The Monarch

His aura did not stop and quickly surpassed that of a common god. The laws continued toward him, and the universe began to press down on him. His race was an anomaly, an enigma that should not exist, something that made no sense at all. He was both a god and not a god at the same time. But Matheus was not a mortal either—he was simply a mistake.

This was one of the greatest problems Yan had ever faced in his life. How could he become a god when the universe itself did not know what he was? The common means would not work for him. In the end, he opted for an easier path, a truth that very few knew. One of those few at this moment was Matheus.

"So, are we three?" Han commented. "Our universe truly produced some unique beings."

This was something all the gods had to agree on.

Finding individuals at the level of Han, Atlas, and Matheus was not insane, but finding three people of this same level in a single universe was completely abnormal. Not only that, but the number of ten-ray mages present was also abnormally high. The average strength and all other factors were ridiculously high compared to regular universes.

None of the gods could fully understand the reason why. Only Thoth had suspicions about two individuals.

The first was Achilles, a mage who should not have been there and who was capable of manipulating the threads of fate in a way no mortal should be able to. His actions closely resembled those of the gods.

The difference was that the gods could not do such things without suffering the consequences of the heavens. They could not freely kill or influence the lives of high-level mortals. All of this rendered them incapable of performing half of the actions Achilles had. The threads of fate that Achilles had altered were beyond comprehension.

The other factor was Kayden. This mage was simply an anomaly among anomalies. It was not his strength that influenced the universe—far from it. Kayden had always been a secondary figure in all the major events of this universe. He had never led any organization or built an empire. He had never even formed a family. And yet, every action he took had an insane impact on the universe's grand scheme.

Every decision Kayden made resulted in an unprecedented shift in the universe. From the moment he was revealed to the world, Kayden never stopped, pushing forward like a madman, conquering space without hesitation. His trajectory never had highs and lows—just a straight line from start to finish. Every one of his disciples became an insane mage.

Kayden was the master of Atlas, the first emperor of this universe. Kayden was the master of Matheus, the first true false god of this universe. Kayden was the master of Han, the first ten-ray god of this universe. Each of them stood at the absolute peak of magical power.

A universe producing even a single mage of this caliber would already be a cause for celebration—but three? That was utterly insane. And all of them had a strong connection to Kayden, a man who had no support since birth, someone who grew up alone through the crooked paths of the universe.

"Are you two going to team up against me?" Han smiled. He was not afraid at all. In the end, this was merely the final battle of their lives in this universe.

"I still have my honor," Atlas replied.

And then… Matheus attacked both of them at the same time, converting an insane portion of the universe into mana for his own use.

Matheus' conversion area was so vast that the universe itself employed the law of balance to restore it at high speed. This caused even more mana to flow toward him. But this alone would not be enough to place him on the same level as the other two. Like it or not, Matheus was facing gods.

The key to his power lay in his ability to convert the laws of the universe… into divine mana.

This action shocked all the gods and mages with privileged knowledge. Matheus' race was extremely special and also well-known—mages banned from most universes because of the destruction they caused in battle, as well as their abnormally high power.

Matheus manipulated almost the same amount of mana that Atlas had used for ascension in mere seconds, revealing a combat capability far beyond what the previous battle had suggested. But even this was not enough to make either of the two mages falter.

Han simply used a single cut. At this moment, he was capable of keeping his mortal soul and divine soul fully unified. He easily possessed the power of two gods, but… it was obvious to those who thought deeply that this was not enough to sustain him in this fight.

This mage's combat style required time and souls to grow stronger. At this moment, he possessed only a single divine soul. Against mortals, this was insane, but against other gods, it was merely above average—nothing truly spectacular.

Atlas was the opposite. His soul had ascended to a new level in mere moments after his ascension process. His combat capability had multiplied thousands of times without even needing to train his new power. At this point, his soul extended across entire universes.

He simply devoured all the mana Matheus had sent and erased it with the pressure of his soul. Both defended themselves well and understood the situation—this was going to be a free-for-all, where each mage was free to attack anyone at any time while also needing to remain vigilant for incoming attacks.

The three forces clashed with absurd violence—Han swung his spear in a slashing strike that split Matheus' conversion field in half, but the fragmented energy was instantly reformed into a whirlwind of mana that spun unpredictably, consuming the surrounding space. Atlas reacted by expanding his soul, crushing the distortions before they could spread, but Matheus used this interference to channel even more power, transforming the very laws of the universe into fuel for his next attack.

There was nothing left in the arena. Not even a single grain of dust survived the battle that had lasted only a few seconds between these mages. The universe beyond had already plunged into chaos due to the sheer amount of mana they had pulled, but remnants of civilizations still remained, protected by the gods.

"Finally," Kayden spread his arms and took a deep breath. The anxiety in his mind vanished. The itch in his fingers was gone.

He was ready.