Divine Path System Chapter 1768: Destruction of Universe

A short while ago, Varian deduced a few theories regarding the origin and the Architect.

It appeared the Architect lacked absolute dominion over the origin. Otherwise, he would have easily eradicated his rivals instead of resorting to the tedious process of destroying the primordial god's corpse to annihilate the Heaven tribe.

This theory proved accurate, clearly corroborated by the Architect's constrained rank 3 strength.

He further hypothesized that the Architect held a mere fraction of the origin, wielding it as leverage to manipulate the entire cosmos.

Why did he possess such certainty?

When even a tiny fragment of the origin is severed, the entire entity begins to wither.

Just as Aurora perished from a minor injury to her origin, the universe was similarly dying, with the void expanding with each passing day.

The principle is identical!

And there was a facet he only grasped now—why did the fusion of slivers expedite this decay?

The origin serves as the fundamental wellspring of the universe, encompassing both paths and the slivers. Essentially, they are all intertwined. One component can influence another through the medium of the origin.

As individual slivers merge, they attain greater proximity to the origin than they held apart.

Therefore, any impact, whether benevolent or malicious, ripples through the origin, which in turn influences everything else.

When any two slivers fuse, they perturb the origin, thereby magnifying the existing fracture caused by the absence of the harmony path and hastening total collapse.

The harmony path—implanted within this missing piece of origin—was the true core of the Architect's power.

It is his stranglehold on the universe. It explains how he could imbed his gaze within Varian's soul and remain obscured from the slivers.

Without even directly touching the origin, the consequences of the harmony path—or its deficiency—could be witnessed across the universe, which exhibited a natural bias toward it.

"That explains this destiny of mine, as I command the order and chaos slivers—I have touched the harmony path.

It has been connected to me via Logos all this time, yet I remained blind to it until this very moment."

Varian murmured, witnessing the third path ignite within his origin.

The space-time continuum fractured around him, signaling the advent of the Architect's assault.

However, he no longer relied on passive defense; this time, Varian struck back.

The universe plunged into darkness before being consumed by a blinding, celestial brilliance.

The Architect grimaced as he stared at his bleeding finger.

It was a minor wound, yet it represented a monumental shift—Varian had transitioned from defensive posturing to actively piercing the Architect's defenses!

The God Emperor attempted to mimic Varian's feat. Having learned of the harmony path, he reasoned that he, too, should be capable of such a strike!

He failed.

He possessed only abstract knowledge of the path. He had not experienced it; he had not felt the resonance. He lacked the profound intimacy Varian held with the origin and Logos.

Merely hearing that gravity exists does not grant one mastery over the path of gravity.

Similarly, understanding the existence of harmony did not bestow the power of harmony upon the God Emperor.

This contrast laid bare the chasm between him and Varian—a truth he had desperately tried to ignore.

The God Emperor's thoughts turned turbulent.

No, this is impossible. Why does he outmatch me in every category? Why?

Clenching his fists, the God Emperor declared, "We must neutralize him immediately! Should we coordinate our efforts, he stands no chance."

The Architect nodded. "Even with the harmony path, he may counter one of us, but never both."

"Who claimed my arsenal ended with the harmony path?" Varian scoffed, snapping his fingers.

Hortus manifested behind him.

The God Emperor was initially bewildered, but his own words from moments earlier echoed back, chilling his soul.

If Hortus could consume the universe, you could indeed defeat me. Not just me, you might even stand a chance against the Architect.

But not even the primordial gods could force it to devour the universe—how could you?

Varian faced the stern Architect. "The primordial gods failed to make Hortus devour the universe for two distinct reasons.

First, the immense stability of the universe. But now, it is crumbling, thanks to your relentless efforts.

Second, the total absence of the harmony path.

In other words—"

"Silence!" The Architect lunged.

"Devour!"

The entire universe quaked as space-time warped.

Acting like a cosmic black hole, Hortus began to consume the fabric of existence.

As its master, Varian felt his own power surge uncontrollably.

This was when he faced the most ferocious assault yet.

The God Emperor banished Hortus into the Void and erected a space-time seal.

When it attempted to return, it only managed half the journey. In essence, it was effectively severed!

The Architect then applied the scale upon Varian and Hortus.

Hortus, having consumed a fragment of the universe before being exiled, was saturated with chaos.

That sheer volume of chaos was now measured against Varian through the balance, inducing a state of absolute, rigid order within his physical form.

His fluid thoughts stalled, his movements became mechanical, and he was forced to act like a logical puppet under the Architect's command.

Hortus and the God Emperor exchanged glances, relieved to have finally neutralized the wildcard.

Had they hesitated, it would have been too late.

"You savored the taste of hope, now drown in despair." Varian chuckled.

Because Hortus was trapped and unable to feast autonomously, Varian acted as the conduit.

The universe twisted and surged into him, flowing through his being to reach Hortus.

Although the God Emperor had banished Hortus to the Void, even he could not sever the tether between it and Varian.

Varian's maneuver simultaneously negated both their attacks.

He permitted Hortus to continue consuming the universe, sustaining its explosive growth trajectory.

He allowed so much 'universe' to permeate his spirit, generating intense chaos within his body and soul.

The balance worked in his favor now, weighing Varian against Hortus.

Because his inner chaos was vast, it naturally triggered order within Hortus, allowing it to rapidly assimilate the devoured fragments. This, in turn, fueled Varian’s growth even faster.

However, there was a heavy cost.

Varian was under agonizing pressure. He stood on the precipice of total fragmentation.

The Architect recognized this as the battle's climax. If he eased his pressure, Varian would surely undo the banishment and recall Hortus.

With proximity restored, Varian's strength would skyrocket, allowing Hortus to gorge on the universe at an ever-accelerating rate, making him unstoppable.

It was a cyclical trap that left no room for error.

They had to destroy him before he could turn the tide.

The only solution was to escalate the balance—forcing even more chaos into Varian and more order into Hortus.

Granted, Hortus would digest faster and grow stronger, but Varian would be compelled to absorb more of the universe than his vessel could contain, eventually exploding.

The Architect and the God Emperor did not trade words, yet they locked onto the strategy, wagering everything on Varian's collapse.

Varian, meanwhile, wagered everything on himself!