Chapter 430: Planning for the battle Ethan finished the final sequence of his preparations and stood still, letting the silence settle. This was it. The moment before a battle where survival itself was uncertain. But failure was not an option. Ethan stood at the center of his private chamber. The air around him shimmered faintly, distorted by the residual heat and pressure left behind by his preparations. He exhaled slowly. For someone of his current caliber, death was rarely final. Bodies could be replaced. Souls could be reconstructed. Consciousness could be restored from fragments stored beyond time. But this situation was different. If this clone died, something far worse would be lost. His happiness would die with it. Ethan understood this truth with terrifying clarity. If this body was destroyed by a perfected Absolute Continuum existence, he would lose the ability to feel happiness forever. It would not return with resurrection. It would not regenerate with cultivation. That emotional capacity would be erased. The loss was unbearable to even contemplate. This was not merely the destruction of a vessel. It was the metaphysical severing of his connection to joy itself. The clone was the manifestation of his joy and happiness. If it was extinguished by a being that existed beyond time and space, that part of his soul would be erased from the tapestry of existence, leaving behind only a hollow continuation. Ethan clenched his fingers. "Yumiko," he said quietly, his voice steady despite the stakes pressing down on him. "I want a foolproof escape plan." He lifted his gaze, eyes sharp and focused. "I cannot step into this blind. Power alone is not enough. I need a way out if the worst happens. What should I do? Do you have any suggestions?" [Master, how about a substitute doll?] Ethan frowned. His mind immediately raced through thousands of possibilities. Ancient artifacts. Soul-bound constructs. Karma-linked decoys. Objects that could take death in his place. "I thought of that," he replied. "Do you think it would work against such an enemy?" It was a classic maneuver. A technique as old as cultivation itself. High-level cultivators and magi relied on substitutes as a final insurance. When death arrived, something else took the blow. But this was no ordinary opponent. They were facing a perfected Absolute Continuum being. At that level, reality was not law. It was preference. Cause and effect were flexible. Time was something to be observed from the outside. The senses of such an existence could pierce through causality itself. A wooden doll or soul-double would be nothing more than a transparent trick. Obvious. Almost insulting. Against a being that perceived the Absolute, deception was not concealment. It was illumination. He feared that a substitute would stand out like a candle in total darkness. [That is correct, master,] Yumiko replied, her tone shifting as countless variables were processed in parallel. [However, you are forgetting something important.] Ethan listened carefully. [There are two imperfect Absolute Continuum beings roaming this sector. We can pull those bastards into the battle.] His eyes narrowed. [They are the two absolute pillars of this two-plane of existence. While they are weaker than perfected Absolute Continuum beings from the neutral plane, they are still eternal within this structure. They can’t be destroyed.] Ethan went silent. The idea began to crystallize. The Executioners. The beings tasked with maintaining balance between the planes. They were not mere guardians. They were structural supports. They were apex predators in their own domain. Untouchable to most. Feared by all. If he could drag them into the crossfire, then his escape would not rely on deception. It would rely on inevitability. He would not hide from the strike. He would redirect it. Yumiko transmitted vague frameworks. Spatial tethering concepts. Karmic baiting mechanisms. Resonance chains that could force mutual targeting. She could not map the full execution yet. The variables surrounding a perfected Absolute being were too chaotic. Too absolute. But this was enough. Ethan could work with this. He could refine the edges. Sharpen the logic. Turn an incomplete concept into a lethal contingency. "You are a genius," Ethan said softly, a weary but genuine smile touching his lips. "Were you always this smart, or did this evolution make you better?" [I do not know what you are talking about, master! I am always this smart!] There was pride in her voice. Almost indignation. Ethan chuckled quietly. Even at the brink of annihilation, Yumiko remained unchanged. "Is that so?" he said. He did not continue the banter. Time was precious. He returned to the escape plan, visualizing it anew. Not as a battlefield, but as layered dimensions overlapping in controlled chaos. He would be the bait. And at the moment of impact, he would switch places with one of the imperfect pillars. The perfected being would not strike him. It would strike the laws of the cage itself. Ethan reached out and grasped the Sword of Infinity. The moment his fingers wrapped around the hilt, a violent surge of power raced through his arm, tearing through every restraint he had placed upon himself. Reality reacted instantly. His existence transcended. Absolute Continuum. The transformation was not an increase in energy. It was a change in state. His presence became heavier, yet paradoxically weightless. He felt as if he existed both inside time and completely outside it. As if he was no longer bound to the page, but had stepped into the space of the writer. It was intoxicating. And terrifying. Yet Ethan knew one thing. He did not know how powerful he truly was. After Absolute Continuum, the cultivation ladder ended. No realms. No tiers. No ranks. From this point onward, power was limitless. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞 Not in quantity, but in quality. It was no longer about climbing. It was about how much of the Absolute one could embody. Absolute Continuum was not an upgrade. It was an evolution. The difference between a drawing and the hand holding the pen. Ethan understood something unsettling. Even if his power reached Infinite Erebus, a level that would have made him untouchable days ago, he could not defeat this version of himself wielding the Sword of Infinity. The sword was the catalyst. But now, he did not draw it to measure himself. He drew it to measure the ceiling. He needed to know who stood at the very top before risking everything. That was why he made his decision. He would fight the One Above All. Before facing the unknown intruder from the neutral plane. It was bold. Possibly suicidal. But the logic was sound. If he could clash with the supreme administrator of the positive plane and survive, and could gain the power of him,then he would have a far greater chance against the outsider. There were no realms above it. And the Sword of Infinity evolved its wielder to the next level of combat authority. So if he had combat prowess similar to One Above All, and then he wield the sword again, his power would be one level higher than him. That was the theory. If it worked, nothing would be beyond reach. "Yumiko," Ethan asked, eyes glowing faintly with silvery light. "Do you have access to all the information in this cage now? The power scale after Absolute Continuum?" [Yes, master. After this evolution, no secrets within the cage are hidden from me.] Her perception had expanded to encompass every atom, every thought, every fluctuation within the boundaries. [However, I cannot reveal everything at once. That would violate the laws of the cage and alert the creators. We must remain unnoticed.] Ethan nodded. Information was power. But it was also a beacon. "But I can tell you the power scale," Yumiko continued. "That is not forbidden." "Then tell me," Ethan said. "Where do I stand?" [I cannot compare you directly to others. That would cross into Omniscience.] So he summoned the interface. Light unfolded in the air. [Status Panel] [Master: Ethan Hunt Realm: Eternal Sovereign Physique: 4096 Erebus Spirit: 4096 Erebus Talent: Infinite Comprehension Ability: Creation of All Things Bloodline: Infinite Bloodline Combat Power: Grade 1 Absolute Continuum] Ethan stared at the final line. "Grades?" he asked. "I thought Absolute Continuum meant infinite growth." [There are five grades within the cage, master. Advancement beyond Grade 5 requires shattering the cage itself.] Each grade was not a step. It was a chasm. An infinite number of Grade 1 beings could not defeat a single Grade 2. Existence quality, not quantity. Ethan felt the weight settle in. He was Grade 1. The bottom of the summit. "But the One Above All?" he asked quietly. [Grade 1.] "And the intruder?" [Grade 2.] Relief washed through him. Not safety. But possibility. He could fight against One above all, and he was sure that he could survive the battle too. Then one day later, he would have combat power similar to grade 1 Absolute Continuum being and with the sword in hand, he would have power similar to grade 2, same as the intruder. Ethan’s eyes hardened. "One Above All," he murmured. "Come to papa." He slashed the space infront of him.