Chapter 206: The Man who wants to become The Creator

"I told you I’d be watching. Didn’t I... Kaelen Cross?" Kelsey said as her brows bobbed up and down.

Kaelen didn’t say a word, neither did he flinch as he stared at the window.

"You’re so unpredictable. Yet, that’s exactly what makes you predictable." Kelsey said as she flew inside the room.

"I knew you’d come after Melissa after she said that about your mother, and also because she was bullying Lysandra, who’s clearly stronger but can’t do anything about it. You know why that is? It’s because killing a fellow candidate is prohibited. Lysandra understood that part well and had her emotions in check, but I knew a certain someone wouldn’t take such bullshit."

"That’s what strength is all about." Kaelen replied calmly, surprising Kelsey.

"Oh, how so? Please enlighten me."

"If you let one person get away with it, more people would be inclined to do it because they’d genuinely believe you’re a weak person. But if you take action even in a strict environment, the others would be wary of you and think twice before crossing you. That’s the definition of strength. The ability to make other people perceive you as someone they can’t mess with or double-cross. If Emir had never stood up against the universe, both you and the other Heralds wouldn’t be so scared of her." His words made Kelsey’s gaze turn cold, but Kaelen wasn’t done yet. "And if you hadn’t killed that one Herald back then, the others wouldn’t respect and fear you as much as they do now. Isn’t that why you did it? To show them you have the strength."

His words made Kelsey pause for a long moment.

"I learnt this from y’all," Kaelen said as he took a Health Elixir and stepped forward. He grabbed Melissa’s chin and poured the contents of the vial down her throat.

"The reason why you powerful figures get so cocky is because y’all believe you’re truly immortal. Even if you lose, you get respawned at a safe zone, with the only consequence of death being losing a Tier out of many. Countless. This makes me wonder what other kind of immortality there is. Why the Immortality Pill is even a thing. Why Goddess Zemira is being referred to as the Creator when we’re all immortals and equals, with the difference being our evolution realms." Kaelen said and stepped back to observe Melissa’s lifeless body.

"I don’t think I understand you." Kelsey said after a moment, her voice lacking the usual disdain and amusement even in the worst scenarios.

"Can you tell me why Emir believed she could challenge the universe?" Kaelen asked without sparing her a glance.

"Because she believed she was the strongest?" Kelsey replied, obviously.

"She was, if even the so-called Creator had to rise to put her down. But you’re wrong. It’s because she believed she was immortal. Even if she failed, she’d simply return and restrategize. She believed no one could truly stop her from achieving her lifetime goals. Until Goddess Zemira rose and crushed her pride. Not by crippling her, but by killing her best men and proving to her no one is truly immortal. Before the Goddess’s wrath, everyone is at the mercy of death. And that is why she earned the title, The Creator. Because she’s the only true immortal in this universe. That explains the concept of the Immortality Pill, and that also explains why Goddess Zemira is at the top, beyond the reach of false immortals like you and me."

As those words left Kaelen’s lips, Melissa’s finger suddenly twitched, catching Kelsey’s attention and making her come to the realization that the girl’s wound was fully healed now and the colour had returned to her face.

Her eyes widened in shock and disbelief. "Impossible. The Tower of Babel was created under the authority of Goddess Zemira. The True Creator and the liberator of our universe. She’s the only one who has true power over life and death."

"You’re not wrong, Kelsey. But in that sense, does having the power over life and death make you a Creator? If so, with what you’ve seen just now, I can kill anyone I truly want dead and cheat death under any circumstances. So tell me, if I take the Immortality Pill, can I become the Creator?"

Kelsey turned to look at him with a serious expression, still shocked at the scene before her. "No, you can’t."

Kaelen held back a smile. "Why not?"

"Absorbing the Immortality Pill wouldn’t give you half the power of the Creator, because every Immortality Pill out there was created from the fluid of Goddess Zemira herself. You might have the ability to truly cheat death, but you’d still remain vulnerable to the one who created you. You cannot go against her will and see yourself as her equal."

"I see..." Kaelen mumbled to himself.

That was what Elyndra was talking about, but he doubted even she knew this much.

The ingredient he suspected was behind the side effects in the Immortality Pills was Goddess Zemira’s fluid. Now, Kaelen didn’t know what that was and didn’t want to know, but an Immortality Pill was impossible without that fluid, which should be impossible to get his hands on, hence why his father never returned after leaving to gather the ingredients.

It was truly impossible to gather all the ingredients needed.

"W-What’s going on?" Melissa’s confused voice drew the attention of the duo, and Kaelen firmly clasped his hand over her mouth before turning his head to look at Kelsey.

"Death among candidates might be prohibited, but as you can see, we’re only having fun here, Herald Executioner. So tell me, am I still breaking any rules?" He asked flatly.

Kelsey was silent for a moment. "What do you want to do with her?"

"Certainly not death. But because she threatened my planet, I’d have to nerf her so badly that she serves as a lesson to every single individual out there who has a problem with me and my people. They’d question how she lost so many evolution realms within the Tower where death is permanent, and I want them to know it was me, Kaelen Cross, the man who wants to become..."

At that moment, a memory resurfaced in his mind.

***

"Kaelen, can I ask you a question?" Jessica asked calmly.

"Go ahead." Kaelen replied.

"What are your intentions?" She asked softly. "What do you plan to achieve?"

Kaelen paused to think for a moment.

"It’s okay. You don’t have to answer it now, but I want you to have that question at the back of your mind until you eventually discover the answer you’re looking for."

***

I’ve decided. I’ve made up my mind, Mom. The only path to saving you and everyone I truly care about.

"...The Creator."