Chapter 44: Awakening & The Truth
"The rebound of Overdrive is truly a nightmare," Ethan muttered, slowly opening his eyes. His pupils flashed with a faint, dangerous red light before settling back into their deep blue hue.
"If I didn’t have the Imperial Body to constantly regenerate my life force, that single Heaven-Splitting Slash would have turned me into a pile of ashes."
He looked towards the empty balcony, where the cool night breeze gently rustled the curtains. The phantom warmth of Lilith’s hand still seemed to linger on his skin.
A sharp pang of loneliness hit his chest, but he quickly suppressed it, clenching his fists.
Lilith had left to break through to Level 5. She refused to be dead weight wanting to stand by his side as an equal, to shield him from the storms of this chaotic world.
"I can’t let her down," Ethan whispered, his gaze hardening.
"And I certainly can’t let myself become a helpless pushover again."
With a flick of his wrist, he summoned his Datafication ability.
Before taking a look at the diary, he decided to check his situation first
With that thought, a clean, translucent blue panel materialized in the air before him, displaying his status.
[Name: Ethan Klein/Imperion]
[Imperion Fusion Progress: 10%]
[Level: 5]
[Innate Ability: Unlimited Plunder]
[Plundered Abilities: Datafication, Super Speed, Flight, Laser Eye Beams, Super Hearing, Imperial Body, Ability Fusion, Overdrive]
[New Innate Trait Unlocked: Transcended Will]
[Items: Soul-Bound Old Diary, Nano Supersuit]
His eyes lingered on the 10% Fusion Progress. He could feel it.
The subtle, invisible chains binding his soul to this body had loosened significantly.
His control over Imperion’s latent power had doubled, and the floating, dizzy feeling in his head had completely vanished.
But his attention quickly shifted to the physical item that had materialized on his lap.
The Soul-Bound Old Diary.
It was a worn, leather-bound book that hummed with a strange, faint resonance.
Taking a closer look at it, it didn’t feel like dead paper rather it felt like a living, breathing extension of his own soul.
With trembling fingers, Ethan reached out bypassing the pages that had previously forced the soul-crushing vision of towering, incomprehensible cosmic monsters tearing the sky apart when he just transmigrated.
Instead he stopped at the next page.
Previously, this page had been sealed shut by an invisible, golden pressure that no amount of physical strength could budge.
But now, with his fusion progress reaching the 10% threshold, the golden barrier dissolved into a shower of harmless blue particles.
The page fluttered open.
Ethan’s breath hitched as his eyes locked onto the elegant, flowing handwriting of the original Imperion.
’Hello once again, me who is not me.’
’If you are reading these words, it means you have successfully crossed the first major hurdle. You have survived a crisis, pushed past the limits of my physical vessel, and unlocked the 10% fusion milestone.’
’For that, I applaud you. But do not celebrate yet. The path you are walking is paved with the blood of gods, and you have only taken the first step.’
’In my life, I was hailed as the world’s strongest hero. Bilions worshipped me as a savior, a god who walked among men. They believed I was invincible, that my only goal was to maintain the peace we fought so hard to achieve during the Ability World War.’
’How foolish they were. And how foolish I was for letting them believe it.’
’Let me tell you the absolute truth about the God Particles.’
’In the year 1980, when the God Particles first infected our world, humanity viewed it as a miracle. An evolutionary leap.’
’But it was not a natural occurrence. The God Particles are a highly concentrated, unstable cosmic energy. They are a resource. And like any resource, humanity’s greed would inevitably lead to their destruction.’
’Unbeknownst to the public, the United Human Federation was never interested in peace. Even before the war ended, they established secret, underground research facilities. Their goal was simple: to split, synthesize, and forcefully fuse God Particles to create artificial Level 5 and Level 6 entities that they could completely control.’
’They wanted a leash to put on us S-Class heroes.’
’But their greed blinded them to a horrifying reality.’
’Unchecked, high-concentration God Particle experiments release an invisible, high-frequency energetic vibration into the cosmic void.’
’In the vast, silent vacuum of space, this vibration acts as a cosmic beacon. A blazing signal flare in the dark.’
’And in the dark of the cosmos, there are predators.’
’"They" are coming.’
’The beings you saw in the vision are not mere monsters. They are incomprehensible, world-devouring cosmic horrors that hunt for high-energy civilizations. They consume planets rich in God Particles, wiping out all life on the surface to feed on the planet’s core.’
’The Federation’s greedy experiments are actively accelerating Their descent, drawing Them closer to Earth every single second.’
’I tried to warn them. I tried to use my influence to halt the research, but the politicians only saw my warnings as a threat to their authority. They hid their labs deeper, lied to the public, and began plotting to eliminate me.’
’That was when I realized the horrifying truth.’
’As long as the Federation exists, they will never stop. Their greed is a disease. The only way to save humanity from absolute extinction is to completely eradicate the United Human Federation, slaughter their corrupt directors, seize their research, and forcefully unite humanity under one absolute, iron fist.’
’I had to become the "Only Man in the Sky."’
’I had to become the villain.’
’But my time was running out, and my vessel was failing. So I left this diary for you. Do not falter where I did. Do not let childish notions of "heroism" stay your hand. To save this world, you must conquer it.’
’Yours sincerely, the former world’s strongest hero.’
Reading this, Ethan stared at the page, the room suddenly feeling incredibly cold.
His mind was in absolute disarray.
In the original novel, the readers including himself had complained bitterly about the "rushed villain arc" of Imperion.
They had watched in shock as the world’s greatest hero suddenly turned against the Federation, leading an army to conquer humanity, only to be stopped and killed by the protagonist, Arthur.
Everyone thought Imperion had simply lost his mind, corrupted by power and his own god complex.
But now, the puzzle pieces clicked together with terrifying precision.
The original Imperion wasn’t crazy. He was a tragic savior. He was the only person in the world who knew about the cosmic apocalypse, and he was willing to let the entire world hate him, brand him a tyrant, and hunt him down, if it meant he could dismantle the Federation’s cosmic beacon and save humanity.
Arthur’s "Justice" was a blind, childish ideal that had unknowingly doomed the entire planet.
"So that’s why..." Ethan muttered, a wry, hollow laugh escaping his lips.
"The author didn’t write a bad plot. The world just never understood the horror he was trying to prevent."
Ethan closed the diary, watching as it dissolved back into his soul.
He leaned his head back against the headboard, staring up at the ceiling.
The weight of his new reality was heavy, pressing down on his chest like a physical force.
He had transmigrated into this body hoping to live an easy, overpowered life, perhaps changing a few plot points to survive.
But now, he realized there was no easy way out. If he did nothing, the Federation’s experiments would draw the cosmic horrors to Earth, and everyone including Lilith, the kids at the orphanage, and himself would be annihilated.
If he wanted to survive, he had no choice. He had to finish what his predecessor started.
"Eradicate the Federation, huh?"
Ethan’s lips slowly curved upwards into a dark, resolute smile. His blue eyes shone with a cold, unwavering determination.
"Fine. If this world needs a villain to survive..."
He stood up from the bed, his body now fully restored to its peak condition, overflowing with the S-Rank power of his Imperial Body.
"Then I will be the greatest villain this world has ever seen."