SS #4: Resurrection of Gods

Xiem, Vanaha Empire, Andromeda Galaxy:

In the outer edge of the Andromeda galaxy, there is a large planet called Xiem which is hundreds of times bigger than Jupiter and with a population of over one hundred billion. This planet is the home for one of the strongest and smartest races in the known quadrant.

A planet who did not have earthquakes or natural disaster for millions of years suddenly started to shake vigorously. So, it started to scare everyone.

“!!”

At the centre of the planet, there is a very tall building - standing slightly over ten kilometres and floating 30 meters above the ground. This is the castle of the Vanaha Empire.

Inside this gorgeous and tall building, on the top floor, there was a large luxurious white room with golden and red decoration. Far ahead at the back of the room, there was a very large and luxurious throne where the King sat on.

“What was that?”

The divine king of the Vanaha Empire, radiating white energies narrowed his large eyes while he sat on the throne.

“The...” a tall green man with a circular head and a nose with only one nasal while wearing a white dress and grey coat rushed into the room. “It… The planet is shaking--- And-and-and-and our technology is...”

The man was in a rush and he was stuttering, so Kiet, the King of Vanaha Empire raised his hand, gesturing him to slow down.

“Y-yes, Your Majesty.”

The man took a few deep breaths to calm his nerves.

“So?”

“Our technology is down in most cities, the planet is shaking to its very core, Sire. It seems to be an attack from an enhanced individual.”

PING!

On the screen in his hand, new information popped up.

“!!”

The man gulped.

“It… It can’t be...”

Kiet leaned forward in his throne.

“What is it?”

“The planet is being thrown out of its orbit, straight to another star system. At th-this rate, we might… We might… We are going to crash into our sun and then--”

Kiet stood up abruptly.

He flicked his finger and the screen forcefully away from the man and flew at Kiet.

“At this speed, we will crash with our sun in a few seconds.”

Unlike the man, Kiet was very calm.

“Only one man can save us.”

“W-,” the man gulped, “who?”

“My oldest friend.”

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In the Sailor quadrant of Virgo A galaxy, a muscular man with black hair and red eyes was flying fast through the dark space.

Yesterday he was given a mission to get rid of the pirate crew that is causing problems to travellers.

It was a mission below his usual standards but lately, he has not been feeling well about a certain something. He was not sure what it was, but it was bothering him. So, he took every mission he could, no matter how cheap it was, so he could keep himself busy without thinking about the problem.

However, the mind is one place nobody can understand properly.

Even when busy, his thoughts would stir at the problem he was avoiding.

Successor, huh?

He is the chosen successor of the Quantum Goddess. She had chosen him, to be someone who will fight against the old system.

But what was he meant to do? What was his true mission? And can he really complete this task he doesn't know yet?

To begin with, what was the old system? And what is the new system?

“- Reaper! -”

His train of thoughts derailed when he heard a voice in the communicator in his ear.

In any case, he was happy that someone called out to him so he did not need to think about it anymore.

“What is it, Kiet?”

“- I need your help. Please come to Xiem immediately. -”

Reaper wanted to ask a question but Kiet did not give him a chance.

“- It’s an emergency of the highest priority. I will pay you-- -”

“No need...”

There was no need to question the specifics of the mission. He already had a faint idea what it was at this point.

The Vanaha Empire is one of the largest and powerful empires in the universe. This race of cosmic conquerors with an unimaginable military might has laid waste to star systems before and threatened the very reality itself.

If someone is threatening an empire of this calibre, then the whole galaxy could be trouble.

He is no hero, but just a mercenary.

However.

“I will be there.”

A large blue-white door appeared ahead of Reaper and he flew into it.

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The large planet known as Xiem was flying right at the sun.

It should have crashed with it seconds ago, but the defence system of the Vanaha Empire kicked in, causing it to slow down a little.

However, with no time to prepare, it was hard to stop this planet from moving.

The distance between the planet and the sun was only a few hundred thousand kilometres.

At this rate, we will crash with the sun and it will cause a huge supernova. I estimate at least 81.1% of the planet and its population will die in an instant.

Inside the castle, Kiet bit furiously on his tongue.

If there was enough time, perhaps I could revive the 「Angel Fall」 and save us… But it’s too late.

In front of him, dozens of screens were floating. He quickly operated through them.

The technology and weapons at his disposal were great and can be readied almost instantly. Except for one.

One screen flashed a few times in red colour.

He glanced at it but quickly averted his gaze.

That screen will activate a powerful weapon that can vaporise almost anything, including a sun or black hole.

But it's useless at this point. It would take at least 30 minutes to ready that weapon. Damn it! I will need to make changes to that weapon if we survive this.

“Increasing density of the planet by--”

“But sire...”

“I know!” he shouted back at his advisor. “I know that. But it is better than trying nothing.”

The weight of the planet increased by a few hundredfold, slowing down the speed slightly, but it was still not enough.

“!!”

On one of the screens, he noticed something odd. The readings did not make sense for a brief moment.

“What’s this...”

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Between the sun and the planet, a blue-white doorway appeared, and Reaper flew out of it.

“Oh...”

His red eyes widened ever so slightly.

When I locked onto the planet’s stratosphere, I did not expect the sun to be thrown at the planet.

Yes, that’s right, it was the sun that was being thrown at the planet, not the other way around.

But how did this happen? And how did Vanaha Empire’s technology, which is one of the greatest in the whole universe, fail to detect this?

Who is doing this? And why is the planet shaking…

“Hm?"

But why does it seem as if…

The planet was shaking left and right as if trying to cause a chain reaction which will lead to the destruction of this large planet.

Perhaps I am wrong.

“First...”

Reaper narrowed his red eyes and turned around to face the sun.

15 times larger than a normal sun, huh?

The white sun, which shone brighter than any other sun, was flying ever faster towards this large planet.

Reaper has achieved great feats in his life, but he is not sure if he will stop this sun in time.

But...

His lips spread thin across his pale white skin.

Sumi...

Reaper is a man who shows no emotions on his face so smiling like this was a rare sight, yet nobody saw it.

I will save your world, for the first time in an awfully long time, Reaper was brimming with confidence and determination. This is not a world I can lose.

He stiffened his body as he clenched his muscles.

He gathered power from within into the palm of his hands.

“Let’s see how a sun this young fares against my quantum powers.”

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Inside the castle on the surface of the planet, Kiet analysed the data in front of him.

The planet was indeed moving according to these readings.

But Reaper drew a different conclusion.

So, what was going on here?

“Who is doing this? Who could possibly attack us?”

The empty space in front of the throne wobbled as if it was trying to hold a large explosion in. Spikes of white energy started to flow in different directions, although it could not be seen by anyone, only certain people with certain abilities could.

Kiet has that special ability. He can see the flow of energy around him.

“Is that what you are thinking, my child?”

“!!”

Yellow-white sparks flared in the middle of nowhere.

The empty space exploded, causing a shockwave that threw away Kiet backwards, slamming him into the wall.

“Gah!”

“What have they named you? “The Divine Emperor”? “The Cosmic Destroyer”? “The Cosmic Messiah”? Hmm, these names don’t add up very well, do they?”

Kiet held his chest as he raised his head a little.

In front of him, floated a beautiful glowing man with a dark green face and large purple eyes. He was tall and burly, giving off evil energies unbefitting of the glow around him, causing Kiet to shrink in his place because of fear.

“Hm?”

Once this burly man got a good look at Kiet, he cocked his head in confusion.

“Oh, is that how it is? I see I see.”

The burly man raised his hand and rubbed his jaw.

Kiet caught a glimpse of his body beneath the white veil.

He is…

“Who are you?”

“No, I question, who are you?”

Kiet grunted softly as he stood up.

“I am Kiet Xehz, the king of the Vanaha Empire.”

“...”

The man continued to rub his chin.

“Iket is dead?”

The burly man looked surprised.

“Yes, but who are you? How do you know my father?”

"Hm, it is quite a long story. But when did your father die… Ah! I see I see. We were too focused on him that we did not realize those close to us die."

The big burly man sighed.

"Haaa, what a terrible fate…"

Kiet did not understand what this man was talking about, but he drew one conclusion:

He is a madman.

The man crossed his leg while floating mid-air.

“But you… You are not fit for being the king of this empire. You lack the power and resolve. If you cannot stop me...”

The man narrowed his big eyes.

Purple energy flared brightly from those small eyes, almost blinding Kiet.

“YOU HAVE FAILED!”

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Reaper held out his palms at the sun.

The energies of the sun are bloating, the hydrogen is expanding.

Blue-white energies lit up in his hands.

The space between the sun and the planet is shrinking, by the time I increase the space between them, it will be quite late.

He clasped his hands together.

It seems I will need to remake the sun.

As his hands came apart, a small prism of rainbow colours was created.

The rainbow prism spun around between the palm of his hand. The prism slowly lit up like disco balls as it shone greatly.

“Now then...”

Energy is energy, as long as I can understand its structure, I could rewrite it. I understand the composition of this sun, but for some reasons, there is an external interference, it is messing with the numbers. I should go with the basic choice of killing the sun and recreating it.

The light started to suck in everything in front of it. Light, energy and matter, no matter what it was, everything started to get sucked into the prism.

What's with villains always attacking the sun?

Light, particles, matter, and the space in front of Reaper were sucked into this prism as if it was a black hole. There was nothing left in less than a second.

There.

The solar system turned pitch black as this giant star vanished.

Reaper closed his eyes, but he was not worried even with the sun gone. He almost looked relieved.

I told you, this world of yours, I will keep it safe, Sumi.

He clasped his hands together again, crushing the prism in the palm of his hands.

He opened his eyes.

The red eyes were glowing with white-blue energy.

He relaxed his body.

He spread his arms wide.

From his chest, many things shot out and filled the empty space once again. There was matter again, and so was there energy and light.

At the centre of the solar system, millions of miles away, the light flickered as a giant sun slowly lit up.

Reaper did not wait for long to see if the sun were lit up properly, he just knew it would, so he turned his gaze at the planet.

❢◥ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◆ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◤❢

“If you cannot stand up to me, you are a failure as a king of the Empire I built.”

“Empire you built?”

Kiet clenched his fist.

“No, you did not build anything. This empire was in shambles since its creation. It was my father who made this what it is today. It was my father who turned a simple and small planet into an empire stretched over galaxies.”

“Heh.”

The man swept his arm through the air and Kiet found himself gasping for air.

“?!?!”

“You are my creation, I am your God, youngling. I made you from the mud of this worthless planet. I made you all.”

That was new to Kiet.

How is this possible? How has there been no mention of this “God” in the canals of history?

“I gave the mud life, I gave the soil life, I gave everything life in this worthless world.”

A thin and cruel smile appeared on the face of this God.

“You understand, my creation?”

Kiet gritted his teeth in anger.

Nobody looks down on the King of this empire.

This empire has its pride, so does its emperor.

“So...”

Perhaps this God existed at one point, but...

“So, what?”

Kiet forced his body to stand up.

The death which was supposed to claim him was pushed back.

“So, what if you made us?”

He stood still.

He stood tall and mighty.

“You are our God?”

“Why, yes.”

“Wrong!” Kiet spat out. “A king bows to no one, not even God.”

“Oh, what majestic power of will, truly befitting for the emperor of this Empire. But...”

The big burly man raised his arm with great hostility, revealing his body hiding beneath it.

Half of his body is brimming with life, while the other half is brimming with death, Kiet thought as he sucked in a mouthful of breath. They are fighting against one another. Good.

Kiet relaxed his body.

I just need to stall.

He stared the God in his eyes and asked, “If you are really our God, where have you been?”

“Ah!” the big man lowered his hand and clapped his palms together. His expressions changed, it was no longer cruel, but happy. “Great, I was waiting for you to ask.”

Kiet was not sure if his question would buy enough time, but he was happy it worked. However, he did not show it on his face.

“You see, every civilization had their own Gods, but we were too powerful and outside the original system, we could defy the rules of the chessboard. But the God above, he hated us for that. He ordered his mightiest soldier to remove us out of the equation. And so, he did. He removed us. Not just physically, but from the minds of everyone.”

“Hm.”

It was believable enough of a story to Kiet. He has a faint idea of how powerful the soldiers of God, angels are, but he did not believe it.

It’s believable, but he won’t believe it. Anyone can make up a story like that.

“For thousands of years, I lived alongside other Gods in a place known as the 「Graveyard of Gods」. But not long ago, a man came and revived the Gods. Some were left dead, but others were revived.”

Why, why, why? If his story is true, why would someone want to bring back the Gods? What is their plan?

“We have been roaming the universe, looking for ways to restore our strength. Some sent prophets to the worlds below but some forced their people to believe in them so their powers can increase.”

While certainly embodied Gods can increase their strength through various means, but that is merely folklore. It’s a fairy tale told to children in a picture book.

“So, here I am,” the man spread his arms wide. “To force my creation to pray to me so I can return to my former glory.”

Kiet narrowed his eyes angrily.

“By killing them?”

“Oh, not at all,” the God waved his hands in front of his chest. “That was meant to lure someone in. A villain of a sort, whom everyone fears. You called him here, but once he comes, I will control him. He will attack the world, and I will save it with your help. Amazing, right?”

Kiet’s eyes widened.

“Oh no...”

He knows how powerful Reaper is, but he also knows Reaper is not invincible. He is far from one.

Reaper is an assassin, but he has also been a great friend to this empire. I won’t let him be forced into an internal conflict.

He cursed himself deep down for calling Reaper for help. He should have saved their world himself.

If it was Iket, his father, he would've saved their world and defeated this God a long time ago.

I must do something.

So, he clenched his fist.

“I will stop you, false God.”

“Ha-ha!”

The big burly man raised his hand and threw it down onto Kiet like a hammer, trying to crush his skull.

However!

The glow around Kiet brightened.

“Hm?”

Kiet had raised his hand and cut off this God’s right arm.

“I am the King of the Vanaha Empire! The Divine Emperor, bestowed with the 「Divine Force」, connecting me to my ancestors through space and time. No matter who you are, you will fall before the might of this empire!”

The white energy flew out of Kiet and covered dozens of kilometres around him.

“Hm? What are you trying to do?”

Blood spurted out of the big man’s arm, then followed by bones and tissues and muscles, and then finally, a green skin. He formed a new arm for himself.

“The Divine Force not only arguments my physical capabilities, but it gives me complete control over this castle. Be it the walls, or the people, or technology, everything becomes under my control. Complete control. So...”

Kiet stabbed his foot into the ground.

The wall wobbled as it shot spikes like blades at this self-proclaimed God.

“Silly child, I am 「Anos」, the God of the Vanaha Empire, you do not stand a chance.”

Anos, the self-proclaimed God slapped away the spikes with the back of his hand.

“Hrm,” although Kiet expected that, he was still disappointed.

Matter not.

Kiet spread his arms wide and technology started to float around him.

Simple pieces of technology such as communication devices floated around him, but something felt different about them. Anos could feel the hostility from technology.

“Oh.”

The devices lit up as they shot red blasts of energy.

Anos slapped away every beam coming at him with a lazy expression plastered on his face.

"Yawn."

Create a time dilation field.

The technology listened.

A greenfield appeared around Anos as he froze. He was frozen in time.

He has not seen that coming.

When this God closed his eyes for a brief moment, the technology flew around in circles and formed a green bubble around him.

Lower gravity by a million, increase the temperature by one billion degrees.

This God’s body started to deform a little.

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Reaper looked down at the planet from above.

It’s still shaking vigorously. I need to… If I were to rewrite the localised time field across the planet to buy time… Or perhaps I should rewrite the localised reality…

Reaper thought very seriously about how to fix this problem.

I still do not have a complete understanding of the quantum possibility, but if I did, I could essentially choose a possibility where this planet will not be in this problem.

He rubbed his chin as he thought.

Hm, oh. Yes. Right. That should work.

Reaper, almost looking happy, stretched his upper body.

Cracking his fingers, he held his hands out and flew right towards the planet.

Once his hands touched the planet, he created a small barrier around it.

I just have to remove the planet from its rightful orbit, but I should be careful not to destroy the planet accidentally.

Putting all his might into the palm of his hands, he started to push the planet.

The planet slowly moved out of its orbit. Within a few seconds, it had shifted by a great degree, occupying space many parsecs away from its original position.

It seems the shaking is only within the orbit of the planet. Someone has created a localised reality for it, so if I remove this planet out of its orbit, it should reset the reality to its rightful state.

However, Reaper did not have a lot of confidence in his thoughts. After all, he had only read this in a book about localised reality in a library on Xiem, but he had never tested this method.

There was no time for doubt, so Reaper clenched his fingers on the planet and stopped moving.

“Now then...”

He teleported himself to the opposite side of the planet and pushed it once again, but this time to move it to the rightful location.

The localised reality is caught onto the numbers of the orbit. Once the planet is moved out, it should become… “confused” for a brief moment, so when the planet is pushed back into it, it should reset the numbers and return to its original state.

It took him a few seconds, but he finally managed to place the planet in its rightful place.

Once the planet was safe, he let out a breath relief.

But who did this? I must ask Kiet.

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Inside the castle, Kiet created another shield around Anos, making it even harder for him to leave.

However, no matter how much he tried, he could not calm himself down.

If he was telling the truth, then how is it that my ancestors do not know of this man, Kiet thought as he stared at Anos. Surely, the first person should know of him, no? Or can it be...

A thought flashed through his mind.

What if the angel - what if it’s a different form of a soldier? - mind wiped everyone through time and space? That would explain it, but...

He shook his head, throwing away his thoughts and focusing on the problem at hand.

It is better to not believe this madman.

Kiet continued to place extra barriers around this God just to be safe.

In any case, the planet has stopped shaking. I was busy, but it felt like we left the rightful place for a brief moment... Hm? That doesn't quite add up.

The planet was being thrown at the sun from his reading, so the planet should have left it's rightful place, but he could not feel that until a moment ago.

I need to analyse this madman and this data thoroughly--

“So, what happened?” a voice descended from the ceiling.

Kiet looked up and saw Reaper, so he let out a sigh of relief.

“I am sorry for pulling you into a problem of our own.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Reaper landed near Anos and cupped his chin as he analysed him.

“He is the one who hurled our planet at the sun.”

“No, that’s wrong. He hurled the sun at this planet.”

Kiet cocked his head to the right in a confused manner.

“Matter not, but… Hm?”

As he was analysing the God, Reaper stared very closely at him with great interest.

“For some odd reasons, he seems quite familiar.”

“Oh?”

“Can I take him with me?” he requested in a respectful tone that was lanced with stern strength. “I will return him to you soon.”

Kiet wanted to antagonise. This was an internal matter of their empire and if let loose, this God could cause even greater troubles. But instead, he breathed out with a shrug.

“We do not have a facility to hold him yet, I appreciate your help here.”

Reaper smiled, almost softly before vanishing into thin air.

Left alone, Kiet sat on the floor, relaxing his body.

“I ought to ask Mother to grant me more power. I need to be able to keep my empire safe from any threat, like my father could.”

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Inside an old and rusty spaceship, Reaper appeared with the frozen God.

He glanced around the spaceship with heavy feelings dancing on his face.

Faint images of the past flashed through his head and the laughter still echoing through these rusty walls.

The rusty walls gave him a small sense of comfort and happiness.

He walked around the spaceship slowly as he searched for something while the God inside the bubble started to move.

“...”

How is he doing this? Reaper thought. I did hear that Gods tend to be above baseline timestream, but it's interesting to confirm it.

“Don’t be alarmed, Galax of Hyperion Prime.”

Reaper’s eyes went wide in surprise.

How?

He, who has kept his name a secret for thousands of years, could not imagine someone like this knowing about him. This should have been impossible.

Just who is he?

“I am Anos, the God of the Vanaha Empire, their creator. I existed when the old system was functioning as well, if not better.”

“Old system…?”

Anos abruptly threw his hands outwards, breaking the barrier around him into small pieces.

Reaper did not react in any way; his mind was still processing how this man knew his true name and what the old system was.

“You are her successor; you should not be asking me that question. And please, wipe out that false confused expression. It's belittling,” he spoke with a frown.

“...”

Anos did not wait for Reaper to say anything and continued to talk, sounding almost relieved.

“In any case, I apologise for my earlier plan. I wanted to pull you into my world and turn you into a villain. When defeated, you would have been put into prison where I could have my way with your power.”

“...”

“But sad to say, that did not happen. However!”

Unlike Reaper, the God was very energetic and sounded a little excited.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for the two of us to talk and plan to change the old system.”

“...”

Reaper’s face twisted.

“Ha...”

Never once in his professional life did he think he would laugh in front of someone else.

“Haha! Plan? For what reason? What makes you think I won’t kill you instantly?”

“True,” Anos grunted softly. “In any case, why have you tried not fighting against the new system? Were you not meant to change things?”

Reaper’s eyes fell down to the ground.

“I don’t know what--”

“She gave you the power to fight the system, yet you sat down and did nothing, why? Why would you turn down your back on us? Why would--”

Reaper let out a heavy sigh.

He stretched his neck and shoulders.

The look on his face changed, it was very cold and scary.

“The will of my God, you say? Fight back for someone else? Ha! Being dead did you wonders, it seems, Anos.”

“!!”

“Oh yes, I do know the Quantum Goddess, I know of her will, and I know who you are. However, you are wrong. I did not know this always, I just learned of this recently. Something happened and I unlocked a new set of memories.”

“...”

Anos scoffed before bursting into laughter.

“Please, do not joke with me. It is true, you unlocked certain new memories about the Quantum Goddess, but you are only in this universe who did not forget the old system. Am I wrong?”

“...”

Anos shrugged, “Really, it is marvellous that you kept that to yourself for thousands of years. You lived with the fact that you knew the old system and did not do anything, except living for the sake of yourself and petty money.”

Reaper scoffed, “I don’t want to hear that from a selfish pathetic God like you.”

Anos narrowed his eyes, almost angrily.

“I supposed, Sumi, the last of the Supreme Regiment would have loved to know this.”

“!!”

Reaper clenched his fist angrily.

With a thin smile on his face, Anos arched his seven fingered right hand, facing upwards while he spoke, “My dear Sumi, don’t you want to know?”

Between Reaper and Anos, a tall and mighty woman stood. But her form was translucent as if she was made from the very air.

"Tell her the truth, and I can bring her back to you."

Reaper swallowed his saliva.

He can bring his dead wife back, it would make life better, even if a little.

But!

Then he would have to follow the will of the Quantum Goddess.

He would need to grow more powerful to fight this system.

I don't…

"Tell us the truth, help us fight the system to create a better one, a world free of any terrible fate."

Anos narrowed his eyes even further.

"Because we both know why you lose your children in both timelines."

If he were dead, he would have been in the Void, meaning he was unaffected, it would make sense. But if he was not dead when the time was erased, then how does he know this?

"This system merely does not want you to be happy, so it gets rid of anything that might help you to have a good life. You might have been made as a white blood cell, but this universe sees you as a cancer cell now."

"..."

The "soul" of his wife stood before him.

She spread her long arm forward, touching his cold face.

"You can have it all, so tell us-- her, what you truly know and how you can fight this system."

"..."

Reaper sucked in a breath.

He clenched his fist.

Exhaling slowly, he narrowed his eyes as his body relaxed.

"Hrm."

He was not amused.

So!

He clenched his fist even harder, almost causing his white skin to bleed.

"No."

He thrust his arm forward, breaking the air particles between them.

"!!"

Anos, confused and surprised, raised his hands to protect himself.

However!

Reaper's fist went through the "ghost" of his wife, and it slammed into the hand of this God, breaking it into pieces. The bones flew away, caving way for Reaper's fist to fly into the broad face of this weak God.

"Blrgph!?"

"My wife never touched my face like that. She was not a woman who showed affection in front of anyone," he said with a faint nostalgic smile. "Her affection was limited to our child only."

"N-nuh-- WAIT!"

Anos, as a last defensive measure, shot our green chronic energies, trying to freeze Reaper.

But he merely flicked the energies away as if it was dust.

"I am Galax of Hyperion Prime, the perfect weapon of my people, the killer of that race, but I am no slave of fate or a dead God. If you want to change the system, then do so yourself."

"YOU THINK THE ANNIHILATOR WAS--"

"I don't care what he was."

Reaper slid his right foot forward on the ground.

"I don't care who you are."

He leaned his body slightly to the right.

"I don't care who resurrected you."

With a confident smile, he continued.

"None of that matters to me."

"..."

"My life is my own, and unlike my wife, I would not waste it trying to protect someone else."

He thrust his right hand upwards, with great force.

"I am not a hero, so I don't care who or what rules over the fate of the people I have never met."

The punch flew with great force and jabbed into the chin of this green God, sending him flying through the roof of the ship and into the dark space.

"This life is my own."

White blue energy bloomed around Reaper as if it were a flower.

"I choose not to change the system, and I choose not to save your pathetic kind."

He crouched ever so lightly.

"I choose not to waste it on something that does not affect me. I choose not to ruin my life anymore for the sake of others. I choose not to grow more powerful. Because…"

The spaceship under his feet shook vigorously before Reaper leapt out of with great speed.

"Power is suffering."

Anos, hurling through the black space still heard Reaper's words.

"..."

He shut his eyes with a defeated smile.

"It was all so meaningless."

Reaper flew through space and punched the God in the face again.

"Very. I won't be forced into the plots of others which can cost me something, especially personal."

The God did not try to battle, he knew he was done for. He could not win nor could he influence in any way.

Hey, Anos, I think you might have the best chance to bring him to our side.

What? No! I can't against that monster.

Ehhh, perhaps I ought to throw--

Sigh, fine. I will do it myself. I wanted to test the new king myself.

The words of his friend replayed in his head repeatedly. They had a lot of faith in this God.

"Don't be mistaken. I will protect Vanaha Empire as long as it does not cost me anything. But if it comes close to it, I will hurl that empire into a black hole myself. Don't mistake my promise to my wife as a sign of weakness."

The God flew into a sun.

Around Reaper's feet, a white-blue energy exploded, throwing him at the sun.

He flew after the God into the sun and caught up with him with ease.

In the middle of this hot burning sun in the Sora Nebula near the Whirlpool Galaxy, Reaper held this weak God by the neck.

"As for the stunt your pulled earlier today by creating an air construct, I want you to know one thing…"

Reaper tightened his grip on this God.

"If you ever pull a stunt like this again, I will kill you on the spot."

"Kill?"

A sense of relief washed over this God.

He could survive this.

He could live to try again.

It is true, he wanted to hurt Reaper, but he had not anticipated how great his power was. So, he now had a chance to rectify that.

"So you will let me--"

Reaper shook his head with a wide smile.

"Of course."

Then he proceeded to punch him over and over and over again in the face, battering his body useless before taking him back to the spaceship and imprisoning him.

In the Hidden Universe, where any God can live and flourish, the resurrected Gods collectively breathed a sigh of defeat.

Their grand plan for a powerful return failed before it even began.

If they were to force him into submission, Reaper would not help. So, there was not any other way.

They all let their heads hang low as they went on with their lives, hoping to find their former glory in power and status.

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"My child, I live."

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A long time ago:

"Michael, let's make a deal."

"Oh?"

"You see, in the Void, I have built a special place for these Gods. I want you not to erase them, but just kill them."

"And why would I do that? You do realise we have a conflict of interest, right?"

"It's simple really if you leave them be, they can restore their power to a small degree, so when you finally put your plan to motion, you could use this little extra power. But if you were to kill them, you will not get this extra power."

"..."

"But hey, not my problem, right? So, go ahead, kill them all."

"... Fine."

"Good. For your plan, I have prepared a little present. It's not much, but it should give you access to the forbidden text."

"??"

"The Dragon gave it to me, it holds a great amount of knowledge, which I have copied into my brain. But I want you to have the book now."

"!!"

"Oh, he already went. Sigh."

He raised his right hand to cover half of his face.

A thin smile spread on the man's face as his red eyes flared.

"The time for remaking draws near."

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Vanaha Empire: some facts about the world.

Physicals:

A person of this race lives for thousands of years. Their status in society does not determine their age. Every person is at least 2 meters tall in their prime. 1.90 meters has been the lowest recorded in the history of the empire Women of this race are taller than male on average. A woman can only give birth once in their entire life and it’s a rarity that they would give birth twice or more. A child comes out straight from their abdomen. They cannot give birth unless a Magiod - someone who trained for years to use the Divine Force, quite similar to magicians - or technology equipped with Divine Force takes out the child. They don’t cut their abdomen, but it just comes out with the help of energy. On average, a new-born child weighs around 1 kilogram and is around 80 centimetres. The difference between men and women is similar to humans with certain body parts. But they can also be differentiated from their eyes. Women usually have larger eyes. Men tend to have egg-shaped heads while women have square-ish heads. And men have slightly rougher skin. Speaking of, women of this race do not have breasts.

Divine Force:

It’s a cosmic energy created by the first emperors of the Vanaha Empire. Anyone can use it, but just like magic, a lot of work must be done to activate it and use it. There have been cases of people not being able to use it even after working centuries for it, although it’s rare. Everyone is born with equal amounts of force, but with training, they can gather more from their surroundings over the years and increase their power. The strongest user of the force in the history of this empire is the former emperor of the Vanaha Empire, Iket. The bloodline of the first emperors has ruled over this empire since its inception. Once a king is being chosen, there exists someone called [the Mother], who is someone born with a special ability that can imbue a huge amount of this cosmic energy with the King. The ability of the Mother is passed on from one generation to another. The Mother has the ability to remove power from the emperor and give it someone else with ease. And there are currently three people with that ability in this empire, one of whom is King Iket’s sister and Kiet’s aunt. Continuing on, the Mother needs to be very well versed in all forms of subjects from mathematics to science, from philosophy to history, and more. She also needs to be very well versed in magic and be a powerful magician, being experienced in many different fields of magic. The king of the empire has complete control over the empire, meaning they can manipulate the free will of their citizens. And also has the ability to manipulate their minds with ease. The emperors also used to have nigh-omniscience/nigh-omnipresence thanks to this Divine Force as they would become one with it (only limited to their empire and those who have the force, though). However, Kiet asked for Mother to leave aside this ability.