Chapter 706: A Small Display...
Ash finally spoke, his voice calm and steady as he looked at Irene.
"Who," he asked, "the hell said I’m the Main Character?"
He then turned his gaze to his wives, his tone remaining even, though a faint trace of dark amusement laced his words.
"And loves... why isn’t she dead yet? Or are we planning to torture her first?"
Celeste smiled, her golden hair catching the soft light as she stepped closer, her presence radiating absolute authority yet laced with teasing warmth.
"Does my husband not find her beautiful?" she asked, her voice smooth and playful as she appeared beside Irene.
She slowly circled the woman, sizing her up with a critical yet appreciative eye.
"Such determination in those eyes... a rare kind of fire. Even I can see why you caught her attention."
Irene’s cheeks flushed despite herself, a mix of embarrassment and confusion flashing across her face as Celeste’s words washed over her.
Ash shook his head with a quiet chuckle as he leaned back. From the look of things, he knew exactly why Irene was still sitting so comfortably in one of his many homes.
"I’m not taking on any more wives or women," he said with firm resolve. "I mean it."
The women around him all smiled — love-struck, soft, and content, their eyes filled with quiet affection and understanding.
Irene finally found her voice, her tone shaky but determined.
"What do.... you mean you’re not the Main Character?" she asked. "If you’re not the Main Character... then what are you?"
Ash didn’t respond directly.
He simply tilted his head, his reddish-purple eyes calm as he asked,
"Just what is a Main Character?"
Irene took a deep breath, her voice gaining strength as she spoke, her emotions raw and fervent.
"You!" she said, her blue eyes intense.
"A Main Character is the center of the story. The one everything revolves around.
The one who breaks limits, defies fate, and changes the world. They are the reason the story exists. They are the one who makes the impossible possible.
They are the protagonist that every novel is built for."
Ash listened quietly, then shook his head with a low laugh.
"Well, that sounds like something I was when I was about fifty years old."
Although he could still be considered the Main Character long after that, in his eyes, he had become much more from the moment he attained Pantheos and the codex, when he became a progenitor long ago.
With a wave of his hand, a plain, unassuming rock appeared in his palm. He glanced at Irene with a faint smile.
"If Main Characters can do things like this..."
He summoned the Codex with a thought.
Words began to appear on the pages in elegant, flowing script, each letter forming with deliberate, shimmering precision:
"This rock shall possess the absolute authority to conquer and destroy any universe it enters. All beings within shall kneel and grovel before it."
The wives and heirs watching let out soft, amused laughs, their expressions a mix of curiosity and playful disbelief.
Nia leaned forward on her throne, her black eyes sparkling with dark amusement.
"You’re really going to sacrifice an entire universe just to prove a point?" she asked, her voice low and teasing. "How dramatic."
Vaeloria chuckled from the side, her white fox tails swaying lazily.
"That’s why I love you.... You never change one bit."
Kaguya tilted her head, her tails curling with interest as she smiled.
"Let’s see how long it takes for the universe to kneel," she said softly, her voice carrying a hint of excitement.
Sonna watched with a gentle smile, though a sharp glint lingered in her eyes.
"Fufufu~ It won’t take long at all... And I can already see Emma—she’s probably eager to reach the Origin’s realm," she said lightly.
Ash flicked his wrist with nonchalant ease.
The rock shot forward, vanishing into Pantheos toward a random universe. A large projection appeared in the air for everyone to see, the image shimmering with vivid detail.
The small, unassuming rock entered the universe like a silent intruder.
HUMMMMM!!!!!
The moment it appeared; the entire cosmos felt its presence.
Beings across countless worlds — kings, gods, constellations alike — fell to their knees in unison, groveling in terror and worship as an overwhelming, unstoppable force washed over them.
The rock began to grow, expanding rapidly, its surface cracking with raw, primordial power as it absorbed the universe’s energy.
Galaxies bent toward it like iron filings to a magnet. Time warped and twisted, and in an instant, the rock swelled into a colossal boulder, wrapping the entire universe in its crushing grip.
With a final, merciless motion, it collapsed inward.
BOOOOOOOOOM!!!
The universe was completely destroyed in a brilliant, cataclysmic flash, reduced to nothing but scattered cosmic dust and fading echoes of light.
"If main characters can do that... then maybe I’m still one in some cases," Ash concluded, offering just a small glimpse of what he was capable of.
It wasn’t limited to simple rocks—anything he wrote into the codex would come to life.
Not just in certain places or only within Pantheos, but anywhere he desired.
He was the pen, the guiding hand behind the story.
He was the Author.
Irene’s face drained of all color.
Her glowing eyes widened in pure horror as she stared at the fading projection, her hands trembling violently at her sides.
Like mentioned, it wasn’t really about the rock itself.
It was more about how effortlessly Ash made things happen.
With just a thought, he could give something inanimate the power to destroy an entire universe.
Makes you wonder—what could he do if he actually tried?
Her breath came in short, ragged gasps, her chest heaving as if she couldn’t get enough air.
She took a stumbling step back, nearly losing her balance as the full weight of what she had just witnessed crashed down on her.
"No..." she whispered, her voice cracking. "That’s impossible. You... you can’t just erase an entire universe with a rock. Main Characters don’t... they don’t do that."
She knew all too well... by now, Ash and the others should have been just one step below the First Absence.
After all, that’s how it usually went in most novels.
Every ascension was simply the start of another Chapter.
"You... you were supposed to struggle... then slowly overcome. YOU"RE NOT SUPPOSED TO END THINGS ON A WHIM!"
Her voice rose, trembling with disbelief and growing panic.
"You’re not the Main Character. You can’t be...."
She looked at Ash with wide, terrified eyes, her body shaking as the realization fully hit her.
"You’re the end," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "You’re the end of everything."
Ash stood up and walked toward Irene, his form shifting as he moved.
He changed through races — Human, Dragon, Phoenix, Titan, and countless others — before becoming something beyond even the known Primediva race.
When he stopped in front of her, he gently touched the tip of her nose with his finger and leaned in close, whispering into her ear.
"Good girl... Now, go tell your ancestors to be ready to use all their tricks... We’ll be around... for the festival."
In that moment, Irene’s entire existence unraveled.
She experienced true death — her body, her consciousness, her very concept fading into nothingness as if she had never been there at all.