novelraw Chapter 484: Male, The Eye of Final Dusk
Chapter 484: Male, The Eye of Final Dusk
While invitations were being sent out across all of Existence, on the other side of True Reality, a certain individual found himself staring at the same elegant black-and-gold envelope that had appeared before countless others.
With his long, pure black hair drifting gently in the non-existent wind and his pale skin glowing faintly under the unstable light of his realm....
This was Male — the final Champion... or more accurately, The Eye of Final Dusk.
After his last battle against a few members of the Ineffable Pantheon, he had retreated deep into his own verse.
Currently, he sat alone in a vast, empty space.
His personal realm was still incomplete — a bubbling, unstable verse that only existed in a lower-to-high dimensional framework.
It was nothing compared to the fully realized reality created by Ash or the existing eighteen.
As he sat in the void between universes, turning the invitation over in his hands, he couldn’t help but recall the battle he had suffered.
"For the longest time..." Male murmured to himself, his voice drifting through the empty space.
"I honestly thought I was walking a path no one else could ever tread. I’d lived countless lives across the cycles, and eventually, I became one with them all.... When I created the Nelun, I believed it was only a matter of time before I stood unmatched."
He let out a low, bitter chuckle.
"But then, who would’ve thought I’d stumbled upon those who call themselves the Ineffable Pantheon... and I witnessed a race that was even beyond mine."
He shook his head at the way things turned out. As mentioned before he was the counterpart to Ash in nearly every since.
"Truly, where did these so-called Gods emerge from?" In that moment, he revealed a glimpse of his true nature as he exhaled softly.
He was not merely an individual with countless incarnations but also a seasoned transmigrator.
Across the many Cycles he had spent inhabiting the organisms, he believed he had witnessed the full extent of what power could bestow.
It was this conviction that ultimately drove him to conceive a system of his own design, one accessible solely through the unique domain of his verse.
He clicked his tongue in wonder as he slowly turned his head and looked behind him into the void.
There, floating silently in the distance, was a massive being — hundreds of light years tall.
Its form was humanoid yet incomprehensible, wrapped in layers of shifting darkness and faint, glowing runes.
It stood motionless, like a silent guardian watching over Male’s incomplete realm.
Male stared at it for a long moment before speaking.
"What do you think the next step should be?"
The colossal being’s voice rumbled across the void, deep and ancient.
"Master, I think you should go," it said simply. "You need to see more of these Gods... and we need to search for a way into True Nonexistence."
Hearing that, Male stood up and started walking toward the being.
’I still wonder... where the hell did those ten lucky draws come from?’ he thought, recognizing it as the very same being that had saved him in the last battle.
It was a spirit born of True Nothingness, bound to him by contract since the moment of his transmigration.
As he stopped in front of the being, he considered his options.
The Nelun race was currently on a level similar to the Unus—well, the Unus before Ash created his own Nonexistence.
Due to fighting Seris and the others....
Male’s race could now manipulate both nonexistence and existence, but without a true source of Existence, their control was far from pure, nowhere near matching that of the Unus.
"Wouldn’t showing my face to those beings again... be too dangerous?" He questioned as he knew he hadn’t seen even the surface of their powers.
During the battle, none of the women had even utilized many of their Decrees, and beyond that, he surmised it was evident that someone of greater authority stood above them all.
The Spirit remained silent for an extended period before finally speaking once more.
"If the situation becomes too chaotic, I can ensure a single escape," the colossal being intoned, its voice resonating through the void like distant thunder.
"But you are already aware of the price I would have to pay for that."
Male frowned deeply, his long black hair shifting slightly as he looked up at the massive figure.
"You’d go to sleep for a full cycle," he said, his tone heavy with reluctance. "That’s not something I want to force on you."
The Spirit remained silent, offering no further reassurance.
Male stared at the invitation in his hand for a long moment, weighing his options.
He knew he needed more answers—about the Ineffable Pantheon, the ones above them, and the full scope of their power. Staying here in his half-formed verse would only keep him in the dark.
At last, he made up his mind.
"I’ll go to the ball," he murmured. "But not without backup."
Rising to his feet, the invitation dissolved into his palm as he turned toward the far reaches of his realm.
"Summon the strongest of the Nelun. We’re not going in blind."
The massive Spirit gave a slow, approving nod before its form melted back into the void, leaving Male alone once again.
----
The Merchant sat cross-legged in a lavish chamber deep within the Domain of Commerce.
The room was filled with towering shelves of ancient ledgers, floating orbs that displayed live markets across multiple domains and walls adorned with glowing runes that tracked the flow of wealth and influence on a Reality wide scale.
She had been here for a few months now, ever since she fled from the Organisms, after the Ineffable women had torn through it.
But things had been odd since the moment she first met her sponsor.
The Lord of Commerce — Minx — during the time as her champion, they never spoke face to face. And it was always warm and helpful.
Now though every time they spoke, she felt... different.
As if she was only half-present, her mind somewhere else.
Until today.
Minx had finally called for her.
The Merchant sat patiently as the heavy doors opened and Matriarch Minx entered.
Minx strolled in with a smile and spoke.
"You’ve done well so far, Little Merchant."