Deception and Destruction.

Amon's presence pressed down on me, a suffocating weight that made the air crackle, the stone floor tremble, my enhanced senses scream in protest. But beneath the surface, beneath the carefully crafted mask of bravado, my mind raced, a whirlwind of calculations, a desperate scramble for a solution.I stretched, feigning a casual disregard for the overwhelming power that radiated from the Djinn, my gaze fixed on him, my grin widening, my heart pounding with fear, but matching the 'excitement' I had felt. Manufactured excitement should work to my advantage here, even if it were actually just absolute terror.I had 12 seconds to 'get ready.'I figured he'd get suspicious of my stretching and getting ready before long.One second.I lunged, my chi surging, my fist aimed at his chest, my entire being a weapon honed by countless loops, countless deaths, countless victories.I lifted my sword to strike-And then nothing.I shoved all my chi into the cord, haphazardly 'trying to leave' but really flooding the chamber with time-tinged chi to be used later.—The weight of Amon's presence slammed back into me, the air thick with the scent of ozone and ancient magic. My eyes snapped open, my grin unwavering, my heart pounding with feigned excitement.One second.I charged again, my movements a blur of motion, my chi a barely perceptible hum against the overwhelming symphony of Amon's magic.And then nothing.Chi is haphazardly released as I feign a grasp for the cord.—I reappeared, the cycle resetting, the familiar weight of Amon's presence pressing down on me.One second.Again, and again, and again.Each loop, a futile struggle, a dance of death orchestrated by an ancient, uncaring god.My outward demeanor remained unchanged. My grin never faltered. My eyes gleamed with a manic excitement. My every action, every word, a carefully crafted performance designed to lull Amon into a false sense of security.But beneath the surface, my mind was a whirlwind of activity.I delved into the depths of my soul storage, sifting through the vast library of knowledge I'd accumulated over countless lifetimes, countless worlds. Ancient texts on alchemy, forgotten scrolls on potioneering, forbidden manuscripts on the manipulation of energy and consciousness – I devoured them all, my enhanced mind processing information at lightning speed, searching for the key, the catalyst, the missing ingredient that could bridge the impossible gap between our power and his.Ten deaths. ten resets. ten stolen pieces of time.Then, a subtle shift.My grin faltered, replaced by a flicker of confusion, a carefully crafted wrinkle of my brow. I needed to buy myself more time. I needed to make Amon believe that his power was starting to shake my confidence, to chip away at my bravado.One second.I charged again, my movements less fluid, my strikes less precise, my feigned exhaustion betraying a carefully calculated vulnerability.The result was the same.Oblivion.But the seed of doubt had been planted.Amon, the architect of fate here, the puppet master of this dungeon, wouldn't realize his mistake until it was too late.He thought he was breaking me.He didn't know he was giving me the time I needed to break him.—Fifty deaths. Fifty resets. Fifty variations on the theme of oblivion.My body ached, a dull throb that even my enhanced regeneration struggled to keep pace with. My mind, awash in a sea of knowledge, felt stretched thin, the strain of repeated annihilation a constant pressure behind my eyes. But my resolve, my determination to break free from Amon's control, remained unbroken.This time, I decided to change tactics.Amon watched me, his ancient eyes narrowed, a flicker of amusement in their depths. He could sense my weakening resolve, the growing despair that gnawed at the edges of my carefully constructed facade."How?" I rasped, my voice hoarse, my body trembling with feigned exhaustion. "How are you doing this?"Amon chuckled, a sound like dry leaves rustling in the wind. "You seek knowledge where there is only oblivion, mortal," he said, his voice a low rumble that shook the very foundations of the tower. "Your struggle is futile. Surrender and leave this world while you still can."I scowled, forcing a defiant sneer onto my lips, my heart pounding with a carefully manufactured anger."I don't give up," I spat, my voice laced with a false bravado. "You should be the one to surrender, old man."Oblivion."How?!" I roared, the moment I reappeared, my voice raw with a feigned frustration. "What is that attack? How are you killing me?"Amon's amusement deepened. "Knowledge is a burden you cannot bear, mortal," he said, his voice a silken whisper that somehow carried more weight than his previous thunderous pronouncements. "Your only escape is to leave this world. To abandon this quest. To return to the void from whence you came."I stretched, my muscles aching, my gaze fixed on him, a defiant scowl twisting my features.One second.Oblivion."How?" I gasped, my voice weaker this time, my body trembling with a manufactured exhaustion. "Tell me how you're doing this. Maybe then I'll consider your… generous offer."Amon sighed, his patience clearly wearing thin. "Your persistence is tiresome, mortal," he said, his voice cold, devoid of amusement. "Leave this world. That is your only choice.""Maybe if you told me what I'm up against," I countered, my voice laced with a desperate plea, my eyes wide with a feigned confusion, "I might actually consider it."Amon remained silent, his gaze fixed on me, his expression unreadable.The game was afoot."Tell me," I pleaded, my voice cracking with feigned desperation, my eyes wide with a carefully crafted confusion. "Tell me how you're doing this. What is that… that power? How can you just… erase us from existence?"Amon's gaze, cold and ancient, pierced through me, his expression unreadable. For a long moment, he remained silent, the only sound the faint drip of water from the cavern ceiling and the pounding of my own heart, a frantic rhythm against the backdrop of my carefully constructed facade.Then, he spoke, his voice a low rumble that echoed through the chamber."I am collapsing a star," he said, his words simple, matter-of-fact, yet carrying the weight of a thousand pronouncements. "A miniature sun, compressed into a singularity. A black hole.""A… star?" I echoed, my brow furrowing in feigned ignorance, my mind already racing, sifting through the newly acquired knowledge from the Psycho-Pass world's flora, while projecting fake interest in stellar bodies, searching for a connection, a point of reference.Beside me, I felt a jolt in our shared mindscape, a wave of understanding, then a swift, disciplined lockdown. Rem and Ram, their initial shock masked by a carefully cultivated facade, were now radiating a calm, detached interest, their thoughts focused solely on Amon's explanation.They were good. Damn good.As expected of my beautiful companionsAmon, his arrogance swelling, his ego stroked by my apparent ignorance, launched into a detailed explanation.He spoke of celestial bodies, of the forces of gravity, of the life cycle of stars, of the unimaginable density and power of black holes.His words, though laced with a condescending tone, were 'fascinating', 'an amazing crash course in astrophysics' delivered by 'a being who had witnessed the birth and death of galaxies'.The hours stretched into an eternity, the cavern illuminated by the flickering torches and the faint glow of Amon's own magical aura.I listened intently, my outward expression a mask of rapt attention, my mind a whirlwind of calculations, a forge where I hammered out the final details of my plan.While Amon droned on about event horizons and gravitational singularities, I was crafting a different kind of singularity - a potion that would harness the raw power of my chi, a catalyst that would unlock the hidden potential within us, a weapon that would shatter the chains of the sickening concept of fate.I felt the strain, the mental exhaustion, the pressure building behind my eyes as I pushed my enhanced mind to its limits, refining the formula, calibrating the ingredients, visualizing the flow of energy, the transformation, the evolution.But I couldn't falter. Not now. Not when victory was within reach.Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Amon concluded his lecture, his voice laced with a smug satisfaction."Now, do you understand, mortals?" he boomed, his gaze sweeping over us, his eyes glittering with a cold amusement. "Do you see the futility of your struggle? The insignificance of your existence against the vastness of the cosmos?""You're right," I said, my voice a weary sigh, my shoulders slumping in a carefully crafted display of defeat. "It's… hopeless. We can't fight you. We can't win."A flicker of triumph crossed Amon's face, his arrogance swelling, his victory seemingly assured."Then leave," he commanded, his voice softening, a hint of pity lacing his words. "Leave this world. Return to the void from whence you came. It is the only way to escape your fate.""But… the portal," I stammered, my voice trembling with feigned desperation. "It's- it's damaged. We used it too many times. We need… we need time to repair it. To craft a potion that will allow us to travel safely between worlds."Amon hesitated, his gaze narrowing, his ancient mind probing my words, searching for deception, finding only the echoes of my carefully constructed despair."Very well," he conceded, his voice a grudging rumble. "I will grant you one final act of mercy. Craft your potion. Leave this world. And never return."I bowed my head, hiding the triumphant grin that threatened to split my face, the surge of exhilaration that coursed through my veins."Thank you," I whispered, my voice laced with a false gratitude.I pulled out my potion kit, the familiar tools were a comforting weight in my hands.The ingredients, carefully selected, materialized on the floor, their colors vibrant, their aromas a heady mix of exotic spices and ancient magic.The potions took shape, four vials filled with a swirling, iridescent liquid that pulsed with a barely perceptible energy."Drink," I said, handing the vials to Rem, Ram, and Morgiana, my voice steady, my gaze carefully neutral. "This will… free us."They drank without hesitation, their trust in me absolute, their expressions mirroring my feigned despair.I raised my own vial to my lips, my gaze meeting Amon's, my face a mask of resignation.Then, as the potion touched my tongue, I turned, my grin erupting, a savage mix of triumph, defiance, and a hint of manic glee.I turned around and looked him straight in the eye with that face, my arms were spread out in a show of triumph."Kekkaiku Doori, Motherfucker!"I roared, my voice echoing through the chamber, the words a foreign language, a battle cry from a world he couldn't comprehend.I spread my arms even wider, my chi surging, a torrent of energy that had been building, gathering, intensifying with each death, each reset, each stolen moment.I felt the echoes of my past selves, their sacrifices, their pain, their determination, merging with my own being, amplifying my power, shattering the limitations of my mortal shell.I seized the threads of time, the strands of space, that Amon had so carelessly left dangling, and wove them into a tapestry of my own design.I shoved all of that into the chi that flooded the room from all the wasted attempts at resetting.The world twisted, the air crackled, the very foundations of the dungeon groaned in protest.And then, it hit them.A wave of pure chi, a tsunami of energy, slammed into Rem, into Ram, into Morgiana, their bodies glowing, their powers surging, their eyes widening as they felt the transformation, the evolution, the ascension.Xiantian 1, Xiantian 2, xiantian 4, xiantian 5, all the way to xiantian 9, the peak of xiantian.I knew I couldn't control this power, but It didn't matter.I roared as my body reached the Zhifu stage and my Chi followed suit.Rem and Ram converted their segments of chi into mana, reforming their bodies so far that it mirrored my own power boost.Amon, his face contorted in shock, his eyes wide with disbelief, stared at me, his voice a strangled gasp."What… what have you done?!"I laughed, the sound echoing through the chamber, a symphony of triumph and defiance."I told you, old man," I said, my voice a low, menacing rumble. "I do what I want."I stepped forward, but before I could even do anything, Ram had speed-blitzed him and with an intensity I had never seen from her before, not using her knives, but her gauntlets, punched the god in the face.Amon exploded into blue chunks of flesh, the strange color of the gore not changing the fact that he had turned into mush.With a scowl, Ram activated her wind aura, eradicating him entirely, the sheer power of the wind turning into a cutting force that turned his remains into atoms.I just blinked stupidly and said."Well, that was anti-climactic. I didn't even get to do anything."Ram turned to me, her face deadpan as her shoulders slumped. "Oh my fucking God I've fallen in love with a maniac. A stupid, battle hungry maniac."Rem could only hop joyfully, clapping her hands together once, as Ram had announced her love for me by absolute and complete accident, "Ah! Sister finally admitted it!"