The true essence of Kai's Reality Marble (1)

Oxycron, the virus that had brought doom to Kai's original world.

Nothing could come close to the annihilation caused by that virus. The more Kai learned, his knowledge advancing beyond the common logic, the better he understood the sheer absurdness of that virus.

And, yes. The hopelessness of humanity. That, too, he had come to learn soon enough.

The true disaster hadn't lied in the mutation it had brought into the beasts and flora and fauna. It had lied in the rate at which the human species had succumbed to its evil might.

In only years, just enough to call them "overnight", over 90% of the population had melted away in the river of time.

Researches said that the disappearance of only 20% of the human population in those times could collapse civilization, bringing the world to its knees. One couldn't even properly imagine the consequences of this number becoming 90%.

Only later did the ancient blood essence cultivators discover the miraculous power of blood residing within the mutated beasts. If it wasn't for that, humanity had all but gone extinct.

It was due to this that even after hundreds of years, only a projection of the past had survived.

And this projection was dominated by the hints of two civilizations — European and Chinese.

Kai's original world had incorporated the dwindling shadows of these two civilizations. Where the pieces of European civilization prevailed among the common people, letting them create a new life centered on it, the ashes of Chinese civilizations got fully assimilated by the blood essence cultivators, hoping to reach the Divine.

Even during Kai's childhood, exploring and finding the vanished civilizations was daring, but the most sought-after, passion. With Kai's lifestyle and the burden on his shoulders, he had enjoyed no freedom in selecting his passions, leaving him unknown to those explorations.

This was a major reason for Kai to invest a significant amount of time in reading about the civilizations on earth after his reincarnation in the Harry Potter World. There was no knowing how things were in his original world before the apocalypse, but it did allow him to broaden his horizons.

And Kai was a scientist first, a killer second. That certain circumstances had overturned these priorities was another matter altogether.

It was because of these historical reasons that Kai's thinking process leaned heavily toward Chinese concepts over cultivation aspects.

It was because of these reasons that Kai couldn't recall what the word "Godai" meant, only recognizing its Japanese origin. He was still learning and not much time had passed since he had gotten substantial time to allot it to these secondary things.

And it was also because of these reasons when the Sword Spirit flicked its hand, changing the color of the sky, Kai's heart trembled at the sight it brought to his eyes later.

The sky of the Reality Marble, Limitless Blood Firmament, was dull, gray, and silent. Or it had been so a few moments ago.

Not anymore.

Night, the blackest, vilest, and evilest of all, had descended upon the blood world. It was as if one was looking into the vastness of space, the darkest hidden secrets of unknown existences. And as one kept looking at this darkened sky, one felt a stirring in their soul, as if they would crumble in the very next moment.

This night hadn't come alone, though.

It had brought pressure with itself. This pressure was greater than anything. This pressure restricted space and time, the flow of Mana and Breath, and the entire world.

It was so for Moraine the Elegant, who had regained consciousness a while ago. Now, she was struggling to look up at the Night, her mouth hung open and her eyes stunned.

It was so for Red Sun, the top-level 9th-floor Contestant. The fluctuations about his appearance had receded, but his knees were pressed deep into the blood layer. His neck was craned up, his eyes feeling the might of the Night through the amber-colored glasses.

And it was so for Shadow Lord, the existence just a touch above the 9th-floor strength, as well.

The tall and powerful Pirate Lord was still backing up, grabbing Cersei's head, when he suddenly paused. Shadows churned about him, around him, and yet, the Night forced him to look at it, its unsaid command suffocating all the defying thoughts.

It was then the Sword Spirit pointed at this Night with its right hand, its clawed finger stabbing into the sky.

And the Night lit up.

A star appeared in the sky, shining and twinkling white and blue. It was very far, almost resting above the horizon. With this star, the three Shadow Creatures, who were fighting it out with giant Koffing, Golduck, and Dementor, completely shattered, melting into the blood ocean.

This star tolerated no such foul beings in its presence.

Then the Sword Spirit pointed once more, to the right of this star, but closer.

Another star appeared, and Moraine's head banged into the blood layer. Only when the Wings of Grim Butterfly sprouted on her back and fluttered did she find the strength to resist the building pressure.

For Kai, nothing but those two stars existed.

The yellow-haired being pointed two more times in succession. One left and the other right, each closer to them in the sky than the last.

The Wings of Grim Butterfly shattered, the amber-colored glasses on Red Sun's face fell apart, and the howling shadows around Shadow Lord went quiet.

Four stars twinkled in the sky, white hues fusing with the blues.

The Sword Spirit's exaggeratedly long arm blurred, then. Suddenly, it pointed four times, and four more stars appeared in the sky.

Boom!

Red Sun's body almost shattered, blood splattering everywhere. Shadow Lord dropped, touching the silent blood ocean for the first time. The moment he landed, his knees buckled, his old eyes never leaving the sight of the eight stars as if… as if he could see a meaning in it.

Strangely, Moraine's body was still intact, and a reddish-black fog was seeping out of her heart, canceling the immeasurable pressure.

Kai still cared for nothing.

He looked at the stars, the eight points of light. His hazel pupils just couldn't shift away from them.

The Sword Spirit's arm then lifted, outstretching all the way up and beyond.

The last place it pointed at wasn't the sky, though.

It had pointed at the hole in the sky.

Kai's heart shuddered as he saw a star appearing at the center of that hole, blood falling out of it in a continuous stream. However, it wasn't the star itself that had stunned Kai so.

It was its color.

Yellow; the color he hated, yet deeply fated with him; sinister, strange, and taboo.

This pale yellow star was neither to Kai's right nor to his left. Just as the hole in the sky felt like it was right above the gray pillar, in the same way, this star was shining above Kai's head.

With this ninth star, the collection of these stars began to look like a constellation.

The moment Kai's eyes reflected this constellation in its entirety, words rang up in his mind, forcing the memory of a concept into his heart.

The stars seemed to become an abstruse outline of a tree, so vast that it had covered the entire sky. And the crown of its tree was the pale yellow star, shining sickly at the center of the hole in the sky.

-The Tree of Life!- Kai hissed, remembering a concept taught by Item-M, for it was deeply related to a Random World he wanted to visit. -But… where's the tenth star?!-

Item-M couldn't tell him much, as even the Trade Market had only limited knowledge of it without investing millions of millions of Mission Credits.

The concept of Tree of Life was spread across the Multiverse, but it was much more prominent in the world of Fullmetal Alchemist. It was known to be related to the essence of Alchemy. How?

Kai didn't know.

The Sword Spirit looked at Kai, and he looked back at it, the non-existence eyes gazing deep into Kai's hazel pupils.

The moment had come, Kai felt it in his bones. Even the appearance of stars, the constellation, was nothing but the beginning of the beginning; the source of the coming epiphany.

Yet, the absence of the tenth star stabbed into his very soul; a missing color on the vast canvas.

It was then the Sword Spirit ruthlessly pointed at the first star; the one at the farthest, resting above the horizon.

Boom!

The moment it pointed at that white and blue twinkling star, a shocking boom shook the world. However, other than Kai, none felt it.

Kai looked at the source of that world-ending explosion, and his eyes widened as he saw millions upon millions of runic characters bursting out of the star. They were very far, tiny, and innumerable, but he recognized each one of them.

Those runic characters were a collection of Kai's training in his consciousness, trying to decipher the Ancient Magical Script.

It was then the Sword Spirit hissed, and words echoed in Kai's heart.