MIGHT AS WELL BE OP Chapter 990: ???’s Thoughts-1

In an endless emptiness, devoid of any life and inhabited solely by the entity that transcended all limits of being, a peculiar and hushed assembly took place.

Two forms were visible, seated side by side, staring into the vast, formless void as if searching for something that ultimately revealed nothing. The initial one resembled a human shape, but its core was utterly foreign. It took the form of a sentient black hole, a human-like shadow made from utter darkness, swallowing every hint of light and matter that came near.

Each line of its figure emitted that total blackness, so profound and relentless that it almost insulted the fabric of reality. It represented pure nothingness, a vacuum that had adopted a loose human silhouette.

Beside him to the right was another entity, who might seem human upon initial view, except for the intense aura of power and superiority that enveloped him like an extra layer. His hair gleamed in pure gold, cascading and luminous, perched on his head like a timeless crown shaped from the essence of creation. His eyes also burned gold, though not with any gentleness or compassion. Rather, they flashed with a piercing and domineering force, as if a single glance from him could shatter the multiverse, tearing through all creation and ideas.

They were ??? and Romulus.

Right then, the pair remained in total quiet, but mere quiet failed to capture their state fully. Being speechless seemed too basic for entities of their level. Indeed, could anything in all of reality truly astonish these two?

They had arrived prior to all others, before any existence emerged, even before the First Universe began to form. They had seen the rise and fall of worlds with the indifference of watching changing weather. Astonishment lay forgotten under layers of endless routine. Not even Anthony had caught ??? or Romulus off guard since his rebirth.

Still, one entity had deeply stunned them. That entity was Lucian Darkheart, and the cause of their stun was the power he unleashed: LORDTEE’S Personification.

"Are you certain you were the one who granted him that ability?" Romulus had to inquire, his golden eyes tightening just a bit.

??? stayed quiet for an extended pause, as if even he grappled with processing the event he had observed. "If it was not me, then who else?" he responded at last, his tone steady but laced with an unusual hint. "I simply chose not to examine Lucian’s and Aaaninja’s abilities in detail, in order to keep things interesting. Being all knowing can be quite the burden, after all."

In typical situations, such a reaction would not have gripped them. At worst, they might have felt a slight amusement at the strengths Anthony and his allies displayed. For ???, it served as pure diversion, an epic tale woven for his enjoyment. He had brought Anthony back to life purely from ennui and the endless void of time ahead.

The disturbance now stemmed not from the display of might, but from its roots. They detected that the power Lucian triggered originated from a completely alien source, a domain or origin invisible to both ??? and Romulus. Such a thing defied possibility. ??? existed before all reality; should every creation crumble into total void, he would endure unchanged, apart from every rule, every order, every imaginable aspect of the cosmos.

But to his complete shock, this figure above all rules, above birth and being, had encountered something he failed to follow, to identify, and to control.

’Fourth Wall Breaking: LORDTEE’S Personification,’ ??? pondered quietly, recalling the name of the power Lucian had proclaimed when activating it. That one expression offered ??? and Romulus a hint: the Fourth Wall.

Lucian was not the initial one to touch that alleged fourth wall. To ???, Anthony had sometimes referenced it, frequently citing an entity known as the Author who apparently directed events from the shadows. On each occasion, ??? had brushed off such talk as foolishness, steadfastly declaring that nothing greater surpassed him.

However, for the first instance since before creation's start, ??? experienced uncertainty. A subtle spark, hardly noticeable but certainly there, ignited in his boundless consciousness. Maybe he had erred. At the same time, he might still hold true. Possibly no superior realm existed, and the Fourth Wall that Lucian said he breached was just another facet of his own power, misinterpreted and wrongly named.

Then an idea struck him, one that intensified the enigma instead of clarifying it.

Aaaninja had employed the River Of Time Personification, and the River Of Time without doubt was real. Aaaninja could summon and command that power from his soul because he held understanding of the River Of Time and shared a profound, inherent bond with it.

Following that reasoning, should not Lucian Darkheart have some recognition of this LORDTEE if he managed to personify such an entity?

As if sensing ???’s musings, Romulus gestured lightly with his hand, and ages of Lucian’s existence spread out before them like a revealed scroll. His whole life came into sharp focus, his present incarnation, his prior life prior to rebirth, and even the instant of his return. Even his system stood exposed to their sight, free of any hidden aspects.

Still, neither ??? nor Romulus showed any astonishment at these disclosures. Rebirth was commonplace; it happened naturally across the Multiverse. The system too was no novelty, just a particular artifact given shape and purpose.

Nevertheless, upon sifting through each piece of Lucian’s recollections from both existences, they discovered zilch.

No trace of LORDTEE.

No whispered knowledge.

No forgotten encounter.

Nothing in Lucian’s mind suggested the presence of such an entity. It seemed as if LORDTEE had wiped himself completely from Lucian’s perception, or maybe never entered it at all.

And yet, in a strange twist, ??? could achieve the identical effect. Should anyone probe Anthony’s memories, they would detect no sign of ??? there either. That was simply a natural aspect of his superiority, a built-in veil arising from existing outside conceptual limits.

’Who is this LORDTEE?’ both ??? and Romulus inevitably wondered, their reflections aligning on that one pressing query.

Their attention shifted back to the exact instant when Lucian triggered the power, the golden ray that had come down on him before fading into oblivion. They had failed to pursue its source or endpoint. The enigmatic tome that had appeared before Lucian had also escaped their grasp; they had not glimpsed its exterior, nor sensed what Lucian inscribed inside. To them, it looked empty, lacking any content, as if some invisible power had intentionally blocked their view.

For entities who transcended all-knowing within reality, facing a barrier, even briefly, was more than odd. It was without precedent.