Singularity.

—

[Fifteen minutes later.]

After that brief episode discovering Richard's newfound affection for cute and adorable things, which she guessed came from his previous world, Ciri walked back to the open ground of her mother's laboratory courtyard. Looking up at the sky, where the city had been bent around like a donut, Ciri never tired of letting out breaths of amazement. In front and behind her, the land had curved and stretched into the distant unknown, essentially creating a world shaped like a circular tube where the inhabitants lived inside.

Unlike the Ethereal Realms, which are places of beauty and splendor with a clear separation between heaven and earth, or the Physical Realms, where the sky and land intersect, blurring the distinction between heaven and earth, this Cognitive Realm is whimsical and entertaining. Here, heaven and earth are essentially the same, erasing the concept of separation altogether. In this realm, regardless of who they are, everyone remains subject to its bizarre rules and demands.

That's why, without their domain—Skidbladnir in this case—everyone who steps into the Cognitive Realm is no more than a frail sentient being that can be blown away with just a slight nudge. Even this Shadesmar, which is supposed to be inside Skidbladnir and safe from outside influence, cannot escape the rules of the Cognitive Realm. Even the city that Ciri stands on, Lasting Integrity, which is supposed to be built on one of the decks, cannot completely separate itself from connecting to other Mythic Path holders' domains.

Looking to the northeast from her position in the city, Ciri sees the first domain connected to Skidbladnir, filled with flowers and colorful clouds. She recalled the negotiation Lanfear conducted to bring their land closer to this famous goddess from her world, Melitele, three hours ago. Melitele had agreed to this arrangement because it was convenient for her to avoid being bothered by nightmares and to focus on protecting every mortal dream she could find.

Looking east from her position in the city, Ciri sees the second domain connected to Skidbladnir, filled with fruit trees and fields of crops. When she had just arrived in this realm, wanting to calm her indignation after being left alone when Richard and Moiraine went back to Tretogor, she saw this goddess's domain already beside them. Their land had become connected after they had just transformed the cabin of Skidbladnir into their city. From what Yennefer told her a moment ago, this is the territory of the elven goddess Dana Meadbh. Ciri doesn't know what her motives are, but knowing that they have the same good alignment brings some assurance.

Looking southeast from her position in the city, Ciri sees the third domain connected to Skidbladnir, filled with decaying land and a never-ending red mist. This is Lilit's domain, the goddess responsible for the Conjunction, Conjoin, and Collapse inadvertently, according to Melitele. She is the servant of their multiverse's singularity, Order and Chaos, as Ciri has just been informed once again by Melitele.

The servant that manipulates the Aen Elle to achieve the highest degree of enlightenment regarding the two sides of Order and Chaos, leading to the creation of Elder Blood through sheer luck.

The Elder Blood that attracts other multiverse clusters together. The Elder Blood that allows her to travel to another cluster without breaking her bond to her world. The Elder Blood that ensures her mind remains intact when she journeys to another universe, defying the madness of each use, even with the Aen Elle possessing only a diluted amount.

With the single purpose of placing her under significant stress, so that when enough reactions occur, the Elder Blood can destroy the barrier between multiverse clusters.

As a result, two clusters are conjoined into one, with a delightfully slight error in the form of a Sun Breathing man. The initial plan of merging two clusters has now become four, with two of them being terrifyingly ancient and populated by powerful mortals, gods, and demons. The remaining two are still in adolescence, and they will be fighting with all their might to avoid being swept away by the winds of entropy.

And all of this. All of this madness. Just so that the twin brothers of singularity could die permanently. They are tired—tired of being the highest, tired of being supreme. Trapped within the singularity, unable to do anything except watch their creation. They cannot move, travel, or even explore. Confined there for eternity, in dead silence, with nothing to do. Silence, deep, deep silence. Comfort? Only watching their creation and sporadic communication with their junior Mythic Path. Nothing else. Lonely, absolutely lonely. And so they concocted this plan—not Conjunction, since that is only an aftereffect, but Conjoin, which kills the twin brothers along with three other strangers.

Ciri can empathize with this. However, the aftereffects of all this—the second Conjunction, the first Conjoin, and the slowly haunting Collapse of all things that will sooner or later happen to these four clusters—are unacceptable to her if no one sits on the throne of supremacy. Yet, even Lilith, Melitele, or any other Mythic Path holder out there doesn't want to replace the singularity. For if they die, they die permanently. If they live, they will be imprisoned for eternity. Unlike them mortals, Mythic Path included, who can still be recycled from one Realm to another.

Even Ciri, Lanfear, and Yennefer, who currently have this news, do not want that throne or even the slightest bit of information to be known. They would not even tell others about it, especially Richard. So Ciri, in her utmost selfishness, would never allow this to happen.

Luckily, the twin brothers were not without compassion. They altered the other three building blocks of the multiverse to better suit Ciri's own multiverse, giving the Heralds a slight advantage over the others. They also left behind a final nudge of inspiration and knowledge before their last breath, enabling the twelve to become immensely powerful before the four clusters merged into one. Among these gifts, the most prominent was the serendipitous creation of three Sa'angreal, which should not have been easily accomplished by just twelve amateurs with no clear understanding of the fundamental forces of the universe.

So, observing the decaying state of enlightenment bestowed by Order and Chaos, which aimed to make them overpowered in a single step, Ciri returned to pondering how to create her White Frost Second Form: Superfluidity, before she became just a normal dimwit girl once again.

Looking to the three directions to the west and recalling from the Lanfear scout report that they are Hamura Ōtsutsuki, Jebediah of Canaan, and Loki, respectively, and noting their Angel, Aeon, and Trickster Mythic Paths, Ciri didn't want her mind to wander further, knowing their multiverse could merge at any time. Especially considering that these three gods, with two being at the same level as Melitele, were the first to arrive, she didn't want to think about how many more like them might become their neighbors. She hoped they would be like Hamura, who came to greet Melitele and Lanfear to say hi.

But, pausing to consider her reluctance to tell Richard about the throne of singularity, Ciri realized she could still press him to quickly master his rapid-leveling enlightenment state. So, opening her watch and instructing Richard to develop his breathing as much as possible, she then paused again before advising him to ensure that his abilities, accidentally granted by Order and Chaos through Elder Blood, become his own as swiftly as possible.

—