Chapter 119: Yomi’s Reckoning (7)
[Empress’ Expanse of Eternal Hours]
"I am the Goddess of Eternal Hours!"
[Emperor’s Expanse of Severing Fate]
"I am the God of Severing Fate!"
HUMMMMMM!!!!
Instantly, Crowns of authority bloomed above their heads like living stars.
One formed from endless streams of silver hourglass light.
The other wove itself from countless severed threads of gold.
The moment the crowns settled, the underside across nearly five thousand kilometers bent to their combined natures.
The sky itself became a canvas of stretched seconds and fraying destinies.
Fate threads split open on their own whenever Jovian moved—time thickened and thinned around Sunya without her needing to issue a single command.
In this moment, the true essences of their paths had spilled into the world and taken root.
Jovian shot forward in a streak of white, the Fate Breaker Sword already singing as he closed the distance for close-quarters slaughter.
WHOOOOOSH!!!!!
THRUM! THRUM! THRUM!
High above him, Sunya remained suspended, Primordial bow drawn, releasing arrows that curved through impossible angles as living nature and fractured time guided each shot toward Akasha’s heart.
Akasha watched them come and slowly shook his head.
The dragon blood within him still roared for violence, but the principle that guided his life stayed colder and sharper than any primal urge.
’Efficiency...’ he mused, knowing full well these two couldn’t even hope to harm him.
If not for the simple fact that he saw some use in keeping them alive, they would have been nothing more than corpses by now.
In that moment, he raised one hand, summoning forth his Divine Cosmic Power for the very first time.
[Zero Point (Lesser)]
HUMMMMMM!!!!!!
Instantly, everything snapped backward five full seconds—returning precisely to the quiet moment when Jovian and Sunya had still been catching their breath beside the Domain barrier.
The transition was so absolute, so surgically clean, that neither of them felt even the faintest ripple. Divine Cosmic power of this level did not leave traces that lesser beings could perceive... not directly at least.
In the very next heartbeat, Akasha was no longer standing beneath the tangible sky.
Without pausing to question Jovian or offer them even the slightest chance, he had already slipped into the depths of their Dreams.
There, he wandered through a soft, misty expanse where the haze of slumber blurred the edges of reality.
An infinite field of swords stretched endlessly in every direction—blades of every era, every style, every legend, planted point-down into an endless plain of pale stone.
Some glowed with soft golden light.
Others dripped with ancient blood that never dried. The air itself hummed with the quiet confidence of a man who had never once doubted that he would stand at the peak.
This was not merely a dream.
It was a declaration.
At the summit of the tallest mountain of blades stood an inner version of Jovian.
He wore that same loose, foolish smile, white hair drifting in a wind that existed only for him.
One boot rested casually on the hilt of a massive black great sword as if the entire mountain of weapons were nothing more than a comfortable throne.
"This is still not enough," the dream-Jovian muttered to himself, laughing under his breath. "One day... I’ll be the one supreme... swordsman. Haha, wouldn’t that be fun?"
Akasha took it all in with quiet interest as he walked between the endless swords. His abyss-black eyes reflected the glimmering steel.
"A dream of absolute mastery with the blade, huh?" he mused, a faint, appreciative smile playing on his lips.
"I wonder how Melvin would like this?"
It felt like it had been quite a while since he’d last seen his disciple.
Although he could have checked in on him through the members’ function, he decided to hold off until he finished preparing for phase three.
Still, watching the way Jovian’s dream was turning into something that resembled a swordsman’s paradise sparked an idea—he would make that dream a reality for Melvin without causing any harm to Jovian.
After all, he still had future plans for the man. Right then and there, he resolved to follow through on that idea, but only once he had completed the task that had brought him here in the first place.
With that quiet decision settled, Akasha appeared at the dream-Jovian’s side with effortless grace.
No sound marked his arrival, and not a trace of killing intent escaped from him. He just stood there, relaxed and unhurried, like a predator confident enough to wait as long as it took.
[Dream Walker (Above Origin)]
[Dream Thief (Above Origin)]
The weapon in his hand dissolved into drifting motes of Dreams.
Then his presence sank deeper into the dream, subtle as ink spreading through water, gently influencing currents of thought and desire.
Soft, almost affectionate suggestions brushed against the core of Jovian’s will—words that never quite became sound yet settled into certainty.
"Jovian, buddy," he said with a smile, patting his shoulder. "You don’t want to keep fighting... You know you’ll lose. Instead, you should take the offer for negotiations..."
"And maybe... you’ll live to fight another day."
----
When Akasha stepped back into the real world, a calm, almost pleasant smile rested on his lips.
Sunya had only just opened her mouth to propose a coordinated assault when Jovian suddenly lowered his sword.
He drifted sideways through the chaotic air, settling cross-legged on a relatively stable current, the Fate Breaker Sword resting across his knees as if the battle were already over.
"Well... my dear rivals," he said with a casual stretch, "I’m done with this fight for now. This bastard’s no fun at the moment—he’s just too damn strong."
He smiled faintly.
"As long as you give me a starship, you’re alright in my book, man."
In an instant, Sunya’s green eyes narrowed, and her link to the Time River shuddered.
Something had been altered—cleanly, quietly, and without any visible wound in the fabric of moments.
She could still sense the faint scar where fate and time had been disturbed, an almost imperceptible mark that told her something had shifted.
Jovian’s abrupt and seemingly effortless surrender made no sense in any other context.
’What the hell is going on?’ she thought, every nerve on edge, instincts flaring like alarms.
’I just hope the Celestial Mother doesn’t hold this against me.’
Without pausing to reconsider, a small golden token materialized between her fingers.
She closed her fist around it, crushing it instantly.
HUMMMM!!!!!
Blinding, radiant light engulfed her as the emergency escape triggered, carrying her away in an instant.
Just before the light carried her away completely, Akasha’s voice drifted after her, soft and almost cordial.
"Until next time, Miss Sunya. I’ll be seeing you again soon."
Then she was gone, leaving only Jovian sitting quietly in the screaming sky across from the smiling figure of Lord Dream.
----
[You have created a new Artifact]
[Dreamer’s Drift – Divine Ranked Starship - A ship that can traverse star systems in moments, fold short distances through dream-space, and generate its own self-sustaining atmosphere and gravity.
It possesses autonomous defense systems capable of repelling Cosmic Union threats, a personal cultivation chamber that accelerates recovery and comprehension, and a bound spatial storage comparable to a small realm.
Most importantly, it answers only to the one who holds its core authority—and can be recalled across any distance with a single thought.]
----
Akasha drifted forward through the chaotic winds until he hovered a few meters in front of the still-seated Jovian.
A moment later, Luna and Yume stepped out of the Domain barrier and appeared at his sides. Luna’s pink-and-purple hair swayed gently as she watched with open amusement.
Yume remained cooler, blue-streaked hair drifting like mist, expression calm and faintly curious.
Yume lifted one graceful hand, and a tiny version of the starship—no bigger than a closed fist, glowing with a soft silver-blue light—appeared above her palm.
She offered it to Akasha without a word.
He accepted it with a quiet smile, closing his fingers around the tiny vessel.
Jovian’s blindfolded face finally turned fully toward him.
The playful edge that usually lived in his expression had been replaced by something sharper, more unsettled.
He pushed himself up slightly, still sitting cross-legged, and frowned.
"...What the hell did you do to me?"