This is the only weakness in this place where I can find any sense of direction, time, or possible fluctuation in the laws. The emotions of the membrane all push me toward this point, yet I can feel that in my current state, it will be impossible to pierce through.
I feel the newest perk of my soul sword activate, and the long-dormant golden runes at its core finally spin and glow to life.
My entire golden immortal body vibrates, and I sense these golden runes as though they're an extension of myself.
The instant this thought triggers in my mind, my entire physical form disappears, merging with the golden glyphs at the center of this sword.
Its momentum forward doesn't slow, following the same path I swung it as though I'm still holding the blade. The membrane holds the handles, as though Maria and I are still grasping this artifact together.
The closer it gets to the epicenter of the membrane, the harder it is for me to perceive it moving forward. The space and laws around me begin to bend in strange directions, and even the shape of my soul sword starts to compress.
Its handles mold inward, and the blade itself starts to stretch.
The golden glyphs at its center, holding my consciousness, glow brighter and brighter gold while the river of silver threads is compressed in on me from all sides.
There is a very clear separation between the golden and silver light. The closer we get to the center of this membrane, the more these lines are blurred, and the laws within these silver threads are squeezed out.
I can see every single action that happened in the universe I lived in play before my eyes once again. Yet, this time I see it from the perspective of a being that has already absorbed the laws and memories of every single universe before.
It is the true inheritance of this universe's natural laws, imprinting onto the one true golden immortal.
I feel every single bit of mass and left-behind treasures laying dormant in my storage space being compressed and destroyed.
Even the small gold coin with a dragon on one side and a flame on the other, a token from the human world I attempted to keep with me, disintegrates under the pressure of laws pressing down around me.
The only artifacts that survive are those that have been through this cycle before. The many black stones tempered by the laws of other past universes. The enormous sentinel tree is compressed and morphed until all of its legacies are stripped away. It is compacted from the size of a galaxy down to the height of an average human.
There is no longer any energy that can perceive its presence or affect its state or size.
All of the similar artifacts seep out from my consciousness and float within my sword as we're stretched and guided through a single point in space so infinitely small it cannot physically exist within this universe's known laws.
The instant I make it through to the other side, a suction force pulls me through with an unfathomable amount of power.
The membrane around me feels like it is made of the same substance and infused soul, yet it is far more distant. It is the other side of the membrane, an entire universe created behind the infinitely small flaw.
The suction does not get any slower. In fact, it gets even more intense.
I feel myself being torn apart. The golden threads that make up my Immortal Form are being ripped out of my Soul Vessel, and the mass of this Soul Vessel is being degraded with every passing moment.
The activation of this final perk uses up all of its gained experience. I feel its level fall from 10, to 5, to 1, to revert to level 0 as an unbound artifact.
It cannot maintain its current form in the powerless state it's been brought to.
A fractured wisp of flawless-grade ether is left, the weight of a single soul's death brought along dissipates with it.
This wisp contains the laws that every wielder of this soul weapon has. It is the remnant of my own soul, without the memories or energy control left behind within it. It is the echo that I must search for once again, to bond with once it finds the perfect mortal that can conquer this universe in their own unique way. This faint white light is dragged away in the chaos beyond my grasp just like everything else.
There is no fear in my mind left behind in these golden threads, as I've seen this happen countless times before. The oscillating black gel flies away from me faster than I can watch it leave. All of the other artifacts that were kept safe inside it burst outward in seemingly random directions beyond my reach.
The silver sea of divine threads that have been squeezed dry of their past universal laws into me now burst outward to fill the growing space.
The packets of information containing every spark of demonic energy and mana that were attempting to merge and destroy each other to return to nothingness are now torn apart once again by a far more powerful force.
Raw mana particles and pure demonic energy are thrust outward in every known direction as reality creates itself anew before me.
All that is left of me are the memories given to me by Ember, the laws of reality he has kept tied up within him disguised as golden threads, and now a new layer of memories and laws from my universe added to the growing complexity.
I have become what he was: The Supreme.
Flashing energy waves and nascent laws of the universe bend and collide all around me.
Yet, I cannot intervene. I quite literally cannot use my golden threads with too much force; the membrane that holds me would break, and it would expose me to a universe where I am already dead.
This is the natural cycle. The Great Cycle that must continue.
Without it, new life could never be born again, and I could not exist to make sure that life continues on.
A reflex compounded over infinite lifetimes creeps onto my face into the curved-up lips and toothy grin of a dragon. It is the form I know best.
I compress all of these threads carrying the information of every past universe within me into a tiny golden orb, and allow the chaos of a newly birthed universe to wash me away into the new natural current of time.
Another layer to the Supreme Legacy has been added, yet I'm still not strong enough to break free and gain full control. The Great Cycle must repeat again.
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Author's Note:
This is the end of Dungeon Diver.
It has been almost three years since I started this story. I had no idea it would ever become as long as it has, or stretch as wide in scope as it ultimately did.
I never missed a single posting day, even if I was tired, sick, traveling, or going through a chaotic time in my personal life. I'm sure those of you who have made this part of your daily routine notice when a chapter is rushed, and also when I have an entire day to work with full focus on a chapter and can write exactly what's on my mind.
Jay's journey has taught me a lot about discipline and completing something grand. This is the most impactful accomplishment in my life so far, and definitely the first one that I'm truly proud of.
The best part is that it is FAR from perfect.
I could spend years going back to edit and flatten out plot holes, tighten up many arcs, add in a few extra status sheets, and perfect the prose of every line.
However, I think leaving it as it is for now adds to the entire series' charm.
Especially looking back on the first few chapters, or even the first few books. The original, unedited text from the first word I ever wrote as an author is still live. The shift in writing quality tells its own story. This whole project shows the absurd scale of Jay's journey, from a directionless, weak, and unconfident kid to a god who has been added to the consolidated mind of the only true immortal left in known reality.
I think him finding a purpose slowly and by accident is not a very comfortable read in the beginning. You had to trust that Jay would figure it out and find a direction, rather than having the main character's identity and side cast's goals and desires all fleshed out from the start.
Another normally jarring aspect is that this story was mostly written in first-person present tense. A lot of the time, many of the monologues were my own thoughts as I tried to truly figure out what I thought about concepts as life went by and my own mind grew. It was quite messy and raw, but it was pure and in your face.
I hope that you, as a reader, got to use Dungeon Diver as an escape, and think of yourself as Jay some days, as we all have a grand journey that we don't always know exactly how we started or where we're trying to get. Sometimes it is hard to think critically about your own life, so using another lens to work out problems or big ideas in the background through a long running story can open up a great new perspective that wouldn't have been explored otherwise. I think with enough discipline, focus, and the slowly built up self confidence to allow yourself to be creative; everyone has the potential to bring anything they desire into existence.
There have been many offers over the years from publishers to buy out this series and post it on Amazon. It probably could have been better produced, commercialized, and maybe even sent into the Webtoon pipeline to become a comic, and without a doubt, made a lot more money. But I never wanted to give up my control or let anyone have the potential to change or misconstrue my words. So, it has remained 100% mine, and a free serialized story.
Many arcs and ideas were long and stretched out, but I'm happy that in the end I managed to say exactly what I wanted. The universe stuck in my head that made sense to me has finally all been written down in words that others can read.
Writing every day with an instant feedback loop has been a very interesting experience. Without all of your daily likes and comments, I don't think I would have had the energy or ambition to keep going this long.
I also don't think I could have improved and settled into my own style of writing as quickly.
I've been thinking about the old writers decades ago, or even longer: centuries, even thousands of years ago. Never in history has there been this ability to have so many eyes on an unknown artist's work while it's being made. The creative process has always been lonely and solitary for many artists, having to finish a piece before the world can see it.
I did not feel this way at all while writing this series. It felt like many souls were watching, guiding, and supporting me throughout every decision. I never felt alone creating this universe.
The Patreon sees it first, and hundreds of minds subtly critique and change the way I think and display my story to the bigger audiences on RoyalRoad, ScribbleHub, Webnovel, Wattpad, and however many other random pirate sites have scraped this story, lol.
I can tell when I don't do a scene justice and the comments feel a bit sour, or there are fewer likes.
Also, it's very clear when I create satisfying scenes and the feedback is extremely positive. It has consciously and subconsciously made me lean toward writing more satisfying scenes to get the positive reactions that feel good. (In other words, I've been trained by the hive mind of readers bit by bit to become a better writer extremely fast.) As strong and independent-minded as I may think I am, I am still a human that craves some validation :)
So, if you have ever liked or commented on here, you have certainly affected the trajectory of this story, and I thank you all for that. Even though I don't reply to every message or dm, I do read everything. I will remember most of your usernames for the rest of my life as ingrained core memories associated with writing this story.
It is a big first step for me into this author journey, and I hope it's just the start.
For the next few weeks, or maybe months, there most likely won't be any new content.
You've all followed along to read Dungeon Diver, so I don't expect many to stick around longer. These may be the last words of mine you'll ever read. However, I'm hopeful familiar usernames will stay to see me grow as an author for years to come.
I've been brainstorming a few new worlds/series ideas, but I want to take some time before committing to anything. That's because once I do, I'm most likely going to go all in and write another 1,000+ chapter story.
So, thank you all for reading. I'll still probably check some comment sections every few days, even while I'm transitioning to something new. So, if there are any plot holes eating away at you or questions you have that were never answered, I'd be happy to give out explanations.
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