I Have 10,000 SSS Rank Villains In My System Space Chapter 408: Riven and Nancy?

"My brother...?" Nancy whispered softly, her voice hardly above a murmur while her gaze remained glued to Riven’s features, frantically probing for the tiniest flaw in his demeanor that might expose this as just another scheme, another harsh ploy designed to shatter her even more.

Yet his expression stayed utterly serene, kind, and poised. That unyielding composure only twisted something deep within her tighter. Her eyebrows quivered a bit, doubt shining in her eyes, before her mouth formed a feeble, forced grin devoid of any true joy. "You’re... trying to manipulate me... aren’t you?" she murmured, her tone delicate but gripping that final strand of rebellion, as though naming it aloud could shield her from it turning true. Uttering those words drained her, her frame too weary to bear the burden of her racing thoughts, but her spirit held fast to opposition since embracing this... or even pondering it... seemed infinitely scarier than denying it flat out.

Riven showed no response to her charge. No sigh came, no emotional defense, not a trace of annoyance. He merely replied, his voice as steady and factual as before, "It cannot be manipulation... if it is the truth, can it?" His statement was mild, nearly tender, yet it held a subtle decisiveness that rendered it tough to brush aside.

"Because in the end... it stays what it is. A fact." He hovered there, legs folded, palms casually placed, enveloped in that subtle, holy glow that neither advanced nor withdrew, simply being, simply there. And that aura, that rock-solid assurance, bore down on Nancy unlike any power before.

She fell quiet.

Totally quiet.

Her stare never strayed from him, though the rage in it had cracked, splintering into something far more volatile. Her heart yelled at her to disbelieve, to spurn every word from his lips, to cling to her remaining shreds of surety. But her thoughts... her thoughts turned traitor. They probed. They doubted. They sought comprehension. Why utter such a claim? If not a trick, what motive drove him? And supposing... supposing his words held truth... what shifted? If her brother played a part somehow, then why? What benefit arose from it? And crucially... even should her brother spark all this, it altered nothing about her resolve. It wouldn’t make her yield. It couldn’t force acceptance. If possible, it ought to steel her further, sharpen her wariness... fuel her determination to halt it all. So why... why frame it thus? Her ideas knotted together, sluggish and burdensome, her fatigued brain laboring to follow as uncertainty invaded where conviction once reigned.

Riven watched her quietness, and a subtle grin touched his mouth—not taunting, not triumphant, but nearly... perceptive. As though this very response was precisely what he anticipated. He allowed her that quiet a beat longer before resuming, his manner serene, firm, like an instructor clarifying a basic truth.

"You know this universe... this reality we dwell in?" he started, his pitch even and deliberate.

"The realm where every creature... every substance... all that lives and moves... persists and thrives?" His look stayed on her, making sure she tracked, however faintly. "It doesn’t operate haphazardly," he went on. "It lacks chaotic disorder. It operates... on equilibrium." His voice gained a touch of depth, not louder, but weightier. "A fragile equilibrium. One vital for existence to endure."

Nancy’s forehead creased slightly.

"And should that equilibrium tilt... even a fraction," Riven noted, "the fallout isn’t minor. It isn’t contained. It’s devastating." He halted shortly, letting the term sink in before proceeding. "Not merely for one individual... or one species... but for all of existence. Every life within it." His stare held firm. "And at present... that equilibrium wavers."

"Should that wavering go unchecked..." he pressed on evenly, "...the outcome will be ruin beyond your wildest dreams. Not only demise but torment. Agony. Ruin. Countless trillions of lives... wiped out or irreparably damaged." His pitch stayed level, stayed restrained, which somehow amplified its gravity. "And to avert that... reality employs a mechanism."

"The Cosmic Order."

Those terms bore heft surpassing their mere utterance.

"A self-regulating mechanism," Riven clarified, "wherein stability and chaos balance in exact measures. Neither in excess. Precisely right to let form emerge... endure... and stay tangible." His tone eased a fraction. "It forms the core structure preventing reality’s plunge into void." His eyes stayed locked. "And this order... imparts direction. Momentum. Intent. To all within reality."

Nancy heard him out steadily.

"Fate. Destiny. Path," he went on. "Every entity... every occurrence... follows its lead. Not dominated as you might imagine but oriented. Steered toward balance preservation." His manner held steady. "And right now... your brother occupies its core alignment."

Nancy gazed at him..?

"Put simply," Riven stated mildly, "you might call him selected. Favored... by the Cosmic Order itself." A brief lull. "It marks the supreme obligation any entity can bear." He inclined his head a touch. "He now leads this vast existence... to achieve what’s required." His grin stayed gentle. "I can’t disclose all. Rules bar me from it." Another lull. "But this much I can share."

"You," he murmured lowly, "have received a part."

"A fate. A path. A purpose... granted to you... by that identical order." His look gripped hers solidly now. "Due to your brother... Due to his lacking something vital still." His voice dipped. "Insight. Growth. Grasp of suffering. Of grief. Of repercussions." He pronounced each deliberately clear. "And in this world... such lessons come not from talk."

"They come... from living it."

Nancy’s eyes flared subtly, her psyche flinching even as it absorbed his words.

"Without that experience... without that grasp... he’ll never evolve into what the order demands," Riven persisted. "And should that occur... imbalance lingers. Collapse proceeds." His manner stayed serene, yet the undertone deepened. "The course he must tread... Lies already set."

"And your place in that course..." he uttered softly, "...proves crucial."

"The torment destined for you," Riven wrapped up mildly, "...holds no futility. No randomness. It’s required." His gaze bored into hers, unblinking. "Your agony... your conclusion... they advance a goal surpassing us both personally." A short break ensued. "Without it... he learns nothing. And without learning... all crumbles."

His abrupt declaration left Nancy rigid, frozen solid as if he’d struck the very spot her mind had skirted, her pupils quaking visibly while that lone term reverberated in her head—’lesson’—and instantly, unbidden, a recollection surged, vivid and piercing amid her weariness, Razeal’s voice, his inflection, deploying that identical term in near-identical vein, that her fate... served as instruction for another, and then he’d withheld the identity, skimped on details, leaving her puzzled, but now... now with Riven voicing it so plainly, so evenly, so absolutely, it linked up, and that epiphany slammed her fiercer than prior revelations, for she now grasped—or was informed—that it tied to her brother, to Areon, everything endured, everything compelled, bound to him, and briefly, her notions whirled wildly, colliding in unformed queries—why? why must her brother absorb such a harsh truth? what lesson warranted such brutality? what system exacted such perversion? and vitally...

What profit did the world reap? Was this truly fate... or mere fabrication? Did this vaunted Cosmic Order not merely dupe her... but ensnare him as well? The notion choked her, yet eerily, it clarified too much, worsening it, for prior she’d deemed it solely her ordeal, her solitary plunge into horror, unbearable enough, but now...

realizing her brother might entwine in it, unwittingly yoked to this mechanism, his existence and prospects molded by uncontrollable forces—it birthed fresh dread, piercing beyond her pain, her bosom constricting as anxiety and concern flooded her, her mind sprinting to parse it, to refute it, to shield him mentally, yet outwardly she masked it, compelling her face to hold steady as possible, for she recognized one truth: she required more details, needed to fathom his claims before responding, since hasty reaction... could forfeit the shot at truth, be it what it may.

Riven, noting her hush, her immobility, the subtle shift in her eyes despite her veil, pressed on seamlessly, his pitch serene yet laced with subdued gravity now, "And this explains why... fleeing your duty is misguided," he stated, eyes fixed on her, "for his route... the one ordained... isn’t merely vital, it’s indispensable," he paused fleetingly, allowing its heft to land, "it’s critical for cosmic equilibrium itself," his voice stayed mild, but the intent lacked mercy, "his fate stands inscribed for existence’s broader steadiness, and should he falter on that route... fail to absorb his lessons... it won’t just touch him, it’ll shatter the full Cosmic Order,"

"Should that unfold..." Riven went on, "...the repercussions won’t be trivial," his stare held fast, "all reality will endure agony," he declared straightforwardly, sans theatrics, sans hype, "for he’ll never know suffering, never know bereavement, and lacking that... he’ll never forge into his destined self," his tone dipped a notch, more purposeful, "and absent that... he can’t guide, can’t enact his Cosmic Order role,"

"Trillions upon trillions of lives..." Riven appended softly, "...doomed to vanish," his look eased marginally, though composure endured, "a figure past your comprehension."

"Pfft...?" The noise slipped out abruptly before she could halt it, faint, raspy, brimming with incredulity, and then, despite her state, despite her shattered form, Nancy coaxed a tiny, sour laugh, nodding her head weakly as she eyed him, her gaze sharpening anew, "You truly expect me to swallow this...?" she uttered, voice quivering yet spiked with mockery, "At least craft a superior tale... this lacks logic," she breathed raggedly, bosom heaving irregularly, "Trillions dying? The full Cosmic Order hinges on my brother?" her mouth quirked into near-sneer amid frailty, "A sixteen-year-old boy? Still innocent, brimming with arrogance? All he seeks is to dazzle our mother, earn her notice, her approval?" her pitch edged keener despite exhaustion..

"And you claim that soul... that lone figure... dictates universal equilibrium?" she released another frail puff, near a scoff, bereft of mirth..

"And the cosmos demands him for stability? Else trillions perish?" she nodded weakly once more, "Who’d credit such drivel...?"

Riven displayed no reaction... Not a flicker.

No vexation.. No ire.

Just that identical serene, poised insight, as if her skepticism was foreseen, as if it marked her most fitting reply, and truly... it did, and he recognized it.

"It might sound implausible," he replied evenly, "yet that doesn’t render it false," his eyes stayed constant, watching sans critique, "have you heard of the butterfly effect?" he queried abruptly, manner veering subtly—not sharper, but redirecting, like leading her to an idea over imposing acceptance.

Nancy offered no spoken reply.

She merely regarded him.

Expectant? Clearly she hadn’t..

Riven proceeded, "It posits that even the tiniest deed... apparently trivial... can spark outcomes vastly exceeding foresight," he articulated deliberately, word by word crisp, "for instance... a butterfly’s wingbeat at your realm’s border... might trigger events culminating in a tempest, a catastrophe, in the heartland... weeks or months hence," he paused briefly, letting the vision take root, "A minuscule trigger... yielding a massive result," his look honed faintly, "thus operate cosmic systems,"

Nancy’s brows flickered subtly, face hardening as she absorbed, "and when the Cosmic Order fixates on one... centers upon them..." Riven pursued, "...those cascades turn unavoidable," his pitch held firm, "note, raw might isn’t key," he inserted, "might can be bestowed, boosted, magnified endlessly," his voice conveyed hushed conviction, "but essence... cannot," Nancy’s gaze wavered briefly, "the order selects not by might," he affirmed, "but by potential growth... by the journey they can navigate," his stare clung to hers, "your brother may appear ordinary to you presently," he conceded, "but that’s beside the point," his manner unaltered.

"For his fate concerns not his current self... but his future evolution,"

"He’s fated to ascend past your present sight," Riven pressed, "past even what you deem godly," his voice stayed serene, but import intensified..

"One day... he’ll tower over gods themselves," Nancy’s pupils quivered anew,

"And believe it or dismiss it," he appended gently, "this cosmos’s tomorrow... hinges on him."

"Via him," Riven pursued, "existence’s equilibrium restores." His voice held steady. "Peace... steadiness... harmony... for ages ahead."

"And why trust your claims?" Nancy burst suddenly, voice frail yet edged with defiance, head wagging faintly despite neck’s ache as she compelled her stare to him, denying his poise any further sway over her mind..

"First, none of it rings true... and second, zero cause exists to credit you at all," her breaths ragged anew, yet she persisted doggedly..

"Suppose I grant you’re truthful, suppose my brother ties into this... how do you know?" Her brows knit, glare constricting with ire and doubt, "This ’Cosmic Order’, ’destiny’, ’balance’—what’s it mean? If I’m chained to some cosmic task too? Why not tell me straight? Why no direct word from this ’cosmos’? Shouldn’t it echo in my thoughts? Or Akashvani or whatever?.." Her tone fractured faintly, but fury endured...

"Why do you grasp it all... while I’m blind? Where’s evidence? Where’s reckoning? What you claim..." she huffed sharply, lips clamping, "...strikes me as utter rubbish." Her whole visage screamed denial—not just his speech, but the notion wholesale, as if yielding any fragment meant forfeiting her final grip on agency.

Riven merely sustained his mild, serene smile as though her outburst was scripted, her ire a foreseen phase, and he inclined his head minutely, nearly diverted, "That’s not its method," he replied in unchanged poise, voice firm and nigh indulgent..

"The Cosmic Order requires no notifications, no consents," his gaze clung steadfast, resolute yet unpressing, "If it decrees... it unfolds," he added, "No evidence proffered. No rationales given. No defenses mounted," his grin lingered, backed by tacit assurance now,

"For none is needed." He tipped his head faintly, like querying sans awaiting reply, "Do you suppose any... could defy it? Should they resent its verdict?" His pitch avoided scorn, yet implied subtly her pushback dwarfed against his portrayal.

Nancy’s mouth sealed firm, face stiffening, psyche still spurning him, hunting gaps in his reasoning, clutching her own logic, yet... one query pierced through, overriding all, and ere she checked it, she voiced, "Does my brother know?" Her tone hushed now, softer barbs, yet resolute, probing.

"No," Riven shot back instantly, sans pause, serene grin intact, "He doesn’t... nor requires to."

Nancy blinked softly, brows furrowing afresh as bafflement blended ire, "Wow..." she breathed faintly, a wry huff slipping free, "The figure set to helm this grand order... remains oblivious?" She met his eyes squarely again, glare narrowing slightly des