[You're really this grateful?]
Zar clutched his chest as if he had just received the greatest blessing in existence. "Of course! If you had unsealed my realm from the start—I would've died from social death!"
He shuddered dramatically, his eyes glistening with exaggerated emotion. "Do you have any idea what it would've been like? Wielding all this godly potential while having a uncontrolled power? I would have been a joke! A meme! A cautionary tale for all future beings of power!"
The System remained silent, unimpressed.
[If you're really thankful, then kneel in front of me and loudly declare—'I am a Big Smart A.']**
Zar's face went blank. "…Yeah, no. Nice try."
[Tsk.]
The System sounded genuinely disappointed. Zar rolled his eyes. He was already getting a headache, and the day had barely started.
Deciding to ignore the oh-so-magnanimous entity living rent-free in his existence, he wiped away his nonexistent tears and shifted his focus. "Anyway, show me how my realm has updated. I need to know what changed."
A moment later, an interface shimmered into existence before him—except this time, it was a deep, royal purple.
Zar blinked, his arms crossing instinctively as he turned his gaze toward the System.
"...System. Why do you keep changing the color of these interfaces?" he asked in a deadpan tone.
There was silence.
Then—
A sudden, phantom-like smack landed on the back of his head.
["Mind your own business."]
Zar twitched. Hard.
He inhaled slowly through his nose. "You—"
["Mind your own business."] The System repeated in the same tone, as if daring him to question it again.
"...Right. Fine. Whatever." He sighed, rubbing the back of his head as he turned his attention back to the interface.
———————————
[Status Interface]
Title: Master of Multiverse 9008
Realm: Multiversal God [97% Sealed (1% Lost)]
Authority: Presence of Supreme (98%)
Innate Talent: Awakening (Estimated: 2 months)
True Form: ?? (Processing…)
———————————
Zar's eyebrow twitched. He stared at the text for a long moment, his brain buffering like an old computer trying to load a high-resolution video on dial-up internet.
"...What the hell is this?"
He squinted at the interface, as if looking at it harder would change the words. When that failed, he took a deep breath and spoke in the most polite tone he could muster—
"System, would you care to explain?"
There was a pause.
Then—
["Huh?! You're talking politely to me? SUS."]
Zar's face twitched.
He exhaled through gritted teeth. Just ignore it. Just ignore it…
Seeing that he wasn't going to take the bait, the System finally took on a more serious (but still smug) tone.
["First of all, congratulations on unsealing 3% of your realm!"]
Zar raised an eyebrow. That doesn't sound too bad—
["It's not much, but at least you haven't obliterated your reputation by sneezing in front of others."]
Zar deadpanned. "…Not funny."
["Oh, come on, it's a little funny. Imagine it—one sneeze, and entire realms tremble in fear! 'THE LORD OF DESTRUCTION, ALL HAIL THE GREAT ZAR, DESTROYER OF ALL THAT IS STABLE!'"]
Zar pinched the bridge of his nose.
["Anyway, moving on. The 1% loss? Yeah, that was me. I took it as payment for reviving Nyxara."]
Zar blinked. "Wait. You took a chunk of my power as payment?!"
["Oh, don't give me that tone! You wanted her back, I delivered. Be grateful I didn't charge you extra for express service."]
Zar blinked. "Wait. You took a chunk of my power as payment?!"
["Oh, don't start with that tone. You wanted her back, I delivered. Be grateful I didn't charge extra for express service."]
Zar narrowed his eyes. "But you literally said it was a reward for my mission!"
["And? Business policy. Terms and conditions apply."]
Zar twitched. "You—" He inhaled sharply, clenching his fists. "You know what? F*ck you."
["Language."]
Zar ran a hand down his face, exhaling slowly. "So my power is literally a currency now?"
["For certain things, yes. Look, resurrecting people isn't exactly a buy-one-get-one-free deal. I had to make an executive decision."]
Zar rolled his eyes. "Executive decision, my as*…"
The System ignored him and continued.
["Now, onto your authority—98% of the 'Presence of Supreme' has been unlocked. That's all you, by the way."]
Zar tilted his head. "Wait… I thought that was your doing?"
["Bruh. Do you really think I'd waste my energy helping you flex? That's your effort, not mine."]
"...Fair."
Zar's gaze then landed on the next line—
[Innate Talent – Awakening (Estimated: 2 months)]
He squinted. "Two months? Why not now?"
["Because it's directly linked to your realm's unsealing. The moment it's fully unsealed, your true form will also be unlocked."]
For some reason, the way the System said that 'Two Month' part sent a shiver down his spine. "...Why did you say that in such a creepy way?"
["No reason."]
"...Right?"
Zar took a moment to process everything.
So far:
1. He had unlocked a tiny bit of his realm.
2. He had lost a tiny bit of his power (thanks to System Tax™).
3. His authority level was increasing.
4. His 'Awakening' was on a timer.
5. The System was, as usual, being an unhelpful menace.
Fantastic.
He took another deep breath and rubbed his temples. "Alright. Whatever. I should check on Eterna and Nyxara. I'm sure things have settled down by now."
---
Meanwhile, back in the Infernal Realm…
Nyxara fortress…
Silence. An awkward, suffocating silence lingered between the two sisters as they stood face to face.
After a long moment, Nyxara's voice broke the quiet.
"...I'm sorry, Sis."
Her tone was barely above a whisper, carrying the weight of guilt that had been festering for far too long.
Eterna, without hesitation, suddenly hugged her. "It's not your fault…"
Nyxara's body stiffened at first, but then, slowly, she hugged her sister back. In the next moment, she pulled Eterna into her consciousness.
---
A vast, incomplete world stretched before her, its foundations unstable, its skies fragmented. The colors of reality bled into each other—hues of deep purple and void-like black twisting into swirls, creating an eerie landscape that defied logic.
Nyxara stood at the heart of this realm, observing the chaotic scenery with curiosity and confusion. She had never seen a place like this before—a realm in the process of being born yet strangely intertwined with something… foreign.
A thick, mist-like energy loomed in the distance, pulsing erratically like a wound that refused to heal. The ground beneath her feet cracked and shifted, sometimes solid, sometimes turning into liquid for mere moments before stabilizing again.
She didn't know why, but something about this place called to her.
It wasn't supposed to exist.
Nyxara extended her senses and felt the unmistakable presence of the multiverse itself—not as a sentient being but as a vast cosmic force attempting to correct an error.
Her eyes widened slightly.
"The verse… is trying to erase this realm?"
She turned her gaze towards the flickering distortion in the distance. A narrow pathway, almost like a tear in space, connected this forming world to somewhere else—somewhere beyond the reach of this multiverse.
Nyxara had encountered countless unstable realms before, but never one like this. The structure was incomplete, yet an outside force had influenced its formation.
Cautiously, she moved forward. The realm seemed to react to her presence, trembling slightly with each step she took.
"Strange…"
For some reason, she felt that she shouldn't be here.
But before she could turn back—
A voice, faint yet chilling, whispered from the distorted pathway.
"You… have come…"
Nyxara's body tensed immediately, instincts screaming at her.
Something wrong was here.
She turned swiftly to leave.
But the moment she took a step back—
Her vision blurred. The world twisted.
And then—darkness.