Chapter 434: Shackles Of Mortality

[Ding! Your shackles of mortality are breaking.]

As the notification appeared, Caelus felt his Divine Body begin merging with him. The light inside the cocoon passed through his skin and reached deep into his Soul.

This time, his body did more than grow stronger.

His flesh slowly became light, yet he could still feel his hands as he closed them. Then the change spread through the rest of him until the last trace of his mortal body was gone.

[Ding! Combat Score is evolving.]

[Power Index: 3.]

[Half-Dragon Transformation Calibrated.]

[Power Index: 78.]

Power surged through him as his scales appeared. Caelus spread his fingers and watched the light beneath them settle into a form that looked and felt solid.

But it was no longer ordinary flesh.

His new body was spiritual, formed from Divine Essence that could still touch and hold physical things. He pressed his palms together and felt the contact as clearly as before.

Then he drew power into himself.

There was no familiar pressure building inside his cells. His Divine Body accepted it with room to spare, and he could not sense where its limit might be.

The Origin Network no longer needed to keep expanding his cells to hold more power. His new body could continue growing without that mortal limit.

"So this is what becoming a God feels like."

[Ding! Lifespan increased to 100,000 years.]

Caelus read the number twice before a smile spread across his face.

A hundred thousand years.

He had known that becoming a God would change him, but seeing that number still left him struggling to find words.

Right then, multicolored light flickered across the cocoon.

[Ding! Mystic Code Obtained: Origin Lightning Authority.]

[You now directly control Origin Lightning.]

Caelus felt the familiar power gather around his fingers. It was the same Divine Lightning that had struck him during the trial, now answering him without resistance.

This was Origin Lightning from Axiom Origin.

Before he could test it further, another notice appeared.

[Your faction has no registered Mystic Codes available to grant upon ascension.]

[Please select Mystic Codes available for faction registration.]

Caelus opened the list and read the explanation.

Factions held the rights to grant certain Mystic Codes. Their members could receive those codes upon becoming Gods, but the Chaos Faction had nothing registered yet.

The stronger the code, the fewer factions could claim it. Common elements were widely available, while powers such as Fate and Time had much stricter limits.

Caelus searched for Time first.

[Time Authority.]

[Faction Quota: 6/6.]

[Unavailable.]

"Only six factions?"

He checked the details and found that all six places were occupied. Unless one of those factions lost its claim, the Chaos Faction could not register it.

After that, he searched for Space and several other powerful choices.

Every one of them was taken.

"Of course nobody left the good ones."

He returned to the available list and selected Fire, Water and Wind. Then he added Earth and Lightning before confirming the choices.

The Chaos Faction could now grant those Mystic Codes to chosen members.

They would be useful, even if they were not what he had hoped to get. Skills lost much of their force against Gods using Mystic Codes directly, though talents could still harm them.

Caelus had plenty of talents, so he was not helpless.

What bothered him was something else.

"I already have Time Authority. Why doesn’t that count?"

He opened the faction’s granting options and checked them again. The common elements appeared, but neither Time Authority nor Origin Lightning Authority was listed.

Both belonged to him, yet neither seemed to occupy a faction’s place.

Was that because he was the Ender of Origin?

The quotas limited how many factions could share these powers. Somehow, he had gained two Mystic Codes without following that process at all.

Caelus decided to examine them.

[Talent Activated: Chaos Analysis.]

[Selected Target Cannot Be Analyzed.]

He tried Time Authority first and Origin Lightning Authority immediately after. Both attempts failed before the analysis could begin.

Then he changed the target.

Instead of selecting either authority, he selected Mystic Codes themselves.

[Analysis Target: Mystic Codes.]

[Analysis Started.]

Caelus smiled as the progress bar appeared.

"This will be good."

He still did not know why the broader target worked, but the analysis should help him understand what he had gained. For now, he left it running and checked the next notification.

[Ding! You can now create your Origin Domain.]

He already possessed the Origin Domain of the Star King. Sylvia had inherited the Star Queen’s version, though neither had finished calibrating.

Caelus opened his progress and found it at twenty percent.

The domain needed the Star Mystic Code to work fully. Even without it, he knew it would be a powerful attack once he could use it.

Perhaps completing the calibration would grant him that code too.

He decided against creating another domain before understanding the one he already had. Right then, a blinking light beside his Ender of Origin entry caught his attention.

Caelus stared at it for a moment.

He swore to God that if this sent him back to the paradise, he was going to lose his mind.

Then he remembered that he was a God now.

Great, he was swearing to himself.

He selected the blinking entry before he could think any more about it.

The cocoon disappeared from his sight.

Immediately after that, he saw the First Ender of Origin shooting through the void. The figure rushed into a portal, and a gigantic hand reached down from the sky beyond it.

Caelus recognized the vision.

Before he could follow the hand, the paradise appeared again. The six children stood beneath the strange sky as everything around them began moving backward.

Flames withdrew from the trees.

Broken ground joined together, and the rotating structure above them vanished into a blur. Then even the children disappeared as voices began ringing through his mind.

"What are you, Ender of Origin? How can you possess such power?"

Caelus turned toward the voice.

A being made of blinding light stood before another figure. He could not make out either face, but the shining being took a step back as the other spoke.

The reply was lost beneath a harsh ringing sound.

Then the light flared.

"What? Lord Origin, are you saying there is another Ender of Origin?"

"How can there be another one? Axiom Origin, what is the meaning of this?"

The figure facing it finally answered clearly.

"I am not them."

"I am the seventh Ender, the Ender of Origin. Life and Death are trapped in the endless cycle of reincarnation and rebirth."

"Fate and Order share their curse, as do Chaos and Will. But I am not bound by it."

The being of light reached toward him.

"Then why aren’t you stopping this war, Lord? If you’re truly different, you can end all of this."

"It’s not that easy."

"Why must you stop here?"

The figure’s outline began breaking apart.

"It’s already too late. If there is a chance, I must grant it to the future generations..."

The vision ended before Caelus heard the rest.

BOOM!

Power erupted around him as another image filled his sight. Endless streams of light twisted into a vast vortex before falling into a single black hole.