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The silence that followed Asura’s death was heavy.

Deus form shimmered. ‘He’ knew that his mission was now accomplished and yet ‘He’ did not know what ‘He’ should do.

Darkness covered his body and the impulse to erase everything continued to increase. The Beginning and the End continued to clas. Since there was already a Beginning then shouldn’t ‘He’ bring things to an End now? 

The eyes moved erratically, analyzing and decomposing thousands of laws. The fabric of reality seemed so flimsy in front of the knowledge ‘He’ possessed. One thought from ‘Him’ and—

{Sol it’s time to wake up.} Adam spoke.

‘His’ thought halted. ‘His’ eyes closed. ‘His’ power receded. ‘His’ form shrinked until all that was left was Sol. 

He was back. Albeit in quite the difficult situation.

***

The sky above, torn and twisted by the divine battle, didn’t heal. Space itself shimmered unnaturally. Where Deus had stood, even the wind seemed hesitant to return.

This was a wound in Sol’s Dimension. A wound that would not easily heal as it was caused by the power of the End.

Sol hovered above the void. Cracks had formed across his arms, chest, and jawline. Light seeped from them in pulses, as if they were trying to break away from his body.

Every breath he drew felt like swallowing gravel. The air resisted him, mana bucked and twisted around him, and his bones throbbed with something deeper than pain. It was excruciating. 

Asura was gone. Not just dead—erased. His body, his will, his divinity... consumed by Deus, Sol’s Avatar.

But Sol hadn’t devoured him cleanly. The residual power was simply too much. This was different from when he devoured Hypnos clone. Back then that clone had already spent near all its energy fighting Camelia then Ambrosia. This was why Sol had been able to devour it so easily. 

But this time it was different. 

He had devoured a demigod whole. Not just that, a demigod who had access to a divinity. 

Asura’s essence churned within him like a second heart, heavy and hostile. It refused to settle, refused to submit. It clawed and raged, a final echo of the god of struggle unwilling to be erased.

Sol’s soul had overwhelmed it. But his body had not. The rejection came swiftly.

That divinity was now trying to fuse with Sol but Sol rejected it. The law engraved on this divinity did not belong to him. This was not his path. If he absorbed it; the Divinity of Struggle would overpower his nascent divinity of Balance. If he lost Balance, the power of Origin and End would start clashing in his body and bring him to a Fate no different from what happened to Adam. 

It was simply not worth it. 

As if it wasn’t enough. All the memories of Asura were trying to overwhelm him. Had Sol not already gotten experience with Adam, his mind and personality would have been completely overwhelmed. 

But more than anything, the true problem was his own Avatar…Deus. 

“Shit!” Sol growled. This was why he had been hesitant in using his Avatar. The amount of power he could wield was unparalleled but in exchange he was simply unable to control this power. It would indiscriminately affect everyone that looked at it. 

Deus also represented his ideal self in many and as such in that form, an absolute onslaught of information would be received. Too much information for a mortal like Sol to whistand.

My soul and body are still not strong enough. He thought. It was ridiculous. His body was powerful enough to match some weaker demigods in terms of pure power and he his soul was powerful enough to make some demigod feel true fears and yet it was not strong enough to control the power of his Name? 

His fingers trembled. It wasn’t clear if it was pain or something worse. His vision blurred at the edges. Golden static filled his ears.

“Sol!”

Lilith’s voice carried through the pressure. Her voice helped him gather his wit slightly. 

He could see her now. And Wukong. Watching from afar. 

“D-don’t c-come!” He struggled to push those words, realizing a few moment later that even if they wanted to come, it would have been impossible for now.

They could not approach him. The world seemed to be trying to push Sol away. 

Even in this state, Sol was able to think enough to deduce that this was more akin to a defense system. Trying to change away the Harbinger of the End.

Something cracked along his ribs. Blood spilled in a glowing arc, humming with unstable divinity.

 Whispers clawed at the back of his mind. A mixture of polluted informations that seemed intent in bringing him to the abyss, chipping slowly at his soul until it accomplished its goal or Sol perished. 

“I’m still Sol,” he muttered. “I’m Sol Dragon Luxuria.”

Sol continued to repat those words like a mantra. To keep an holding on the thread of his slipping sanity. To fight agains the onslaught of memories tearing at his soul. 

It was helpful. 

His sense of self  too powerful to get ecrased by Asura’s remains. But this did not mean the situation was easy for him.

The remains of Asura, still roiling within him, weren’t going down without a final fight.

His knees buckled.

He screamed.

Sparks of the Light of Destruction burst from his body at random, uncontrolled. They struck the ruined battlefield in quick succession. He tried to pull it back, to lock it down.

But the surge came all at once.

His body collapsed.

He hit the ground like a fallen star, tearing open the already-ruined terrain. A crater widened around him. Smoke and debris rose into the air.

He was losing control of his own energy. His mana vein were breaking down and his core was working on overdrive trying to expel the energy out of his body. 

This was the first time such things happened and he knew that if he did not take control back fast enough he would cause extensive damages to his dimensions.

{It seems like you reached your limits. Perhaps you may have had the eyes bigger than you stomach.}

If you do not plan to help, then shut up please. Sol berated Adam inwardly but he also did not beg Adam for help.

He was in this current situation because he anihilited Asura and his Name devoured the ex god. Sol was not so shameless he would ask Adam’s help now.

He gritted his teeth, his eyes bleeding. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t planned for something like this. 

Eating alone was not in his style.

I will share the power.

Adjusting himself, he focused once again on his power.

Deus. A Name born from his desire to become all mighty and based on the Concept the Beginning and the End. Thus bringing balance.

This power of his was not created alone. It was born thanks to eight concepts. Eight people. 

Medea. Persephone. Kali. Freya. The four witches representing the Beginning.

Milia. Setsuna. Lilin. Isis. The four contracts representing the power of the End.

But not just them.

“Lilith. Wukong.”

The two looked at each others and approached him. The power of the End was still posing danger but the two could feel that this was an opportunity they could not miss.

Surely with those ten it would be enough?

{You are really crazy.} Adam laughed. {Still this won’t be enough. You are underestimating the divine essence of Struggle. If they inadvertently absorb this divinity, their path will forever be tainted.}

***

Inside Sol’s mindscape, the ghost of the past sighed and entered the gate. His thoughts were complicated as he gazed at a book resting inside Sol’s soul. 

A book that had yet to open or respond fully.

He did not have his Pen and so could not fully use it but as it was now it did not matter.

He could simply use his own existence. 

{Seems like I will have to fall asleep after this.}

He was not dissatisfied. He had already lived long enough. Now he only had one goal left. 

Bringing his finger to his lips, he bite tightly until blood was drawn. Golden blood started dripping on the page of the book as Adam wrote. 

[Once upon a time…There was a god born from strife battle and struggle.]

It was the start of a new story and he was the author of that story.

“Watch and learn Sol. This is how you use the power of Origin.”

This was the power to rewrite reality itself.