Ava's memories deepened, bright and terrible. The dungeon walls faded, replaced by endless light golden, pure, and vast beyond imagination.
He was no longer Ava the student.
He was Avalokita Jovajra, standing upon the shining plains of the Boundless Heaven one of the axis of all creation, a realm that transcended time, space, and every layer of dimensional existence and nonexistence. Its light flowed beyond the reach of causality itself, where past, present, and future existed as a single living breath.
The air shimmered with divinity; reality itself here was woven from pure idea, every mote of light carrying the breath of a universe. Cosmic cities drifted across the radiant expanse, their size unknowable some vast enough to cradle galaxies, others so small they could fit within a thought. Their foundations were carved from eternal law, their walls etched with luminous truths that only gods could read.
Before him stood his family, hundreds of brothers and sisters, the Shimna. Radiant beings born of both Heaven and Hell, yet belonging to neither.
They were not bound by concept, law, time, or narrative. They existed beyond definition. The Omniverse and all realms beyond it were written around them, not above them.
The Shimna were the living truths of the Black Lotus. Not symbols. Not metaphors. Truths made flesh.
The Black Lotus was the absolute truth of existence and nonexistence. It was the source that preceded creation, the silence before the first thought, the canvas upon which the Omniverse and what lay beyond were allowed to appear. And the Shimna were its expressions.
Each of them embodied a truth so fundamental that reality could not contradict it. Their presence defined structure, causality, identity, and even the possibility of meaning itself. Where they stood, reality obeyed. Where they moved, existence followed.
At the heart of the divine assembly stood two thrones:
one forged from pure, blinding light,
the other woven from living shadow that drifted like ink suspended in water.
Upon them sat his parents.
Adamus known across creation as Sunyata, the Black Lotus, the God of the Omniverse radiant, unfathomable.
The Black Lotus was not merely his title; it was his nature.
A boundless omnipresence, existing everywhere and nowhere,
the eternal canvas upon which both existence and nonexistence found permission to be.
There was no place it did not already touch.
No realm it did not underlie.
No truth that did not arise from its infinite depth.
Beside him sat Kiyohime, called Lady Death, the Queen of Boundless Hell
elegant and terrifying, serene and devastating,
her presence a crown of beauty veiled in cosmic dread.
She was the Purifier of the Damned,
the one who cleansed both mortal souls and gods of light,
restoring truth where corruption festered,
bringing finality where even divinity feared to tread.
Their presence silenced all creation.
Adamus's voice resonated through every layer of existence. "My children, the cycle continues. Your mother and I must depart for a time. The Omniverse must learn to balance itself. Until we return, it will rest in your hands."
A ripple of murmurs passed through the divine crowd. Ava stepped forward, head bowed.
Lady Death's gaze sharp as starlight, ancient as the first darkness settled on him. Her voice flowed like a velvet eclipse.
"Avalokita… my son," she said, power thrumming through every syllable. "I give you this honor. You will govern chaos. Where it rises, you will restore balance. Where destruction brews, you will contain it."
He knelt, placing his hand over his heart. "I will not fail you."
His other hand moved to his stomach.
Beneath his palm, chaos stirred.
Alive. Waiting.
He felt it coil within him, vast and endless, not as a curse but as a responsibility. A force meant to be ruled, not unleashed. And in that moment, he accepted it fully.
Centuries passed like seconds. He ruled the Boundless Heaven with calm and reason, his presence a steady light within the eternal expanse. From his throne above the Boundless Ocean the living sea where infinite Hyperverses floated like luminous pearls he watched the Omniverse bloom in harmony.
His brothers and sisters carried out their divine duties, each a guardian of some fundamental truth. They were the Guardians of the Absolute, embodiments of the laws that gave existence its shape. Some watched over great forces Love, Hate, Power, Strength, and Greed while others tended the gentler threads of creation: the pulse of stars, the roots of trees, the depths of oceans, the birth of multiverses and hyperverses.
Together, they maintained the song of balance, each truth resonating with the next, a perfect chord that held the Omniverse in motion.
And under their care, reality thrived until the day it didn't.
The alarms of Heaven rang out like thunder, their sound shattering the stillness of eternity. A ripple of darkness spread across the Boundless Ocean.
From its depths rose Veyrath, the God of Dominion, a being whose hunger for control had consumed even the gods of his own realm. Within his Abyssal Crucible, a Hyperverse forged from devoured suns and collapsing worlds, he had built an empire where every spark of light bowed to his will.
So immense had his power grown that even the walls of reality could no longer contain him. Driven by the belief that Heaven's order was weakness, Veyrath tore through the veil separating his realm from the Boundless Heaven itself bringing with him the roar of collapsing hyperversus and the scent of dying higher Realms.
The intruder burst into the divine halls, cutting through guardians, angels, and lesser deities. Chaos spread before anyone could stop him.
And then Ava saw it.
Soryana.
His sister.
The Shinma of Love.
She was falling.
Her golden blood stained the marble floors of Heaven, spreading like shattered light. In that instant, something inside Ava fractured completely. His heart ignited with a fury so absolute that the Boundless Ocean trembled in response.
He vanished.
Golden, black, and violet fire erupted as he appeared before the attacker, reality tearing open around him. In his grasp formed a weapon that had not been drawn in eons.
The Black Lotus Chaos Sword.
Fully awakened.
Bearing all of its abilities.
Its edge burned with the flames of collapsed realities, entire existences screaming along its blade. Ava's anger surged. Chaos answered.
The energy around him began to spiral, tightening, darkening, until it turned red.
His shirt tore apart under the pressure.
Across his stomach, an ancient scar split open.
Teeth emerged.
A mouth.
The Chaos Mouth roared.
Hunger awakened.
With a single swing, Ava cut the god down.
The god fell to his knees, bleeding divinity, begging for forgiveness. But Ava, consumed by his Chaos Demon state, heard nothing. The Chaos Mouth opened wider, and from it burst Ava's golden life strings, lashing outward and wrapping around the god's body.
Slowly, inexorably, the god was pulled forward.
He screamed.
The Chaos Mouth devoured him completely.
The god did not die.
He was consumed.
His body, his soul, his phenomenon, his powers, his abilities, his divine authority, all of it was reduced to raw energy and absorbed into Ava. Nothing remained but strength added to Ava's own.
Eventually, the frenzy subsided.
The red, ravenous chaos drained away. Ava's aura settled, returning to gold and violet, the hunger sealed once more behind the scar.
He knelt beside Soryana, placing his hand over her wound. The lotus flames softened, shifting from black to gold as they sealed her injury. Her eyes fluttered open, weak but alive.
But it was not enough.
Not for Ava.
That god's death did not quench his rage.
It opened a door.
Soon after, Ava left Heaven.
He descended into the Hyperverse of the slain outer god, Veyrath. There, grief hardened into purpose, and purpose curdled into obsession.
He appeared above their world like a storm given form, vast and undeniable.
"Bow," Ava commanded, his voice splitting the sky itself. "Your god is dead. I am your ruler now. You will follow my law, or you will be erased. You were raised by a savage."
The gods of that Hyperverse rose to confront him. Outer gods emerged from higher strata of reality, surrounding him with divine authority and ancient law.
"This is our world," they declared. "You do not belong here. What Veyrath did has nothing to do with us. We are innocent."
Ava did not believe them.
"No one is innocent," he answered. "No one can be trusted."
Chaos answered his conviction.
His Chaos Demon state ignited. Red energy flooded the sky. The scar on his stomach split open once more, and the Chaos Mouth emerged, roaring with endless hunger. Golden life strings burst from within it, lashing across dimensions.
He attacked without hesitation.
God after god fell. Outer gods were dragged screaming from their realms as the life strings wrapped around them, pulling them into the Chaos Mouth. Their bodies, their souls, their laws, their phenomena, all of it was devoured. Nothing was spared. Nothing was left behind.
Entire pantheons collapsed.
Cities burned.
The Hyperverse was remade in Ava's image. Its skies burned red, black, and gold. Its laws bent to his will. Its people knelt and chanted his name, not out of devotion, but survival.
When word reached Boundless Heaven, his siblings descended to stop him.
At their front stood Soryana.
Still weak. Still trembling.
She faced him through the burning sky, tears streaming down her face.
"Brother, please," she said softly. "This isn't what Mother and Father wanted. Return the Hyperverse to its gods. Return it to its people."
Ava looked at her.
And for the first time since Heaven fell silent, his chaos hesitated.
Another Shinma placed his sword in the ground beside her. "You've gone too far."
Ava's fury ignited once more.
"Too far?" he roared, his voice shaking the heavens. "Too far because I punished those who nearly killed Soryana? Do you think mercy would have saved her? Do you think Father's compassion would have stopped him, or any other god who chose to rise against us?"
He stepped forward, his eyes burning like collapsing stars.
"No more," Ava declared. "I will make sure nothing like this ever happens again. Forget compassion."
He turned, gesturing toward the endless legions kneeling below.
"Because of their recklessness, my sister almost died. I will not wait for chaos to come to me. I will bring it to them. Every world. Every god. Every realm will bow. Only then will there be peace."
His siblings stepped back as divine energy poured from his body. Golden fire erupted, streaked with black and red chaos, laced with ravenous hunger.
"Leave me," Ava thundered, his voice tearing through the sky. "This is no longer our Heaven. It is mine."
With a single motion of his hand, he cast down higher dimensional cards. They shattered reality as they struck the ground. From them erupted legions of black, red, and gold soldiers. Beings of flame and shadow, forged from chaos itself, born from Ava's will.
They surged forward.
The marble gates of his family's castle cracked and shattered. His brothers and sisters were driven back as angels and spirits were scattered across the sky like falling stars.
The once peaceful Boundless Heaven burned.
Yet even as the flames rose, Ava's fear remained beneath the rage.
A whisper echoed in his mind, relentless and unyielding.
If one god could rise against us, another will come.
Another will try to take everything I love.
And Ava swore to himself that next time, no one would survive long enough to try.
So he made his decision.
If chaos would always return, then he would become chaos itself.
He gazed across the Boundless Ocean, where infinite Hyperverses drifted like stars upon an endless sea. His golden eyes flared, and before him the Life Strings revealed themselves. Countless threads stretched through creation, binding every being, every thought, every moment of time.
He reached out.
And the Omniverse trembled.
The Life Strings transcended all layers of dimensionality. Ava extended his will through the Boundless Ocean and activated his omnipresence, weaving himself through every realm at once. The strings pulsed like living veins of light between his fingers.
With a single command, he seized them.
Every god.
Every pantheon.
Every mortal.
Every star.
Their narratives bent. Their choices unraveled. Their fates folded beneath his grasp. He moved them as puppets, reshaping destiny itself.
Those who resisted, the higher beings whose wills refused to bow, met the Black Lotus Chaos Sword in its full, awakened state. Its blade did not kill.
It erased.
Each strike severed a Life String at its source, removing the victim from time, space, memory, and existence altogether.
And those who could not be erased, beings beyond annihilation, faced something far worse.
Ava's Chaos Demon state surged. The scar on his stomach split open. The Chaos Mouth emerged, opening wide in endless hunger. Life Strings dragged the untouchable screaming into it. Their energy, their phenomena, their authority, their stories were devoured and absorbed into Ava.
His power grew.
So did his madness.
The more he fed the Chaos within him, the more it hollowed him out. Soon, it no longer mattered whether people obeyed him or defied him. Loyalty, fear, resistance, none of it had meaning anymore. The only thing that mattered was feeding the hunger.
Entire Hyperverses vanished without a trace.
Life Strings wrapped around civilizations, concepts, and sentient beings across reality. Worlds were pulled screaming into the Chaos Mouth, devoured until even their histories were gone.
Ava no longer conquered for protection or justice.
He conquered for the sound of it.
For the thunder of collapsing worlds beneath his laughter.
For the ecstasy of hunger satisfied and reborn.
The Boundless Ocean shook as wave after wave of chaos tore through it. Life Strings reached endlessly outward, dragging all they could seize into the Chaos Mouth, devouring phenomenon, story, meaning.
"Look at it," Ava laughed, his voice echoing across eternity. "Even in death, they create beauty. Their destruction gives birth to something greater."
He threw his head back, laughing.
"And I take it all. I will devour every phenomenon. Every story."
The Omniverse trembled in fear.
His name spread like a plague across all creation.
Avalokita.
The Shinma of Chaos.
Entire pantheons prayed not for salvation, but for mercy.
The other Shinma rose against him embodiments of every truth the Omniverse had ever known.
Love, Hate, Pain, Suffering. Nature, Time, Dream, and Silence etcetera.
Each came forth, radiant and terrible, their divine essences clashing with the storm that Ava had become. They fought to restore balance, to end the spiral of destruction he had unleashed.
He faced them all, and one by one, he cast them down. Their light faltered beneath his chaos, yet his hand refused the final strike. Some fragment of love still bound his heart, keeping him from erasing or devouring them completely.
And then, at last, the skies of the Boundless Heaven split open.
Adamus returned.
And with him came Lady Death.
Their arrival silenced existence and nonexistence alike. Sound vanished. Motion froze. Even chaos hesitated.
The Boundless Heaven, once radiant with divinity, now burned beneath Ava's reign. Ruined spires and shattered thrones smoldered across the endless sky.
Ava stood amid the wreckage of his throne.
In his hand, the Black Lotus Chaos Sword dripped with cosmic fire. Across his body, red and black energy coiled and surged, violent and unstable. The Chaos Mouth gaped open upon his stomach, leaking torrents of red hunger into the air, its breath warping reality with every pulse.
Lady Death stepped forward, her presence calm, inevitable, absolute. Adamus stood beside her, radiant and unyielding, the weight of creation itself resting in his gaze.
For the first time since the Omniverse began to tremble, Ava did not laugh.
The war for Heaven had arrived.
His voice cut through the chamber like a blade sharpened on hatred.
"You're fools. All of you!" Ava roared. "Weak! Blind! You let them roam free while they plot against us. These lesser beings don't deserve choice. They don't deserve freedom. They deserve order. They deserve direction. They must bow we are their gods!"
Golden life-strings sparked around him, writhing like living threads of fate.
"With these strings, I can make them perfect. Obedient. Peaceful. No more chaos not unless I command it. Only my chaos is just!"
He laughed, the sound sharp and unhinged, echoing through the shattered Heaven.
"And the best part," he continued, his voice heavy with certainty, "Mother. Father. The end of stories."
He spread his arms wide.
"It is me."
"I will devour the mess you were too gentle to cleanse. The worlds and stories I deem unworthy will be consumed. Their Hyperverses will end. I will erase their filth from reality itself."
The Chaos Hunger flared. Beneath his skin, the Chaos Mouth stirred, teeth grinding in anticipation.
"My hunger will fix everything. Every broken world. Every failed story."
He smiled, eyes burning with absolute conviction.
"There are too many stories. Too many Hyperverses. I will devour the unworthy and leave only those that deserve to exist. Then the worlds will respect us. They will respect our family."
He turned toward them, voice lowering, almost pleading.
"Join me. Surely you can see the wisdom in this."
Adamus stood silent, calm… but sorrow weighed in his eyes like a collapsing star.
"I'm disappointed, my son," he murmured. "You were the last one I believed would cling to such illusions. You sought order, but all you've found is vanity. Dominion is not balance. Chaos, Destruction, Dominion, is not peace. You know it is wrong to steal another's will even if you claim it is to tame chaos."
Ava's aura ignited violently, red flames and shadows spiraling into cosmic storms. His presence twisted reality itself walls bending, time rippling, gravity shaking.
"They don't deserve free will!" he shouted. "They deserve me. To rule them. To reshape them. To control every chaotic breath they take. To devour as I choose fit"
He stepped forward, power burning brighter than suns.
"If you want to stop me, Father… then try."
The clash was instant.
Father and son collided, their battle shattering every realm caught in its echo. Time unraveled into fraying threads. Realities split like cracked glass beneath their blows.
Chaos met compassion.
Light met shadow.
And in the end, Adamus stood victorious.
Ava fell to his knees, his wings torn, his flames dying.
"You leave me no choice," Adamus whispered. With one motion, he raised his hand, summoning a vast seal of light. "You will learn what it means to feel to suffer, to love, to understand."
The seal flared to life, a brand of divine judgment. Light flooded Ava's body, burning away armor, and aura until his divine form unraveled into pure spirit. His power shattered, sealed, locked behind a veil he could no longer touch.
Adamus stepped forward, grief and resolve warring in his eyes.
"Avalokita…"
He placed his hand against his son's chest not gently, but with the firm, unavoidable force of fate.
Then he pushed him.
Ava's spirit was hurled backward, falling through the collapsing heavens. Layer after layer of creation blurred past him oceans of stars, broken timelines, shattered realms until the light above him warped into a narrow, distant point.
And then he breached the border.
He fell into the Shadow Omniverse, swallowed by its endless darkness.
As he descended, Adamus's voice drifted after him faint, echoing through the torn seams of reality, the last tether of a father's hope.
"When he learns compassion," the god murmured, "when he truly loves… only then will his power return. Only then will his banishment be undone."
Darkness swallowed him whole.
Then silence.
Ava's eyes opened slowly. His breath trembled. The echoes of eternity faded from his mind, leaving only the dim light of the dungeon around him. The air was heavy with dust and ash; the memory of Heaven's fire still burned behind his eyes.
He blinked, grounding himself in the present. The visions dissolved like mist.
For a moment, he just stood there silent, cold, remembering.
Then he heard it.
Footsteps.
Soft, deliberate, echoing across the broken floor of the dungeon.
Ava turned his head, his golden eyes sharpening. Someone is here.