1 A single ripple disturbs the sea

Anima stood clutching her newborn son in a pocket of compressed space far removed from her own Universe. Contempt permeated her gaze as she glared at the monstrous spectral figure clad in a cloak of crimson stars that had abducted her to this realm.

There was nothing more dangerous than a woman hell-bent on protecting her child, except for the man floating above her who could destroy entire planets using the vibrations of his voice alone.

"I have no recollection of consenting to the conception of this child. Every single aspect of existence, be it living or conceptual in this world is a product of my Dao, to exist without my knowledge is to rebel against my will. This irregularity will be erased from my world. Give me the child and I will not eradicate your entire Universe," Primordial Blue hissed. With a single thought, he willed into existence a supermassive black hole that seemed to expand and rotate endlessly.

Yet, nothing was swallowed by the massive spiral of destruction. Primordial Blue had not yet given it the order to consume.

Indeed the child Anima birthed was an irregularity that should not exist. He was born from a virgin mother whose womb was cursed to be infertile for eternity. And yet one day a faint kicking sensation in her stomach made her realize that she was indeed carrying a child. It truly was a short-lived miracle.

For Anima, who had grown up an orphan, the thought of finally having someone she could call family was more fulfilling than any secret technique or unique insight into the laws that governed reality. Countless other experts had accomplished such things.

"I cannot," Anima protested with tears running down her face. She thought of the countless friends she had met along her journey to immortality that would perish because of her selfishness. She could not deliver the only family member she had ever known to his certain death. In her heart, a tinge of sadness was even extended towards the countless people who had wronged her in the past. They too would suffer for something out of their control.

"Then I shall return you and your child to nothingness. It is a shame Anima. You were my most beautiful creation." Primordial Blue clenched his fist tightly as though he was wrapping it around the throat of the universe and slowly choking it into a deep permanent sleep.

Anima's body began dissipating at an alarming rate. It started at her feet and quickly worked its way up her slender figure. Despite the pain that coursed throughout the remaining parts of her body she did not cry out or scream for fear of waking her son. It was near impossible to coax him back to sleep once he woke up.

Without her legs, she fell forward almost crushing her child before he had begun to be devoured by the nothingness. She contorted her body gracefully to land on her back. To her surprise, her son showed no signs of the pain she was experiencing. He opened his brilliant gray eyes and looked up at his mother and smiled a toothless smile.

"Perhaps death isn't so bad as long as we get to be together," Anima whispered into his ear. By this point, she could hardly be called a living being. The Celestial Dowery that had protected her all this time was in tatters. Her torso, arms, and head were all that remained of her once beautiful figure.

"Do you see now Anima? The child is not of this world. Destroying your universe has not affected him in the slightest. Unlike yourself who cannot continue to exist without a place to call home," Primordial Blue walked slowly but with purpose towards Anima, "Worry not. I will fulfill your dying wish and send him to join you once you cease to be."

A primordial torrent of cyan Qi began to flow out from his right hand. It coalesced high above Anima and her son into a shadowy image not too unlike a sword, only much larger and far more sinister.

"Heavens fall!" He simply slashed his finger in a downward arc and down the sword came. Crushing anything in its path.

There was no trace of Anima or the son.

All of this takes some time to explain but the destruction of her universe happened instantly without a sound or a flash. A billion poor souls had just been extinguished never even realizing what had just occurred. In the end, just as it had begun, only Primordial Blue resided within this portion of space and time.