Chapter 454: The Three Paths Ahead

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The endless orange sky of the Himalayan mountains was peaceful, tranquil, like the calm before the storm.

Two abstract entities stood before Neji's as if to protect him while he stood beside his sister—Nejire seemed to have grown unbelievably. On his other side stood the Goddess Chaos, the amalgamation entity.

Despite all the support he had right now, Neji was unsure if this was enough to go against the Godmother of All Demons and her minion, the Sin of Pride. Although two high-class Abstract Entities had appeared, the Godmother looked merely annoyed.

“Haah…” Godmother sighed gently when she realized Neji wouldn't say anything against Lady Life's words. So, she looked at Life instead. “Why are you doing this, Life? You know I don't want to hurt you.”

“You can't hurt me, you hag. And I am doing this for the sake of the Gamer—both the current one and mine. I was the only one other than that… ‘Director’ who was by his side in his last moments. He made a request, and I'm only following that. But that fanatic witch is doing her own thing to bring him back. She fails to admit that he doesn't want to return.” Lady Life said.

Neji realized they were talking about the First Gamer. ‘So she was with him till his last moments…’ 

That was surprising since Contessa Fate, the other Abstract Entity who loved Neji's predecessor, said that she didn't get to see him at his last moments… 

Neji knew that Lady Life was imprisoned after that, so she got detained for helping the First Gamer in whatever he did before his last moments. Lady Life didn't think twice about antagonizing all the other Abstract Entities for her lone lover, while Contessa Fate wasn't brave enough.

‘She loved him like crazy.’ Neji looked at the back of the green-haired woman and concluded. ‘...But what is this about bringing him back?’

“You don't love him enough if you don't want him back just because he said he doesn't want to be back,” Godmother said in a cold tone that made the air sharp and chilly, while Lady Life smiled instead.

Her brilliant smile made her song grow, and it reached a threshold. Pure willpower solidified into a hexagon symbol, with a flower engraved within it, floating in the sky above Lady Life's head.

Neji's Omniscience helped him [Observe] the strange power. What was that?

[The Joy Icon].

[The Joy Icon is one of the many Icons that exist in the Omniverse. The Icons are a branch of power that didn't exist in the Omniverse originally; the two beings who call themselves Beyond Omnipotence had brought this power to this realm.]

[The Joy Icon has dominion over life and, as the name suggests, happiness.]

Just as the last line said, the world seemed to be happy at this moment. Flowers danced in the distance, and the clouds moved with a rhythm. What an odd beauty.

“I don't love him enough? What a fool you are. You know, I am the only one he had a child with.” Lady Life said with an intense glint in her eyes, even as she was smiling, letting her song completely erase Godmother's own.

“Haah…” Godmother sighed, “A son that doesn't even have a soul, you mean. How unsightly that you're bragging about it.”

Lady Life’s smile turned teasing. “Wow. Are you really cursing your own grandson right now, mother-in-law?”

“Do not call me that now. If you're willing not to bring him back, you don't have any connection with me.” Godmother scowled.

“Fine. What did you do to my son?” Life didn't argue and asked. “I told him to stop the aliens from coming to this world.”

“He's playing with the lizard,” Godmother snapped a finger, and the sky split to show the Dimensional Gap.

The Great Red was fighting against the wooden Life Golem that had saved Neji last time. No, they weren't fighting; they were staring at one another without doing anything else.

“I just told him to go play with the lizard. He didn't listen, saying his mother told him to protect the place, but I said he could keep the place safe by sitting there. He is such a broken little thing, so he believed that.”

“Because he trusted you,” Lady Life shot her a glare.

“He did, and I lived by it. I obscured the world and brought the aliens so he didn't sense them coming. Otherwise, he would have rushed here and fought me. He was such a dumb little thing, only doing things that he was ordered to do. He doesn't even listen to me, whom he calls grandmother. Even a simple Artificial Intelligence is better than him. He can't be your son; he's just a toy. A broken one, at that.” 

Lady Life clenched her jaws but didn't say anything. “...At least you didn't harm him. Ra, come here.”

The instant she said the name, the Life Golem blinked from beside Great Red and appeared beside Lady Life. He was a tall and ripped man who stood with no emotion in his face.

[Ra – Life Golem – Peak Class 6]

“Godmother is an enemy,” Life said, “Do not trust her from now on.”

“Understood,” the Golem nodded.

Godmother started to giggle. “You brats. Are you really thinking of going against me? Do you not realize who I am? Bring the Buddha, and even he'd bow before me.”

“The Buddha doesn't count, considering your identity.” Lady Luck chimed in. “Was it the Eternal Samsara? Your title?”

“What's that?” Neji asked, confused.

“She's a special existence. From what I heard from the Beyond Omnipotent duo, who claimed to have visited many other Omniverses, every Prime Omniverse has one Eternal Reincarnator. An entity who is the living personification of the term Reincarnation… or ‘Samsara’ in Buddhist terms. A True Immortal. No matter how many times she died before, she always reincarnated. These entities are a naturally occurring phenomenon, and in most other Prime Omniverses, they are born a very long time after it is created. However, this Prime Omniverse was an exception…”

Godmother has existed since the beginning of time. As she had claimed.

“She's old, very old. In fact, she was the first entity from the Prime Omniverse to have died and reincarnated in the Cube Omniverse back in the day.”

“....” Neji grew uneasy now. Neji was the Soul 799, who reincarnated from the Prime, but this woman was the Soul 001. Shit.

“My, you're giving him a brief about my identity. Perhaps he'll accept me as his mother after knowing I'm his first predecessor.” Godmother said.

“I'm not trusting you,” Neji scoffed. “Last time, that Eurynome woman tried to take me away to revive her dead daughter. And from what you've been saying till now, you want to use my body to revive the First Gamer somehow…”

“Ah, what a pity. You caught on. Hah. Oh well.” She shrugged her shoulders. Suddenly, her gloomy song returned, pushing against Lady Life's own. “The hard way it is, then. Die.”

The sky shone with a gloomy red light, matching the color of her eyes, as another hexagon symbol formed. The painting of the Six Stages of Samsara existed in the middle of this one.

[The Samsara Icon].

The two Icons clashed in a level of power that left the world in shambles. The dimension instantly collapsed, and they appeared back in the real world, floating above Everest.

Lady Luck waved her hand, as threads of white and red danced—she manipulated the threads of probability and luck to minimize the destruction of the world.

Lady Life frowned, gathering an immense level of will, as she waved her hand, and the surroundings changed once again. They vanished from Earth and now stood in the Dimensional Gap, with the massive Great Red looming over them.

[Great Red – Dragon God of Dreams – Peak Tier 72]

Despite being the same Tier as Trihexa, this Dragon was much stronger in offense, since most of Trihexa’s Tier came from its regeneration abilities. Great Red was in another realm in comparison to that.

However…

He couldn't even be considered a bug compared to the beings that stood around it right now. Great Red didn’t even twitch, so as not to offend them, and just continued looming over them. The clash between the Icons seemed to suffocate him though, so Neji touched its claw and used [Mine] to devour it—to relive it from it's misery. The enemies didn’t stop him, since such a weak being’s powers adding to the current him didn’t change anything.

[You have Mined the entirety of Great Red. You have gained all of his abilities.]

[Ding! You have killed a Peak Tier 72 entity!]

[You have leveled up a total of 10 times.]

[You have reached Level 10,580.]

That little level didn’t matter at this point. What mattered was the Dream aspect abilities that Great Red had. Since the Omniverse was born from the dreams of the people in Prime… perhaps someday, if Neji survived today, he’d be able to do something with these abilities.

It had just been a second since they came to the Dimensional Gap; Neji’s speed was at an all-time high, so he was taking action fast—and thinking faster. Neji decided to use that fastened mind to pull up the Quest for which all this was happening.

===

Quest: "The Ascension Trials"

Objective: You have finally reached Level 10,000, and both your Class and Subclass- the Voidmancer and Lumomancer Classes- are at Level 99. To reach Level 100 in them and master them, you need to complete a Trial.

Due to the complexity and duality of one of your two Classes, you have three possible trials. After completing the trial, your entire existence will be amplified.

Quest Overview:

"The Ascension Trials" is a legendary quest offering three distinct paths to achieve Level 100. Each path represents a different approach to power, with its own challenges, rewards, and consequences.

Possible Routes:

Demonic Path: Embrace the dark arts and channel the power of the underworld; a mixture of Light and Darkness, leaning heavily on the latter, leading to an Evil God path.

Seek out the Northern Cosmos’ Demon Lord's Citadel and prove your allegiance to the shadows and darkness. If successful, you shall gain demonic abilities, dark armor, and earn the title of "Azathoth, the God of Void."

Chaos Path: Embrace the chaotic forces that govern the universe. A chaotic mixture of Light and Darkness, leading to a Destruction path.

Navigate the Chaotic Realms, where reality itself is in flux, and prove your ability to harness chaos. If successful, you shall gain the ability to manipulate chaos, chaotic weaponry, and earn the title of "Shub-Niggurath, the Chaosweaver."

Balanced Path: Seek harmony between light and darkness, order and chaos. By far the hardest path to earn, as perfect balance is nigh-impossible, leads you toward an Infinite Creation path.

Uncover the ancient Temples of Equilibrium and prove your mastery over balance. If successful, you shall gain abilities of Light and Darkness, versatile equipment, and afterwards, you will earn the title of "Celestialsapien, the Cosmic Enigma."

*Note: More details about the Quest will be revealed once you choose a Path. You cannot revert your choice once you have selected it.

Timeframe: No Time Limit

===

Ah.

From the looks of this, this was a really important Quest. Perhaps it was the most important one to date.

Like Godmother had said, it seemed like it'd take a long time to complete. But she was offering a way to skip the time and advance on the Demonic Path right now.

However, Neji didn't feel the same level of temptation he was feeling earlier. He recalled information about the First Gamer with his enhanced and enlightened mind.

The First Gamer had the title—Demon King of Light and Darkness. Godmother wanted to tempt Neji into the same path so that whatever aspects needed to be met would be met. That was obviously a trap.

He would have fallen for it if Lady Life hadn't come here. Godmother didn't expect this so that he could use this for his benefit.

“I have the Quest, Godmother,” before the battle could grow any more intense, Neji raised his arms before they started throwing hands instead of aura and destroying the universe.

“Ah,”

“Neji, you shouldn't have told her!”

Godmother smiled, and Lady Luck yelled at him. Lady Life sighed.

“So you have reached Level 10,000?”

“I have,” he nodded, and mentally pressed an option. Anything that wasn't the Demon Path would do. “And just now, I chose the Balanced Path. And it cannot be reversed.”

He chose the Balanced Path just in case, as Chaos too was close to being Demonic. He also liked the term “Celestialsapien”.

Godmother's smile instantly dropped and Lady Life grinned. Neji held his hands up, looking at her as if he had surrendered. Even though he had just checkmated her.

“There is nothing you can do to reverse the choice; even I can't change it. So please get out of here.”

“....”

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