Divine Path System Chapter 1762 1762: God Emperor vs Architect

The struggle for supreme dominance ignited over three weeks ago in a realm far removed from Eden, appearing shortly after Varian met his defeat.

A colossal palm of cosmic dimensions manifested, its radiance illuminating the deepest reaches of the void.

It resembled the palm technique the God Emperor once wielded as a peak rank 2, yet this singular construct was comprised of millions of those smaller palms, perfectly illustrating the vast chasm between the two ranks.

Even the former God Emperor, at the pinnacle of his might when he bested Varian, would have been incapable of enduring even a 0.0001% fraction of this assault.

0.0001%. A thousandth of a thousandth.

Such was the staggering chasm separating these divine tiers.

The hierarchy for mortal ranks was bound to a planet. A celestial scale encompassed an entire star system. For divine rankers up to rank 2, the influence spanned across a galaxy.

However, at rank 3, the scale expanded to the universe itself. There exist no traditional boundaries for their output of power.

They no longer merely vent their aura to launch an attack. A rank 3 individual harnesses the fundamental laws of the cosmos, utilizing the very fabric of reality as their weapon.

Should they desire to unleash a spatial assault, the existing space within the universe becomes their instrument and obeys their will.

What boundary exists for such space? One galaxy? Ten? A million?

There is no limit.

As long as the concept of 'space' persists, they possess the ability to command it. And space permeates every corner of the universe.

The duels of rank 3 entities, no longer tethered by scale, rest entirely upon their mastery and manipulation of these laws.

This palm contained the power of three separate avenues, yet it was driven primarily by the avenue familiar to the God Emperor—time and space.

The defense mounted against this was a massive pair of balance scales.

Its structure was forged from order and chaos, the balance chords were woven from space-time, and the weights consisted of life and death being scrutinized.

The Architect’s choice of armament seemed an external manifestation of his philosophy regarding his own power and the universe at large.

He acts as the arbiter who restores perfect equilibrium and intervenes whenever an imbalance occurs.

Conversely, the God Emperor’s palm suggested an unwavering belief in crushing every obstacle to manifest his own ideal vision.

One entity represented the universe's current state, reflecting how things are. The other represented the desired state, embodying how things ought to be.

These two contradictory manifestations finally collided.

For a fleeting instant, the entire universe glitched, every fundamental law stretching discordantly before snapping back into place.

Superficially, nothing had altered. In reality, everything had.

The stability of the divine laws, upon which the entire existence of the universe rests, had been fatally shaken.

It was the dawn of the final destruction.

With every subsequent strike, the laws trembled more violently until the thread of stability sustaining the cosmos finally severed.

The essence of space was torn asunder.

The flow of time was cast into complete disarray.

These violent clashes drove life beyond control and death past its proper constraints.

Any patterns of order and chaos that contributed to universal stability were thoroughly decimated.

The palm and the scales flickered in and out of existence, exchanging blows without a moment of respite. With each impact, they traversed distances equal to thousands of Edens.

This confrontation differed greatly from all prior battles, including those contested at the pinnacle of rank 2.

When peak rank 2 entities or those of lesser status fought, the ferocity of their exchange would wreak havoc upon the immediate environment.

The higher the rank, the more intense the aura fluctuations, leading to greater collateral destruction.

Yet, here, there were no aura fluctuations to be found.

The duel took place in a distant galactic cluster roughly the size of Eden. Not a single drop of aura leaked out following the skirmish.

Nevertheless, a rhythmic, bone-chilling cracking sound echoed throughout the region.

Then, the foundational laws governing the universe began to unravel within that galactic neighborhood.

Space was shredded, time became erratic, life suffered bizarre mutations, death acted without rules, order crumbled into ruin, and chaos reigned unchecked.

To any observer, it would appear the region was being ravaged by 'natural disasters' rather than a battle between two individuals.

If peak rank 2 entities were powerful, a rank 3 was a force of nature itself, vibrating the very core of existence—the divine laws.

The very fabric that constructed and upheld the universe was collapsing. There was no halting it.

If two peak rank 2s fought to destroy all of Eden, the planet might still harbor life again after hundreds of millions of years. But when these rank 3 entities engaged, the region was dismantled from its very roots.

There exists no possibility of rebirth.

The aftermath of these law-disruptions rippled outward across the universe.

The dismantling process spread everywhere, proceeding at a slower pace compared to the epicenters, yet it was undeniably occurring.

There remained no sanctuary, no place left to hide.

The entire universe was dying!

Six natural disasters were spearheading this process of death.

Space began tearing itself apart.

From one end of Eden to the other, spatial glitches flared up uncontrollably.

Chaotic spatial currents from the core and inner layers were unleashed into the outer expanse.

A wealthy and prosperous kingdom, abundant with celestial rankers, had prepared for such volatile times.

They implemented numerous formations, stationed elite celestial guards, and stockpiled vast treasures.

However, the space directly above their capital split wide open.

They frantically deployed their forces to engage the unseen intruder. But there was no physical enemy to fight.

The space itself simply fractured, and this rent behaved far more aggressively than a black hole.

The defensive formations they held dear were peeled away layer by layer and consumed.

Roofs of ancient structures were ripped off, walls dissolved, and even the subterranean foundations of the city were torn away.

Before long, the ground itself began to quake. It endured for mere seconds before the entire planet was swallowed.

As the planet was devoured, not a single inhabitant remained visible; they could not survive more than a few seconds once the rift appeared.

The powerful celestials attempted to flee, but they only managed to escape the planet's surface before being dragged into the abyss.

Millions upon millions of such spatial tears were observed across Eden. Many occurred in unpopulated areas.

However, the few that manifested near settlements left zero survivors behind.

Time crumbled into discordance.

An ancient floating city inhabited by a mysterious race possessed exceptional predictive capabilities. They evacuated successfully before a space storm hit their star system.

Now, the city was in a state of jubilation.

From commoners to powerful rank 6 entities, everyone cheered in triumph. They continued to cheer and cheer.

Repeating the same motions again and again.

Eventually, some realized something was wrong. Yet, when they attempted to regain physical control, they failed.

They had encountered a temporal storm, one locked in a recursive loop.

Every resident in the city echoed the same physical actions they performed in those two seconds, perpetually.

As time accelerated, so did their physical movements.

Faster and faster, until their mortal frames could no longer sustain the strain and disintegrated.

Every single inhabitant of the city perished. Their gore and remains were swept up in the temporal storm, left to wither away into nothingness.

The once-magnificent city now stood desolate, fractured and collapsed, as if it had been abandoned for thousands of years.

Life began to mutate uncontrollably.

A potent race known as the Pentonians successfully fled Eden aboard massive starships in search of a new sanctuary.

They were perfectly humanoid, save for a powerful, prehensile tail. This tail possessed immense offensive and defensive capability, attuned to one of the five natural elements.

Given time, they were confident they could establish a new base and return to their former glory.

They stood prepared to face this period of catastrophe for a brighter future and were fortified against any conventional disasters.

The disaster arrived without warning.

Their tails began to grow at an uncontrollable rate. Instead of a body possessing a tail, the tail morphed into the primary existence, with the body becoming a mere appendage.

The tails sapped their vitality, escaped their mental control, and turned to assault their own hosts.

Soon, the tails detached themselves, wandering off independently.

A formidable race was dismantled by its own racial trait.

Death struck recklessly.

Tens of thousands of celestial rank 9s had gathered in a specialized city recently constructed in a small galaxy, far from the reach of Eden.

Securing entry required an astronomical sum, as only rank 9s were permitted.

Stories circulated that a few divine rank 1 entities were monitoring the city. No one could attest to the truth of this until that day.

Until that piercing scream shattered the silence.

"My arm! My arm!"

The energy of a mid-rank 1 divine entity radiated across the metropolis. Yet, more profound than the awe toward his divine status was the sheer terror contained within his cries.

The divine ranker plummeted from his residence, crashing into the sky, desperately trying to escape a torment within. There was no fleeing from what was internal.

"My legs!"

"My heart!"

"Nooo!"

Under the horrified gaze of the observers, his limbs rotted away into dust.

Shortly thereafter, the god-like being simply collapsed and expired.

Simultaneously, thousands of other celestials inexplicably died. There was no catalyst, no logic to it.

Death had simply arrived.

The specialized city succumbed to the panic.

Order was in complete shambles.

A unique mechanical civilization in Nexus had uploaded their consciousness into advanced machines, operating with perfect logic to preserve their 'self'.

They had transcended the limitations of flesh and could download their minds into any physical frame they constructed.

For nearly a million years, they had remained the dominant force in their quadrant.

They consolidated their best minds to form a 'Super Intelligence' capable of calculating the perfectly optimal path for their expansion.

Had it not been for the divine rankers who operated beyond mere 'intelligence', this race might have conquered Nexus or even all of Eden.

This perfectly logical, supremely intelligent race, which had anticipated and braced for the clash between Varian and the God Emperor, was now dying.

In their simulations of extinction, they had accounted for a rogue divine ranker, a massive conspiracy, or a virulent plague.

But none of those factors were present.

The very logic governing their existence was failing. Their machinery ceased functioning, and the laws of physics themselves became erratic. The bedrock upon which they built their civilization was in ruins.

The most horrific part was their integration into the system; they were so deeply embedded that they remained oblivious to the fact that anything had gone wrong.

The hyper-intelligent race collapsed without even comprehending their own end.

Chaos was truly uncontrolled.

Events with impossibly low probabilities were happening everywhere at once.

An advanced civilization had colonized their star system and several adjacent clusters. Because they were so dispersed, they never feared total annihilation.

On their homeworld today, an extremely rare super-volcano erupted. Within seconds, a mega-tsunami struck, followed by a cataclysmic earthquake. Finally, their home star flared, disrupting the celestial mechanics of everything.

Within minutes, their main world was in shambles.

Warning sirens wailed across the other planets. Yet, before any countermeasure could be taken, the trajectories of the planets shifted out of their orbits—a statistical impossibility.

All planets descended into chaotic ruin. A rogue star drifted through their system, further destabilizing their world.

The multi-planetary civilization was eradicated without the slightest chance to defend itself.

Neither the God Emperor nor the Architect had directed these calamities.

However, the sheer immense output of their assaults caused the universal breakdown. Furthermore, even if granted a moment to observe, neither would care.

Most crucially, neither desired a pause. Both were willing to pay any price for victory.

"Good must always prevail."

The God Emperor, draped in silver and gold, stood radiating confidence and absolute conviction.

Facing him stood a man in attire embroidered with bizarre symbols, calculations, and scales.

He appeared as a perfectly ordinary human, though there was an unsettling quality to him.

Was it the eerie gray light he emitted? Was it his eyes, which gleamed with mortal danger?

Or was it the way every motion he made was imbued with the power of the highest laws governing the universe? And the ease with which he manipulated them?

At any other moment, the Architect would be hailed as a divine savior.

But not now. For he was losing! The creator of the universe was clearly failing!

The God Emperor showed no triumph in possessing an advantage born from an unfair engagement.

Just as he anticipated, for whatever reason, the Architect did not seem completely 'healthy'. A sense of fragility permeated his actions, a paleness on his 'face'.

It stood to reason. If he had been fully operational, why wait until the three slivers were fused to awaken?

Had he been given the choice, the Architect would have surely opted to recover completely before dealing with his opponent. Unfortunately for him, the God Emperor had no interest in fairness.

He sought to slay his adversary while he remained weakened. He had managed to corner the Architect at his most vulnerable.

Yet, he remained terrifyingly potent. So strong that the God Emperor was forced to commit everything. Thankfully, he held a decisive edge after utilizing the slivers.

"I underestimated your reach." The Architect conceded.

The God Emperor raised his palm, intent on delivering the killing stroke.

His grand design reached fruition. All that remained was to eradicate this man. Then, he could reshape the universe to his whim.

"There remains no alternative." The Architect raised his hand in response.

The universe hummed in synchronization, answering his call.