The Empyreal Gem Master

The Unweaver led the way, his body wreathed in tendrils of crimson Ruin.

The complete assimilation of Cosmic Tao burned along his skin, radiating out from him like a living storm. Behind him, an army of Cosmic Entities gathered—silent, ready, following their supposed harbinger of freedom.

He looked like a grand hero leading a glorious procession. A legion of the lost, marching to escape a force they didn’t fully understand—but longed to overcome.

Alexander followed with three of his bodies, becoming more and more attuned to the depths of his current power.

One of the reasons he remained calm and almost detached through everything around him was due to the constant stream of data he was receiving from the Peacemaker.

With it, he could gauge the power levels of everyone here, pulling from the detailed records of their very existence.

It revealed their authorities. The Taos they grasped.

He could even glean fragments of their complexity- contrasting each being’s construct with his own.

Many of the entities here held a single cosmos within their origin. And Alexander, who also held one, knew his was vastly different.

Because even though his cosmos numbered as one, the foundation of its creation was hundreds of times more refined than theirs.

He might’ve appeared as just another Cosmic Entity, but in truth… he was something far more foreign.

That’s why, when he looked at the Unweaver and measured the power he’d attained…

He allowed him to lead. Let him speak. Let him promise.

Because Alexander didn’t feel threatened.

And the longer he watched, the more information poured in through the Peacemaker—the more certain he became.

So he simply followed and observed, watching as the group of Cosmic Entities made their way toward the Multicolored Sea at the tower’s very apex.

Existence itself twisted and reformed here.

They hadn’t been able to project their will into this space before—but now, after stepping inside, clarity washed over them. They began to understand what lay ahead.

Within the vibrant sea—glowing in hues no one color could claim, Alexander drifted into the current and beheld a wonder.

A domain unlike anything he’d ever seen.

He floated in the depths of a multicolored sea, now glimmering with stellar light. All around him, other entities hovered above a luminous, prismatic river that extended toward the horizon—so far, they could not see its end.

But its beginning was clear.

It coiled like the tail of a multicolored serpent, carved with radiant runes that pulsed with ancient meaning.

The runes read.

[To Ascend is to confront all that you are, all you will be, all you could have been, and all possibilities of your existence.]

…!

A message.

Not random—intentional. Crafted by Ruin and Primordial Cosmic authorities, designed by someone who had once stood here.

Alexander looked down at the river that stretched out like a celestial road—the path to the tower’s end. But it would never be so simple. He knew the moment one stepped upon it, the runes at its head would begin to unfold.

The Unweaver stared at the glowing script with a hard glare before speaking.

“Once you step on that Minor River of Reality, your existence will fracture. Another version of you will appear—intent on stopping your progress. The goal is simple- I alone will walk the path. I will face my reflections and erase them. No one else should set foot on it. Otherwise, the enemies we face will multiply beyond control. I’ll need you to strike from the sidelines—support me. Lend your attacks freely to help clear my path.”

…!

He meant to walk alone—clearing the river of himself.

Hundreds of cosmic entities gathered behind him, pledging their power. Ready to assist as he advanced toward the end of the Minor River of Reality and shattered the door that had held them captive for so long.

“When I reach the end,” the Unweaver vowed, “I’ll break the door open with all of my being. Freedom…for everyone.”

He made a grand promise.

Alexander just smiled and shook his head.

What guarantee did the Unweaver have that he could destroy a door that had bound beings far more ancient?

What guarantee did he have that he wouldn’t be the only one allowed to leave—regardless of who helped him?

The questions stirred in Alexander, but they weren’t his alone. The others felt it too.

Still, none of them had the strength to challenge the tower’s apex—not on their own. So they placed their hope in him, the one who claimed to stand for them.

The Unweaver turned back once, nodding solemnly to them all—before stepping onto the radiant, multicolored Minor River of Reality.

HUUUM!

The realm shook as a blast of crimson-gold radiance flashed forward. Far ahead on the river, a singularity bloomed—and from it, an illusory figure took form.

An echo of the Unweaver.

An Illusory Unweaver, born of pure authority, radiating cosmic filaments as it manifested in his exact likeness.

The real Unweaver narrowed his eyes, then bellowed to the others still floating in the star-drenched multicolored sky.

“Now—attack as one!”

Cosmic brilliance flared from all directions. The single-cosmos entities unleashed waves of power.

Alexander, floating quietly among them, raised one of his bodies. A simple white bow appeared in his left hand.

The Bow of Peace.

Forged only to bring peace.

He pulled the string.

What formed was a single white arrow—average, unassuming—yet within it swirled the power of thousands of illusory cosmos.

He let it fly.

The white arrow soared alongside countless other attacks, cutting through the air toward the Illusory Unweaver on the River of Reality.

Blows struck from every direction, crashing with force as the projection’s form flared crimson.

The real Unweaver surged forward, his chains of ruin twisting into apocalyptic stellar constructs that descended with the fury of armageddon.

Amid the chaos.

Alexander’s white arrow pierced the storm.

It struck the illusory barrier around the false Unweaver.

And…

BOOM…CRACK!

The chaotic veil of cosmic authority shattered.

The arrow struck true directly into the echo’s chest.

And in the next moment, a terrifying explosion erupted, as if thousands of cosmos detonated at once and focused into a single, pinpointed space.

The Illusory Unweaver ceased to exist.

…!

Stunned silence.

Attacks halted mid-air.

Even the real Unweaver blinked—staring forward as if the sight before him shouldn’t be real.

But it was.

It was Alexander’s quiet test. A confirmation of what he already knew.

Through the Peacemaker, he understood what none of them did.

He would resolve everything. Smoothly. Efficiently.

Because the foundation he had built was forged by nothing less than the Enneagram.