Chapter 376: Strange humans The void settled back into silence after the last world announcement faded. Ethan remained where he was, floating cross-legged, his breathing steady once more. The echo of authority still lingered in his bones, in his blood, in the newly rewritten logic of his existence. Two Nexus Events. Authority gained. A throne fragment formed. He still didn’t know if the throne had any other functions or not. "My next step," he murmured, eyes half-lidded, "is hunting." Prodigies. Anomalies. Protagonists blessed by fate and circumstance. Native monsters raised by this Eternal Domain itself. He needed their bloodlines, their paths, their accumulated secrets. Only then could the Omni Bloodline reach completion. Only then could the Throne of Destiny be fully claimed. But before he moved, before he hunted, he needed clarity. "I want to know exactly where I stand," Ethan said calmly. He lifted one hand and extended two fingers. Creation stirred. This time, the process was not violent. No agony. No soul rewriting. Just pure, elegant manifestation. His origin essence flowed like a silent ocean, compressing logic, matter, and abstract law into a single construct. A machine formed in front of him. It was enormous, yet compact. A cubic structure floating in the void, its surface layered with translucent plates of shifting symbols. Each layer represented a different measurement axis: physical force, conceptual pressure, law-breaking potential, existential damage. At its core was a hollow sphere of absolute null matter, something that could withstand strikes that erased timelines. This device had only one purpose. To be hit. "To any other being," Ethan muttered, "this would be suicide." The machine hummed softly, acknowledging its creator. Ethan stood up and rolled his shoulders once. He did not activate any abilities. No authority. No bloodline boost. No sword. Just his body. Just his base strength. He drew his fist back. The void rippled. Then he punched. There was no sound. No explosion. The punch landed with such purity that it bypassed spectacle entirely. Space bent inward for a fraction of a second, then snapped back as if ashamed to react. The machine shook. Symbols across its surface flared violently. Then a single line of information appeared, projected in front of Ethan in cold, absolute text. [Damage Recorded: 1 Epoch Value] Ethan stared at it. An Epoch Value. He exhaled slowly. "So this is it," he said quietly. Epoch damage was not measured in energy. It was measured in consequence. One Epoch Value meant enough destructive force to erase a fully developed cosmic era from beginning to end. Not planets. Not galaxies. Entire histories. A primordial existence, one born before time learned how to flow properly, could barely reach this threshold with full effort. Ethan clenched his fist and relaxed it. "At least 10¹⁰⁰⁰ times stronger than a Progenitor," he estimated calmly. "Possibly more." He nodded to himself. This was acceptable. Then his gaze shifted. "To see the difference," he said, "I’ll test the upgrade." The Sword of Infinity emerged from his body in a beam of pale light. It no longer hovered externally. It felt like an extension of his spine, his nervous system, his intent. When he held it, there was no sense of wielding a weapon. It felt like closing a fist. Ethan wrapped his hand around the hilt. Nothing happened. No surge of power. No pressure. No world-shaking aura. He blinked. "...Did it not work?" he muttered. "That’s not possible." The sword had evolved according to flawless logic. It had already triggered a Nexus Event. It could not be faulty. Unless. Unless the effect was absolute rather than perceptible. Ethan frowned slightly, then shook his head. "Enough thinking." He raised the sword. This time, he did not restrain himself either. He struck. The blade did not touch the machine. Reality between them ceased to exist. The strike landed across a distance that should not have mattered, cutting not through space, but through relevance. Then the projection appeared. [Damage Recorded: 10¹⁰⁰⁰⁰ Epoch Value] Ethan froze. For a brief moment, even his mind stalled. Ten to the power of ten thousand. Epochs. His fingers tightened on the hilt. "...Damn," he breathed. This was no longer a gap. This was an abyss. Pure strength alone had increased to a level that dwarfed his base state beyond comparison. And this was still without authority usage. Without bloodline activation. Without any conceptual attacks layered on top. "If this is just physical output," he said slowly, "then what about fundamental power?" He could already imagine it. Law erasure. Destiny overwrite. Existence commands. If a true being of the next realm decided to kill him, not with brute force, but with authority refined over eras... "I’d be erased instantly," Ethan admitted it. His jaw tightened. Then an image surfaced in his mind. A girl. Her eyes. The pressure she carried without even trying. Ethan shook his head sharply. "Focus," he told himself. "Power comparison can wait." He dismissed the machine, dissolving it back into nothingness. "I need bloodlines," he said. "And I need information." The Eternal Domain was vast beyond comprehension. Wandering blindly would waste time. "So," he murmured, "I need allies." Or rather, enemies useful enough to become temporary allies. The native families of this domain. Ancient lineages rooted deeply in this world. They hoarded information, controlled pathways, and knew where anomalies emerged and where prodigies were hidden. They were perfect. Ethan vanished. He reappeared moments later, flying at absurd speed through layers of reality. World membranes blurred past him like thin sheets of glass. Each layer was a self-contained world structure, stacked atop one another, forming a pathway toward a greater whole. Soon, his flight slowed. A barrier appeared before him. It was vast. Translucent. Woven from interlocking laws and destiny threads. Ethan frowned. "What is this?" he thought. He reached out and touched it. The moment his fingers made contact, a response echoed directly into his consciousness. [You are about to exit the current reality.] [Do you wish to enter the reality of another candidate?] [Cost: 0.01 percent Authority.] Ethan’s eyes widened. Then narrowed. "...What?" Anger flared instantly. "So all candidates are separated?" he growled. "Each locked in their own reality?" The implications were disgusting. "And I have to pay authority just to move between them?" he snapped. "What kind of fucking rule is this shit?" His Omni Bloodline relied on other bloodlines. On absorption. On conquest. If every meaningful target was sealed behind authority tolls, the entire design became inefficient. He clenched his teeth. "Is there no other way?" Ethan demanded. The will of the world responded calmly, without emotion. [Condition alternative: The candidate must possess power four realms higher than their current realm.] Ethan stared. "...Motherfu..." The curse almost slipped out fully before he stopped himself. Four realms. With the Sword of Infinity, he could reach three realms higher in terms of combat power. That still fell short. Which meant brute forcing his way through was impossible. Not yet. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. "Alright," he said slowly. "Calm down." Anger would solve nothing. "I need information first." He turned away from the barrier and accelerated in the opposite direction. Layer after layer passed until a massive structure appeared ahead. A world framework. He entered it smoothly and continued onward. The environment shifted. Space became more structured. Causality stabilized. He passed through several such layers until the familiar curvature of a universe formed around him. "This looks normal," Ethan muttered. He crossed the boundary. The moment he entered the universe, something brushed against his senses. A strange sensation. Ethan slowed. "What is this?" he whispered. A thrill ran through him, for some reason his existence was feeling excitements. He turned toward the direction the sensation came from and increased his speed. Stars streaked past. Nebulae folded into lines of color. Then he saw it. A planet. Scarred. Burning. The surface was torn apart by craters, ruptured continents, oceans boiling under residual energy. The atmosphere was unstable, lightning tearing through blood-red clouds. A battlefield. Ethan descended silently. As he approached, he saw the fighters. There were around 500 humans in two groups. Two groups clashing across ruined plains and shattered cities. At first glance, it was ordinary. Then Ethan’s eyes sharpened. One group felt... wrong. That group felt fundamentally different from him. "How so? Ethan spreaded his senses and scanned that group of people. But when he finished his scanning, his eyes were wide opened. Because the struckture of this humans were completely opposite to him. The electrons in their bodies were positive, where the the protons were negative. " how is this possible?", Ethan couldn’t believe his eyes. Even at his level, he could create something like this. He saw that one of those humans attacked their opponent with a ice spear. His opponent dodged the attack, but Ethan was standing behind him. Ethan created a normal barrier to stop the attack. The human was just a tier 1 level existence. Hush! But to Ethan’s horror, that ice spear pierced his barrier and hit his body. He wasn’t hurt or anything, but Ethan had still that unbelievable look on his face right now. It was for two reason. First, how could a thrid dimensional tier 1 existence penetrate his barrier? Second, the ice was hot instead of being cold.