FATE

The man ensured that Stare had swallowed every drop of liquid from the test tube before tossing it aside and releasing the pressure of his aura and the handshake that had restrained Stare.

"Finally, we're done," the man exclaimed with happiness as he meticulously brushed off his clothes and hands.

"Humph! So much drama for just taking a dose of Algos... the kid almost makes it seem like we're acting in some melodramatic scene," the man muttered, casting Stare a brief displeased glance.

On the other hand, Stare slowly recovered from the pressure, his emerald eyes appearing dull and lifeless as he ran his hands over his neck and then into his mouth, his movements infused with a sense of hopelessness.

Countless thoughts raced through Stare's mind at this moment.

even with all the efforts he had put to avoid this, he still…ended up here.

Earth was no longer safe with him around. He didn't... He didn't want to be like this; all he ever wanted was to live free.

Stare's gaze slowly shifted back toward the man, who was also staring at him. He felt the urge to say so many things, but in the end, all he could muster was:

"What…what have you done?"

The man didn't appear to understand what he meant, merely gazing on with a confused expression. However, Stare didn't seem to be bothered by that at that point.

All he felt in that moment was rage.

Steadying his hands and legs, he stood up, fists clenched and teeth gritted, intending to launch himself toward the man who remained in the same spot, clearly confused.

He didn't care whether the man before him was a Prime or not. At that point, it didn't matter if the man was capable of taking his life with just casual movements.

However before Stare could cover a considerable distance between the two and attempt an attack, he suddenly collapsed to the floor, clutching his stomach in pain, then the rest of his body.

A brief expression of confusion crossed his face before it was entirely replaced by one of intense pain.

He couldn't understand what was going on.

Had he…had he actually been poisoned?

Stare quickly glanced back at the man, who now wore his signature wide smile as he observed Stare, who was already kneeling from the pain, gritting his teeth. Stare's hands frantically rubbed and grabbed his body in anguish.

This was definitely among the most excruciating pain he had ever experienced in all his cycles, and he had endured quite a lot. It felt as though his body was being engulfed in flames repeatedly while simultaneously being stretched and pierced all over.

'This bastard actually…'

Feeling so much pain to even think properly, Stare could only grit his teeth and look onto the man with even more hateful and murderous intent.

Just then a thought ran through his mind.

What if in the end this was for the best?

This was probably the safest solution to avoiding the Oracle's Path.

He had actually been avoiding this option as he also had a selfish desire of actually living this time in this cycle without being influenced completely by some supreme being.

However if he wanted to keep Earth safe, if he really wanted to preserve the legacy of all those ones he once held dear and the ones he holds dear now, this was the safest…best way.

Who knew what would happen if he died now.

Would he get sent back to the Oracle's plane with memories wiped out, or would it just dump him as a failed product or be sent to some other planet as its Dyyx.

As Stare was still immersed in these thoughts, the pain that had been consuming him for what felt like hours, to the point where he could already feel himself nearing death, suddenly vanished without a single lingering trace.

Confused, Stare slowly rose from the floor, where he had already begun rolling in immense pain. He then gazed at the strange man, who still wore his signature smile.

"I'm still alive?" he asked, while continuing to check himself.

The strange man, on the other hand, wore a peculiar expression upon hearing Stare's question.

""Of course, you're alive. Algos doesn't do the killing thing…" What? You think it's called Algos for show? The pain is only a sign that you've actually awakened."

"...Congratulations. You've become a Prime... Well, at least you're very close to truly becoming one. To think you actually passed the test and awakened. I knew there was something special about you," the man said with a proud nod, his signature smile returning to his face.

On the other hand, Stare didn't continue with his previous "tantrum" anymore and simply looked quietly at the man.

He couldn't tell if it was the close-death pain he just experienced or the fact that in the end he could not really stop the fact he had already activated the Oracle's Path aside maybe dying or the fact that there was barely anything he could really do to the Prime before him, no matter the eons of combat knowledge he had accumulated with every cycle he had lived, with his current physical state he couldn't do much.

Plus there was also the fact that the man before him might actually not know anything about the Oracle's Path or even the Oracle itself and was likely unknowingly set up as one of its pawns to achieve this outcome.

This was even more plausible considering similar cases that had occurred in the past. It seemed as though each of them were mere puppets, their strings controlled by a single entity, or actors coerced to adhere to a particular script, regardless of its nature, with the Oracle serving as the director of it all.

Thinking about this, Stare could only feel more helpless about his situation, it felt like he was fighting a battle that had already been predestined to fail.

The Oracle was basically fate, the fate of everything and everyone including him and no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't come up with a way to outsmart this fate.