Chapter 1966: The Beginning of End

Published Mar 17, 2026, 08:45 AM

Chapter 1966: The Beginning of End The Luminious were aware that with every passing cycle of birth and rebirth, the forces of destruction that the inhabitants of Existence were calling upon were becoming more terrible. When Existence was destroyed for the first time, it had been long and protracted, stretching for countless Cosmic Eras, and occurred so slowly that even the Luminious believed at first that this was a natural process of creation and entropy, but from that point forward, they noticed that the power of destruction was growing. The first time they noticed the power of End was from a Minor God in a small world who wanted power above all. This led him to slaughtering an entire galaxy, and he was hunted down by his fellow gods, beaten to an inch of his life, and instead of being killed, he was thrown into a pit at the edge of Existence, so he could rot for all eternity. This god lingered at the thinnest edge between life and death, enduring torture that drove him mad countless times over, until the destruction wrought upon Existence became too great, and it led to its destruction once again. However, when Existence ended, someone still remained, perched in a state where death and life could not find him, and for so many Cosmic Eras, he had been screaming for an end to his suffering, but to no avail; even the ending of Existence did not lead to his demise. The Luminious in their unchanging realm waited for the rebirth of Existence, but this rebirth never happened in its expected timeline, and they were not overly concerned. There were times when rebirth arrived more slowly, but its arrival was always inevitable. Still, a significant amount of time passed without change, and this period was so long that it was a hundred times as long as the time there had ever been Existence. The Luminious could live in stillness for a long time, but even they had their limits, and they could no longer stand to see Existence in the manner that it had become, and so, some of them ventured out into the nothingness to investigate when the rebirth of Existence would come about. Then they saw him. This god should have been dead countless times over, but an unknown power maintained his existence. The Luminious learned of the first rule of this power on that day, and that was that it gave as much as it took. Those who wished to torture this god had inadvently called upon the first rule for the ritual to summon End, and they had wished for this god to suffer for eternity, and as payment, some of them had unknowingly led to the death of their entire Existence, and so this power took the death of Existence and made this god to remain in torment for all perpetuity. From the beginning of existence until its eventual end, it was unknown if there would ever be any being who suffered as much as this god. "Free me... Kill me... I beg of you." The tortured carcass of the god should not have awareness or be able to speak, but the endless years of torment had twisted his mind, giving him inspiration in concepts that touched on matters that made madness appear sane. Repelled by the sheer suffering and pain emerging from this god that was powerful enough to kill the Luminious if they were not careful, the Luminious fled from this god and sealed off their realm. They decided that if there were no more rebirths, then they were not too concerned about it. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢 It was unknown how many years passed by, and suddenly Existence had a rebirth. The Luminious were greatly surprised as they were sure there would be no more rebirth, but something had changed when they were sealed away that led to a rebirth, and they did not know what it was. From that moment, they watched this unknown power continue to awaken. It was gradual and inexorable, stirred from the depths of the endless chaos by the accumulating scars of creation and destruction. The Luminious were able to notice that this power was not born; it was aroused, layer by layer, as each Existence rose, flourished in ambition, and collapsed under the weight of its own refusals to fade. And this realization that this power was something incredibly ancient was deeply frightening, even to the everlasting Luminious. What Enoch would later claim as his own invention was merely the culmination of eons of forgotten cycles—cycles the Luminous had witnessed and buried, fearing the Desolate Era that might finally claim even them. The Memory that Rowan had collected saw the evolution of this power, and from the Memory of the Luminious, he understood that End was not just a force of nature... it was aware! Perhaps this awareness came from the dying god who had lived and suffered beyond what any being should ever endure, or maybe it was always part of this force; that answer may never be known. However, from the cycles of deaths and rebirths, this power grew from a faint stirring that only the Luminious were aware of, then it slowly sharpened. Whispers took form in the hearts of mortals and immortals, and they began to find that there was a power in the depths of the earth or the places in the mind that were beyond madness, and if you reached for this strength with impossible convictions, this power might find you. Then this power grew until its whispers became more subtle, insidious, and terribly malevolent. It twisted the good nature of its wielders until anything they touched, whether it be for good or evil, always had one outcome... destruction. Existence began ending earlier than before, when this power learned to make destruction, tempting. It cloaked its intention in a different light, giving the weary the opportunity to rest, ot the downtrodden the opportunity to fight for their freedom. From this moment, the floodgates were open, until this power became inevitable, and the Luminious called this malevolent force... End. For the first time in their history, they decided to change the tenets that guided their lives... they decided to fight for Existence, because even they realized that this power had become something that could not be overlooked.

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