Chapter 535 - 535: Anomaly has appeared
“I simply wished for it to happen.”
The simplicity of the statement was somehow more terrifying than any display of raw power could have been.
The Patriarch staggered backward, his confidence completely shattered. “That’s… that’s not how power works,” he protested, his voice taking on a desperate edge. “There are laws, rules, and limitations! Even gods must work within the framework of existence! You cannot simply… wish things into being!”
But even as he spoke, the evidence of Julian’s impossible ability surrounded them. The village was returning to life—not the cursed, suffering existence it had been, but something better, more perfect than it had ever been in reality.
**
Far above the mortal realm, beyond the reach of earthly concerns and cosmic conflicts, floated an island that defied all natural law.
It was massive beyond comprehension, not merely large, but existing on a scale that made even universes seem like pebbles. The island hung suspended in the infinite void between dimensions, held aloft by something immensely powerful.
Upon this strange landmass stood a castle that dwarfed stars, its towers reaching into the fabric of reality itself. The structure was not built of stone or metal but of crystallized starlight and frozen time—materials that existed only on this bizarre plane.
Across its magnificent walls, fragments of history shimmered and replayed: wars long forgotten, the rise and fall of empires, and moments forgotten from the memory of worlds.
This was the sanctuary of the Heavenly Court—the central point where all cosmic law converged, where the threads of fate were woven and the destinies of infinite worlds were decided. The very air around the castle hummed with power so absolute that it bent space-time into strange pathways, creating corridors that led to everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
Deep within the heart of this celestial fortress, in a hall so grand that it seemed to be a dimension of its own, sat a throne that defied description. It was carved from what appeared to be literal galaxies and nebulae, with stars serving as mere decorative elements along its cosmic architecture.
And upon this throne of stars and galaxies sat a figure shrouded in a veil that seemed woven from the very void surrounding the Heavenly court. The garment devoured light itself, creating an absence so complete that it hurt to perceive directly.
Only the figure’s eyes were visible beneath, and those eyes…
Those eyes were beyond beautiful—they were transcendent. To gaze upon them was to witness the birth and death of infinite realities playing out in an eternal cycle. Within those orbs of impossible depth, entire civilizations rose and fell in the span of heartbeats. Universes bloomed into existence like flowers, their billions of stars burning bright for eons before collapsing into darkness, only to be reborn anew in the next instant.
The eyes held the weight of omniscience, reflecting not just what was, but what could be, what had been, and what might never come to pass. They were the eyes of one who had witnessed the first moment of creation and would see the final of all things, yet remained unmoved by either beginning or end.
Before this mighty presence hovered a treasure—a crystallized sphere that contained within it the Thread of Fate itself.
Inside this cosmic artifact, uncountable numbers of threads danced and stretched, mixing and interweaving with one another in patterns so complex they seemed to exist in dimensions beyond the normal three.
Each thread was a life, a destiny, a story written in the language of existence itself. They shimmered with colors that corresponded to different possibilities—silver for triumph, crimson for tragedy, gold for transcendence, and shadow for endings. The threads stretched infinitely, connecting every soul that had ever existed or ever would exist.
Every thread appeared to follow the same fundamental pattern. Each had a beginning—a bright spark where a new consciousness entered reality. Each thread then followed a predetermined path, guided by the laws of cosmos. And each thread had an ending—a point where it either merged with other threads or simply faded into the background, its story complete.
The pattern was universal and unchanging.
Every thread, without exception, followed this cosmic law.
Every thread… except one.
In one corner of the artifact, somehow separate from the rest, hung a single thread that defied every law of existence. It had a beginning—a point of origin that blazed with unusual intensity—but where its ending should have been, there was… nothing.
Not darkness. Simply nothing.
Where other threads followed predetermined routes through their life, this one simply… stopped. It neither advanced nor retreated, and it also wasn’t fading or diminishing.
The veiled figure’s eyes shifted on this unusual thread, and for the first time in eons beyond counting, something that might have been emotion flickered in those cosmic depths. The galaxies within those eyes pulsed slightly faster, their rotation accelerating as if responding to some profound realization.
“So… he is here at last.”
The statement echoed heavily in the silence that followed, sending ripples through multiple dimensions simultaneously. In that moment, everything seemed to pause—not in fear, but in anticipation, as if fate itself was waiting.
The figure leaned forward slightly on the throne, his attention focusing with laser intensity on that single, impossible thread that refused to follow the rules of existence.
“The Anomaly has finally revealed himself.”
**
Meanwhile,
Back in the restored village, the Patriarch continued to stare at Julian in a mixture of terror and desperate confusion.
Julian, however, had already lost interest in the conversation entirely.
With the casual dismissiveness of someone who had grown bored, he turned away from the figure who only moments ago had threatened to unmake existence itself. His movement was calm and unhurried, as though the Patriarch and his abyssal companion were no more significant than background scenery.
“Wait!” the Patriarch roared, his voice cracking with desperation. “You cannot simply… we are not finished! I have questions! I demand answers!”
But Julian didn’t even acknowledge the Patriarch. Instead, he raised his right hand with the same casual gesture one might use to brush away an annoying insect. The air before him began to shimmer and distort, reality bending like rubber as space itself began to fold inward.
A tear appeared in the fabric of existence.