"Enuma Elish."
The gray storm, capable of tearing everything apart, ripped an even deeper and darker hole in the pitch-black void of the universe, and it continued to tear and expand that hole.
On Earth at this moment, a youth who had just boarded a private jet to Tengu City received an emergency message from the internal observation staff of DEM Industries.
"What do you mean a super-giant Spacequake, far exceeding the original Eurasian Spacequake, has appeared near Mars!?"
...
The space-time of this world was far too fragile. Anyone with ability in this area could easily cause destruction and power far exceeding that of other worlds.
The history of this world stated clearly that before the birth of Spirits, there had never been any so-called Spacequakes, only Magi who possessed special powers.
As long as one's strength was even slightly powerful, for Caelus, they could cause the phenomenon of a Spacequake through the resonance of their own energy. In such a situation, a Magus of that level was equivalent to a mobile nuclear bomb. How could humanity easily provoke these Magi?
Spirits were absolutely existences that contradicted the common sense of this world.
Caelus could not clearly see the spatial anomalies and temporal instability, so he chose the simplest and most violent method. Since space was incredibly fragile, he would thoroughly shatter it. Since time was extremely easy to disturb, he would thoroughly disrupt it.
Only after the mist blocking one's vision was torn away could the truth hidden behind it be revealed.
This was also why he had spent some time coming to outer space. After all, if he used this method in Earth's space, it would definitely deal a devastating blow to the biosphere.
When the storm stirred up by Nihility, mixed with the power of Finality, tore apart the time and space here, a tiny, extremely faint glimmer of light suddenly appeared within that space-time rift, which was even darker than the surrounding cosmic space.
The moment that light appeared, Caelus transformed into the memetic body of a Memokeeper and plunged straight into that light.
After he escaped into the light, the unattended gray storm and the shattered space-time rift surged together completely, creating a massive fluctuation.
Mars, being the closest, was swept by the storm, resulting in a crack over a thousand meters deep on the planet.
After the storm subsided, the observers far away in Earth's space station breathed a sigh of relief and immediately reported the information to the personnel on the surface.
"Report: the super-giant Spacequake that occurred in the cosmic space near Mars has begun to subside. No appearance of a Spirit has been observed."
The youth sitting on the private jet received the communication. He frowned, completely unable to understand what exactly was going on. He felt as if something beyond his imagination had happened.
Perhaps it really was just an accidental phenomenon not mentioned in the original work. If this commotion were truly caused by that guy on the other side, there would be no need to hide from him. He could just come after him openly and crush him to death.
"I hope I'm just overthinking. In any case, being suspicious like this will only clutter my mind. I should focus my attention on what I need to do. That way, even if I still lose in the future, I won't regret it too much when I die."
The youth shook his head, then calmed his mind and closed his eyes to begin meditating, increasing the Power of Existence within his body as much as possible.
At first, the surrounding world was incomparably pitch-black, with chaotic time and space cutting through everything around it.
Incomparable chaos and an incredibly thick darkness shrouded everything.
Here, you could find no direction, you could find no color other than black, you could hear no sound, and you could perceive nothing. Even your own existence would feel increasingly blurred until you were completely lost in this chaotic darkness.
But for Caelus, all of this was so peaceful, because this was everything he had experienced at the very beginning.
At least there was still black here, rather than the "Nothing" where absolutely nothing existed.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, the surrounding chaos gradually subsided, and a light as faint as a candle flame appeared ahead. It seemed to symbolize hope, the end of this long journey through the darkness.
But when you truly went to pursue that faint light, you would find that no matter how you advanced, you could never catch that sliver of light. Even the darkness grew thinner and thinner until finally, you found the light dissipating before you, and there was no longer any darkness or chaos around you, only pure, hollow Nihility.
In this Nihility, an ordinary person would instantly have all their colors, memories, and even their self-cognition and existence swallowed away.
Caelus continued to walk calmly, even having the leisure to perceive whether the surrounding Nihility was the same as his own.
When Caelus curiously used his own Nihility to cover the surrounding Nihility and attempted to establish existence within it, he could feel a change occurring. Subsequently, the Nihility collapsed before him, replaced by infinite light.
In the space filled with infinite light, Caelus saw a tree, a tree with a twisted posture that became more entangled and convoluted the further up it went, yet it gave off a mysterious sense of order.
That tree carried countless worlds, and every world displayed the scenery of Earth.
Upon it were countless changes, endless differences, and infinite variations.
But in the end, all the scripts playing out on those Earths could not escape two existences.
One was Shido, who in other worlds might be called Takamiya Shinji, or might even be a female named Itsuka Shiori.
In some worlds, he might have died early. In others, he might have fused with the powers of all Spirits and become a god alone.
In some worlds, those Spirits were all male, and she became a female who had to win over those Spirits.
In some worlds, those Spirits were female, and she was also female.
All sorts of possibilities and scripts were constantly playing out. Even if the world eventually collapsed and was destroyed, the cycle would begin once more, and the same story would play out again. Although the details might differ, the overall tone of those stories would not change.
And the other existence was called Takamiya Mio, who in other worlds might also be called Itsuka Rei.
It was she who brought the concept of Spirits to Earth, brought the Eurasian Spacequake that swept across the entire continent, and brought the concept of Spacequakes.
No matter which world it was, it was this existence that brought the power of Spirits and the concept of Spacequakes. All the chapters of the story's plot were written and unfolded by her.
"The Kabbalah Tree of Life, the Fiery Sword Path... Is someone trying to go from human to Saint?"
Caelus said.
"This is a path symbolizing self-sublimation. It could be from human to Saint, or from human to God or Angel. It symbolizes self-transcendence, the manifestation of crossing trials, walking into Eden, and stepping into the divine realm."
A familiar voice sounded in his ear. Caelus turned slightly and saw Shido, wearing a high school uniform, walking over.
With a friendly smile on his face, Shido nodded to Caelus and then said, "Hello, Outsider. I wonder if any of these stories on the tree satisfy you?"
"Why are there so many romance elements?"
"Because of love, people always become extreme, always manage to burst forth with unimaginable power, and are full of the unknown and uncontrollable chaos. When some people do things because of extreme love, it always brings us some wonderful changes and unimaginable results, doesn't it?"
Shido's form twisted again, turning into the appearance of Takamiya Mio wearing ceremonial dress.
Looking like a holy angel, she clasped her hands together, looked at the Tree of Life in the distance, and said in a voice full of compassion, "Humanity becomes great precisely because of love."
"Love is indeed a powerful force, but if a story is full of love, it inevitably feels a bit cloying. Personally, I still prefer to use love as a seasoning rather than the main course."
"Hmm, I understand. Since you're already here, I'll introduce myself so we can get to know each other formally."
It shed Takamiya Mio's appearance and turned into a white stick figure.
"I am the Will of All Living Beings, the collective will of the instinctive emotions and even the subconscious of all living creatures on Earth for billions of years. You can also call me Sandalphon."
Holy wings spread, and the Angel truly descended before Caelus.
(To be continued.)