A/N: Heya y'all. Sorry I haven't been consistent in posting chapters this past week. I was writing my exams which just finished yesterday so as an apology, I'll be dropping two chapters. Enjoy...and don't forget to show some love and support.
Feel free to tell me your thoughts on the novel so far. The battle between Jashin and the Isekai Experience. I feel like there's more room to improve so I'm all ears..
***
Title: Begining of the End
...
"Damn."
"Wow."
Shun and Hinami exclaimed respectively at the sight that was occuring before then in the Illusion of Jashin's new life
"He really did get sealed away again." Shun said with a complicated expression on his face.
"Like...yeah..I mean, he's supposed to be the protagonist...right?" Hinami asked, looking at Shun.
"Eh? Well...yeah. but y'know. There's no concept of plot armor in this world."
"So you just reincarnated him...for what?"
"It's all for the grand design, Nami. The concept of Free Will in itself is a lie told by Gods to their creations...Humans to be exact." Shun said with a mysterious expression. "The fact that plot armor exists indicates that whatever happens, the Main Character always survives."
"That's true. No matter the sacrifices made by the 'villains', their pains and struggles, for some reason they're always wrong in the face of the main character's ideals." Hinami responded with a small nod.
"But how does that relate to Jashin?"
"Well, in my worlds, there is absolute free will. There is no Main Character whatsoever. Every action has its consequences and this-" referring to Jashin's predicament. "-is the consequences of his actions."
"Not directly though." Hinami added.
"Doesn't matter. This is where the law of Cause and Effect comes in." Shun said and kept quiet, not going further on the topic. Hinami was already at the God King Level, Ria and Kaguya too, so some things should already be understandable to them.
"It's your turn now." Shun said as they watched Jashin use a Reincarnation technique on himself before his sealing. In this way, his soul would exit his body and live in another form.
"How about a human this time. But instead of an entitled human, he'll be a human born into a very poor and dire circumstance." Shun offered his opinion but Hinami only hummed without actually acknowledging or rejecting the notion.
And so, Shun and Hinami continued with their little Isekai project on Jashin for an entire Nine Lifetimes. From a Vampire noble to a human pauper with no magic, to an animal who managed to evolve into a beastman to an animal with no magic, to a human slave, to a bird...yeah, just your normal bird to a human with no magic once again but born into a martial art society.
Jashin was subjected to many lives till Hinami noticed something and asked. "Why aren't we reincarnating him in a cultivation world?"
"Oh hell no. That'd be the last thing I'll ever do." Shun immediately rejected. "No one who goes to such worlds comes out normal."
"But didn't you say you'd prefer such a world to these...'unreasonable' worlds anytime?" Hinami asked, amused by Shun's reaction.
Shun scoffed and looked at her in mock disdain. "You have no idea. You too have seen it right?"
Hinami chuckled but didn't say anything. That's right, she too would prefer a cultivation world over these unreasonable ones anytime of the day.
Although the concept of Plot Armour is more pervasive in cultivation worlds, they do have a reasonable power system. Whereas for normal magic or mana related worlds, any casual effort could see to the increase of one mana, magic or Chakra.
Take for example. A Cultivator needs to meditate and revolve his/her Qi or Spiritual Energy according to a cultivation technique. This enables them to absorb said energy from their surroundings and strengthen their bodies, energy and blood.
That's systematic.
Whereas in a Mana, Magic or Chakra world, just training and expending your energy would lead to a more increased energy when recovered. It's as though you're encouraged to grind continuously in order to grow stronger.
Although some mana worlds also use the concept of absorbing magic from the air, they too are unreasonable.
The only underlying fact was that the Heavenly Dao is overly strict. Once they see you as an enemy, you're an enemy till you do something good on a planetary scale.
Meanwhile, once someone does something overly bad in a Magic world, they're dubbed 'Demon King' and are either revered by the masses or feared by the masses.
It's like saying that in cultivation worlds, the Heavenly Dao takes matters into their own hands, whereas in Magic worlds, the masses decide if you're to be worshiped or feared.
"I'd take a magic related world anytime of the day."
"Is that fear I hear, Oh almighty Creator?" Hinami snickered at him but Shun merely scoffed.
"The concept of fear doesn't exist in my being, Nami. My existence alone already transcends emotions under the spectrum of the Seven Deadly Sins and their virtues,"
"Alright, alright. I don't need your overly arrogant attitude right now." Hinami chuckled at Shun.
"That is not arrogance my dear. It's a fact. You'll come to understand such things in the future." Shun said and then released Jashin from his suspended state.
Shun didn't see the need to preach to Hinami. As she was, she was already strong enough to create life, but that life wouldn't be perfect.
To create life, one of the most important things was Chaos/Void/Null energy, basically, Mastery of Primordial Forces. The creator should have control over fundamental forces of the universe, such as creation, destruction, life, death, space and time.
But that wasn't all. Arcane Knowledge, the In-depth understanding of mystical or magical principles that govern the fabric of reality is also crucial.
Other factors were Dimensional Manipulation, the control over dimensions and the ability to shape reality according to one's will and that was where Limitless Imagination comes in.
Limitless Imagination An expansive and creative mind that can conceive perfection and translate it into a tangible form.
Soul Manipulation Mastery over the essence of life, souls, and spiritual energy was a key aspect of creating perfect beings.
Take Fenrir for example, he was created when Shun first attained his initial Godhood - The Six Path Level.
Fenrir was created based on Shun's already established Human side. There wasn't any deep understanding on the concept of souls. There was just the fact that energy could be given sentience and said energy could also be given form. Hence Fenrir was born.
But with Shun transcending This Universe and gaining access to the Chaos Energy outside the universe, his existence was elevated to a whole new level of being.
As one would know, Chaos and Order were two sides of the same Coin. If the world Within a Universe is Order, then the world outside was Chaos, and Chaos was the amalgamation of all known forces.
Elemental forces were just the basic and foundation of it all. Going deeper, one would gain access to Temporal and Spatial Force, Vital and Mortal Forces.
Vital to life and Mortal to Death. Nothing Divine could really Die hence the Mortality of Death.
"You're beginning to give off that Godly Aura Thing again." Hinami's voice broke through his reverie.
"Huh? Oh. Sorry about that. I could wait till you three... forget it." Shun stopped speaking. His soul could feel a pressure he could very well understand was the Universe warning him, or rather, the owner of the Universe.
'I wonder what our battle would be like.' Shun wondered as he calculated the time till he would render this universe apart and steal it for himself. 'That'll wait till my main body returns though.'
Looking at Jashin's body, Shun was about to tap his forehead and bring him back to reality when he suddenly stopped.
"What. The. Fuck."
Shun's POV.
"What. The. Fuck."
No, it should be: What the actual fuck!?
My clone just died? Who was capable of such...No, let me review its memory prior to his death.
Activating [Thought Acceleration] I spent less than a second to grasp what just happened during my short reunion with my wife.
'Was this plot armor trying to mess with me?' I just left for a while and 3 full months had gone by?
No. I should have accounted for that. Time is one hell of a bitch when it comes to fantastical worlds like this.
As for who, or what killed my clone.
"Ishikki. You better hope I don't have your time when I return." I was basically gnashing my teeth in anger.
"Earth to Shun? You seem to be giving off a bit of anger right there. That's not very Godly."
Nami...not now.
"I'm in a human body, Nami. That doesn't count." There is no way I'm gonna be losing in an argument, Nami, no way.
Quickly adjusting my emotions, I smiled at her and said. "Seems like the time of my prophecy is soon to be upon us."
"Eh? For real? We can finally return?" She asked and I nodded.
"Those guys Momoshiki sent over would also arrive soon. The barrier set by father-in-law would obstruct their sights for some time though." I said and quickly placed Jashin into my personal space Within the Shadow dimension and prepared to leave.
"From your tone, it would soon be broken?"
"Hm. With Kaguya's original body being unsealed from the moon, the seal would be broken, revealing our location to them."
"And you'll allow that? I'm always amazed by how daring you can be. Are they ready yet?"
"They are. These humans are resilient enough. Trust my students and yours." I rubbed her head in assurance.
"I'm not worried about Hinata, she's strong enough, but in comparison to those guys..." She said with a bit of worry and hesitation.
"That's the exact reason we need to do this. They can't be sheltered forever, they need to know that they aren't alone in this world and stop their pesky wars."
"Oh? Now they're pesky?" She said with a mocking smile.
"Of course. Their time of initial development needed the wars. Mindsets needed to be born, morals, ideals and dreams were all born from the numerous deaths brought about by the wars. It was a necessity."
"200 years Shun. The warring era lasted for 200 years. And you did nothing about it." She said with a bit of annoyance.
"Soon dear. Soon you'll understand." I said, rubbing her cheeks.
"Now, Kaguya will be alerted when her body is finally ready. You both should come with her."
"You sure we don't need to bring our forces?"
"Please, trust in your own people. You're a human, although evolved, your lineage is still one of humans." I gave her a small knock as a portal opened in front of me.
"Take care." Saying that, I entered the portal to the last point my clone was in before his death.
Gurgle* 'What the fuck?'
...
Three Months Ago.
In an opulent room well furnished with woodenware, a man and a woman sat in a comfortable silence.
The man had a nonchalant expression on his face as he read through the scroll in his hands while the woman had an annoyed one as she attended to the bundles of paper on her table.
"Hey, you sure you don't wanna help me out here?" The woman asked with a pout but the man merely snickered and didn't bother to reply to her.
"You brought this upon yourself. Ah. The woes of being a revolutionary." He said and placed the scroll on the cushion he was seated on.
Standing up, he walked over to the woman and stood behind her before bending down and giving her a deep hug. "It's tiring right? How about taking a break?"
He said as his hands slithered into her robes and grabbed her modest sized breasts and fondled them.
"Ahn! Not now babe." She said but made no effort in removing his hands.
"Hehe. Women and their lies." The man laughed pervertedly as he bit her earlobes. With his left hand on her boobs, he directed his right hand down to her tummy when suddenly, he paused and turned around abruptly.
"...Babe?"
"You don't feel that, do you?" The man asked as his eyes took a reddish hue. The aura around the man gradually turned aggressive, scaring the woman a bit.
"Of course I don't. Is this the same as back then? The family thing?" She asked
"Hmm. Seems like my father is battling someone strong." He said with a frown.
"Huh? Didn't you say your father is the strongest?"
"He is...but..." He said hesitantly, not completing the sentence. 'This other guy is on a whole other level compared to fathers reincarnation.'
"It's alright. Everything will be okay right? You said it yourself. Nobody could ever hope to defeat anyone from your family." The woman hugged him from behind.
"...Hm, you're probably right. Oh. Yeah, I should've known." He began but ended with his usual easygoing smile.
"Something happened?"
"Yeah, he should win soon." He said. He had just felt another energy that dwarfed the initial one by many levels.
"That's good." The woman said before snorting and going back to her seat. "You and your family drama. If I hadn't seen your sister, I would have thought you were mentally ill."
"Come with the perks of being in the family dear. You'll only get more surprises later on." The man said and turned to continue from where he stopped only for him to pause again.
"What's it this time?"
"... He's...they're gone." He muttered, but after less than a second of thinking about it, he shrugged and went back to business.
If Shun and Hinami currently Isekai-ng Jashin knew of this, they'd probably spit blood in anger.
...
(A/N: Alright guys, massive Timeskip incoming. I'm just gonna speed run everything to the war arc.)