Chapter 505: The Gathering of Incarnations

The Gathering of Incarnations

Aside from watching the current incarnation’s adventures, the incarnations could occasionally fight one another.

In the beginning, those battles had been tremendously exciting.

Imagine fighting someone who possessed the same soul as yourself but had developed completely different techniques, experiences, and combat instincts.

It had been fascinating.

At least in the beginning.

But after fighting one another countless times across an eternity, things had changed.

They knew each other’s movements.

They knew each other’s habits.

They knew which techniques would be used under certain circumstances.

They knew how their opponents would react to feints.

They knew how they would counter certain attacks.

Even the most spectacular battles eventually became predictable.

The incarnations had reached the point where fighting one another was similar to reading a book whose ending they already knew.

There was only one exception.

The first incarnation.

The one they sometimes called the Original.

He was different from all of them.

Not simply because he was the first.

Not simply because he was the strongest.

There was something about him that none of the other incarnations could properly explain.

His presence was so faint that sometimes it seemed as though he wasn’t there at all.

Yet every incarnation knew that if the Original truly appeared, the atmosphere of the entire soul realm would change.

Unfortunately, he almost never showed himself.

He only appeared when the Universal Emperor became involved.

Whenever they were about to confront that existence, the Original would emerge.

And whenever the crisis passed, he would disappear again.

Because of that, the other incarnations had developed an almost unanimous desire.

They wanted to fight him.

But they had never been given the opportunity.

Now, however, they had suddenly heard about something different.

One of them had a memory of a being that wasn’t the Universal Emperor but was apparently powerful enough to provide an interesting battle.

That alone was enough to ignite their enthusiasm.

"I haven’t really fought him, and I don’t really know much about him to recreate him perfectly. But he was a final boss in a game I played once... I guess I can recreate that version of him."

The incarnation who spoke closed his eyes.

His memories flowed through the soul realm.

The others watched curiously.

He imagined the version of Jack Frost he remembered.

The appearance.

The clothing.

The atmosphere.

The frost.

The presence.

The version that had once existed inside a game.

The soul realm responded to his imagination.

In the middle of the crowd, a figure suddenly appeared.

A man wearing a fur coat covered in permanent frost stood there.

Cold air spread outward.

Frost formed across the ground.

For a brief moment, the incarnations became silent.

"W-" Jack Frost was about to say the same line as he did in the game, but before he could say a single word one of the incarnations jumped on him.

"No fair! I"m next after you."

Jack Frost didn’t even get the opportunity to finish his introduction.

The battle-hungry incarnation had already launched himself forward.

The others immediately erupted into complaints.

"Hey!"

"You didn’t even let him finish!"

"I wanted to fight first!"

"Get out of the way!"

Seeing that someone already took the first hit, the other incarnations started to line up.

One after another, they gathered behind the first fighter.

For beings who had lived through countless worlds, endured unimaginable battles, and existed for trillions of years, their current behavior was almost embarrassingly childish.

But none of them cared.

For the first time in a very long while, they had something new.

Something they didn’t already know.

Something that hadn’t been repeated thousands of times.

And that was enough.

While the outside world continued moving forward, the soul realm had become a battlefield of its own.

Victor had no idea what his past incarnations were doing.

He certainly had no idea that while he was pursuing the strength necessary to uncover the truth about the Universal Emperor, his own past selves had found a completely different method of passing the time.

They were fighting.

And for these incarnations, that was more than enough entertainment.

[Note:

This Chapter is intentionally written as a bonus/lighthearted Chapter. Its purpose is to give readers a clearer understanding of the relationship between Victor and his past incarnations.

The past incarnations are not separate strangers. They are different versions of the same soul, each with their own memories, personalities, experiences, abilities, and stories. Because they share the same fundamental soul, they understand Victor’s emotions, especially his obsession with challenging powerful opponents, far better than anyone else could.

Their interactions can therefore feel like a strange mixture of brothers, old friends, rivals, and different versions of the same person. They can argue, tease each other, compete, fight, and joke around because they have existed together for an unimaginably long time.

The soul realm is also not meant to be completely serious. Some incarnations have spent trillions of years there, so their conversations and behavior can become surprisingly casual or even childish when they finally find something entertaining.

Most importantly, this Chapter helps establish that Victor’s past incarnations genuinely care about his survival, even though they may constantly tease, fight, or annoy him. Their intervention against the Universal Emperor’s seed was not because they wanted to control Victor, but because they understand the consequences of losing against that existence better than Victor currently does.

The Chapter also gives readers a small break from the heavier Universal Emperor storyline while showing the unusual bond shared by Victor and his past incarnations.]

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Authors Notes: Dear Readers, Thanks so much for joining me on this adventure! Your enthusiasm, feedback, and encouragement really keep me motivated to keep bringing *Journey to Become the Zenith* into existence. If you’re loving the Chapters, I’d love it if you supported my book with a Powerstone, review, or even a Golden Ticket—it helps me develop as a writer and lets more readers enjoy the story. I look forward to hearing your ideas and thoughts, so please don’t hesitate to share!

With love,

Scorpio_saturn777

Creator of Journey to Become the Zenith

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