Reincarnated Hero System - Chapter 1126 - 1126: “Weighing of Existences”
|The ‘Weighing of Existences Ceremony’ has Begun.|
|While the Ceremony is in effect, both Parties cannot move or use any of their abilities.|
Evan’s eyes widened at the messages appearing in his vision, and true to the text, he found himself completely immobilised, even mid-air.
His pupils darted to the right, where a diaphanous board floated before Arthur, displaying more text.
|User Confirmed.|
|Please Designate Allies…|
‘Jamie Westley. Evan Bourne.’
Arthur’s internal voice echoed in Evan and Jamie’s minds through their telepathic link, leaving Evan briefly confused since he didn’t remember telling Arthur his real last name.
‘Oh, maybe he just figured it out after the mess with Dad on Gozon…’
That thought crossed his mind as the golden scales Arthur held released invisible cosmic energy to mark him and Jamie.
|User Party Confirmed|
|Designate Target(s)|
‘Cruotis Prime’s Consciousness. Bewússtsein.’
|Target(s) Confirmed|
The scales wobbled and then tipped dramatically to one side the moment the confirmation was registered.
A notification then appeared in their vision.
|The ‘Overall Power’ difference between both Parties is incredibly high.|
Due to the Existence Realm Limitation imposed by Bewússtsein, Jamie’s power had been capped at Level 1000.
However, this restriction didn’t apply to Bewússtsein himself.
If he succeeded in completing his Perfect Vessel, his power would rise to at least Deity Level 100—the minimum required to achieve Cosmic Being status.
In other words, Bewússtsein’s current power exceeded that of Arthur, Evan, and the restricted Jamie combined.
|Due to the difference exceeding 100%, an appropriate ‘Compensation’ and ‘Debuff’ will be applied to the respective Parties.|
Suddenly, the Core Dimension quaked.
The Cosmic Artifact activated, working to ‘Balance’ the power disparity between the two sides.
It calculated the total combined power of all four combatants, then split it evenly. One half remained with Bewússtsein, while the other half was distributed among Arthur, Evan, and Jamie.
Magic power and cosmic energy shot up from the ground in massive torrents, slamming into the protagonist trio. The energy coiled around them, forming channels that funnelled even more power into their bodies.
The ambient energy concentration dropped sharply as Bewússtsein, frozen in place, stared in disbelief and despair.
He could feel the planet’s energy—his energy—being drained away.
Evan’s Existence Level barriers shattered under the overwhelming influx, and within moments, his strength rose to match Arthur and Jamie at Level 1000.
But just as the Scales of Balance tried to push their power beyond that, the process was stopped by the Existence Realm Limitation imposed by Bewússtsein.
Sensing this, Bewússtsein wanted to laugh and mock them for what seemed like their plan’s failure, but his smug chuckle quickly vanished when he noticed the restrictive universal laws bending.
‘What?! HOW?! This is a Planetary Defence Mechanism! It’s a fundamental law of the Universe!! How can it bend so easi—?!’
His eyes widened, pupils snapping back to the trio as realisation dawned.
‘Fuck! They’re High-Grade Singularities!! They’ve messed up the laws in this place!’
The combination of factors—the disruption from Jamie’s Galaxy Sword splitting the Core Dimension’s walls, their Singularity Natures, and the Cosmic Artifact’s power—had successfully exploited a loophole.
This loophole was exactly what Arthur had planned to use from the start and why he insisted on bringing Evan along.
In truth, the loophole could still be exploited even without their Singularity Natures, though Arthur didn’t know that.
As for the loophole, it was fairly obvious when one considered the effect of the Scales of Balance and the Existence Realm Limitation.
|Scales of Balance: Replica No. #396
Type: Low Grade Cosmic Artifact.
This is a Replica of an Ancient Cosmic Artifact with the power of ‘Balance’.
Effects:
This Artifact is bestowed with the Ability to Start a [Ceremony of Weighing Existences]. While the Ceremony is in effect, both parties cannot move or use any of their abilities.
The Ceremony is conducted with Two Parties: The User and designated allies (If Any) and a Designated Target or group of Targets.
Both Parties can have a Maximum of 5 Existences as Members.
Depending on the ‘Overall Power’ difference between the User and the Targets, ‘Compensations’ are granted to the User, allowing them to ‘BALANCE’ their Power Level against a more powerful foe.
Restrictions:
It can only be used ONCE every set of 24 Hours.
As this is but a Replica and not the ‘True’ Scales of Balance, it has a Limited Number of Activations.
Remaining Activations: 2
Current Owner: Arthur Vaughn.|
This artifact, which Arthur had obtained months before Evan even came to Aramis, wasn’t directly altering their ‘Existence Realms’.
Instead, it infused them with raw ‘Power’ to equalise the disparity between both sides.
This ‘Power’ wasn’t permanent and would fade and return to its source once the Scales’ effects ended.
In essence, the artifact had created a strange situation where ‘Mortals’ possessed the ‘Power Level’ of ‘Deities’.
As a result, even though the Existence Realm Limitation worked as intended, their power levels kept rising past the imposed cap.
Conversely, Bewússtsein’s power began to drop, which made sense as the energy fuelling the trio was coming from him.
The Scales of Balance were debuffing him and compensating them.
It was ‘Balancing’ the equation.
As the Deity-level power poured into their bodies, a scorching heat rippled through Arthur and Evan, each pulse like molten lightning racing through their veins and energy circuits.
Jamie was fine since his original power far exceeded this level, but for Arthur and Evan, being OVERWHELMED didn’t even begin to cover it.
Their bodies struggled to cope, repeatedly fracturing under the pressure before immediately regenerating, each cycle leaving them stronger than before.
Energy whirled within their cores, condensing into denser, more potent forms while the cores expanded to contain the overwhelming influx.
Bewússtsein’s face contorted with fury as he fought against the Cosmic Artifact’s force.
His body trembled as he tried to move, fingers twitching in an attempt to channel the destructive power of his Candidate Sigil.
Cosmic energy crackled around him as he strained to resist the artifact’s restriction and destroy it with brute force.
But it was useless.
Even as a ‘Low Grade’, the Cosmic Artifact was beyond his influence. Only someone not restrained by the Ceremony could interfere, and no one fit that description here.
The situation worsened as more of his power was siphoned off to amplify the trio.
Bewússtsein’s resistance dissolved into pure rage, his face contorting in frustration as he realised his strength was slipping away.
Then a message appeared before all of them.
|The ‘Weighing of Existences Ceremony’ has concluded.|
The invisible restraint vanished the moment the message appeared, and all four regained the ability to move.
Jamie acted immediately.
Cosmic energy poured from within him as he raised his hands and snapped his fingers.
|Azure Void Authority: Negative Space Torrent.|
Space splintered like glass hit by a stone, and a massive torrent of negative space, a force defined by the absence of matter, coalesced into void-like beams.
They shot through the air with an eerie hum, streaking toward Bewússtsein’s incomplete vessel with terrifying speed.
On impact, the void imploded, ripping through the surrounding positive space in a violent eruption of cosmic energy, sending concentric shockwaves radiating outward with destructive force.
Bewússtsein’s incomplete vessel was hurled through the cavern, smashing into jagged walls as blood sprayed and chunks of its shell broke apart, with even his soul sustaining damage.
The impact shook the cavern, sending debris raining down and cracks spiderwebbing across the walls.
Jamie landed lightly, barely making a sound, while Arthur and Evan, still struggling with the overwhelming surge of deity-level power coursing through them, slammed into the ground beside him, creating small craters and radiating cracks.
Seeing them sprawled at the centres of the craters, Jamie barely stifled his laughter.
He extended his hand, wrapping their bodies in spatial power and lifting them from the craters they’d made.
But before either of them could speak, Jamie’s fingernails sharpened into claws, and he swept his hands across their wrists, slicing them cleanly.
Blood poured from the cuts—silver from Arthur, crimson from Evan—but the droplets didn’t fall. They hovered, defying gravity as they swirled into two separate orbs that Jamie infused with magic power.
Arthur and Evan froze, wide-eyed and shocked, instincts kicking in as they tried to leap away.
Their efforts, however, backfired spectacularly.
Arthur’s small jump sent him crashing into the cavern ceiling over a thousand kilometres above, showering rocks and fragments of the Core Dimensional barrier.
Evan, on the other hand, ended up in a lava pool several kilometres away, plunging into molten magma with a splash.
Seeing that, Jamie couldn’t contain his laughter, erupting into it as his voice reverberated through the area.
“BAHAHAHA!!!! These kids! Did you really think—HAHAHA—controlling your bodies would be easy—GAHAHA—with your current power?!”
With a snap of his fingers, he teleported them back to him, his laughter growing as he surveyed the results of their blunders—Arthur with a crooked crown of rock and shattered space, Evan drenched in magma, his clothes reduced to ash.
Despite it all, neither was hurt, a testament to their increased durability.
The reason for their clumsiness was exactly as Jamie had stated: their power had skyrocketed so quickly that their bodies couldn’t keep up.
Adjusting to this newfound strength wouldn’t be instant, and Bewússtsein wasn’t about to give them the luxury of time to figure it out.
This then points to the reason Jamie takes their blood.
|Blood Magic: Blood Puppetry.|
Jamie cast the spell that reminded the boys he was a Vampire-Werewolf Hybrid, the swirling blood forming magic circles that he sent into their chests with a flick, pulsing faintly as they fused with their bodies.
“That will let you control your bodies like puppets. Now, your movements will align perfectly with your thoughts—or should I say, your puppet commands,” he explained.
Both boys exchanged an understanding glance, their wariness giving way to grudging gratitude.
Arthur snapped his fingers, restoring Evan’s clothes, but the moment they tried to stand, both staggered, knees giving out as they fell back to the ground.
Evan gripped his head, groaning as a rush of unfamiliar information flooded his mind, disorienting him, while Arthur pressed a hand to his chest, pain contorting his features as his Existential Aspects fell out of sync, the imbalance hitting him like a tidal wave.
At the sight, realisation dawned in Jamie’s eyes.
“Ah, right. One of you is juggling Four Pseudo-Authorities and Two Ultimate Seeds, while the other is hauling around a Deity Soul packed with power from a previous incarnation.
Getting slammed with deity-level power on top of all that? Yeah, not exactly a recipe for smooth sailing.”
Like earlier stated, Jamie was simply reclaiming a power level he’d surpassed long ago, which let him stabilise his expiring vessel, causing the cracks in his skin to fade as he regained full control over his Authorities.
Evan’s situation, however, was a completely different story.
A quick reminder: Evan had one key difference that set him apart from most reincarnators.
Evan hadn’t died in his previous incarnation.
Death had never claimed his soul.
This was confirmed during his ‘Conversation with Himself’ (Chapter 1015).
Because he never died, his soul hadn’t undergone the usual cleansing process and remained as powerful as it had been in his past incarnation.
The only thing limiting him was his Vision Seal, along with the fact that his current body and Energy Core were still those of a Mortal.
Essentially, Evan, with his partially released Vision Seal, was a Deity stuck in a Mortal’s body.
Now, with his body and Energy Core infused with Deity-level power, his Deity Soul began to awaken.
[Releasing Third and Fourth Seal Layer.]
[A. R. I. E. ■]
|■ A – Amnesia (Memory)
■ R – Restraint (Soul)
■ I – Isolation (Authority)
■ E – Erosion (Power)|
The weakened layers of energy surrounding his soul gradually strengthened from the influx of magic power, and the flood of foreign information…no, the flood of Universal Law Comprehensions triggered the reawakening of two objects nestled deep within Evan’s soul, so deep he had never sensed their presence even once during his current incarnation.
