Lord of Mysteries 2: Circle of Inevitability

In the original star dominion.

The Goddess of Fate, delayed and obstructed by Klein, had already discerned the changes on the other battlefield by gazing into the mercury-colored illusory River of Fate. She had Prophesized what was about to happen.

The armless body in the center of Her body spat out an object She had been holding in Her mouth.

It was a thumb-sized bead with a glassy texture, radiating multicolored hues and naturally exuding a soothing aura that calmed the mind and body.

This bead originally belonged to a Dao integrator of the Key of Light. It was a relic left behind after their corpse was cremated. During the Vortex incident, it had been traded by Harrison of Penglai to Fate's Attendant Héloïse. After Héloïse recovered, the bead was immediately offered as a sacrifice to the deity Héloïse worshiped.

As soon as the relic was spat out, it flew directly to the body with hollow eye sockets on the Goddess of Fate's left side. She caught it and wove it into the self- contained mercury-colored symbol that had head connected to tail, incorporating it into the corresponding tributary of the River of Fate.

The River of Fate surged quietly onward. Just as the golden giant Buddha, who had only recently overcome the effects of survival instincts, prepared to join the Celestial Master and Celestial Thearch's projection in battling the High-Dimensional Overseer, a fissure appeared on the Buddha's surface. From within, a pair of hands forged of gold began to tear outward, threatening to shatter the entire body.

The follower to whom the relic belonged was now imbued with a new fate and granted new possibilities!

Thus, He had torn through the surface, disrupting the harmony of the Three Buddhas, preventing Them from acting in unison and causing the golden giant Buddha to collapse spectacularly.

Such was the power of the Goddess of Fate, who wove fates.
On the first day, the Original Creator awoke and created this world, but reality, the spirit world, the astral world, and fate were still mixed together.

On the second day, the Oldest One birthed the Mother Goddess of Depravity. Reality gained a foundation, the spirit world and astral world were separated, and the River of Fate began to flow. Soon after, the Mother Tree of Desire was born, giving rise to life and introducing evil and desire. Then came the Son of Chaos, who established order-and with it, shadows naturally emerged.

On the third day, the Oldest One and the Mother Goddess united, and the Mother of All Things gave birth to a firstborn daughter. From then on, the fates of all things began to intertwine, no longer in absolute chaos but instead forming relative patterns and foreseeable futures.

As the firstborn daughter of the Original Creator and the Mother Goddess of Depravity, the symbolism of the Goddess of Fate was sufficiently unique. She could weave, guide, and sever even the fates of Great Old Dominators. As long as the fates of all things converged into the River of Fate, She would attain immortality. Even if Her body were destroyed, Her consciousness and spirit could return from the River of Fate and manifest a new body. She did not need pre-set resurrection mechanisms or the reliance on undying spirits that other Great Old Dominators required, nor did She need to wait ages to revive through a sefirah, Uniquenesses, or Beyonder characteristics.

However, the essence of fate was infinite chaos. Even the Goddess of Fate could not fully control it, nor could She ensure the River of Fate always flowed according to Her woven designs.

At this moment, the Goddess of Fate aimed to disrupt the battle over the sefirot, forcing the Lord of Mysteries to divide His focus and preventing Him from confronting Her with His full power.

If She could delay long enough, Her mother would return, fully healed.

As the firstborn daughter, She was destined to receive assistance-a privilege the Circle of Inevitability and Supernova Dominator did not share.

Thus, She utilized the relic intended for capturing the Key of Light, deploying it early to serve Her current needs!

As the golden giant Buddha was about to be torn apart from within, deep darkness surged forth, engulfing Him and plunging Him into slumber-a sleep from which He could not awaken in the short term.

Only by suppressing His internal Issues could the golden Buddha regain control of the situation.

This left the Celestial Master and Celestial Thearch's projections to face the High-Dimensional Overseer in a two-against-one battle, significantly worsening Their predicament.

Having just returned from the past, the Circle of Inevitability observed the scene and suddenly felt a surge of desire.

This came from a powerful instinct to converge and a greed deeply rooted in godhood.

He now had the opportunity to devour the Key of Light!

Compared to that, aiding the Monarch of Decay against the Origins of Disaster and Eternal Darkness seemed far less important.

…

Supernova Dominator, unable to glean sufficient information from the River of Fate and further hindered by the spirit world's obscuring, grew increasingly agitated.

At last, within the astral world, the concept of "stars" suddenly intensified.

One after another, massive, blazing orbs of terrifying radiance descended into this star dominion, radiating unimaginable light and heat.

These were dying stars summoned by Supernova Dominator-stars nearing the ends of their lifespans.

As the ruler of stars, Supernova Dominator wielded the symbolism of weight, density, and fundamental forces, commanding the laws of the boundless cosmos.

Normally, He could summon His shepherded stars through the spirit world, creating supernovae or catastrophic black holes, all without compromising His structural stability. But Lord of Mysteries Klein, utilizing his Pillar symbolism, had preemptively sealed the spirit world. As a result, Supernova Dominator was forced to spend extra time converting these stars into conceptual forms, sending them into the astral world, and transporting them over here, finally manifesting them in reality.

Once these stars amassed in the star dominion, they immediately began attracting and colliding with one another.

An immense eruption of light and heat followed, obliterating layers of "doors" and overwhelming countless Kleins.

Right on the heels of that, the colliding matter rapidly collapsed, emitting unimaginable gravitational force that captured even the expelled light and heat, compressing the entire star dominion inward and slowing time dramatically.

Supernova Dominator now had an unobstructed connection to the astral world.

At this moment, He sensed an enormous bluish-black door of light formed from countless insects at the edge of the light and heat He had captured.

Standing beneath the radiance was a figure-Klein wearing a silk half top hat, dark gloves, and a long black coat, holding a star-encrusted cane.

Manifesting Sefirah Castle, Klein extended his left palm forward.

Time, already slowed by the massive black hole, became even slower, as if a clock chime resonated from the bluish-black door of light.

Everything stagnated, nearing a complete halt.

King of Space-Time!

Supernova Dominator was also trapped in the near - frozen time, moving with an unbelievable slowness.

He suddenly realized something.

Why am I creating a black hole-one that contracts space and dilates time?

Isn't this helping the King of Space-Time further stagnate time?

Could it be that during the previous battles, I unknowingly came under the influence of the symbolism of Foolishness?

Supernova Dominator did not hesitate. He immediately attempted to reverse the black hole's collapse into the strongest explosion possible. This would break the spatial constraints and temporal stasis and might even significantly damage the now-manifested Sefirah Castle!

Of course, completing such a transformation required at least one second, but a second in the dilated time zone was far longer than one in the external world.

The Goddess of Fate was nearly sucked into the massive black hole created by Supernova Dominator. Only by weaving Her own fate was She able to evade the pull and reach the edge of its influence unscathed. However, She could no longer perceive the fates within that dark region.

At that moment, She noticed the emergence of a figure clad in a black coat, wearing a silk top hat, and holding a star-encrusted cane-Lord of Mysteries Klein -standing within the giant bluish-black door of light.

The mercury-colored River of Fate shifted direction, rushing toward Klein. All its tributaries began converging on the door of light, as though it alone represented the true path and the real future. Even the Goddess of Fate Herself was pulled toward it.

Beacon of Destiny!

The Goddess of Fate now glimpsed the fate of Lord of Mysteries Klein. Her rightmost, headless body followed the surging mercury-colored river, striking out with an illusory silver-black dirk toward the bluish-black door of light.

It sought to sever all tributaries of fate.

The final judgment!

Seeing this, Klein, now manifesting the Sefirah Castle, maintained a calm expression. He spread his arms, lifting his black coat as the bluish-black door of light shone brilliantly.

The scene concealed behind him was revealed - a deep black hole that bound even light and heat, preventing their escape.

The black hole created by Supernova Dominator!

Almost simultaneously, Klein reversed the stagnation of Change, pushing it into acceleration.

Abruptly, Supernova Dominator's attempted transformation was completed. The black hole became a "white hole," erupting with a terrifying sea of burning light and an extreme explosion.

The eruption rushed toward Klein, toward Sefirah Castle, and also toward the Goddess of Fate on the other side of the door of light!

Klein didn't flee the scene. Instead, he placed a hand over his chest and bowed slightly to the Goddess of Fate, whose central head had already reflected the blazing sea of light in its eyes.

Taking advantage of the moment, he redirected the Goddess of Fate's attack to the Supernova Dominator on the opposite side of the Sefirah Castle, completing the linkage.

This was Grafting, a manifestation of the symbolism of Bizarreness!

For Supernova Dominator and the Goddess of Fate, if They had realized the problem earlier, They could have easily stopped Their own attacks, preventing the Grafting from achieving its purpose But this time, Klein had used himself as bait, isolating both sides with Sefirah Castle, and amidst his own simultaneous crisis, left Them no time to react!

Of course, the symbolism of Foolishness, which had gradually deepened its influence over time, was the true hero of the moment.

In an instant, the terrifying sea of light engulfed Klein's body, shaking the bluish-black door of light. Then, it surged forward, completely submerging and tearing apart the three bodies of the Goddess of Fate, dissolving them.

At the same time, the Goddess of Fate's strike, symbolizing the final judgment, successfully hit Supernova Dominator's River of Fate.

Supernova Dominator immediately felt utterly isolated, as if plunged into a deep darkness, unable to locate reality, sense the spirit world or astral world, or even perceive a fate to continue existing.

In the now starless dominion, Klein's figure-dressed in a black coat and dark gloves-swiftly reappeared.

He had just died.

But he wielded miracles, and resurrection was one of them.

Correspondingly, Sefirah Castle had also suffered severe damage during this daring attempt. It would not recover fully in the short term-a price Klein was willing to pay to resolve the battle quickly.

Klein did not relax, as the battle in this dominion was far from over. He had merely gained a temporary advantage, creating an opportunity that he now had to seize fully!