After about an hour of letting Sylvie and Kaelthyr both scour through the Draugrâs castle, Ash finally opened his eyes. He had spent time watching the Primavus creaturesâhe wanted to see how they would be up close before he left.
In just one hour they had evolved far beyond mindless beasts.
The pure white creaturesâeach bearing Primavus traits like wings, fangs, pointy ears, and absurd beautyâhad already begun organizing. Groups with similar features clustered naturally: winged scouts formed aerial tribes, fanged warriors gathered into ground packs, pointy-eared ones with sharper senses created scouting clans.
They marked territories with glowing rose-pink runes carved into stone and earth, boundaries shimmering with faint protective auras. Some ventured outâsmall teams exploring the Lower Abyss, mapping the new land.
They communicated in low, melodic tonesâalready forming crude hierarchies, sharing kills, and protecting the weakest. They were not just survivingâthey were thriving, adapting, claiming the dead land as their own.
Other than that, he spent a bit of time creating three watches.
They were simple one-time-use items he forged specifically for the next step... reaching the Mid Veil. It was something to note that one shouldnât be able to reach the next level unless they reached Void Emperor rank. However, Ash didnât have any Void Emperor he could copy from nor did he plan on leaving to find one.
Instead, he would just find one in the Mid Veil...
He stood up in the skies of the Lower Abyss that were now tinted pink slightlyâfaint rose light bleeding into the black as his influence seeped deeper. He teleported to the others and spoke as he appeared behind the two who were meditating.
"Alright, enough time wasted we can now go to the Mid Veil." He said as he floated the watches in front of him.
"These watches will help us bypass the restrictions."
Sylvie caught the watch and put it on without asking any questions, rose-pink eyes trusting. Kaelthyr however held the watch in one hand as his grey eyes locked on to Ash.
"Brat... are you seriously planning to enter a domain filled with Void Emperors?"
"Of course, I am... and way to the top too." He said as he smiled internally.
âItâs quite easy honestly... once I become a Void Emperor, reaching Cosmic Overlord will be a piece of cake, thanks to Layla.â As he thought this Elysia spoke.
[Right... Right... arenât you forgetting our whole purpose for attaining power in a different way?] She said before she continued before he could respond.
[Master, ranking up is the least of your concerns. Though finding Void Emperors is needed... You still need to take advantage of your cheats. Attain more Stellar Laws... your masterâs Affection is already at the limit... and so is Sylvieâs. Those will make four Stage Four Stellar Laws... if you make them powerful enough, the next domain will be nothing.]
Hearing this Ash couldâve facepalmed.
âYouâre right... how about this. From now on, you have full authority to do as you please. Copy any race you feel thatâs needed, once someoneâs affection reaches the set limit copy... anything useful... copy it.â He said as it was too easy for him to get lost in all the motion.
âJust donât forget to tell me...â He added lastly.
[Alright master... I will create you two Stellar Laws... Just continue onto your journey... Iâll be back in a few minutes.] Elysia spoke before she got to work.
He smiled hearing that and he couldnât wait to see what she would create. Although she was his nexus and they basically shared the same knowledge... It was much easier for her to compartmentalize all of it.
âWait... do I need a new brain?â He thought briefly before he shook his head. He then engulfed everyone in the Law of Space before spreading his mana sense. Feeling this Kaelthyr grumbled and put on the watch.
Ash looked upwards as his eyes pierced through the skies until they met a barrier.
Then in the next moment they were gone.
-----
Far, far, far away from galaxies, civilizations, and even laws... This place was not a voidâno, it was a churning sea of fractured stars and shattered realities suspended in endless black. Nebulae of every color swirled in impossible patterns, colliding and reforming like living storms.
Massive chunks of dead worlds floated in chaotic orbits, some burning with eternal fire, others frozen in absolute zero. Lightning of pure chaos arced between themâwhite-hot, violet, blackâcracking space itself with every strike. In the center of this cosmic maelstrom floated the home of the Dragon of Chaos... the Conceptual Existence of Chaos itself.
The Dragon was universal in sizeâits body a coiling mass of shifting scales that flickered between every color and none, wings vast enough to eclipse galaxies, tail trailing into infinite fractals that looped back on themselves. Eyes the size of worlds openedâpure black with white slits that burned like dying stars.
This was the Dragon of Chaos, from whom all others of the lower Domain were born. He was the Progenitor, yet he was also far more than that..
Moments ago, heâd just felt something... something impossible.
"Someone... has comprehended the Law of Chaos... fully in mere moments?" He questioned as he felt the traces of Chaos far away.
"Interesting..." He noted as his body began to move.
As he moved, chaos naturally ensued. Stars imploded without reason, galaxies twisted into impossible shapes, time stuttered in pocketsâseconds stretching to centuries, then snapping back. Nebulae birthed new suns that immediately collapsed into black holes that vanished.
Space tore open and sealed itself in heartbeats, realities flickering in and out of existence.
The very fabric of the cosmos screamedâsilent, deafening, beautiful, terrifyingâas the Dragon of Chaos simply shifted.
As he moved his eyes reflected all the users of Chaos and the amount was miniscule. There were only four users of the Law, and one was new, whom of course was Ash. Even though Ash created a Stellar Law that protected him from all eyes...
What use would that be for beings that far exceed that power?
"HUH?" The Dragon looked at the magnificent figure through the screen as he had just appeared in the Mid Veil, in pure confusion.
"Heâs in the Lower Dimension? How is that even possible?" He questioned... not that it was impossible to gain minute comprehension of the Chaos law in the Lower Dimension, but it was impossible to fully comprehend it.
Then his eyes narrowed even more as he picked up on something else...
"Lust? Heâs a conceptual existence in the fucking Lower Dimension?" He asked as he experienced another shock.
As he continued to watch he removed the screens and his body disappeared.
When he reappeared, he was in the Nexus of Conceptsâa place in the middle of the Lower and Middle Dimensions where all concepts roam when they are not busy. It was a realm of pure abstractionâno fixed ground, no sky, just endless shifting planes of light, shadow, color, and void that rearranged themselves constantly.
Each concept had its own domainâfloating islands of solidified ideas. The Ruin Sea was a vast expanse of shattered stone and decay, the Lust Domain a crimson palace of endless desire long abandoned, and the Chaos Domain a storm of fractured realities.
The Nexus served as neutral groundâa vast, shifting amphitheater where concepts came together to talk, scheme, or simply watch.
As his eyes pierced through space he looked around until he found his target.
"All gathered in the usual place."
He then took a step as he took on a humanoid form that was absolutely massive. He towered over 500 feetâskin shifting between black and every color, eyes pure white slits, wings of fractured reality folded behind him, horns curling like broken timelines.
He then reappeared yet again in a new domainâa domain filled with other Conceptual Existences.
Four were already thereâeach radiating power that made reality tremble.
Ruin sat on a throne of shattered stone, with his red skin, long flowing hair of the same shade and eyes of endless voids and decay.
Oblivion floated nearbyâa formless void given shape, blacker than black, absorbing light and sound.
Nothingness was a silhouette of pure absenceâedges bleeding into the realm, presence so faint it hurt to look at.
Entropy lounged against a pillar of decaying realityâskin flaking, hair unraveling, eyes swirling with endless breakdown.
Conversations bordered on friendly animosityâsharp, edged, laced with power.
"You still hanging onto that pointless rot, Ruin?" Entropy said, voice like the whisper of dead leaves.
"Everything ends sooner or later. I just donât get why you bother dragging it out."
Ruinâs red eyes narrowed. "Youâre rushing it, like a kid smashing toys. Some things are meant to decay with grace."
Oblivionâs voice was pure silence, more sensed than heard. "Youâre both too loud. Existence is fleeting; non-existence is what lasts forever."
Nothingness simply... was. No words. Just presence.
Chaos stepped inâmassive, towering, voice a thunder of shifting realities.
"Enough bickering.... Something impossible has happened."
He waved a handâspace ripplingâand a screen of fractured light appeared, showing Ash moving through the Mid Veil, casual, powerful, rose-pink aura trailing.
The others froze.
Ruinâs eyes widenedâred burning brighter.
"Him again?" Ruin whispered, voice cracking with shock.
Chaos arched a brow as he heard this, but he continued to speak. "Heâs in the Lower Dimension. A conceptual existenceâfully formed. And he just comprehended Chaos in moments."
Entropy laughedâharsh, breaking. "He reeks of Lust which should be impossible! That whore died long ago clinging to her stubborn pride. And Chaos? How can he comprehend such a Law in such a weak place?"
Oblivionâs silence deepenedâalmost thoughtful.
Nothingness... shifted slightly.
Ruin leaned forward, eyes fixed on Ash.
"Five years ago, he stumbled into my domain by accident and somehow took ten percent comprehension of Ruin. Back then, I felt the same thingâI thought he was Lust reborn or somehow connected to her. But now... Iâm not so sure what he really is."
The four looked at each otherâfriendly animosity forgotten, replaced by something colder.
Chaos looked dumbfounded.
"Wait... heâs not yet a Void Emperor and there is no such thing as the Law of Ruin... are you saying he comprehended the Concept of Ruin by 10%... and you allowed it?"
Ruin frowned at the news. Once a being becomes a Conceptual Existence, their Concept canât be understood unless they choose to allow it. Yet now, someone was claiming there was a conceptual existence wielding the power of another.
It sounds simple, but Concepts operate on a level far beyond Laws. Theyâre deeply intertwined with the entire Lower Dimension, existing everywhere. At the Void Emperor rank, one detonates their stellar core into a Black Hole, granting access to Concepts.
Usually, only a few need to be understood, but while regular Concepts are finite, a conceptual existence continues to grow. The Concept of Ruin has no limitâunless Ruin himself hits one. And if his Concept were ever fully comprehended, he would either become a slave or cease to exist entirely.
They all fixed their gaze on him.
"He needs to be eliminated..." Ruin said, his red eyes never leaving Ash.
"If he somehow becomes a multi-conceptual existence... things could get troublesome."
With those words, they all nodded in agreement.