The Monarch

"How long are you going to stay hidden in there?" Kayden asked as he poked a small fragment of soul residing inside his soul.

"Who are you?" Kayden raised an eyebrow.

"I should be the one asking you that question," the god replied. He hadn't believed Kayden would be able to find him—nor did he expect such a massive karmic backlash.

"What an arrogant mortal…" the god couldn't finish his sentence, as he felt his soul being squeezed by Kayden. He wasn't even close to his peak strength—he was nothing more than a shadow, a mere remnant.

"Leave, and go live your life," Kayden said as he ripped the soul out and tossed it into the wind. There was no resentment on his part. Unfortunately, something was wrong—a small, invisible strand of soul was still linking the two together.

Kayden thought for a moment and began to sever the thread. It wasn't an easy task, but it wasn't particularly difficult either. It would only take a few decades to break it fully. The god began reinforcing the thread and simultaneously attempted to attack Kayden's mind. His interference wasn't enough to weaken Kayden—at most, it would simply take more time.

"Let's make a deal," the god proposed, realizing that Kayden was insane enough to actually spend decades cutting the thread. "Let me recover alongside you, and in exchange, I'll offer all my knowledge to answer your questions."

"Who are you? What is your true strength?" Kayden asked directly, and the response was more or less what he had expected.

"My name has no meaning anymore. I was trapped in that tower for an almost infinite amount of time," the god muttered with bitterness. "I was at the peak of the fourth divine level."

Several things began to make sense after that comment. This was the highest level of power Kayden had ever come into contact with—at least not counting Thoth and other peculiar gods. This level of strength was truly monstrous.

"Alright," Kayden accepted without hesitation. As long as he remained a mortal, he couldn't be harmed by this god. He wasn't afraid of having his soul consumed, and he had no issue receiving more information.

"That simple? You're not going to be suspicious of me?" Kayden smiled, and the god realized the same thing he had earlier. "Who exactly are you? Why is your karmic value so high?" The god had never seen anything like it—not even reincarnations of peak gods drew such powerful karma.

"I am Kayden Heart, a mortal capable of killing gods," Kayden smiled as he felt the god's soul tremble slightly. He had already seen some insane things, but never in all of history had there been a mortal capable of such feats.

It was unprecedented in all of history—never had there been a mortal as strong as Kayden in the history of the universe. No wonder his titles had been given directly by the celestials—not once, but twice in succession.

"I see," the god no longer knew what to say.

"What do you know about celestial earth and water?" Kayden went straight to the point.

"They're materials from fourth-level gods. I had some contact with celestial plantations a long time ago," the god began reminiscing. "I'm capable of planting and cultivating natural celestial artifacts, but I don't know their locations or how to acquire them anymore. It's been a very long time since I last came to Atherion."

Kayden had truly hit the jackpot with this soul fragment. It was practically a walking library of knowledge. The two continued talking for hours, then days, weeks, months, and years.

While Kayden had an insatiable thirst for knowledge, the god hadn't spoken to a complex being in a long time. In his pocket universe, he had never been able to create a true god—someone with real talent—simply because his universe was too small.

Even though there were trillions of planets and an even greater number of living beings, it wasn't enough. It wasn't sufficient to create a truly brilliant mage capable of reaching Atherion. At best, he could produce mediocre second-level gods with no meaningful future.

"Are you sure Jarvis is an honorable name?" the god asked after Kayden started calling him that. Obviously, the boy wasn't going to explain that hearing a voice in his head reminded him of a man in a suit of iron from his homeworld.

"Of course it is," Kayden replied, then began descending toward the city floating in the skies. It was massive—its size easily exceeded millions of kilometers.

The population of that city was greater than many galaxies Kayden had seen. All of this was due to spatial distortion—there were districts and cities within the city, even kingdoms and countries inside it. It was a monumental construction of spatial laws.

"Master," Kayn appeared just as Kayden began descending. Kayden looked at his disciple with surprise—he had truly waited all that time.

"You've made good progress," Kayden said as he began inspecting the boy's soul and observing his development. Kayn had indeed been training while waiting for him—his attitude was exactly what one would expect from a perfect disciple.

"Here," Kayden casually tossed a staff and divine-grade clothing to Kayn. These were items he had found on the tenth floor of the tower. The staff was inscribed with runes that enhanced mental clarity and other attributes. The clothing could adapt to any physique and functioned as armor, capable of withstanding at least one full-powered attack from a second-level god.

These were treasures of immense value—items that only the peak members of powerful organizations would typically receive. But to Kayden, they held no real value. Shortly after, he made a few adjustments to Kayn's soul and gave him some more advice. Then the two of them descended toward Lucius's palace.

The Ody family's territory was located in the center of the city. It was surrounded by palaces of continental proportions—each home ranged from a few hundred meters to hundreds of thousands of kilometers in size. Lucius's home closely reflected his personality.

It featured a vast garden with stunning, majestic landscapes and a palace surrounded by black gold, without a single guard. Thanks to Kayn, they were allowed free entry into this area. Nevertheless, as soon as Kayden stepped into the central zone, he underwent a full soul and body scan from some hidden god residing within the city.