Chapter 70— The Ethereal Origin
For the first time since the void was born, there was calm.
Erevan drifted through a sea of pale gold light. Fragments of creation shimmered around him cosmic dust, divine atoms, the raw code of existence waiting to be shaped. His aura no longer roared with chaos; it sang a harmony between godhood and freedom.
> "No scripts," he whispered. "No destiny. Just… life."
He lifted his hand, and from his palm, the first continent unfolded. A massive realm of luminous stone and flowing ether neither planet nor star, but something greater. Its skies shimmered with energy, half light, half shadow, reflecting his dual nature.
This was Ethereal Origin the heart of the Beyond.
He spoke a single word "Breathe."
And the world responded.
Mountains of crystal rose. Oceans of starlight poured from the horizon. Rivers of pure will carved paths across the land. In the center, a golden tree sprouted its roots reaching into infinity, its leaves whispering with memory.
It was the Tree of Aeons, a living archive of every reality Erevan had transcended.
> "The first memory… of freedom," Erevan said softly.
Then came life not born, but chosen. Beings of energy, matter, and soul rose from the tree's light. Some glowed like suns; others carried the calm of shadows. They bowed before Erevan instinctively, sensing the boundless force behind him.
> "You owe me nothing," Erevan said. "You exist because you can. That's enough."
The world shimmered in response as if reality itself approved.
But creation never comes without echo.
Far above Ethereal Origin, a rift cracked open silent but endless. Erevan looked up, eyes narrowing as he felt something stir beyond it.
An energy unlike the Writer's, unlike the void ancient, untouched even by omnipotence.
It wasn't a threat.
It was curiosity.
> "So something's watching me again," he muttered. "Good. Let them watch."
He raised his hand, sealing the rift temporarily with a fragment of his soul a lock made of living flame and black lightning. His divine armor flared briefly, the mark of the Transcendent Sovereign glowing on his chest.
> "If they want to test me, they can come. This world won't fall like the last."
He gazed across Ethereal Origin his creation. His peace.
But deep inside, he could feel the coming storm.
The universe was young, and something in the Beyond was awakening.
> "Let's see who challenges me next," he said, smiling slightly. "I'm not done rewriting eternity."
The golden tree pulsed once more and the first dawn of the new cosmos began.