit repetitive, so I'm trying something new. I also plan to wrap up Book 1 soon because I'm eager to start writing Book 2—which will be even more fun than this one!
Since this is my first book, I want to learn as much as possible from it so I can improve and write an even better Book 2.
Looking forward to sharing more with you all!