Chapter 220: Awakening

Evan’s eyes opened, and the first thing he saw before him was white.

There was nothing there except a vast, white expanse.

The only thing different in that space was the surface he stood on, a dark, smooth, clear surface, almost as if made of some dark liquid, though he wasn’t sinking into it. He could feel the weight of his feet pressing against it, and he saw faint ripples spreading out from where he stood, as if he were standing on water.

He looked around, his mind still somewhat clouded.

His memories were confused, and for some reason, his thoughts felt somewhat disordered. Too many things were passing through his mind all at once, things both familiar and unfamiliar that were slowly beginning to fall into place.

Little by little, light began to return to his eyes, and with it, his consciousness seemed to return as well.

He looked around once more, his expression confused but also strangely calm.

He remembered what had happened. He remembered what he’d done inside that separate dimension, how he’d ended up trapped in those dreams that lasted centuries, and how they had finally come to an end.

He knew where he was. It was his Soul Sea, different from the last time he’d been here.

It was empty. There were no fragments of divinity representing his clones, no Seraphine, nothing at all, or almost nothing...

He looked down, toward the enormous dark mass of unfathomable depth beneath him.

"So this is the Soul Sea of a Quasi-Supreme," he said, though no actual sound left his mouth,

It was then he noticed his physical form was strangely different, or more precisely, different in the sense that it wasn’t really there. He had a body, but the body didn’t seem clearly defined, all white, almost blending into the surrounding environment.

It was as if his very existence was still trying to define itself.

He didn’t dwell on it too much. The weight of his new memories, of his original goal, and of everything else that had brought him here pressed down on his mind as it slowly settled into place.

Eventually he let out a sigh, as if to steady himself, before opening his mouth once more.

’Hey, Bruce, you there?’ he said, his voice echoing in his mind even as he tried to speak aloud.

Nothing happened, and for a moment everything remained silent, just as before. But then...

[Yes, I’m here. Glad to see you’ve finally recovered,]

Bruce’s voice sounded calm, as though he had expected this to happen.

And how could he not have?

After all, this was what the two of them had been working toward all this time.

"How long was I in this state?" Evan asked, wasting no time on pleasantries.

[About a month. Assimilating all those Concept Cores put a considerable strain on your soul, so I avoided accelerating the process any further than I already had,] he said.

Evan said nothing more.

Instead, he thought about his status screen, and a translucent rectangular window suddenly appeared before him.

---

[Name: Evan]

[Age: ??? (15)]

[Rank: ??? (EX)]

[ESS: ???]

[Bloodline]:

> [God of Life]: (90%)

> [God of Death]: (50%)

> [God of War]: (90%)

> [God of Space and Time]: (100%)

[Divine Clone]

> Clones: 3

[Affinities]:

> [Void Energy]: 90%

> [Poisons]: 10%

> [Life Energy]: 100%

> [Law of Fire]: 100%

> [Law of Space]: 100%

> [Law of Time]: 100%

[Skills]: ???

[Storage]

---

Evan gave the status screen a quick glance, and seeing it, he couldn’t help but shake his head.

’Just as I thought,’ he thought, closing it.

He’d wondered how much of his current strength Bruce would actually be able to detect, after all, Bruce was this world’s core, and his power was tightly bound to it.

When Evan received the Concept Cores, he could tell that his strength had been increasing at an absurd rate. And while he had been lost in the memories of his previous lives, he had also experienced the power of a true god firsthand, as well as that of a Quasi-Supreme.

It seemed that his current strength was somewhere around that level.

That was precisely why he had checked how much of it Bruce would be able to analyze.

And just as he’d expected, not everything could be calculated by the system. Aside from certain things that were more of an indicative value, like the affinity percentages and the like, those weren’t real numbers at all, just rough estimates.

Bruce could no longer form a complete picture of his power, which was to be expected.

He also noticed that although he now held the divinities he’d cultivated across previous cycles, some of them were incomplete, like those of the God of War, Life, and Death.

Life and War were something he had expected.

Life was mostly the bloodline he’d taken from Seraphine in this cycle, while War was something he himself had deliberately left behind before entering the fourth cycle, in case it might prove useful in the future.

He could still sense its presence, so he’d be able to recover it later.

Death, on the other hand, was something he could feel was very close to him, and yet hadn’t been fully assimilated.

He knew where it should currently be, and he knew why he didn’t yet hold the whole of its Law, but the concept’s proximity to him was greater than it should have been, and he could sense it clearly.

Evan thought about it for a while before finally coming to a realization.

’Looks like they decided to give me a hand,’ he thought, unsure whether to laugh or cry.

He could already guess whose idea it had been.

And precisely because it was her, he didn’t know what to make of it.

He recalled having used part of his power to seal the corruption inside her, which had been too potent given it came from an Abyss God. At the time, he hadn’t had the means of getting rid of it, so he’d sealed it instead.

He had intended to deal with it after he fully awakened, but it seemed she had decided to speed things up, despite the serious risk involved, and that was exactly what frustrated him.

’Alright, let’s get this over with. I don’t think she’ll be able to hold out much longer,’ he thought, and as if it had received his command, Bruce proceeded.

[Ding! You have assimilated a fragment of divinity]

[Analysis in progress...]

[Ding! Fragment of divinity confirmed. Integration in progress.]

[51%...] [60%...] [69%...]

[99%...]

He could feel the weight of the Law of Death filling his entire being, settling deep into his soul.

He could feel his Concept Core of Death rapidly completing, while at the same time sensing that the process of his reconstruction was finally approaching its end.

"Well then, it’s finally time I put an end to all of this,"

"Once and for all."