Previously on Global Gods : Skill-Resonance Awakened...
Sunny navigates the void, searching for fallen gods and a way to dismantle the negation domain. Meanwhile, Lady Sansa confronts her treacherous fiancé, Verion, who poisoned her and caused her sister's death. To protect Sunny and stall Verion, Sansa secures a year's delay before allowing outsiders into her inner world.
Within the Real Void, it's an unshakeable decree that the inner cosmos of a Nihilium royal isn't merely a void of space, but a living embodiment of their creator's very soul. The universe contained within acts as a mirror; the celestial bodies are formed by their will, and the oceanic currents are swayed by their moods. For this reason, before a royal is ever granted permission to forge their inner domain, they must undergo centuries of emotional discipline. They are instructed that a single surge of uncontrolled fury can trigger supernovae, and a moment of profound sorrow can inundate entire civilizations with perpetual rainfall. Sansa, possessing an inherently nurturing disposition, had cultivated an inner world of extraordinary beauty and benevolence. Her deities were compassionate protectors, and her mortals dwelled in a state of blessedness. Yet, even she harbored a reserve of ruthlessness; a frigid, sharp edge reserved solely for safeguarding her kin. It was this minute fragment of darkness that permitted the emergence of malevolence and conflict within her realm, furnishing the essential friction for advancement. Verion, conversely, was an entity of deliberate wickedness. His inner world was a tableau of predatory doctrines and infernal hierarchies. His demon rulers were mere extensions of his personal avarice. Nevertheless, even Verion possessed a semblance of self-regard, a distorted affection for that which belonged to him. This solitary, self-serving glimmer was the sole reason some of his demons were not utterly mindless instruments of slaughter; they possessed just sufficient structure to guarantee their own persistence. Sunny, however, had never undergone this rigorous tutelage. He was a Sovereign who had leaped over the formal initiation of the Nihilium, catapulted into his position by the sheer impetus of his rapid growth. At present, Sunny was a maelstrom of untamed, unbridled sentiment. He was engulfed by a searing fury directed at the Domain of Negation and the covert mastermind behind it. He experienced a ponderous, stifling anguish for the countless Old Gods who were decaying into mortality within the shadows. And underlying it all, he perceived the biting chill of terror, a primal panic for his own existence. He remained oblivious that these very emotions were currently ravaging his inner world like a tempest. Across the fifty billion worlds of the sub-realm, the firmament had adopted a bruised, wrathful purple hue. The seas churned restlessly, and the winds shrieked with a cadence resembling a lament. The billions of autonomous worlds, yet to be assimilated into Anohara's dominion, were seized by an irrational, escalating disquiet. Uprisings erupted in the thoroughfares of civilizations that had enjoyed peace for a millennium. The populace lived in a state of perpetual apprehension, convinced that a war of utter annihilation was impending. They were unaware of the source of their dread; they were merely responding to the prevailing Sentiment of the Matriarch. Yet, even amidst their panic, the lifeforms performed the act ingrained since the dawn of time: they directed their gaze toward the heavens. Throughout fifty billion worlds, a synchronized, resonant chorus of supplication began to ascend. Billions upon quadrillions of souls knelt, their pleas for tranquility and sanctuary converging into a solitary conceptual current. This immense tide of Faith commenced its inundation of Sunny's soul-core. The figures were beyond comprehension. Approximately seventy percent of this Faith surged directly into Sunny as the Supreme Sovereign. An additional thirty percent was disseminated amongst the other Deities of the Pantheon, but owing to the Imperial Protection Pact that Sunny had enacted, a further twenty-five percent of their allocation was redirected to him as a cosmic levy. As the Deities in the outer void continued their conquest of new multiverses and their integration into the System, the generation of Faith intensified. Within a mere span of days, Sunny's repository had swelled beyond the Quintillion threshold. "One quintillion Faith Points," Sunny articulated in a whisper, his physical form quaking in the darkness. "That is the cost for the seventeenth Clone." He paused. If he were able to manifest a seventeenth soul-clone, he could deploy it as a scout to pinpoint the origin of the negation or as a beacon to guide the other Deities to safety. However, the Domain of Negation was an insatiable entity. Should he release that essence to forge a new clone, there was a substantial probability the domain would simply absorb the Faith before the clone could achieve stability. If the reserve dipped even infinitesimally below a quintillion during the procedure, the entire expenditure would vanish without a trace. "I cannot risk the people's prayers on a mere whim," Sunny reflected, his determination solidifying. "I must first locate the core of this encroaching darkness." Abruptly, his form was engulfed in a resplendent, violet radiance. For a single, magnificent, crystal-clear second, the Domain of Negation fractured. The link to his sixteen clones was instantaneously re-established. His divine vision blazed to life, revealing the vast expanse of empty void stretching for billions of miles. He sensed his innate abilities; his Divine Eyes, his Affinity for Time, his Void Step; all thrumming with latent power. And then, as swiftly as it had materialized, it dissipated. The darkness surged back, more profound and oppressive than before, slamming shut the gateway to his divinity.
"W-what was that?" Sunny gasped, his lungs burning.
Had he been prepared, he could have utilized that single second to expand time, transforming that mere heartbeat into centuries of subjective experience. He might have surveyed the entire sphere, located every fallen God, and pinpointed the Beyonder's core. But he was blindsided.
"Was it a glitch in this domain? Or is someone... is someone aiding me from beyond?"
He pressed onward with invigorated determination. A day later, the spectacle recurred. His body emanated a glow, but this time, the sensation differed. Instead of regaining his talents, his pores started excreting a dense, tar-like black substance. It carried the aroma of sulfur and ancient decay, contaminating the surrounding void.
"Impurities?" Sunny mused, observing the black sludge drifting away from him. "Is the darkness attempting to consume me, or am I expelling the negation's influence?"
The silence offered no answers. Over the subsequent days, he encountered several more congregations of fallen Gods. He replicated his ritual, touching their foreheads and channeling a minuscule fraction of his quintillion-point Faith reserve to kindle their latent sparks.
He had now assisted millions—a mere drop in the vast ocean of billions trapped—yet their united gratitude served as a secondary propellant, nourishing his soul with a Faith that began to counteract the domain's oppressive force.
Then, it happened once more. The third illumination.
This time, Sunny was primed. The instant he sensed the Hinges of Reality creak, he did not hesitate. He did not question.
He expended ten quadrillion Faith points in a millisecond, coercing the single second of stability to extend. Within his perception, the world ground to a near standstill. He unleashed his Divine Eyes, pushing the golden-violet light to its utmost capacity.
The encroaching darkness receded like scorched parchment. He beheld them—the countless Old Gods, dispersed like cosmic dust across the immense sphere.
He witnessed the very edges of reality fracturing under the corrosive pressure of the negation. And then, he saw it.
At the heart of the domain resided an entity that defied all description. It was no being of flesh or arcane energy. It was an abyss torn within the fabric of existence itself, a humanoid silhouette sculpted from absolute Nothingness. It was enthroned upon a seat of stars, its gaze—if such could be attributed—fixed directly upon Sunny.
The entity remained motionless, yet Sunny perceived a conceptual scrutiny that caused his very soul to tremble. This was no mere beast of the void; it was a harbinger from the Great Void beyond, a sentinel of ultimate entropy.
And it was stirring.
With a slow, deliberate grace, the entity ascended from its celestial throne. Each movement it made sent ripples of expansion through the Domain of Negation. It was not solely pursuing him; it advanced to obliterate the very concept of the Cosmos.
"It's staring at me," Sunny whispered, his heart pounding against his ribs like an ensnared bird. "It was anticipating my powers awakening so it could sample them.... Or perhaps even this entity underestimated my ability to shatter its negation."
The fleeting second of stability concluded. The darkness crashed back, eclipsing everything, but the image of that horrifying entity was indelibly seared into Sunny's consciousness. He felt his pulse roaring in his ears. The fear had dissipated, supplanted by a chilling, primal instinct for survival.
"Can I flee?" he queried himself. His eyes darted towards the exit's presumed direction, but the grim truth was undeniable. If he fled, the entity would inevitably pursue him into the broader cosmos, exploiting him as a conduit to annihilate Sansa's world.
He was the linchpin. His failure meant absolute ruin for all.
"One quintillion Faith points," Sunny declared, his eyes blazing with a dark, resolute luminescence even within the oppressive negation. "I had intended to utilize them to locate the source. Well... the source has found me instead."
He ceased his aimless drifting. He anchored his feet within the formless void and stood his ground, awaiting what was to come. He could sense the entity's approach, a profound coldness that rendered the absolute zero of the void akin to a balmy summer's day.
"You seek to devour me?" Sunny challenged the encroaching darkness. "Then come. I carry an entire inner world behind me, and every soul within believes I am incapable of death."
Far removed in the Real Void, Sansa felt her own inner world convulse. She witnessed the heavens erupt in a blinding, golden radiance. Though unaware of the specifics, she experienced an overwhelming surge of hope that finally stemmed her tears.
"He is not running," she breathed, her voice thick with profound reverence. "He is confronting it."
Deep within the oppressive darkness, the metallic clicking intensified, growing alarmingly louder. The Beyonder was now mere inches away. Sunny closed his eyes, his hands igniting with the resplendent golden fire of a quintillion fervent prayers.
