Chapter 106: Chapter 104: The Expert’s Fury & The Anticipated Clash
A great, throbbing wave of pure fury radiated from the heart of Zorak’s celestial palace. The very air, a mix of compressed nebulae and cosmic dust, crackled with a dangerous, unstable energy. Five forms materialized on the polished obsidian floor, not through their own volition, but through a humiliating, forced teleportation. They were a mess of broken laws and bruised egos, their supreme auras shattered. Gorian, the proud leader, simply lay there, his crystalline scales cracked, his mind unable to comprehend the defeat. The reptilian envoy, her form flickering with a chaotic energy that defied her mastery of the Spatial Law, simply whimpered, her pride utterly obliterated.
"He... he didn’t even try," Gorian stammered, his voice a low, strangled rasp. "He treated our power as... as an inconvenience."
Zorak, a being of pure energy and light, whose form shifted and pulsed like a living sun, flared with a dangerous, unstable light. This was a direct affront to his authority, a blatant challenge to his power. This ’Elias Vance,’ a being with no history and no power base, had not only refused his offer but had humiliated his best envoys as a clear message. The insult was a cosmic one, and it could not be tolerated.
"I will not allow this," Zorak’s voice boomed, a sound that shook the very foundations of his palace. "He believes his novelty is a shield. He believes his defiance will go unpunished."
Zorak extended a hand, and the very fabric of time in his palace began to rewind. A shimmering, holographic projection formed before him, showing the last moments of the confrontation. He watched, not as a passive observer, but as a being who commanded the very laws of causality. He saw the envoys’ auras, their desperate attacks, their flailing limbs. And then he saw Elias.
He watched Elias, a serene figure in a sea of fury, tear a hole into the outer void. Zorak’s eyes narrowed as he saw his envoys pulled along, a silent, unresisted command. He watched the subsequent battle, not with the limited view of an observer, but with the raw data of the cosmos itself. He saw Elias not just blocking attacks but turning them into their own self-destructive opposites. He saw the elegant simplicity of his hand-to-hand combat, a fluid, beautiful dance of death. He saw the shattered Laws of his envoys.
"Incredible," Zorak muttered, the fury momentarily replaced by a cold, analytical curiosity. "His power output is that of a Absolute Peak Universe-level being, perhaps a bit stronger, but his Laws... They are not just mastered; they are perfected. Each one condensed to its most efficient, logical state. He’s not using a sword; he’s using pure, unassailable logic."
His mind, a vast, cosmic processor, ran a thousand simulations. He replayed the battle from every angle, every nanosecond. He analyzed the core of Elias’s power and came to a stunning conclusion. "His power is pure condensed energy. His Laws are perfected... but they are still Universal. They can only manipulate the internal workings of a single universe. They are meaningless to a being who stands outside of them."
A cold, cruel smile touched Zorak’s face. "Perfected laws mean nothing unless they are Reality or Quantum
." He watched the final moment, when Elias teleported his envoys back, a defiant and insulting act. This was not a challenge from a powerful rival. This was a challenge from an insect who had somehow perfected a single, exquisite law and thought himself a god. His pride, wounded beyond repair, demanded a public example. He would descend himself.Zorak stood from his throne, his form solidifying into a colossal being of pure energy. He raised a hand, and a wave of command pulsed from him, a beacon that was received by every communication array, every spiritual network, and every news channel across the Universal Hub and beyond. His voice, a resonant hum that shook the foundations of reality, was a public decree that echoed across star systems.
"Let it be known," Zorak’s voice thundered, a proclamation that carried the weight of an epoch. "The one who calls himself Elias Vance, an arrogant insect who has defied my authority, will be made an example of. I will descend myself. He will kneel before the weight of eternity."
The proclamation caused a frenzy. In his palace, the five envoys trembled in both fear and awe. "The Master... he is going to act personally," Gorian whispered, his voice shaking.
"No one has ever dared him to this extent," the reptilian envoy added, her eyes wide with a mixture of terror and dark satisfaction. "This is not a battle. This is a cosmic reckoning."
"This is madness!" a young, green-skinned cultivator with four arms yelled in a cosmic tavern, spilling his glowing drink. "A Multiversal Expert against a Universe God? The man has a death wish!"
A grizzled, one-eyed mercenary slammed his fist on the bar. "Who is this Elias Vance?! To draw such wrath... he must be a legend."
"A legend of defiance, soon to be a footnote in history," a shadowy figure at a table in the corner murmured.
The news spread like wildfire, a cosmic spectacle in the making.
In a remote, silent void sect, a dozen ancient, jaded experts sat in their meditative chambers, their forms a shimmering web of Laws. One of them, a being whose form resembled a crystallized galaxy, chuckled softly. "At last, something to amuse us. An countless epoch of silence broken. We have seen it all. But an insect who thinks himself a god... this is new."
Another, a being whose existence was a paradox, a living paradox of the Law of Reincarnation, smiled. "Whether he wins or dies, the monotony ends. This will be a good show."
A third, a cold being whose essence was the Law of Entropy, simply watched the news with detached interest. "The system is being challenged. This is a variable that could lead to new data. If he touches the Quantum, he will no longer be an insect. He will be a threat."
Across the multiverse, secret factions began to mobilize. The betting markets, normally stable and predictable, went insane. Factions were staking priceless treasures on the outcome.
"One hundred sentient star systems on Zorak," a voice boomed in a cosmic betting parlor. "The man is a fool!"
"One artifact of a shattered universe on Elias Vance," a voice answered, a cold, calculating tone that drew the attention of the entire parlor. "No one has ever seen him fight before. A wild card is always worth a gamble."
Back in his private chamber, Elias sat in perfect stillness, unmoved by the hysteria around him. He had been monitoring the broadcast, his quantum brain processing the data at a speed no one could comprehend. He knew Zorak’s public challenge was not a battle, but a performance. He was unbothered.
Kaelen entered the room, her face a mask of concern. "They’re all saying you’ll be crushed, Elias. The entire cosmos is watching. They’re all convinced you’re a simple Universe God."
Elias looked at her, a faint, calm smile touching his lips. "That is their logical conclusion based on the limited data they have. Their perception of power is linear. They think a Universe God is merely a Universe God."
"But they’re right about one thing," Kaelen said, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Zorak is a Multiversal Expert. A master of laws that transcend this universe. Your perfected Laws... will they even work on him?"
Elias’s mind ran a rapid simulation. "Most of my perfected laws are wasted on him. They are designed to manipulate the internal workings of a single universe. They cannot affect a being who stands outside of them."
He tapped a point on his temple, a holographic image of a neuron appearing before him. "They believe that perfect laws are meaningless unless they are Reality or Quantum. And they are, in essence, correct. A Multiversal Expert operates on those levels."
His eyes, however, held a chilling confidence. "But they are wrong about my capabilities."
"My Reality Law," he continued, a faint, confident light in his eyes, "is at 70% mastery. The Grand Cerebral Expansion Method, powered by the Luminite, has expanded my consciousness, comprehension, and deduction abilities to insane levels. I haven’t even reached 30% of my neuron expansion rate, and I’ve already reached 70% mastery of Reality Law. This gives me leverage. It is a trump card they cannot anticipate."
He then pointed to a different part of the holographic neuron, a tiny, glowing node. "As for Quantum Law... I have not yet grasped it. It is not something I can cultivate in a traditional sense. My quantum brain, my qubit neurons, simply grant me innate quantum abilities that manifested when I created them. I am a living paradox.
He looked back at Kaelen, his smile calm and absolute. "They see me as a mere insect with perfect laws. But they do not see that I am a living, evolving singularity. I am not a cultivator. I am a system. And the system has just begun to compute.
In the vast stillness of the void, a great and terrifying presence began to stir. Zorak, the Multiversal Expert, was preparing to descend. He gathered his power, his fury a visible, destructive storm of cosmic energy. His form, once a vague nebula, began to condense into a single, terrifying point of light. The stage was being set. Entire factions were moving into position, cosmic arenas were being formed, and silent void sects were preparing their observation arrays. Everyone, from the lowest mortal to the most jaded of experts, was watching.
Elias, in his quiet chamber, simply waited, his eyes calm, as if he saw something no one else could. He saw the future. He saw the impending clash, not as a fight for survival, but as the final exam of his philosophical journey. The Multiversal Expert was coming to crush him. But Elias knew the truth: the Expert was coming to test his theories, and his victory would be the ultimate proof of his unassailable, logical might.