Chapter 455: Things Keep Getting Messier

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Beyond the layers of the lower verses, in the Dimension of Manifestations, the peak of Class 1 – Entity Buddha stood over a mirror-like nebula with two of his four arms crossed. There was a frown in his majestic three heads, as he rubbed his chin with one of his hands. 

This mirror nebula was supposed to show him a reflection of the happenings in a lower world, but it grew very cloudy a while ago. He could make out nothing.

In truth, he couldn't directly observe it, not without alerting the Godmother about it, anyway. She had the power to obscure the gaze of even –Omni– after all. Naturally, if Omni tried a bit harder, it could pierce into the world. After all, it was an Omnipotent entity. But the fact that it has to try harder spoke miles.

"She is trying assiduously to conceal it. How curious.”

Just what was that woman planning? Buddha decided to do Divinations to predict the happening below, instead of directly watching it unfold in the mirror nebula.

With a wave of his hand, the nebula vanished, scattering around like dust, and he sat down in the emptiness of a higher cosmos with his legs crossed. He should focus.

There were few in both Omniverses who could match Buddha's divination. Even the Godmother wasn't good at this, though she was good at blocking it. 

Still, what could be so important that she had to block it to this degree? Was she… planning to do something other than just killing him?

Buddha had known that Lady Life and Lady Luck had been hiding in the plain sights, residing in that High School DxD world. However, the Omniversal forces couldn't take her back to the jail since that'd imply that they were aware of the outsiders in that realm. Buddha didn't want to stop this mission— while he had no personal grudge against the Gamer, he had always been a source of many troubles. As someone who sought and was the personification of Balance, he found it fair to compromise this once if it meant the Gamer would perish.

Buddha was aware that Lady Life and the Godmother were quite close, at least in the past. So could it be that they were helping the Gamer instead?

“Or, worse still…”

Ah.

Buddha suddenly realized something.

With divination abilities at the very peak, welding eyes that could dive deeper into probabilities than Contessa Fate herself, he realized what must be going on.

"Haah. They must be…" he rose to his feet. "Attempting to revive that annoyance.” 

Neji Hado was bearable, he had done nothing much yet, even if he did make an Abstract Entity commit heresy. Compared to the First Gamer, he wasn’t that much of a pain in the behind.

So, under the shimmering stars of this higher cosmos, the Buddha of all Buddhas gathered an army to descend to the lower plane.

* * *

In the realm of [Nowhere], nestled within the heart of the Prime Omniverse, the Primordial God didn't need the whispers of fate to foresee the unfolding events. His wife, Eurynome Celestine, shared the news with a complicated tone, her voice a soft murmur in the spacious chamber of the God Emperor of Gods.

"The Director is hell-bent on reviving him," she whispered, her figure draped beside him on the edge of the bed. "As we feared, the Godmother has ventured into the Cube. They're on the cusp of the ritual."

This chamber, a sanctuary of celestial grandeur, basked in the starlight streaming through vast windows. The Primordial sat with his arms crossed, muscles coiling under his skin like living steel. Eurynome's tender yet deliberate fingers traced through his snow-white hair, each strand telling a story of ancient battles and timeless wisdom. 

Around them, the chamber walls were clad in a deep, oceanic blue, bore murals of mythical creatures, each brushstroke a testament to forgotten epics. On an antique desk, a crystal orb throbbed with a heartbeat as old as time itself, its surface flickering with cryptic scenes that complemented Eurynome's narrative.

"I can't fathom her motives," Eurynome mused, her gaze fixed on the crystal orb that now showcased the Director of the Last Act in the underworld of Babylon. "Why reveal such plans to us? Can she not anticipate our response? Does she not know that we wouldn’t allow her to succeed?" 

The Primordial's response rumbled through the room, a deep, resonating growl that shook space. "Perhaps she assumed we'd choose noninterference, because she hoped I’d be interested in his return, solely for my satisfaction of slaying him once more."

"Was she wrong in her assumption?"

Silence hung in the air, the Primordial was silent.

Indeed, he was interested in that. But the scales were too high. He slowly stood up and walked over to the window.

His imposing figure carried the weight of a world as his monstrous form loomed over the window. His eyes reflected a depth of ancient wisdom and gazed out into the vastness of space. Then this red-skinned giant looked at the city below this castle. 

Suspended within this starry void, there lay a grand city—larger than any planet, a marvel of magic and advanced technology. Buildings of shimmering crystal and gleaming metal soared toward infinity, their spires lit with ethereal lights that danced in harmonious patterns. Floating pathways, like ribbons of light, connected the structures, bustling with beings of various forms and origins.

This city, home to a quadrillion souls, thrived under his guardianship. Though his appearance was monstrous, his intentions were not born of pure malice, though they couldn't be deemed entirely benevolent either. His pursuit of the Gamer was driven by the chaos they wrought; it just happened so that they shared personal grudges as well.

The last one did a lot of shenanigans until he was put down, and the new one, despite having existed for only 17 years in the Cube Omniverse, was causing Abstract Entities to clash. They were too much trouble to let them be, It's better for them to cease to be. Moreover, if the first one were to return things would only get more troublesome.

“I have decided,” the Primordial looked at his kingdom below as he spoke to his wife. “I am going to end him. Last time I let you act, wife, because you wanted to bring back our daughter through his body. But that doesn’t seem possible anymore. It's unwise to let him grow any longer. I shall put an end to him when it's still possible.”

“Are you certain?”

The Primordial looked back at Eurynome. “Yes. Now is the best time. Since even the Director and Godmother are gathered near him, I shall descend there right now and pluck out all of them.”

Eurynome opened her mouth to stop him, but seeing his conviction, she just nodded. “I understand. Then I shall hold back the Omniverse's Will while you’re at it.”

The Primordial God showed her a rare smile. With that, the plan was on the way.

* * *

Unknown to Neji, or anybody near him at this moment, things on the grander scale were tipping over one another.

“Haah,” the Godmother let out a hollow sigh after a minute of staring at Neji. “You are incredibly frustrating.”

From how her face morphed into pure anger, she didn't plan to leave just yet.

“If you are making things this difficult for me, then I shall kill you. I'd rather wait for a 3rd Gamer to appear. Die.”

“Wait, mother-in-law! Let’s-” Unlike how she was matching Godmother until now, Lady Life grew anxious seeing her anger.

Godmother raised an open hand at Neji and clutched the air. A pressure far beyond black holes fell over Neji, as he coughed, and Lady Life quickly raised a hand of her own at him—the pressure faded.

“Life, do not anger me!” The Godmother snapped at Lady Life and waved her hand.

Four more, powerful Icons formed around her [Samsara Icon]. The Death Icon, the Heavenly Demon Icon, the Sword Icon, and finally, the Dragon Icon.

One was already enough to match Lady Life, but five easily trampled over her song – her influence. Neji felt the last bit of Icon influence Lady Life had left to focus on him, she was trying to keep him safe, as the other Icons rang like hungry bells.

Until now, the Godmother was trying to persuade Neji so she hasn't once revealed her true powers. But now, she had no reason to pull her punches.

Lady Life coughed, holding her mouth, as golden blood trickled down her nose. Her Icon remained in the sky, but barely. When her blood trickled down, stars bloomed into life as the droplets were absorbed by the universe. 

Despite being injured, she stood over Neji and the others, making Lady Luck gowl in anger.

“Stop this nonsense already!” with a shout, she threw herself at Godmother.

The Sin of Pride leaped forward to stop her, but Nejire jumped to punch him in the face. The punch sent the demon flying across galaxies. Before Neji could follow, he reappeared before her and kicked her head—Nejire’s legs moved oddly flexibly and blocked it.

Lady Luck continued towards Godmother, clutching her fingers into a claw shape, as she waved the air to cut invisible strands of luck from Godmother’s existence. She raised her head forward and clutched her open palm into a tight fist, causing the severed strings to sharpen and rush into Godmother’s body, as if to penetrate her.

Godmother winced, but it didn’t do much damage. “You fool!” she raised her hand, and cleaved downward, as if swinging a sword.

“Luck, dodge-!”

Lady Life yelled, but it was too late to dodge—it was too fast. So Lady Luck weaved her fingers through the threads of probability to turn the cut technique into a blunt one. 

An invisible hammer hit her torso, and she blinked away from this universe, having sent flying a few universes far.

If if was not turned into a blunt attack, the slice power behind, originating from the Sword Icon, would have severed Luck in two. The Icons were that powerful.

“It's time I end you,” Godmother said and snapped her fingers. The [Death Icon] let out a high chime as a million stars in the distant galaxies vanished. 

All those stars, despite protection from the Omniverse, “died” and were erased. Leaving planets to collide into one another, causing negative energy to swell up in the universe and all those demonic and aura condensed into an aura of power that flashed around her body.

Godmother's face turned demonic, horns formed on her head. 

A haunting face~

The Godmother of All Demon walked over to Neji; Lady Life and the Life Golem Ra stood before him while he stood before Chaos, but the demon didn’t look bothered. This level of blockage couldn’t bother her. 

She slowly walked through the emptiness of space while looking at his eyes with her deadly, blood red ones.

Godmother raised a hand, purple energy crackled in her fingertips, and her eyes locked on Neji’s throat. “Soul Devour.”

Immortal She~

Return to me.

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Master4thWall Note: 🙏Happy New Year, everyone! Can't believe it's 2024 already, time passed too fast, I don't remember 10-percent of what happened in 2023. No matter how your year went, hopefully 2024 will be better!

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