Chapter 1906 - 1905 - Harmony of the End

It was the same misconception all Eternal Realm cultivators held until the Bastard arrived. The vast majority assumed they could no longer die no matter how severe the battle between the same realm.

They had proof enough of that and the issue was the Harmonic Core being out of place made their powers essentially subdued below any threshold to harm another in any meaningful way.

It also prevented helping without a massive consumption behind it.

Once the Harmonic Core was in place, a whole new plateau of power was made available. The aliens that Lind met had to have been well on their way to completing their Harmonic Core.

Lind had breezed past them because of his solid foundation and vast harmonic research. Combined with his harmony's essence, it made sense that he was able to quickly reach the peak of the Demi Tier.

Still, when confronted with the Bastard's Harmonic Core function, he felt fear. He quickly realized that the purpose of the Bastard to take everything was given form. He literally saw the totality of existence as only a tool for his endless life.

Lind grasped it and still leapt into it knowing it might be the greatest mistake of his life.

When he appeared at the heart of it, he could hear the wails of so many lives that had to be ripped out of nearby nodes in the Sea of Realms.

He had called it the Consumption of All in his declaration but as he began to fight it, he felt the truth.

Its whole existence was to reach the End. It was just the Harmony of the End because once its goal was achieved, there was no further need for it!

Lind had never considered that. Would his harmony vanish if he became a Full Tier Eternal Realm cultivator? The errant thought was shattered as pain lanced across his body.

The End was trying to rip him apart like everything else but his own harmony roared to life like a sun.

Blood was flowing like rivers out of him but he did not care. He was now facing the true essence of Fiends.

The Bastard tried to reach him yet he fumbled as he had not fully understood harmonies at all. Despite the constant threat, he had only ever acted to purge or avoid them. That was not enough to learn control or nuance!

The final battle was not between Fiend and dragon but between Defiance and End!

Lind knelt as the strength left his body. He had to focus completely on his harmony. If he broke the Harmonic Core, he won!

The 2 forces were not completely opposed. Consumption was a perfectly normal part of just about everything. It was not just cultivation but the basis of life itself.

On every level from atomic to the most complex piece of all worlds, it required some catalyst to continue to exist. Energy was consumed to maintain life, lattices were erected to make inanimate objects and kept in place by structure, and so forth.

That concept was fine, but to consume it all was obscene. It was to wipe out everything for the sole purpose of keeping another alive. That was too far!

There should be counter effects and other restraints to prevent it but the Bastard broke those very things in his desire to live forever. Further, Defiance was in there too.

Lind felt it. The wish to not die as part of the natural order was normal too. No one wanted to die. Some chose to, yet that was a choice. Given all things were equal, who would not want to keep on living if they had a good life?

Some were afraid of the end, but it could not be avoided. Even the original Eternal Realm cultivators had died because they failed to account for the limits of the universe.

Lind now faced the other extreme. Everything would die to let one person live forever. He recalled the traitor that had failed to benefit from the collapse and knew they had left a crack in the foundation of the plan.

The Bastard had ripped that crack open and achieved the goal of the original traitor. Lind felt his body become faint but he followed the 2 natural processes.

Consumption and defiance made into a horrific creation. The Harmony of the End was born solely for the selfish wish of the Bastard. It took both pieces and abused them horribly.

Lind, the embodiment of Defiance, was able to find inroads to the other harmony. He had to find its foundation quickly!

The Bastard was a damned quick learner and had vast experience to make leaps that would bridge the gap between them.

Lind felt his harmony flare and flow along the paths it claimed. Veins of emerald were appearing throughout the dark maw of the vortex.

[STOP IT! YOU CANNOT PREVENT MY ASCENSION! I WILL LIVE–!] Lind ignored the desperate voice of the Bastard. He no longer cared. His eyes glowed as his Talents worked in tandem with his harmony.

His Eternal Eyes and Touch found every nook and cranny to eliminate extraneous pieces.

Refinement, sunder, and other aspects were discarded. It was not the core he sought! His body began to tremble as its defenses failed.

He ignored that too. He would not stop!

His harmony roared to life as a mighty flame and shot down the paths it had blazed already. He looked not for weakness, but the very spark of it! What began the journey was as important as the destination.

Every piece of him was drained to finally find what he needed. He found a very mundane man. He was in a simple sweater and slacks. He had average looks but not so bad at all.

A little effort or maybe some better clothes, he could be catching eyes, yet Lind felt the isolation. He felt the soul crushing loneliness that birthed a regret that was well hidden. He seemed content with his lot in life but Lind could see through it.

He existed, but he did not live. He had acquaintances but no friends. He had been born, lived, and died without so much as a misadventure to his name. He had died unnoticed and unknown to any.

That seed was then given fertile ground in his new life. It was shown that living forever was possible but denied to him. That dark seed flared and became the foundation of the harmony he should never have achieved.

Lind grasped it and felt fear. It was so mundane. It was so normal. There was no grand desire to kill or wipe all existence out, but the frustration of a wasted life and then a glimmer of hope only to be torn away.

He was just an ordinary man. He was not a monster nor was he some hidden gem. He was anyone that could possibly exist on old Earth. A person not able to gain the freedom of money or power but did not fall into the abyss of those the system abandoned.

He was able to coast to the end in relative comfort but never made connections to others to enjoy it. He saw couples, families, and friends of others but it was alien to him. He was not a part of the old Earth as much as he was of the Celestial Fields.

That normal existence of modern civilization was clearly not understood by the First or any Heaven and Earth. The danger slipped by and now all of existence was about to be wiped out by him.

Lind realized that his hate of the Bastard was because a part of him recognized himself in the Fiend. His father was a rapist and a villain with his whole kingdom seemingly born to harm those they did not value.

He had wiped it out with great relish and enjoyed the despair of his biological father in his current life. If not for Cyntilla and his family, would he have become the same as so many other reincarnators?

The thin line between him and the Fiend nearly broke him. Only the flash of his own harmony brought him back.

Lind knew he was nearly out of time as half his body was gone!

[You have failed! You will become a part of me and I will live forever! You lost!] The Bastard was preening but Lind did not spare the buffoon a glance.

He looked at the foundation and inserted his power. He saw the putrid throne the dark Harmonic Core sat on and the vile memories he had quickly resolved to empower it.

The dream of making Heaven and Earth suffer. The creation of thralls, Void of Heaven, and so many others. Each and every sin laid bare like a trophy!

Lind struck right at the heart of it.

[WAKE UP!] His voice shook all of the worlds in all directions. He pulled on every thread of defiance and his harmony flared beyond a sun to a full galaxy! It cracked the vortex and the Fiend screamed in pain.

Lind felt the pressure vanish and he was barely alive. His body was almost gone! The emerald field was all that kept his consciousness intact.

He looked for his foe. The being that had threatened all that lived and he saw a human. The ash grey skin was gone. The pure white hair was gone. The vile Qi was gone.

Lind had broken the Harmonic Core entirely and the man was left behind.

He almost relaxed. He almost let his guard down but then the white eyes were revealed. He still had them!

[I WILL NEVER DIE!] Lind felt something fracture. He felt like his existence was about to end when a massive army of dragons appeared.

They were all emerald but they were not his alternate selves. They were the choice. The choice to defy. The choice to break the cycle. The choice to never bow to what seemed inevitable.

{You are right, you will not die! We have come for you!}