Chapter 484: The Second Round – Abstract Entities
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As the Omniverse drew ideas from the Prime, the Celestialsapiens from Ben 10 came to be. However, they were far more powerful than the ones from the cartoon.
In the Ben 10 show, Neji's memory helped him recall everything clearly, celestialsapiens are vulnerable to having their powers absorbed by Osmosians and entities with similar powers such as Darkstar. Their life force can be drained by a Vladat, a vampire-like alien. They also cannot survive on Anur Vladias.
Celestialsapiens cannot manipulate mana directly because they would first have to alter the universe to change the nature of mana. A celestialsapien's cosmic powers do not work well against magic and a magic spell could cancel their powers.
Their powers may either be limited to the basic cosmic laws of other universes or may not work depending on the universe. It also depends on whether their internal astronomy is compatible enough with the universe they're in.
Last but not the least, a Celestialsapien can be scared by particularly scary species.
These were weaknesses that didn't suit a so-called Omnipotent entity. These weaknesses didn't exist in the true celestialsapiens that Neji fought, nor in the one that he had become.
As a race, none could top them in power. Except for perhaps the Abstract Entities, if they could be considered a "race". Although celestialsapiens were stronger than the Abstract Entities on average, they'd fall short in that abstract's particular field. Especially if the abstract happened to be a high-class one.
Specifically, if that Abstract happened to be Entropy Embodiment, the personification of the Big Bang, the beginning and end of the cosmos.
Entropy embodies one of the four fundamental energies of sentient life — Entropy, chaos, or decay — said to consume the world where that energy is dominant. When an Omniversal Abstract Entity represents that, it ought to be more powerful than all the others.
After he left the Forge of Creation and returned to the solar system where Planet Anodyne resided, he found Buddha waiting for him, saying, "You have destroyed the fundamental pillars of the Omniverse, an action which only he was birthed to do," he had appeared with an army of Abstracts, but one of his fingers was pointed at the giant metal titan beside him for emphasis, who had ominous light oozing out of him. "Unless you're provided with a good reason, Entropy should claim you who have disrupted his job to balance the scales."
Celestialsapien were guardsmen of the Forge of Creation, where the Cube's Will strayed. Even if they were immobile for a long time, they weren't 'dead'. In serious situations, they could move and keep the Cube safe. So by logic, the only time they should perish is before the end of the Omniverse, as they're the last pillar to reach the Cube's Will. So it was a job destined for Entropy to do in the far future.
But Neji had just stolen it, though because the Omniverse's Will granted him the chance. Though Neji doubted they'd let him pass even if he revealed that. They'd rather want him more dead, fearing him to be the agent of the Cube's Will planning to do something. Now that the Cube's Will wasn't the strongest, the Abstracts basically controlled the Omniverse.
Why would they take the chance of losing that to him, a stranger with questionable origin and records?
Oddly enough, despite being surrounded by these big shots, among whom he also caught familiar faces, Neji only felt bliss. For once, he wasn't hesitant to throw hands. Why should he? He was far from the weakling he was compared to the Battle of Abstracts that happened in the future.
His initial dull emotions were shifted to a 'happy mood' with a simple thought, as he stood by Anodi's side. "Huh?" his smile was only interrupted by the 'gaze' he felt on himself, and upon investigating his celestial heart felt fired.
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After the talk he had with Kimi, the Abstracts were looking at him weirdly. They didn't assume he was crazy for talking to the air, he was incapable of being crazy, but it made them weary that he was talking to an entity that they couldn't sense.
Neji felt proud of how strong Kimi had become, that she could hide her gaze from these high-class Abstracts. He would have missed the gaze himself if she wasn't looking directly at him.
"You should answer my question instead of dozing off," the Buddha continued. "Who are you, and how or why did you kill the Celestialsapiens?"
"I'm a nobody," Neji replied as he looked around, returning his features invisible. He met the eyes of… Lady Life who was staring at him with still eyes, with confusion and doubt in her eyes.
She didn't seem to recognize him, but she had her doubts. His face that he showed Kimi, despite having blue eyes and white hair, was indeed very similar to the 'Prima' that she knew. Sadly, Neji didn't have the ring he always wore on his ring finger, it was destroyed when the evolution happened.
He raised a hand, waving at her, "Hey, love." as an emerald ring formed on his finger. Of course, what was the point of Omnipotence if he couldn't recreate a small ring?
Lady Life paused, as did Contessa Fate and Mistress Death beside her. That surprised Neji a little, had Life told them about him?
Maestro Myth and Lord Limitless scowled, turning to look at Lady Life. As did Buddha, though he wasn't frowning. Only Entropy Embodiment didn't have a shift in his robotic figure.
Kimi would need a while to reach here, teleportation directly here shouldn't be possible due to the presence of all the Abstracts. So he planned to keep them busy until then.
Not because he was scared of a fight, but because he didn't want to destroy the Cube of its highest defense in these times of war.
Also because if a fight did break out before he convinced Lady Life, he'd have to hurt her too. He'd rather not do that, she's too nice.
"Life," Buddha said, "You know this man?"
"Prima is that you?" Lady Life asked him, gulping slowly.
"Yes," he smiled gently. "I finally got myself a power that'd help us with our dream." He said, intentionally targeting that spot as her eyes trembled.
She stepped back a little, "No," she sounded in disbelief. "You did all of this for me?" she said, "I thought you died."
"I'm messing with you, it's not just for you, it's for someone else too. Though more for myself," he said.
"You can talk now?"
"Well."
[You have 'willed' the negative effect 'Berserk' to be erased. The task has been completed.]
[It is a huge achievement to influence the Gamer System like this.]
[…Admin Privileges unlocked.]
Those were the messages he saw when he first evolved. The odd triangle shape on his chest was due to the final assimilation of the Gamer System into his existence. No other way would a mere dragon affect the celestialsapien evolution to make a hybrid; it was because of the Gamer System.
"I can do a lot more than talk now," Neji waved his hand as Planet Anodyne multiplied behind him. A hundred planets swirled like bubbles around the cosmos, as Anodi blinked.
"Huh," the 27th Queen of Anodites said. "Perhaps I should have myself cloned to do my queenly duties." She sounded surprisingly calm and chill for someone surrounded by a thousand entities who were all stronger than her.
"You're not scared?" Neji asked. He had been feeling a little bad for dragging her into this, but she was surprisingly chill.
"I'm too old to be scared of death," she shrugged. "Plus, you'll keep me safe."
"True." Neji laughed a little and wondered what her fate was with him in the other possibility. He looked back at Life, who was being stared at by the other Abstracts.
"If you know that man, ask him to explain himself," Buddha insisted, "Entropy is a patient force, but it doesn't mean we should keep him waiting for too long."
Neji wondered why that thing hadn't talked yet, why was Buddha doing all the talking? Did it seem they were not worthy to spare a speech? Or was it… unable to communicate at all? Besides having a higher power level, what made the Forbidden Class Zero Entities different from the others?
Did they lack distinct personalities? Neji was unsure.
Regardless, he agreed with Buddha. He'd rather not drag time. He hadn't slain an Abstract Entity, but he had a feeling that they wouldn't give him levels – since they just reincarnated a certain time after their death. So he had no reason to waste time fighting. Putting aside the fact if he could truly win, it'd take months, or years again, in a fight against them.
He'd rather do side-quests and level up in the meantime. The first gamer was said to have lived for a hundred years, and Neji didn't want to waste a second of that. Not anymore.
"Life?" he looked at the embodiment of living, who was frowning in skepticism. He raised a hand toward her, forming cosmic lips again to reveal a smile to her. "Would you take my side… this time?"
Threatening pressure blasted out of Mistress Death at him, for daring to suggest her sister betray the Omniverse, while Contessa Fate raised an eyebrow in amusement. Maestro Myth let out an echoing laugh, the Zeus-lookalike entity found such an offer so absurd that he found it funny. The other Abstracts, including Entropy Embodiment, turned to look at Life.
She stared at him in silence, he who she had believed had died, murdered because she cast him away, because she didn't protect him. Now… he was asking her for help. He who she had fallen in love with was asking for her aid.
But then her companions were the protector of the Omniverse, the embodiment of it. They were concepts that ran the Omniverse, that kept it stable. They were people she had been working with for eons, how could she betray them?
She didn't know how.
Her figure just floated toward him without knowing the answer.
Lady Life hugged him tight, as stunned Abstracts looked at her in disbelief. Death's agape mouth couldn't understand anything. She tried to speak several times, but her stammering words were buried by the louder sounds of Lady Life's affectionate calls.
"Where did you go, dummy? You should have let me know that you were alive!" she said, a line that'd have anyone questioning reality. How could 'Life' not know if someone was alive or dead? In his case, the answer was obvious.
"I didn't want to be distracted."
"Are you calling me a distraction now?" she pulled back from the hug and glared into his eyes playfully. "You've grown bolder just because you're a little stronger."
Neji pulled her into a kiss, shutting her up for good. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him deeper. The surroundings grew cold, and only Anodi seemed amused by the development. She whistled and stepped to the side to give the couple space.
"You virus-like bastard!" Before the kiss could even end, Mistress Death blasted from her spot toward them. The kiss ended, and her hand, which turned into a black scythe, went for his neck.
It was rather odd for Neji to see her do this. She was the same person who stood her last ground against the Abstracts to let him escape in the future. And now she was the first to attack him.
Neji didn't just take the attack. He pushed his lovely lady to the side, drawing back a hand as he punched ahead. The space-time fabric bounced as his hand slipped by her scythe and landed on her face. A wormhole blasted out behind her as she was sent flying into it.
"You don't mind if I beat your sister a little, right?" Neji asked Life, who was wiping her lips while smiling.
"It's alright, she won't die," she said.
Taking that as the signal, all the Abstract Entities rushed at Neji and Lady Life, while the purple-skinned alien beside them chuckled nervously.
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