Zenovis Izel or aka, Izeno’s POV:

 

Izeno's Space Calendar: 452 billion years after waking up in this space... (Remember that he does not feel the time is passing... because he is the time itself.)

Still... I reincarnated as a black hole, huh? 

I didn't sign up for this... 

But, to be honest, it sounds really cool... Being called a black hole here and there makes a difference from being like your daily isekai slime or legendary beast. 

Furthermore, my abilities are far more imposing than I expected. 

I was supposed to have my gravitational field neutralized... but it seems possible to totally control my body setting.

My leading ability as a black hole is to absorb anything and everything that exists in space. As a black hole, it literally lives up to its name... seriously.

Whether I absorb things physically using my gravitational force or as shattered pieces of information, they all cannot escape me as a black hole.

I can recreate the Big Bang event right here right now too. Using my ridiculous gravitational force to pull everything in a single point, I can jam an unimaginable amount of energy and transform it into incredible explosive power. 

On top of those absurd abilities, every piece of information I absorbed will be converted into reconstructible data. It will be possible for me to materialize or create anything as long as I have the data for it.

Well... Technically, that ability to create and control things is initially the Infinity Hole's ability...

Anyway! It is like having the power to destroy and create things, a literal godlike power. On a superior scale, that is.

And yep, if I wanted to become something, be it finally setting myself off as the mysterious protagonist that I admire... I could reconstruct my form into anything I desire to be. 

All of those are my current privileges as a black hole. 

I just couldn't ask for more than this. It was pretty excessive than what I wanted...

Or so what I should be saying, but...

Presently at this space, my information growth has stopped. 

I think I just underestimated my abilities...

Who would have thought of me finally achieving the pinnacle of everything?

I, as a black hole, absorbed everything within my reach. 

Ahahaha... 

"..."

Nope. Not going to bother explaining those silly developments.

I, a dark, bottomless field with an eternal thirst for devouring everything within its spectrum, have finally reached the end of its overwhelming conquest and domination of every piece of information...

As I said, no more developments can be made since I finally reached the end. 

And there are more developments than just a 'more' itself.

But let me outline the eminent discoveries out of everything:

First, I finally reached the last level of archverse, The Border, the 92nd level or the end of the verse hierarchy. At this point, no further progress can be made. 

The Border is like a wall. It separates a totally different world apart from outer space. You can think of it like me entering heaven from hell. 

Naturally, I can't pass my consciousness further behind it... as someone from hell, you can't just suddenly step into an incompatible environment, it's suicide. 

Second, I obtained the ultimate defensive property, The Border's Flowers. It is a material property that obliterates an existence when a particular requirement is met. 

Of course, it came from The Border itself. It is the material that separates all existence within The Border. That is the reason why I can't pass further behind it. As long as I am something considered to exist within The Border, I will be deleted without exception... 

But in the end, I just practically plundered its property. 

Seriously... it will be a horrendous defense if it's ever utilized.

Lastly, I obtained the ability to become an inexistent being, or it should be more proper to say that I became an independent element that doesn't belong within The Border.

It's something like me alone being able to recognize my own existence or to be able to define myself.

That means no one can define my concept of existence unless I allow them to. Needless to say, the conception of death and recognition cannot reach me.

However, I can't use it to pass The Border, as it is an ability I extracted from The Border, its own property.

Well, that should be all. And these abilities will play an indispensable role in my plans later on. 

Soon after, I will start putting my plans into motion...

Yep, it should be good enough if I start advancing through... I'm not expecting any more growth than this...

 

 

✩✩✩✩✩

 

 

Eons of time later in that space…

Somewhere in space, a shining black figure can be seen floating aimlessly.

A distorted ring surrounds its head, and majestic white lights that crack the space denote its body lines. It has four black limbs similar to a human, and each is warping non-stop as if wanting to destroy anything it comes into contact with it.

A single red core seemingly looks like an eye is at the center of its head and shines brightly like crimson blood, flickering as if it is a devil.

The artistic and fine sparkling beautiful traces left by the black humanoid figure, similar to an aurora borealis¹An aurora, also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions. is observable in the ample space.

The figure then suddenly raised its right limb and seemingly pointed somewhere in space.

An immense, deep, mysterious voice can be heard emerging out of the black figure.

"This will do."

The next moment, the empty void in space began to light up, and objects started to appear out of nowhere.

A small ball of yellow light appeared in the middle of the objects, slowly becoming big, swirling its surroundings as if absorbing the energy around it. 

Followed by several similar ball objects taking shape around the massive yellow ball in the middle.

The yellow ball of light reached its final size, releasing an exquisite shade of yellow color and gushing out pulsating splashes of gases around its body. 

Afterward, the other ball objects slowly make their way into their final sizes. 

Out of all the bodies in that space, eight objects among the rest can be seen as unique. They are orbiting the yellow in the middle in a circular motion as their core. 

The ball objects numbers up to eight, leaving an adequate distance from each other.

The eight objects have different sizes and characteristics that can be distinguished in a single look. 

After the ball objects settled down in their places, irregularly shaped solid objects appeared in the middle of the eight bodies. 

Next to the first four balls of body order orbiting the yellow ball, the sight of numerous rocks can be seen forming a circular chain.

Followed by another chain of rocks started to appear next to the last, the farthest object, a similar but bigger chain of stone rocks formed.

The black figure then raised both hands, resembling a grasping gesture. 

Suddenly, the space became enveloped by a tremendous amount of unknown energy, making the space shake in distortion.

Cracks in the space can be seen, and small mysterious particles surges, discharging between the fissures as if overflowing.

Small waves of light run through the whole space that the objects occupy, dying the outer space with mesmerizing colors.

The black figure then went to one of the eight objects orbiting the yellow body, a planet that resembles the Earth...

 

 

✩✩✩✩✩

 

 

Everything went well.

My current form is a compressed figure of my main body, a black hole.

In the meantime, I have no plans to change my body into something else. Well, a black hole and a human transformation from time to time will work.

This look is just perfect. Not so flashy but oozes the feeling of mysteriousness. It just fits my tastes.

Prior to making my appearance before the other lifeforms and civilizations, I established my own existence... I mean the identity they will be facing.

I'm no longer Izel Zenovis... My name starting today is... Izeno, the Abysmal Black Hole. A very suitable name for a supreme being like myself.

Kuku...

Right now, I'm standing in the world I created, a world exclusively for me, mine to be used alone.

It is a planet five times the size of Jupiter. 

I placed it far away from where the Zakref is to fit the description of the other world on another level. And to top it off, I made the environment similar to Earth. It includes the solar system. 

That’s right, I’m actually planning to make this planet my private vacation world. I will name this world... Paradise. 

Paradise will be the home of my identity as the Abysmal Black Hole.

But despite what I said, I just actually copied the Earth's solar system. The only difference is that I resized Earth to five times the size of Jupiter and added fantasy elements to the whole solar system.

Currently, there are no other living things except nature and animals. In other words, a fresh Earth without humans and artificial structures. 

It exactly fits the name Paradise, as the sight of the beautiful planet with blue seas and lush greenery is present.

I'm currently in the middle of empty grasslands somewhere in Paradise. The scenery of beautiful blue skies, tall mountains, different figures of animals, and a flowing river can be seen.

“Ah… The air is refreshing.”

My voice is somehow very deep... yet scary. A mysterious tone comes out of my reverberating head, stagnating the atmosphere whenever I talk.

I have not felt more human than before. It feels nostalgic… but at the same time, it is so peaceful and calming. 

I wish something like this existed back then on Earth...

I sat on the spot and laid my pitch-black body on the plain grasses. The feeling of the soil and the scent of grasses are directly transmitted to my body. It is as if me having the senses of a human. 

The chilling air flows... and the grass sways back and forth together. 

The sounds of birds flying and chirping are also soothing.

Yes, this is truly a paradise…

"This is incredulous... to think that I will be touching the feeling of the Earth de novo after all this happened...”

My sense of time on this planet is back to what it was like when I was a human. Everything didn’t feel so real until now. 

The time I spent in space… all of it happened right away in an instant. But right now, I feel the usual sunny daytime moving at its own pace.

In Paradise, a day cycle is two times longer than the Earth. Yes, 48 hours a day. I modified the solar system and its orbit on a whim. 

Actually, I just wanted an extended day period to feel the longer days that I once dreamt of in the past.

“Birds…”

Ah… it feels lonely. I’ve been all by myself until now. I haven't done any talks or conversations with anyone. I'm only with myself...

"..."

Yosh! Time to put this boredom to an end. 

I slowly brought up my body and stood straight from the position where I was a moment ago.

For starters, this world will become my new home. So naturally, there should be structures for me to use and stay in when I'm in my human form... or probably when I'm playing my role as the mysterious protagonist.

"A castle fortress...?"

Sure it will be good to have a spacious place to stay, it might be a good idea to make it big as possible too...

It's decided then.

I stretched out my hands in my front.

The next moment, the ground started to deform and made screeching noises. 

The vast space from the floor began to be occupied by crystalline pillars, followed by walls appearing simultaneously. The flooring materialized and was followed by the ominous conical roofs.

Outside, the clear view of a metropolis-size castle structure made out of TB's Flowers perfectly matches the natural scenery. It's as if heaven suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

The jet-black lining and white glowing lights surrounding the castle walls are certainly, without a doubt, standing out...

The whole castle fortress has the appearance of a sinister black crystalline structure that sparkles like gemstones. Dark flames crack the space around the castle, making the view much more extravagant.

It also radiates the typical fantasy aura and a divine feeling.

At the deepest level of the castle, at the cathedral-looking place, a throne with a subtle appearance and a dark shadowy atmosphere materialized.

Yep, that place is a perfect mysterious boss room. My room from now on, to be exact.

Outside of the castle is surrounded by golden-black fence-like walls and a beautiful ethereal garden.

How should I say this... this place looks like a medieval structure with advanced functionality and technology.

It's unrecognizable if this is even an ordinary castle, an ancient building, or if some normal creature even made this.

Too mysterious in a sense...

To finish this off, I added an extreme gravitational force around this castle, an independent space non-reliant and separated from Paradise's gravity.

Entering the area around the castle will be like entering a black hole. Anything that passes the line will be sucked off the ground mercilessly. It will be my show of power for unknown visitors of this place, for now...

Anyway, I already have anything I need... 

What's left is... yep, to make contact with other lifeforms.

Now, I should advance to my next step...

 

 

✩✩✩✩✩

 

 

A few days after some preparation in Izeno's castle...

Presently at the castle, I'm sitting on my throne.

The interior design of my room is a dark, warping space surrounded by dim lighting.

No other objects or furniture can be seen, including the light source is not present anywhere in the room.

Only the figure of myself, sitting on a dark, pulsating, distorted shadowy throne, is emphasized with the mysterious atmosphere. 

The figure of my pitch-black body is being bathed in the rays of light projected from the ceiling. 

It is a scene that makes me look like a mysterious person is being played out.

Yep, at last...

Today will be the beginning of Izeno's appearance as a mysterious existence.

"Haha..."

The deep evil laugh that departed from my head resonated in every corner of the room.

This is truly magnificent...

Anyway, my plan for today is to spread out my existence by associating with other beings. I will indirectly make contact with them using their own kind.

Of course, that would mean me being an unknown being whose purpose is undefined. I will not let anyone know what my goal is.

Because I only wanted to enjoy this second life I had, my dream.

"..."

"Hmmph."

Right... it is time.

I will summon someone from different worlds. 

To be honest... this is a forced abduction, but I don't care. Human ideologies do not apply to me anymore, a black hole. 

My summoning method is by deploying hand-size neutralized black holes everywhere in space. I took over outer space itself, so... there should be no problems coordinating anywhere in the vast outer space.

The black hole will suck off the target lifeform and warps it into this planet, in front of me. I already set up the setting for people who will be summoned by me to not be affected by the gravitational force in this castle, so they won't accidentally die.

Let's see... sorting out a specific lifeform will help... it shouldn't be totally random. It will just summon one among the sorted candidates of my requirements.

I could rely on my database-like memories to effortlessly find or create the perfect person in my mind... but it's a no-go. There's no way I would be satisfied with that.

I even filtered 95% of living identities locked to make things exciting...

Good thing I put a filter to prevent me from this exact situation... just good grief.

A humanoid lifeform capable of being mysterious, whoever it is, as long as it can act like how a mysterious person does. Be it an elf ojisan, anyone will do.

Yep, I need a servant. (lol)

I stretched and put up my right hand, pointing it at the black crystalline floor.

"..."

After a few moments, the space in front of me started to distort, and a colossal crack in the air opened slowly, increasing the tension of the atmosphere. 

I hurriedly made a stiff posture, putting down both of my hands on my throne's armrest.

"This is it..."

A human figure... no, a woman was thrown off violently out of the crack.

"Ahhhhh, that hurts!"

Huh...? She doesn't even look like a mysterious person in the first place... How should I say this...

She is a woman with a perfect body figure... or should I say the epitome of ideal beauty? She had a pair of bountiful breasts too. She had long bone-white hair, complementing her snow-white skin. Her emerald eyes are nowhere near being called mere beautiful.

I doubt that she is from the same planet I was before... There's no way a perfection like her exists on Earth.

"W-Who...?"

The woman is clad in an elegant pure white modern casual dress that can be mistaken as a wedding dress. How come it perfectly suits her?

She is also wearing shoulder-length leather gloves that show off her beautiful arms. A short veil coated and covered with flowers is on the loftiest part of her head. Her legs are also covered with black tights that contrast her white attire.

The woman slowly walks toward me... 

Oi... wait.

"Stop right there."

"Hyaaaaaa~!!!"

The woman tumbled upon my words. Was she startled by my voice? 

Hahaha! Great!

"O-Oh... are you perhaps my fated husband-sama...?"

Did I hear her just right? Hmm... I see... so that's how it is.

"Kneel."

"A-Ah... I-I can't move... why...?"

The woman was suddenly forced to kneel without any resistance. Her figure right now looks pitiful.

I know this. It must be her mysterious persona active right now. To think that I was deceived by her looks, what a failure as a mysterious boss I am... 

There's no way I will miss the condition I set beforehand and summon a failure. But if it comes to becoming a failure, I can call for another one.

Very well, I will play along with her for now, I guess. 

"The moment you came here means that you only have two options left, it's either cease to exist or to serve under me. What will it be?"

I always wanted to say that line!

Ugh!!! I. Just. Did. It! 

It sounded very mysterious... yet ominous. So cool!

Calm down... calm down, myself...

I can't ruin everything now.

I also have to be careful about what I will say too... I don't want to tell her that she doesn't even have a choice in the first place.

Her mysterious persona will be valuable to me, as she is currently showing me her potential. 

"Y-Yes! I will be your thing! Please let me serve under you, husband-sama!"

Hou? I can't tell whether she is still acting, but this is a top-notch development.

Let me unbind her first, and let me see what she will do next.

The next moment, the mild gravitational force binding the woman was released. The woman then stood up slowly and started tapping her shoulders. It is as if she is removing dirt.

"You can stop with that oscar-level acting skills already. Show me your true face."

"T-True face...?"

Is that her answer? I guess she still doesn't know my strength yet. It makes sense that she will not just submit that easily. 

I need to keep her mind and spirit intact... so I'll be careful in showing the extent of my powers. 

"I don't understand... but I'll do my best to serve you, husband-sama!"

Interesting! A mind that cannot easily be broken and influenced, a perfect mysterious identity is standing right before me! She acts like the very same person in that manga! An innocent look is actually a deceiving monster inside.

Kuku... I guess she immediately understood and changed her mind. 

This feeling of ecstasy... everything is going well until now. I can't help but be delighted by this extreme feeling of happiness.

"So it is true... that the man I was fated with is hiding in the guise of a black shadow..."

Why is she murmuring? Anyway, I can hear her loud and clear. 

Well, her fate indeed is to become my servant. She can't do anything about it. I even think that my becoming a black hole is my fate as well... 

"That's right. The moment you were born... you are already tied to my existence."

"!!!"

"R-Really!?"

...

Heh... 

You sound happy, but I know you are in an agony of despair inside, but don't worry, as my servant, I will treat you well. 

Her face says it all. With that red cheeks, she feels humiliated.

Anyway, time to patch things up.

"You there. Let me tell you this, you will absolutely follow my commands. In return, I will grant you any wish you desire. Be it wealth, fame, power, or destruction of your world, I will grant you them without fail."

"U-Um... if you say so, then... husband-sama, I will follow your w-wishes. But u-um... you don't have the thing...?"

"Thing?"

"Nevermind!!!"

Thing? Is she talking about my black hole form? 

"Stop calling me husband or whatever. It's annoying. You will have to call me Izeno from now on. And you don't have to worry about me, I'm somewhat a monster or something, not a human."

"Izeno-sama... what a noble name...! U-Um oh."

"My only wish is for you to accompany me in fulfilling my dream... to become a mysterious protagonist..."

"Izeno-sama... what is a mysterious protagonist?"

"No, forget it. Anyway, I kept calling you without a name for a while now. What's your name?"

"M-My name...? It's not that great... b-but I was named after the goddess in my world. My name is Lily."

"Then Lily, we will have a long... long discussion today."