On the very edge of reality, where the conceptual horizons of the matter and antimatter existences converged in a swirling nexus of raw physics, a single world stood absolute defiance against the test of time.
It had endured since the ancient epochs when conceptual beings roamed the mortal plane freely, long before the tragic fracturing of the cosmos turned the Between Lands into an isolated purgatory where only detached souls could exist. But that is a tale for another time. Today, this monumental world was scheduled for perishing.
To the few cosmic scholars aware of its presence, the world was considered a one-of-a-kind physical paradox, its structural mechanics entirely unparalleled across the history of existence. It maintained a steady, calculated orbit—not around a burning star, but around an absolute vacuum of nothingness. Its sheer mass was far too colossal to ever balance within the gravitational pull of a sun. Instead, it revolved independently in the dark, spinning on its axis for the sole purpose of mimicking a standard diurnal cycle. Its scale was simply unfathomable to mortals and lesser Divine Rankers alike.
To put its proportions into perspective, the planet was structurally identical in size to the home universe of Alexander Sobriviente, the second coming of—oops, not relevant yet, my apologies. To use a literal comparison, it was as vast as an entire universe. In theory, its boundaries could effortlessly house galaxies by the millions, if not hundreds of millions. A single one of its outer continents spanned a spatial area equivalent to what the scientists of Earth called the observable universe.
The historical context of this world ran deep, but it was fast approaching its absolute end. Over its near-infinite lifespan, it had served as a cradle for every enlightened species the cosmos had ever engineered. Elves, humans, giants, dragons, wyverns, and even localized leviathans—which were exceptionally rare entities back in the stable world of Eternia—called its surfaces home. Yet, due to the impossible geography, the various inhabitants of this planet had spent eons completely oblivious to one another's existence. The continents were far too massive to be mapped by conventional expeditions, and the planet's atmospheric pressure was too dense for standard orbital satellites to pierce.
Suddenly, the fabric of space several light-years away from the planet's perimeter tore wide open. A lone figure drifted out of the vacuum, draped in a shifting, void-like veil that completely obscured their identity and gender. The entity looked out across the void; from this proximity, its vision was entirely filled by the curvature of the world. A faint, primordial purple glow flared from beneath the veil where the creature's eyes were meant to be.
The entire world was mapped and cataloged within a matter of microseconds. Instantly, a luminous, system-bound display materialized before the traveler's consciousness:
[System Scan Complete]
[Name: Divokasam]
[Classification: Omni-Planet]
[Age: 1,752,245,986,423,000 Years]
[Demographic Statistics: Active Inhabitants]
Species
Population Count
Beastkin
2,000,000,000,000 (2 Trillion)
Anthropods
3,000,000,000,000,000,000 (3 Quintillion)
Elementals
100,000,000,000,000,000 (100 Quadrillion)
Vampiric Races
52,000,000,000,000,000 (52 Quadrillion)
Goblins
10,000,000,000,000 (10 Trillion)
Ogres
9,000,000,000,000 (9 Trillion)
Void Born
658,000,000,000 (658 Billion)
Humans
960,000,000,000 (960 Billion)
Flarens
950,000,000,000 (950 Billion)
Elves
900,000,000,000 (900 Billion)
Scalekin
890,000,000,000 (890 Billion)
Bird Folk
870,000,000,000 (870 Billion)
Pixies
1,000,000,000,000 (1 Trillion)
Dwarves
770,000,000,000 (770 Billion)
Giants
500,000,000,000 (500 Billion)
Dragons
100,000,000,000 (100 Billion)
The cosmic registry continued to scroll down into infinity, matching the endless nature of the world beneath it. In short, this single celestial body housed a population density capable of filling entire conventional universes. The observing entity was well aware that Divokasam had transitioned through numerous extinction and reformation cycles over its millions of millennia; the staggering numbers on the screen represented merely the current, most recent evolutionary cycle—one that had initiated a few hundred billion years prior.
"Souls, souls, countless souls," the figure murmured, its tone detached. "I can detect the ancient conceptual remnants of the Survivor, the Hegemon, and the Emperor... the Big Three of antiquity, hm? How curious."
The total absence of air within the frozen vacuum of space posed no inconvenience to the traveler; his voice resonated with absolute clarity. For an entity of his standing—an Almighty—the presence or absence of a physical atmospheric medium for vocal projection was entirely irrelevant.
"The baseline numbers are staggering," the figure mused, tapping his covered chin in quiet deliberation. "Should I exercise my authority to preserve it?"
The Omni-Planet was undoubtedly a priceless cosmic relic. Securing absolute ownership of such an anomaly would yield significant research value; furthermore, Eterna herself might express direct interest in its properties. Alternatively, he could potentially leverage a highly lucrative trade agreement with the Hegemon. The conceptual being had historically taken an active interest in Divokasam, going so far as to bestow divine blessings upon a considerable number of its mortal inhabitants over the eras.
Below them, the planet began its slow, inevitable transition into the second phase of its grand orbit, steering directly toward the antimatter continuum. Once it crossed the threshold, it would remain anchored within the antimatter existence for a full billion years, before shifting back to the material side for the next billion-year epoch.
"A shame I currently possess no practical use for such a fascinating paradox," the man sighed. He drew back his dark veil, exposing the sharp, pale features of a man bearing intricate, glowing purple tattoos carved symmetrically around his eyes. He was the Second Almighty of existence: Xerxes Nyx Erebus.
"It truly is a tragedy that such a magnificent spatial anomaly only managed to cultivate Noble Rankers among its current cycle," he remarked idly.
Behind him, the fabric of the void tore open once more, and a second presence stepped forward to join him at the cosmic boundary.
"Fancy seeing you out here in the rim, Nyx," a soft, melodious voice echoed through the vacuum.
Unlike Xerxes' localized aura of absolute void, this new arrival radiated a brilliant, blinding torrent of primordial light and celestial charm. She was unmistakably female, her power thrumming with supreme authority.
"The exact same sentiment could be applied to you, Diana," Xerxes replied smoothly, turning his head to acknowledge the Almighty of the Celestials: Diana Verdant Lumos.
"Did you make the journey out here to collect the planet?" the woman inquired, her ambient celestial radiance dimming slightly to reveal an elegant, statuesque face.
"I entertained the thought, yes," the man admitted, training his purple gaze back onto the planet, which now sat perfectly divided—halfway submerged in the material plane and halfway in the antimatter rift. "But there are no active Royal or Divine Rankers left inside or outside its crust to anchor its defenses. At best, we should simply extract the world to study its structural composition, deciphering how a celestial body of this magnitude can physically coexist across both spectrums without collapsing."
"Really?" Diana countered, running her own comprehensive analytical scan across the continents. "I believe we could actively cultivate the planet's remaining mass to form a hyper-dense core. If we can compress its geometry down to the standard size of Terra, we could use it as high-value leverage to trade directly with the conceptual beings. Heck, Eterna might take an immediate interest in a compressed Omni-Core and weaponize it for a project that could completely flip the balance of existence."
"Perhaps, but—" Xerxes began, only to be abruptly cut off.
"I can feel it," the celestial woman interrupted, her bright eyes widening in sudden realization. "I can feel the exact signature of the Survivor's residual presence radiating from the planet's surface."
"Naturally," the man responded nonchalantly. "The Survivor maintained several prominent temples across those continents during his active era. It is highly probable that one of his direct subordinates blessed the lay lines after he vanished from the primary records."
"No, you idiot," Diana snapped, her focus intensifying. "I am detecting an imprint far more critical than an old blessing. It's a conceptual resonance I haven't sensed since the War of the Worlds... no, even further back than that. Perhaps the Existence War itself."
In a flash of light, the woman vanished from the orbital plane. Xerxes instantly detected her presence manifesting near the extreme geographic point of the world's northern pole. Sensing a major anomaly, he immediately engaged his spatial authority, teleporting down to the exact coordinates where Diana had grounded herself.
Arriving at the coordinates, Xerxes found the Third Almighty standing before an ancient, frozen altar, her hands gripped tightly around the hilt of a massive greatsword embedded deep within the bedrock of the North Pole. A bizarre, absolute sphere of isolated space enveloped the weapon.
The exact instant Xerxes stepped inside the boundary of that sphere, a chilling sensation washed over him—he felt his absolute connection to the laws of existence completely sever. Within this localized vacuum, his status as an Almighty was entirely negated; he was temporarily reduced to a baseline, unranked mortal, possessing no more power than a standard human without a core.
Diana was already visibly struggling against the physical weight of the sword, her breath hitching as the planet continued its steady, relentless descent into the antimatter portal.
"Are you completely out of your mind?!" Xerxes yelled, his voice strained by the sudden lack of mana support as he moved toward the blonde celestial. Her elegant gown, designed to accentuate her voluptuous figure, fluttered wildly against the rising temporal winds. "If you get caught in the transition to the antimatter existence while trapped inside this null-zone, you will be physically stranded on the other side for a full billion years! Stop being foolish and drop the blade, Diana!"
"Don't just stand there lecturing me, help me pull it out!" the woman screamed back, unleashing the absolute zenith of her physical and conceptual power for what was likely the first time in a hundred million years.
Xerxes shrugged, resigning himself to the madness, and stepped up beside her. Grasping the weapon, the two Almighties strained against the absolute locking mechanism of the altar while the cosmic horizon around them turned a violent, inverted shade of purple. The portal to the antimatter universe was closing in rapidly; within an hour, the entire polar cap would be fully submerged. While the transition wouldn't kill beings of their status, wasting a billion years wandering an inverted reality they had only mapped a few universes of was not a fate either of them craved.
Forty-five minutes of agonizing, raw physical labor passed. They continued to wrestle with the stubborn hilt as the gravitational pull of the antimatter rift began to generate a fierce vacuum, dragging everything toward the event horizon.
Diana's long, silken blonde hair whipped violently in the cosmic gale, flowing outward in brilliant waves. Shameful as it was to admit internally, Xerxes felt his heart skip a definitive beat watching her fight the cosmos in that state.
Ten more minutes dissolved. Disaster struck as the tips of Diana's long hair crossed the threshold of the portal, instantly becoming trapped within the closing spatial teeth of the antimatter plane. The extraction had become a literal game of survival.
Just as they reached the absolute brink of success or permanent entrapment, the ancient mechanism inside the bedrock finally fractured. With a resounding metallic echo, the sword broke loose from the altar.
However, with her hair firmly wedged inside the closing rift, Diana was entirely anchored to the spot. Reacting with flawless, instantaneous precision, she reached into her personal spatial storage with her free hand, retrieved a short blade, and cleanly chopped her own hair off at the shoulders. Turning on her heel, she ran for dear life, dragging Xerxes along with her.
The moment their feet cleared the perimeter of the null-sphere, their absolute status and infinite mana reservoirs rushed back into their bodies. Re-establishing their identities as Almighties, they instantly executed a high-tier teleportation command, escaping back to their original orbital viewing position safe in the material void.
"You are completely nuts, woman," Xerxes panted, catching his breath after what felt like an eternity of mortal exertion.
"Worth it, though," the now short-haired celestial grinned. She hoisted the massive greatsword up into the starlight, inspecting its frame.
"What could possibly make that sword worth risking a billion-year banishment?" the man asked, his tone laced with deep skepticism. "It looks entirely unremarkable, save for the marble and gold composition of the guard."
Without answering, Diana manifested hundreds of high-grade, raw elemental crystals out of her storage space, letting them float in a circle around them. She channeled her personal Light Affinity straight into the fuller of the blade, causing the gold filigree to hum with power.
"Channel your primary element through it as well," she instructed, passing the weapon over to him.
Xerxes complied, flooding the core of the blade with his localized void mana before handing it back. Diana then systematically shattered every single one of the floating elemental crystals, driving the raw, multi-colored mana streams directly into the blade's intake valves. Once the weapon had absorbed the full cocktail of energies, a hidden mechanical latch clicked audibly near the pommel. Diana looked up at him with a triumphant grin.
"I still fail to comprehend why you gambled a billion years of our era for a piece of ancient hardware," Xerxes pressed, crossing his arms.
"Because of what is locked inside," Diana replied. She pressed down firmly on a concealed indentation along the hilt, causing a hidden compartment to slide open, revealing an intricate spatial crystal nestled within the framework.
With a quick flick of her fingers, she shattered the crystal, causing two distinct items to materialize in the air between them.
The first object appeared as a perfectly transparent, solid shard representing one-third of a complete sphere. It was so conceptually faint that it was entirely impossible to perceive with standard sight, requiring a sensory perception skill sitting at the absolute apex of the Divine Rank just to trace its edges. The second item was a heavy, ancient medallion forged from pristine white and gold marble, etched with forgotten runes.
Xerxes immediately initiated a high-level system scan on the floating relics:
[Item Identified:] Fragment of the Core of the Survivor (1/3)]
[Item Identified:] Medallion of the Survivor (Charges Remaining: 10/10)]
"Are these... truly what the system says they are?" Xerxes murmured, his purple eyes darting between the two items in genuine shock.
"The genuine, historical relics left behind by the Survivor before his departure," Diana confirmed, her smile widening. "The fragment, as the text states, is an essential component required to eventually synthesize the true Core of the Survivor. And the medallion? Let's just say it functions as a far more potent, infinitely more versatile version of the legendary Medallion of the Reaper."
"Incredible..." Xerxes muttered, before pausing. "Wait... how did you even know these were hidden down there? I have lived a full thousand years longer than you, yet you never fail to make me feel entirely illiterate regarding ancient lore."
Diana sighed, rolling her eyes. "Eterna explicitly provided a comprehensive registry of historical artifacts we needed to actively procure if we ever crossed their signatures during the last Divine Council session. Did you seriously not read the memory tablets she handed out?"
Xerxes stiffened, his mind going blank. He had completely forgotten about the briefing. The First Almighty had personally distributed memory tablets to the rest of the council, detailing specific cosmic remnants she wished for them to collect across the sectors. While the Almighties were always fully prepared to assist their senior peer, not everyone possessed the retention skills to memorize every single entry on the list.
"Oh... right," Xerxes coughed, quickly clearing his throat to hide his embarrassment. "So... I assume Reina will be taking possession of both of these items?"
"Naturally," Diana nodded, stowing the relics securely away in her primary vault. "She will provide ample compensation to our respective factions for the find, but these belong in her arsenal."
The two Almighties stood in comfortable silence for a long moment, watching the final, massive silhouette of the Omni-Planet Divokasam vanish completely into the shimmering portal, sealed away inside the antimatter universe for the next billion years.
Xerxes turned his head, eyeing her new appearance. "For the record, you look absolutely terrible with short hair."
"I can't exactly blame you for having poor taste," Diana retorted smoothly. She snapped her fingers with a sharp spark of light; instantly, her shorn blonde locks extended rapidly, cascading down in silken waves until they reached the back of her knees once more.
"We are running late for the regional convergence," Xerxes noted, his aura shifting.
"Agreed," Diana replied, raising her hand to cleanly tear a rift through the local spatial fabric, exposing the fast-travel transit pathways.
Xerxes stepped back, bowing slightly with mock, exaggerated chivalry. "After you, my lady."
"Moron," Diana chuckled, stepping through the tear and vanishing into the light.
***