Chapter 432: Going to finish his evolution He glanced at the floating holographic display of the Status Panel. [Time until Power Synchronization: 11 Hours, 38 Minutes] "Eleven hours," Ethan whispered. "Just eleven hours and that bastard’s power becomes mine." He closed his eyes, trying to meditate, but the image of the Messenger, the intruder, kept flashing behind his eyelids. The way the man had swatted away the One Above All’s "Erasure" like it was a bothersome fly haunted him. It wasn’t just strength. It was a higher level of existence. It was the difference between a man fighting a storm and a man who was the storm. "Yumiko," Ethan called out internally. "Keep a lock on his signature. If he breathes too loud, I want to know." [Master, the Messenger is currently stationary near the site of the collision. However, his sensory range is expanding.] [He is not merely looking with his eyes; he is tasting the frequency of the plane.] [The Space Cube’s concealment is holding, but it is under immense pressure.] Ethan cursed under his breath. He was a Grade 1 Absolute being in training, yet he felt like a mouse hiding in a cupboard while a starving cat prowled the kitchen. The fear was a cold stone in his gut. He had never felt this outclassed. Even against the One Above All, he felt he had a chance to trick his way to victory. But the Messenger? The Messenger was an enigma from a realm where the laws of physics were merely suggestions. Outside the safety of the Cube, the Messenger stood amidst the swirling red dust that had once been the physical manifestation of a god. He didn’t look angry. Anger was an emotion for the weak, for those who could be thwarted. He looked bored. He was an Emissary of the Apocalypse Race. To him, the positive plane was a "half-baked" reality, a nursery for souls that would mostly amount to nothing. "Where are you, little rat?" he mused. He released his power. It didn’t explode outward. It flowed like ink in water, seeping into the cracks of the dimensions. He searched the oceans, the mountain peaks, and the molten cores of every planet. He bypassed the "mysteries" placed by the creators, zones of static that even the One Above All couldn’t penetrate. Then, he stopped. His "vision" hit a snag. It was a structure that radiated a strange, arrogant energy. A tower. It was built with a grandeur that screamed of a ruler’s ego. It was Ethan’s tower, the seat of his power in this world. "Oh?," the Messenger whispered. He stared at the tower which seemed to be created by using the law of creation in a unique way. Beside the bloodline holder was also inside that tower. The Apocalypse bloodline was sacred. To find it in this backwater dimension, inside a tower built by a "rat," was an insult. Inside the Cube, Yumiko’s voice rang out, "Master! He has found the tower! He is moving!" Ethan bolted upright, the Sword of Infinity appearing in his hand instantly. "What? No! It hasn’t been twelve hours! I’m not ready!" [Master, if you engage him now, the probability of your survival is 0.0000%] Yumiko reported clinically. [He will erase your soul] He saw the Messenger vanish from the void and reappear instantly at the gates of his tower. The defensive arrays he had created, wards that could source authority beings, didn’t even flicker. The Messenger simply walked through them as if they were made of mist. "I have to go down there," Ethan growled, his knuckles white as he gripped the sword. "Rose is there. Zara is there. My family..." "Master, wait!" Nini appeared in a swirl of silver light. Her expression was solemn. "If you go, you die, and they die anyway." "The Messenger isn’t here to massacre mortals. He is here to take Miss Zara." "He has sensed the bloodline in Madam Zara." "I won’t let him take her!" Ethan roared. "You must," Nini said, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Let him take her." "He will see her as a prize, a treasure of his own race." "He will not harm her; he will cultivate her." "It is the only way she survives this day." Ethan felt a surge of self-loathing so strong he nearly vomited. "You’re asking me to let a monster kidnap Zara?" "I am asking you to live so you can get her back," Nini countered. "The neutral plane is where we origin artifacts are born. So you can say I am a part of that plane. So I know something about it." "To enter it, you must finish your evolution." "You need that Grade 1 power to be permanent, and then you need to surpass it." "Only a Grade 3 Absolute being can walk the neutral streets without being a slave of those races." "If you go now, you lose everything." Ethan slumped against a wall. The logic was a cold blade in his heart. He saw his family in the dining hall, laughing, unaware that a god of death was standing in their hallway. "I hate this," Ethan whispered. "I hate being weak." He tapped his communication link, his fingers trembling. "Rose... listen to me." "A ’friend’ is coming." "Do not resist him." "Let him take Zara." "Trust me." "I am doing this to save you all." In the tower, the atmosphere shifted. The air grew heavy, like it was filled with invisible lead. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚 Rose looked up from her plate, her heart skipping a beat. She heard Ethan’s voice in her head, and it broke her heart. She could hear the suppressed sob in his tone. She looked at the doorway. The Messenger entered. He didn’t look like a monster. He looked like a nobleman dressed for a funeral. His eyes scanned the room, landing on Zara. Zara, usually the most energetic of the group, went deathly still. She felt the weight of the man’s gaze. It felt like her very DNA was being read like a book. "Little girl," the Messenger said. His voice was melodic, yet it carried the finality of a closing coffin lid. "Come with me." The family looked at Rose. Rose, her eyes brimming with tears, nodded slowly. "Go, Zara." "It’s... it’s okay." "He’s a friend of Ethan’s." Zara walked forward. She was brave, and sharp. She looked at the Messenger’s cold, pale face but didn’t say anything as Ethan’s voice also entered in her head. She she stood by his side. The messanger saw this, he was a little surprised that the girl didn’t resist nor her family. It was not like he was using his aura here. But he didn’t ponder any further. He didn’t wait for a goodbye. He flicked his wrist, and a tear in reality opened behind him. A swirling vortex of white light hummed with a power that made the tower’s stone walls groan. He stepped through, pulling Zara with him. The portal snapped shut. Rose collapsed to her knees, a primal scream of grief tearing from her throat. The rest of the family stood in stunned silence. The joy of the afternoon was replaced by a crushing, hollow void. Ethan appeared in the center of the room a second later. His presence was overwhelming. His aura leaked out in jagged silver sparks. But he looked like a broken man. Rose looked up at him, her face wet with tears. "Mr. Ethan... why? Who was that?" Ethan didn’t answer immediately. He walked to the spot where Zara had been standing. "He is someone I am going to kill," Ethan said. His voice was devoid of emotion. It was a flat, terrifying sound. "He is someone I am going to tear apart molecule by molecule." "But not today." He looked at the clock. [00 Hours, 01 Minute Remaining] Finally, the notification he had been waiting for appeared in letters of fire. [The synchronization period is over.] [The power of the One Above All has been fully integrated.] BOOM. The void exploded. Ethan’s body became a sun. The Grade 1 Absolute Continuum power, previously a borrowed suit of armor, melted into his very cells. His bones turned into indestructible conduits of energy. His mind expanded. He saw the threads of reality, the "code" of the positive plane, as clearly as a child sees a picture book. [Status Update:] [Master: Ethan Hunt Realm: Eternal Sovereign Physique: Grade 1 Absolute Continuum Spirit: Grade 1 Absolute Continuum Talent: Infinite Comprehension Bloodline: Infinite Bloodline Unique Ability: Creation of All Things] "Everyone, stay in the tower," Ethan commanded. "The plane is going to become unstable." "I have to go back to the negative plane to finish what I started." He didn’t wait for their questions. He couldn’t face them. He vanished. Ten hours of agonizing silence passed as Ethan drifted in the deep void between the positive and negative planes. He now could kill One above All and the Presence like grasses even though he couldn’t kill then for good. But they couldn’t do anything to him either.