Varian continued his research on the forbidden regions of Hortus. He was also simultaneously researching the forbidden regions of the universe, the slivers and origin.
The research on origin was the most important and also the hardest. It yielded next to nothing despite his herculean efforts.
The only thing he was sure of was that...
(Not fair! Not fair! Why is only her power evoking a reaction from origin? Logos, are you cheating? Are you blocking my powers?) Samsara threw a tantrum again.
[It is really strange indeed.] Logos was also not sure why this was happening.
Only the power of order and chaos was affecting origin. Not much. But when every other power had no reaction at all, this little amounted to a lot.
At his level, Varian stopped thinking in terms of paths. Avenue of Life & Death was useless. So was Space & Time. Only Order & Chaos was having this effect.
Moving on, the research on the slivers pushed his control over the avenues slightly beyond what’s normal for a peak rank 2.
If he had to quantify, his avenue mastery went from 1000 to 1100. A 10% increase.
It also gave him clarity on what a rank 3 could look like.
He’s mastered all there was to master about the divine paths individually—that’s also the focus of rank 2. But he had to gain complete mastery over the avenues themselves.
If he’s not wrong, then rank 3 would focus on avenue mastery.
So, something like [Rank 3: 0/2000] for all avenues.
[In that case, Primordial gods are not an orthodox rank 3. They are specialized in only one avenue. A proper rank 3 would have mastery of all avenues.] Logos checked the ’memories’ she inherited and confidently concluded.
(If they’re missing two avenues, they can’t make it to rank 4, right? Oh yeah, what even is a rank 4?) Samsara asked innocently.
Varian closed his eyes and let out a deep exhale. The ground shifted around him and he reached God’s Eye.
"By their very design, Primordial gods cannot reach rank 4. And rank 4...from the beginning, divine paths are about mastering the divine paths, then the divine avenues.
Is there anything higher than divine avenues? Mastering origin?
If we remove origin from this discussion and just extrapolate, then..." Varian trailed off.
[Mortals paths diverged in celestial ranks, but eventually all merged in divine path. Divine paths themselves merged into Avenues. Can Divine Avenues be merged?] Logos voiced out his thoughts.
Was it origin, was it merging of avenues or was merging avenues actually leading to origin?
Varian didn’t have the answers yet.
"Tch, another clone on the verge of death."
He entered the core of God’s Eye and saw the latest clone dried up like a zombie.
(Six months. They’re dying faster and faster. Even if it’s only your clone, I don’t like watching you die, Var!) Samsara said in a heartbroken voice.
Varian focused his attention on the large void tear the clone was at the center of.
In these ten years, the rate of tear’s expansion was increasing exponentially.
The clone couldn’t fully stop it then, much less now.
"At the current rate, it’ll devour a satellite galaxy in a thousand years." Varian muttered.
But give it twenty years, the new rate would be a hundred times the current rate. Then, it’d take only ten years. So, a satellite galaxy would be gone in just thirty short years.
"Would the rate keep increasing or plateau?" He muttered.
There were no answers. When he was a mortal, celestial or even a rank 1 divine, there were always people who could clear his queries.
Even when he was a low rank 2, Logos and Samsara could answer almost anything he asked.
Now...
There was no one who could answer. Even Logos who once seemed all knowing couldn’t come up with a response.
"I guess this is the price of being the strongest. There are no more paths paved. They have to be made."
With flick of his finger, another clone started to come into existence.
[Humble bragging?] Logos snorted and helped the clone creation.
(If the Universe is being destroyed, then we should at least leave a book about ourselves. Me, Var and his wives. Logos, I’ll write you as a maid and how you get whipped everyday.)
[...]
"Universe being destroyed." Varian flew to the tear and examined it closely.
The currents of space-time were so powerful here that they’re visible as black and white lines.
This tear was not white. It’s not a black in the traditional sense. When Varian sensed what’s on the other side of the crack, he found there was nothing.
No matter, no space, nothing.
Void.
Not empty space. But the lack of space itself.
While his clone was still in creation, Varian reduced the expanded region by 10% using all his strength.
And then, no more. Even he couldn’t do beyond this.
Varian had the impulse to go ’out’ of the universe and check what’s going on from the outside. But he felt a sense of unease.
It looked so simple. Just stepping out. But what if he never made it back?
He tried sending clones outside. All contact was cut off the moment they touched the void.
He could still interact with the void from inside the universe. But once outside, things seemed different.
"Universe is being eaten up by Void....bit by bit... it is dying. I don’t know what I can do to save it." He muttered weakly.
(Aurora was also dying with her origin damaged. You saved her. You can save the universe too. And the prophecy! It’s also talking about you. Cheer up! You can do it!) Samsara was positive, as always.
But her words also gave Varian a new perspective.
"Is the death of universe a natural thing? Like a living being born and dying? If so, changing that would be difficult.
But.
If it’s a disease, an injury...like Aurora’s, then maybe I can do something."
[Universe’s origin is damaged and this tear is the result?] Logos grasped his words.
"Possible."
(But you said he is not controlling the whole origin. Only a piece.)
"Aurora had some cracks on her origin and died almost instantly. If Universe lost a piece to Architect, it dying makes sense." Varian spoke in hypotheticals, but his tone was increasingly confident.
[So, what’s the plan?]
Varian checked the eyes in his soul. Even with all his deductions, they didn’t stop that mocking stare.
"I want to try reaching God Emperor one last time."
(I can’t find his life signature anywhere. You even used God’s Eye to check all of space-time. He’s vanished!)
"The research on the forbidden regions is precisely for this."