Honkai World, St. Freya Academy.
The youth with brilliant golden eyes sat in an office that should have belonged to a certain shorty, sighing and muttering to himself.
"So, I really didn't achieve Transcendance?"
"Hey, hey, hey! Why would you think that devouring the souls of a single Dead River would guarantee Transcendance?"
As if it had just encountered something completely unreasonable, the System, which had been offline for so long it had probably been forgotten by most readers, clamored in his mind.
"Can't a guy daydream?"
The youth, a platinum blade clearly a few degrees longer than Rama's Divine Sword hanging from the side of his desk, rolled his eyes.
There wasn't much of a surprise.
After the last King of the End, Verethragna, was killed, and the vampire king, Alucard, was sealed in a World Bubble by Fu Hua and Su, the so-called world mission was complete.
Quite naturally, Li Zihan chose to fuse the two Divine Swords of Salvation and use them as a temporary Holy Relic to begin activating the esoteric art of Eternal Destruction—Mage Refinement.
It was almost child's play. Li Zihan, whose fundamental quality was already far superior to a normal being at the Creation Rank, broke through the First Rank: Activity, the Second Rank: Formation, and the Third Rank: Creation, relying on his soul's strength alone.
It turned out the System was right.
Li Zihan was perfectly suited for the Shinza system. He had reached the Third Rank without even devouring a single soul.
At this Rank, the user's ability is classified as either Gudou or Hadou, depending on their personal inclinations.
Gudou-type Creation is an introverted creation that transforms oneself into an independent otherworld, applying an extremely powerful buff to oneself upon use. Hadou-type Creation, on the other hand, erodes the outside world with one's own desires, interfering with external reality.
Li Zihan's Creation was a Hadou-type.
"If it were you, it would definitely be the unlimited extension of time."
Miss Stargazer, who spent a great deal of time with a certain someone every day and, amidst the sweetness, had wondered how he managed to avoid his harem catching fire, had once teased him with this thought.
"It's like a save file in a game, right?☆~"
This was the impression of Miss Pufferfish, who, ever since being separated from Miss Paramecium, often teamed up with Li Zihan to play games, only to be crushed by Bronya every time.
After being forced to suppress his neural reaction speed, a certain someone suffered consecutive defeats. He then led her in shouting 'Bites the Dust,' and managed to counter-kill Bronya once by relying on his knowledge of the past...
Then he went on a seven-game losing streak. Seele and Bronya laughed at him for a long time, and it wasn't until night fell that he was able to reclaim his dignity.
"The boss is already very proficient with time-related operations, so he doesn't really need a time-based ability. Based on the principle that one's 'Law' is determined by one's 'desire,' a person like the boss who dislikes constraints would more likely obtain a space-based ability."
This was the speculation of Miss Bronya, who, after repeatedly defeating a certain scumbag, was counter-killed along with her sister at night.
The ability of one's "Law" is determined by their own desires. A person who despises evil will manifest the power of purification; a person who desires a specific outcome will cause time to loop endlessly...
Given Li Zihan's personality of hating any form of restraint, the chances of him awakening an ability to traverse different spaces or dimensions were actually quite high.
But in truth, Li Zihan's "Law" was neither the time management speculated by Stargazer and Sirin, nor the dimensional travel guessed by Bronya. It was the "Distortion of Possibility."
It distorts the unfolding of the worldline, forcefully warping possibilities that should have branched out like a tree, preventing them from spreading freely until a certain person's desired event is achieved.
"Because I want to see the brilliant sunshine, the possibility of a rainy day will be distorted."
"Because I don't want to come back empty-handed from fishing, the fish must take the bait."
Simply put, for the sake of his own desires, he denies unwanted possibilities and warps them into the outcome he wants.
In a sense, this could be considered the highest expression of the self.
However, just being at the Creation Rank wasn't quite enough.
Like certain Hadou Gods whose abilities became absurdly overpowered after reaching the Creation Rank, a certain someone was now slumped over his desk, feeling a bit listless.
Honestly, starting directly at the Third Rank was something that had made him quite happy.
Eternal Destruction was known as the esoteric art that most depended on one's aptitude.
Its essence was to allow a person to rapidly ascend to their own limit.
Li Zihan had skipped the First Rank: Activity and the Second Rank: Formation, starting directly at the Third Rank: Creation. His talent was clearly very high.
"Maybe I don't need to fight for the Star Grail. Perhaps I can achieve a qualitative transformation and reach Transcendance just by using the power it possesses."
As if joking, he had snatched the souls from the Dead River and turned them into fuel for his Mage Refinement.
The facts proved that he had been overthinking things.
Even after devouring the Dead River, he was still at the Creation Rank.
"This is actually a pretty good sign, you know."
As if to console him, the barely-present System spoke up.
"Unless you're a paranoid schizophrenic of the highest cosmic order, normal beings can't achieve Transcendance naturally. If you really had undergone a qualitative change just by smelting some souls, it would only prove that you're the universe's number one psycho."
"Tsk—"
The youth, who had reached the Creation Rank—a level that, in theory, only a psycho could reach—without doing anything, sounded more displeased than ever.
He felt like this moron System was calling him a psycho.
But, it didn't matter.
In the end, it just meant he would have to try and trick the ruler of the Winged Race. The worst-case scenario was simply fighting that God-Spirit, whose abilities were likely focused on pure combat.
The youth, having obtained Rama's Authority and divinity and having completed the first three stages of Eternal Destruction, laughed.
The King of the Winged Race was strong, but he wasn't weak either, was he?
So, he might as well take the more combat-capable Celestial, Seele, and Bronya for a little trip there.
The youth, clearly accustomed to bringing a few girls along to show off his affection while grinding monsters and leveling up, thought with a light heart.
With that in mind, he took out his phone and began dialing the numbers of the different girls.
"Bronya has no objections."
This was the reply from the highly intelligent Bronya, who was having a blast with the Core of Reason.
"Seele... has no objections either."
This was from Seele, who had slain Hades disguised as Perseus and now had Athena as her guardian deity.
"Sorry, I have something more important to do."
A completely different answer came from the other end of the line.
The Celestial, dressed in splendid, traditional Shenzhou formal wear, was holding a pregnancy test stick with two lines on it, checking the result as she answered the phone, her tone calm.
"This may be a bit sudden, but I feel you should be the first to know."
"You're going to be a father."