Chapter One, Starting Point.

“The power in you’s been pressed down. That actually surprises me.” Abyss looked like a sixteen-year-old, youth breathed off him like a spring breeze, yet those deep eyes held midnight oceans.

“Mm. I’m guessing it’s from Birand’s final strike. Everyone here got affected.” Edlyn smiled, bright as sunlight on glass.

Abyss shrugged, like a mountain shifting under mist. “Looks like suppressing this thing takes energy tied to the Origin Tree.”

“Huh?” Edlyn tilted her head, confusion flickering like a moth at a lantern.

“Or did you think Birand alone could trigger something that rewrites cosmic law? It’s Thias’s credit, plain and simple.”

“Really… then the Thias of later eras isn’t as strong as the original?” A pinch of worry rose first; then Edlyn’s voice came, thin as a string.

Abyss shot his daughter a meaningful look, then laughed, warm as embers. “Relax, silly girl. Even without Origin Tree support, it’s still a perfect weapon. Besides, your boyfriend’s got plenty of juice in him. He may not need that tree at all.”

“Okay.” Edlyn nodded, thoughts sinking like a pebble into a still lake.

Abyss cocked his head, a satisfied smile opening like dawn.

A quiet pride warmed him before thought took form. The Demon King’s soul he’d forced on her hadn’t twisted her much. Standing before him was his most perfect work. He could finally breathe easy.

“If there’s nothing else, I’ll head back. The power in you was sealed by Birand’s sword-light, but it’s only sealed.” His words fell like snow, then stopped. “When you witness the truth of the cosmos, it’ll break that seal and carry you to the next tier. Be ready. That will be…” He paused, helpless smile fading like moonlight. “That will be your final trial as Edlyn.”

Calm gathered in Edlyn’s eyes like a still pond. “Mm. I understand.”

“Pass, and you live as Edlyn at his side. Fail, and it’s another cycle dragging for tens of thousands of years. And you won’t get the chance to be Edlyn again.” Abyss drew in a long breath, steady as a pillar. “I believe in you two.”

Edlyn didn’t answer. She lifted her chin to the mirror, saw her own face, and let a relieved smile bloom like a flower after rain. “Mm.”

Abyss nodded, satisfied, and tore open time like silk, ready to leave.

Edlyn blinked. “But, Dad, you’re kinda gross right now. You’ve been a fossil for hundreds of millions of years, yet you kept this face? Ew.”

Abyss’s lips twitched, his expression dark as storm cloud. “Figures. I still can’t let you be with him—this tone’s totally his, isn’t it? Hm?!”

“Ahem. It’s fine. Dad, you’re the most handsome. Shoo, shoo.” Edlyn covered her mouth, laughing, then waved him off like a playful breeze.

“…” Abyss slipped into the void, a shadow-line vanishing into night.

Edlyn waved with a smile. “Goodbye, Father. See you in the future.”

Eli peeked up from a bed smashed to splinters, rolled his eyes like stones. “Your dad’s a buzzkill.”

Edlyn hid her grin behind her fingers, quiet as moonlight.

“Tch. We were already past the point of no return, and he still dropped in to smack me. My old waist…” Eli winced, hand rubbing the ache like a bruise.

He’d been just about to make his move when a cloth-shoed foot fell from the sky like a hammer and stomped his waist, cracking him and the bed in one hit.

“Serves you right.” Edlyn laughed, hands on hips, chin raised like a little queen.

Eli’s face turned grave, solemn as stone. “Wife!”

Edlyn slid him a look and kept her silence, cool as frost.

Eli ignored it, squared up, righteous as a banner in wind. “Let’s make a baby!”

“Get lost!”

After that, they traveled the world like gulls chasing tides. Time flowed forward like a river in flood; soon, very soon, they’d return to their era and face the threat of the Celestial God or Zero.

The Celestial God’s voice spilled from the clouds like cold rain. “Edward, you’re weak, no different from ants. This strike will erase you on the spot.”

In the shadows, Eli held Edlyn tight, arms a shield, breath warm at her ear. “It’s fixed history, Ai-chan. We can’t.”

Edlyn’s eyes reddened, breath heavy like bellows.

Eli sighed, then cupped her head, guiding her gaze away, gentler than dusk.

Abyss drew ragged breaths. The dark domain behind him hung in tatters, shredded by the Celestial God like ripped canvas. Seeing it, the dam on his feelings burst. He smiled, bold as a banner. “The trend is set! Everything will act as planned. Yulia, we exit the stage now!”

All remaining black energy surged into him like ink flooding a river.

Abyss’s face flushed, teeth clenched like iron. “Only this can punch through and land at the fixed point in time!”

He thrust his will, and a black torrent roared from where he stood, a flood smashing toward the Celestial God.

She startled, snow-bright aura flaring. Forced, she hurled her holy light—only eighty percent gathered—against the onrushing night.

Boom!

Their attacks shook the space like a giant bell beaten at noon.

When the dust finally settled, time stood on a quiet shore.

“Why hasn’t the soul returned to me?” Birand stared at his hands, stunned as a statue.

“It shouldn’t be. Is it because I fused with the Netherworld?” Birand clutched his aching skull, face twisted, eyes raw on the ruin before him.

“Birand, you should return to the underworld. This place isn’t for you.” The Celestial God’s voice fell from the sky like ash. She was a mess, scars mapping her skin, aura wilted like frost-bitten leaves.

“You’re not dead yet?” Birand shot her a venomous glare, dark as pitch. She stared at his face, dazed, then suddenly laughed, bright and broken.

“So that’s it. I knew it. Not just Abyss—Netherworld wants me dead too. Hahaha. What was I even fighting for? Heh…” With her power ebbing, emotions—lost for hundreds of millions of years—rushed back like a tide.

She wiped tears and laughed, brittle as glass. “Fine. Die then. All of you. I don’t care anymore.”

“Well, didn’t expect you to cry so quick after losing power. You’ve lived hundreds of millions of years, old hag—bursting into tears isn’t a great look, is it?” Zero walked out of the dark like a knife from its sheath.

Eli held Edlyn’s hand, stood before Abyss’s remains, and bowed deep, solemn as a mountain. Then he drew Edlyn into his arms, thumb brushing away her tears. “Don’t be afraid, Ai-chan. You forgot—Abyss exists across time.”

“Mm. I… I know. I’m just upset for a while.” Edlyn forced a smile; her voice caught like a snagged thread, but she still faced Eli with light in her eyes.

“You…” The tear tracks on Yulia’s face faded. She steadied, iron behind silk. The two who had appeared, she couldn’t see through them at all.

Edlyn heard her and gently slipped free of Eli’s embrace. Cold settled over her face like frost, killing intent spilling like winter wind. She fixed on the Celestial God above. “Hey. You think sitting high makes you strong? Hm?”

Eli stroked Edlyn’s hair, silent as night. He knew the next bout belonged to two women.

He turned to Birand—the one who had ambushed his real-time self—and smiled, sharp as moonlight on steel. “Long time no see, Birand.”

“You… you’re—!” Birand stared, shock striking like lightning.

Eli shrugged, casual as a breeze. “You thought tossing me into the energy flood would kill me and let you harvest my soul? Too naive, Birand.”

“Eli! Why aren’t you dead!” Birand’s face contorted. Twin blades grew in his hands like fangs. Netherworld energy erupted, a storm breaking its banks. He glared, fury burning.

“At your peak, you weren’t my match. Now fused with the Netherworld, you wanna try again?” Eli smiled, a wolf under the moon.

“Peak… you… you can’t be—” Birand panted, ragged as torn cloth. A terrifying thought rose in his mind like a shadow.

Eli lifted off the ground, calm as a flame in a still room. Endless Stellar Power spun around him, sigils stringing like constellations. His hair streamed, and a godlike might unfurled that didn’t bow to the Celestial God.

His voice rang like a call from a mountaintop. “Birand. Show me—what can you do now?”

In the war just past, the souls of fallen Angels and other races had been quietly siphoned by Birand; now, none of that slipped past Eli’s gaze, sharp as a hawk’s.

Birand laughed bitterly, hoarse as gravel. “It’s not fair. I schemed so long. Why let you—let you wreck it! You’re something I threw away. Fake. Counterfeit. Why won’t you fuse with me?!”

“You’ve gone mad too?” Eli sneered, cold as iron.

“…I’ll take everything from you.” Birand pulled his mind tight, voice becoming a blade.

The Celestial God’s eyes drew to Eli’s unleashed force. It was a high-grade energy, no lower than demonic or holy power. Familiar as an old song, yet strange as a new storm.

“What the hell are you staring at!” Edlyn flashed to her side like a strike of lightning. Her sword pierced the protective barrier, and the tip stopped an inch from the Celestial God’s body, no more room to bite.

But the Celestial God took the full blast of demonic aura, shot back like a comet, and slammed into the earth.

Edlyn gritted her teeth, brow furrowed, disdain sharp as a blade. “Tch. Hard turtle shell.”

The Celestial God clawed out of the dirt, ragged as torn velvet. She glanced at the faint blood on her chest, and anger flared like fire catching dry straw.

“Demon King? Abyss has already fallen to me. Why won’t you lay down your blade? Chasing death—does that amuse you?” She stood, voice low, thunder under cloud.

“Save the speech.” Edlyn swung her sword, a crescent of night, and charged again.

The Celestial God wiped her blood. Her body streaked white through the air with a whoosh. She met Edlyn’s descending strike, and the two tangled, clash and spark blooming like stars in a storm.