Will of chaos

I wake up with a slap across my face and look at an angelic face full of tenderness, but it belongs to the woman who left me in this situation.

“How long was I out?” (me)

“3 hours, I thought that was enough to rest.” (Lena)

I look around and see complete devastation, the entire planet has been rearranged with its continents shifting as a result of this training.

There were claw marks in various parts of the surroundings, and behind me emerged a Dragon, much clearer now. I could also feel it as an extension of myself, like my arm or legs, the biggest difference being that it had a will of its own.

The Dragon lay fallen beside me, its body disintegrating in parts, its eyes closed and appearing weakened.

“You’re worse than Cortana…” (me)

“But the results are evident, now you can control your Aura as you did before and even share senses in an enhanced way.” (Lena)

“I thought I was going to die.” (Me)

“I wouldn’t kill you, but your mind would have been severely damaged, your soul wounded by the destruction of your aura.” (Lena)

“You say that very naturally.” (Me)

“Anyway, it’s time for your training with Urd.” (Lena)

I stand up and look at who just arrived; it was Urd retracting his wings into his body. 89 was beside him and seemed fine.

Lena turned, waving to them before disappearing as space closed around her. Then they approached as I stood up.

“Ready?” (Urd)

“No, but shall we begin?” (Me)

“But before that, how are you, 89?” (Me)

“Better… but different…” (89)

He raises his hand and I can feel the Energy Cycle in his hand; they were Ascending Laws, but they were all united as one, and the vibration I feel from him is similar to what I felt from Urak when I went to see her last time.

“His power has changed, it has become something called Celestial Law. As soon as he awakened this power, my own Laws became stronger.” (Urd)

“(I understand, Urak influenced him or perhaps the other way around, either way it doesn’t matter.)” (Me)

“Do you know how to control your power?” (Me)

“Yes, it even seems easier…” (89)

“That’s good, try meditating and feeling more of your power, talk to Freya about it, even if she doesn’t understand the Laws as much as Urd, she understands the integration of many aspects into just one.” (Me)

“That’s excellent advice.” (Urd)

“I’ll do it, thank you.” (89)

She opens only one pair of wings and flies away, but that pair of wings was ethereal and seemed to be formed of something similar to a Concept. I exchange a look with Urd, who waits for him to leave.

“He is still my Avatar, he just developed the power of the Law in a new way.” (Urd)

“And Urak?” (me)

“She awoke, but didn’t leave that room, she seems to be meditating on her own changes…” (Urd)

“Their power is connected.” (me)

“I know… I felt it.” (Urd)

“I wanted to show him to you so you would know what to do.” (Urd)

“Do nothing, this is his path and his choice, whether it’s by her side or not.” (me)

“I don’t know if he knows.” (Urd)

“He knows, he must feel it, but this is already out of our control. Just advise him and be there for him. They’re both under your supervision now; I can’t think about them.” (me)

“I understand, thank you.” (Urd)

Urd always seems very uncertain about what to do. She’s spent her entire existence without any control over the situation, relegated to merely observing things she disagreed with happening. Now that she’s able to decide things and her responsibility has exploded so suddenly, I can understand her constant worry about whether she’s doing the right thing or not.

“Shall we begin?” (me)

“Yes, I also needed to practice my techniques, there hasn’t been time…” (Urd)

After she said that, we both created space between us as we moved away. My power circulated through my body and soul. The aura that was previously dormant in recovery rose, serving as an extension of the power cycle within me, an intermediary between me and the world around me.

Urd also seems to use her power. The Laws converge on her as well as emanate from her, as if she were the beginning and end of all Laws, but deep down I feel a Divine power pulsing within her.

This is how the fight began, unlike my purely physical training against Cortana and my training solely with Aura against Lena.

I had to fight using only the Concept against Urd, but I could use my Aura and body as complements; after all, a fight needed movement or it wouldn’t be effective.

———————

1 day later.

After more than a day of training, the world we were in was different; power emanated from it while a strong presence emerged from its core. I could feel that a strong spirit would be born from this world.

This entire planet was destroyed and rebuilt several times by our fight. Urd seemed flawless, but his hands were trembling and his face was worn down by exhaustion.

I was much worse; I had marks all over my body. Before starting this fight, I was already exhausted from the training I had against the Gems, so it was worse for me.

I threw myself to the ground, lying down while breathing with difficulty. This refinement was quite long and yet effective. I feel greater control over my Aura and body, and I also understand my concept better.

It’s not perfect, but at least it’s at a usable level. I can continue my plans now, not to mention that I still have someone to fight.

While I was thinking this, someone arrived on the training planet as if expecting us to finish now. It was Ronan, descending with a strange expression that gave me chills.

“What happened…?” (me)

As if noticing the strangeness of the situation, Urd looked at Ronan with concern. Anything that happens in this universe directly affects her.

“I went to see Ayden, and he sent these two letters for you to choose from.” (Ronan)

“…” (me)

“Don’t look at me like that. You’re responsible. Who takes days to carry out an action in the middle of a war?” (Ronan)

“If it weren’t for your subordinates scattered around cleaning the rest of the universe of the remnants of Hatred, Ayden would already be knocking on your door with an army right behind him.” (Ronan)

“I don’t understand, why this all of a sudden? We haven’t done anything against him, we haven’t even attacked them directly all this time!” (Urd)

“That’s exactly the problem…” (me)

Sigh

“(I’ve been neglecting my enemies as if they were waiting for my training…)” (me)

The realization of how I’ve been acting was shocking. I didn’t expect this kind of development. Even acting my best with all the unpredictable situations that happen, I shouldn’t have put War last on my list.

I look at the cards and open both to read them at the same time; this would be a quick reading with my Divine abilities.

“War can set aside the confrontation since he was enjoying the show of his constant battles and his Avatar was seeing his growth, but now that there are no more enemies left besides him, his inaction seems like an offense against him.” (Ronan)

“What’s in the cards?” (Urd)

“A choice between total war… or…” (me)

“!!!” (Urd)

“As expected…” (Ronan)

“Or… a group battle where the 5 strongest will fight.” (me)

“…” (Ronan)

“Did he specify the rules?” (Ronan)

“Wouldn’t it be 5 individual battles chosen at random, 1 group battle in a random environment, and 1 duel where the leaders participate… right?” (Ronan)

“Those are exactly the rules…” (me)

Ronan’s expression darkened and cold sweat ran down his forehead; it was clear there was something here I didn’t understand.

“This isn’t even a choice, there’s only one option, the group battle.” (Urd)

“NO! You have to choose war!” (Ronan)

“What’s the reason?” (Me)

“The battle described in the letter is a form of competition between Entities called the Eternal Confrontation.” (Ronan)

“War possesses the strongest and best-trained warriors with combat experience surpassing all others. His win rate in the last 100,000 years in the initial 5 contests is 87%.” (Ronan)

“His win rate in group confrontations is 98%.” (Ronan)

“His win rate in the final duel is 99% with only 1 draw. That was his confrontation against Pride, where Ayden and my mother tied, a confrontation where both Entities descended into their bodies.” (Ronan)

“You have no chance of victory.” (Ronan)

“…” (Me)

“Wait, I know War’s forces. They outnumber us. A full-scale confrontation would be very dangerous, and even if we managed to win, the entire universe would be shattered!” (Urd)

“You can rebuild the universe afterward, but if you choose the other option, then you’ll lose everything.” (Ronan)

“No, we won’t…” (me)

“He wants us to choose the second option, it was never a real choice, he’s blatantly forcing my hand.” (me)

A war would put everyone in danger, he knows I like to avoid casualties, he also knows I can’t give up this universe because of Urd, he’s cornered me to force this game.

“Zenos, you can’t win…” (Ronan)

“I can and I will win, but I didn’t want to resort to this.” (me)

“(I know what you want… so I’ll bet on it…)” (me)