[Outside Known Existence]
A Being so large that the entire Existence itself seemed to settle in His palms sat in silence.
Yet, there was no chair. The very fabric of space, if such a thing could even be called space beyond Existence, bent and offered itself as His throne.
He sat cross-legged, His legs formed of countless universes and multiverses, all being destroyed and reborn at the same time.
And though those universes clashed and folded into one another endlessly, there was still a faint distinction that allowed His two legs to be perceived as separate.
His posture was calm, sovereign, and incomprehensible.
The Being's entire body was a cluster of nebulae, pulsars, black holes, and stars; fragments of unborn Universes, Multiverses, and Omniverses woven together.
His barely discernible hands were crossed over a chest that pulsed with impossible radiance, as if entire cosmic hearts were beating within Him.
His head, scarcely distinguishable in its outline, appeared calm, silent, undisturbed.
No flicker crossed His face despite the breathtaking and mind-breaking visions unfolding across His boundless body.
For such spectacles were normal, perhaps even dull, to a Being who had seen and shaped them all.
Where His eyes should have been was pitch black, as though the concept of light had chosen to flee from their depths.
They gave the illusion of being closed, yet there existed no creature capable of looking upon His face, not even with His eyes shut and surviving with its mind intact.
Beside Him lay a colossal, plate-like structure large enough to cradle entire Omniverses.Upon it rested a cup like structure vast, radiant, and mysterious.Whatever that cup contained was known only to Him, for He alone could lift such a vessel and drink from it.
After an unknowable stretch of non-time, for concepts like time moved only at His whim, something changed.
The pitch-black veil over His face stirred, and it was as though an unseen curtain had lifted.
A light blazed forth, and the surrounding void, the very beyond of existence was illuminated by the radiance of His awakening eyes.
The brilliance was so pure, so absolute, that it seemed every star within all realms drew its light from those eyes.
He gazed forward, and a single hum escaped Him.
"Hmm."
That small sound, uttered without even opening His mouth, rippled through the endless void.
An intense vibration filled the space around Him, spreading outward like a wave of cataclysm, rushing toward all of Existence itself.
The tremor threatened to annihilate everything, all that was, is, or could be, sparing only Him.
But before total erasure could occur, a force just as impossible manifested:
a barrier, invisible yet undeniable, enveloping all of Existence and shielding it from destruction.
Then, He spoke again, this time in a voice gentler, though no less powerful.
"It is really very lonely to be alone here. And no one has even reached the top of the tower I created."
"It's been… almost ten thousand years, I think."
"Should I go and be the first to complete it? Hmm… but that would ruin the fun if I went as the Creator."
He fell silent, the kind of silence that could reshape realities.
Then, His eyes flared brighter, if such a thing were even possible, and the very pulse of creation seemed to pause.
A ripple of amusement, faint but vast, moved through His aura.
"Yes… that's a good idea. It will be me, but still not me. Let's see… how much soul should I use so I don't accidentally destroy this little Continuum while entering it?"
Light gathered at His fingertips.
The radiance was so blinding it outshone even His own eyes.
Yet as the divine essence condensed, the Existence itself trembled, shuddering as if terrified to allow such an entity to step within it.
Slowly, the glow shrank, reducing in size while retaining its impossible intensity, until it was only a fraction, one-thousandth of its original form.
At last, the trembling ceased, and the Existence seemed willing to open itself, ready to allow the presence of this unimaginable Being.
"So only about 0.0001% of my essence can enter? That will do."
"Now… seal all memories, and erase any signature that could reveal me."
"And as for your talent, my little self… giving you my power would make things too easy."
"I will give you something new… and old at the same time. Let's see what you do with it."
As He spoke, reality itself obeyed.
The surroundings acted in perfect harmony, as though all things moved to ensure that the Being's attention never needed to split.
The condensed essence; a radiant orb brighter than creation, drifted toward the bubble of Existence at a speed that made light seem sluggish.
The bubble shimmered, accepted it, and the glow disappeared into it.
He watched quietly, a faint ripple, like a smile, crossing the undefined expanse of His face.
"It's been a long time since I've been to my planet."
"They even changed its name… and now some scum dares to occupy it."
At His words, His already blinding eyes grew even more luminous.
For an instant, all cycles of destruction and rebirth within him halted, as if the multiverses themselves held their breath in reverence or fear.
Then, everything resumed its eternal motion.
"Well, the little me is going there now… and he will not be as gentle as I am."
The veils of nothingness folded once more over His eyes, dimming their light.
The Being returned to His silent, eternal posture, resuming whatever transcendent contemplation He had left unfinished, yet fully aware of what He had set in motion.
He had created an Anomaly, from Himself.
An anomaly born of the Anomaly; a fragment of the Absolute, sent into the tiny confines of Creation.
Whether He cared or not was impossible to tell.
Perhaps that was the point.
The glow streaked across the Omniverse, through countless Multiverses and Universes.
Its passing went unnoticed by all so-called powerful beings who ruled their domains, unaware that something far greater than them had crossed their skies.
Even the Wills of Universes, those ancient, sentient laws failed to detect it.
Only the Will of Existence itself might have known.
And even then, only if the Being had allowed it.
But the Will of Existence was not foolish.
It did not interfere with whatever the Almighty was planning.
Thus, the radiant spark, undetected and unstoppable, continued its flight, toward a single destination.
Planet Mythos.
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[AN: First 12 chapters focus on Max's isolation and foundation, a slow awakening of character and world.
From Chapter 12 onward, the true climb begins, where the Tower itself starts to change.]