My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

"Pillar of Conflict… what's that?" Dred asked, sipping his drink.

Unnoticed Singularity sighed.

"Honestly… I'm not really sure. My memories are quite vague when it comes to the Pillars."

Damon didn't ask how Singularity had figured out he knew about the Pillar. However, he still wanted to know what this former old god did remember.

"Anything is fine," Damon said. "I don't know much about the Pillars either. I know something I'm not supposed to… but sort of died and lost the memories."

All eyes fell on Damon.

Damon smiled, placing his hand on his chest with a scoff.

"Don't worry, I walked it off."

Saint's eye twitched.

"Who the hell walks off dying?"

Singularity chuckled.

"Fine. Listen at your own discretion. Keep in mind, if you piss off some god by knowing too much, you could die…"

Twilight rolled his eyes.

"Just say it already."

Dred clenched his fist.

"My family, my home—destroyed. I need to know why."

Ilukras nodded in agreement, the quiet pain in his eyes evident. He had lost his home, too.

Singularity bit his lip.

"The Pillars are fundamental structures that make up the Omniverse. Everything—including you and I—is part of that structure."

He looked at the sky, to the three bright stars and the two moons drifting peacefully above.

"The Omniverse was born in perfect order, a grand design upheld by twelve known Pillars… and one lie."

Wimpy tilted his head.

"One lie? What does that mean?"

Singularity shrugged.

"I do not know. That's the secret of the true beings. Knowing their lie is a good way to get destroyed. Unnoticed Singularity found out the lie—and as you can see, Doom destroyed him."

Damon felt his heart pound. The lie of the gods… It had gotten him killed as well.

Singularity raised his hand to stop the questions.

"Don't ask. I don't know. And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you—not unless you have the Fate Manipulation Resistance skill."

They glanced at one another, then nodded in understanding.

Damon had a mastery with that name—but it must've been different from the skill the Unknown had tried giving him. He hadn't been able to receive it.

Unnoticed Singularity was a treasure trove of cosmic knowledge.

"Tell us what you know about the Pillars," Damon asked.

Singularity raised his hand.

"Now, the ones I know are in this order… so listen carefully."

"First came the Pillar of Beginning—Genesis— from which all things, including the primordial gods, were formed."

"Primordial gods? Do you mean the Old Gods?" Damon asked.

Singularity shook his head.

"No. They are older. The god of Absolute Beginning and the god of Absolute End. But I'll come back to that."

He continued:

"From existence, the Pillar of Reality—Aeternis—took shape, solidifying the fabric of the cosmos. As reality crystallized, the Pillar of Time—Chronis—was born, allowing the past, present, and future to flow."

He took a sip of his drink.

"The emergence of time gave birth to the Pillar of the Soul—Anima—as life awakened and flourished. Old Gods, True Dragons, and mortals were born. All things with souls came into being."

He smiled, as if reminiscing on the miracle of life. The amoral Old Ones predated the concept of emotion.

"From souls arose the Pillar of Emotion—Empyros—carrying desire, will, and the seeds of change. With emotion came the thirst for understanding, leading to the birth of the Pillar of Knowledge—Noesis."

His eyes turned somber.

"Yet knowledge begets doubt, contradiction—and from it emerged the Pillar of Chaos—Pandemion—the force of boundless unpredictability. Chaos, however, could not exist unchecked, and so the Pillar of Order—Kosmos—manifested to bring structure and law."

He narrowed his eyes at what came next.

"The clash of Order and Chaos birthed the Pillar of Conflict—Bellum—the driving force behind evolution, struggle, and growth. From Conflict arose the Pillar of Ascension—Apotheon—embodying the will to rise, transcend, and surpass all limits."

'This was the Pillar that allowed mortals to become gods—to challenge the heavens.' Damon didn't voice his thoughts.

"But all things, no matter how great, must one day return to nothingness. And thus the Pillar of Void—Nihilos—came into being. Even the void must one day reach its conclusion, giving way to renewal, and so the Pillar of End—Nemesis—emerged, ensuring that every cycle would one day close. This is the perfect system."

Unnoticed Singularity's voice had turned calm, his cadence slower. They were listening in silence now, absorbing the foundations of all reality.

"Then there's the secret. The lie of the gods. It plays a part in all this."

He glanced at them.

"These Pillars are fundamental. Without them holding the Omniverse together, everything would shatter."

"Before the War of the Gods destroyed the Old Omniverse four billion years ago, the Old Ones didn't really care about the Pillars…"

He looked at the starry sky—vast, endless, unknowable.

"But then the lesser beings became True Gods… True Demon Kings. They destroyed the Omniverse in the war. Afterward, they recreated it—after much infighting. They used the Abyss and its authority to create an agreement called the No Absolutes Accord."

"When they were weak, they fought side by side. But after becoming boundless, they saw each other as enemies. After all, if all are boundless—who is the one true god? If all can destroy and create temporary Omniverses on a whim, who is god?"

"That's why the No Absolutes Accord was necessary. It could bind them—but they also needed rules. So they bound themselves."

He took another sip and raised a finger.

"Among the rules was the division of the Pillars."

"They made a special clause. No one was to use power beyond the Seventeenth Rank. And whoever obtained all the Pillars would be acknowledged as the One True God. By this agreement, the others would not interfere with what that god creates or destroys… even if it affects their personal domains."

Singularity's tone dropped to a bitter growl.

"Well, joke's on them. The Abyss wasn't some mindless force. You should've seen their faces when they realized it was a god. The Unknown God. He had predated his own existence… and come the future, he will be born."

"This future, or as we call it now, the present."

Singularity gritted his teeth.

"When all was said and done—when the dust had settled—they divided the Pillars. Five went to the True Gods. Five to the True Demon Kings. The last two were given to the True Dragons."

He chuckled coldly.

"Those arrogant bastards had power that was boundless… so they forgot the Old Gods. Each Pillar was guarded by a single god or demon king. The Pillar of Conflict went to the Goddess of Doom—Minerva… bride of the Unknown God."

He glanced at them. They were all frozen in place.

"That is the Pillar of Conflict. It is the manifestation of all struggle… and as long as it exists in this world…"

He stared into the fire.

"…war will never end."