Chapter 733: A Blank Cheque with Strings Attached
Arthur took a moment to process Ranus’ words, coming to a realisation for which he sought confirmation.
"I’m not the only one you’re gonna talk to, am I?"
[No, you’re not.
I’m also talking with the others right now.]
"Huh? Right now?"
Arthur asked on reflex, but a moment later, he remembered that the man before him could warp reality. Simultaneously holding multiple conversations with multiple people at once was hardly an issue for him.
’So he’s talking with Evan and the others now, huh?’
Perhaps noticing the realization in Arthur’s eyes, Ranus didn’t bother answering that question and continued on to the main topic.
[The primary reason I called you here has to do with the fact that you uncovered Bewússtsein’s Dual Candidacy.
As you know, that’s not supposed to be a thing for the next 19 Cosmic Cycles, so—]
"Sorry, hold on a second. What’s a Cosmic Cycle?"
Arthur interrupted, prompting Ranus to raise a brow in mild surprise. It seemed he had expected Arthur to already know, but clearly, that wasn’t the case.
[A Cosmic Cycle is a million 365-day years.]
"Oh, I see. Thanks. Carry on."
This unit of measurement was used on a macro scale, unlike the General Calendar System, which operated on a micro-scale. Categorizing the information in his mind, Arthur refocused on Ranus.
[As I was saying, Dual Candidacy isn’t supposed to be a thing for the next 19 Cosmic Cycles. If word got out that a Dual Candidate existed, it would cause some problems.]
Arthur thought back to the names Ranus had mentioned earlier—starting from the Drifter he claimed was even worse than Larry, to Quinn and the other Progenitors.
But something didn’t sit right with him.
"If you’re really trying to keep the Dual Candidacy issue under wraps, shouldn’t the first thing you do be taking away one of the TWO Aspects I currently possess?"
He paused, resting a hand on his chin before continuing.
"Or is it that you can’t?"
At those words, Ranus blinked before his eyes narrowed, immediately catching Arthur’s unspoken challenge.
Tilting his head slightly to the side, he asked.
[...are you...daring me to take them away?]
*BBZZTT!!
Reality distorted.
The space around Arthur warped and twisted like a corrupted video feed, jagged streaks of static cutting through his vision. The ground beneath him flickered between solid stone and an empty void, the entire scene distorting as though struggling to reconcile its own existence.
Arthur barely had a moment to register the shift before his body glitched.
For an instant, he saw himself split in half—his torso existing in two places at once, his arms misaligned, his very existence fragmented like a broken image on a failing screen.
Then, just as suddenly as it began, everything snapped back to normal. His body was whole again, the world stable, as if nothing had happened.
But the ghostly sensation of displacement lingered, making Arthur’s body tremble.
And yet, despite this, Arthur met Ranus’ gaze and responded without hesitation.
"If you can, feel free to try."
Now, this was an outright provocation.
[Is this supposed to be some sort of joke?]
"No, it’s not. I’m literally telling you to take them away if you can."
Arthur didn’t flinch as he responded, and Ranus, still watching him with narrowed eyes, let out a sigh before responding.
[...and here I was trying to be considerate since you’re Lucifer’s descendant.]
"I appreciate the consideration, but a power that’s not earned, but given can just as easily be taken away. I want to know how easy it is to lose them—so I know how much faith I can place in them, if I place any faith in them at all."
And with that, the real reason behind Arthur’s provocation was laid bare. Hearing this, Ranus gave a small nod of understanding.
That was a reasonable concern to have. Without needing to read Arthur’s mind, Ranus could already infer the thoughts running through his head.
The first and most pressing would be: What if the power gets taken away in a life-or-death battle?
[But you see,] Ranus said, [against an overwhelmingly stronger opponent, whether your power can be taken away or not doesn’t make much of a difference.]
"Oh, it does," Arthur countered. "It affects how difficult it is for me to escape."
Ranus pursed his lips for a moment after hearing Arthur’s response, then gave a small nod.
[Good point.]
Leaning back on his seat, he continued.
[Regardless of what you may think, I will NOT be taking those Aspects away. They chose you, so you get to keep them.]
As Ranus spoke, he recalled the moment when the two Aspects had rushed toward Arthur, drawn to him the instant they recognized him as a suitable host.
He mulled over it briefly but ultimately chose not to reveal a crucial detail—Aspects of Concepts didn’t simply switch hosts like the way they did after Bewússtsein’s death.
Even Lucifer had to seek out his Aspect and be deemed worthy before it accepted him.
’I’m curious... The boy is a Singularity, yet no matter how much I search the records of the Hell Universe, I can’t find the anomaly that led to his birth.’
Singularity Existences— embodiments of errors in a Universe’s workings—were typically created when the Universe’s Error Resolution Matrix embedded the core of an anomaly into a soul before incarnation.
Every error, no matter the significance, was always recorded in the Universe’s logs.
But Arthur’s existence wasn’t tied to any of the known errors in the Hell Universe.
’Meaning it came from outside...
And then there’s that strange prophecy before his birth... and the Cosmos’ reaction.’
From Ranus’ thoughts, it was evident that even the Eternals were in the dark about the true origin of the Prophecy that had spread across all Universes before Arthur’s birth.
’There has never been a precedent for this. And the fact that even Akasha’s Authority couldn’t trace the source means it’s either tied to the Previous Era... or an existence stronger than him interfered.’
Very few beings in existence possessed the power to obstruct Akasha’s Cosmic Conceptual Authority.
’I have a suspect... but I can’t determine their motive. What would they gain from blocking Akasha’s Authority and delaying the original prophecy of this boy’s birth?
What made it even stranger was the Cosmos’ persistence—it had sent out a second prophecy after the first was delayed.’
Ranus was not the only one pondering these mysteries. Many beings on the Cosmic Stage had been searching for the Child of Prophecy, drawn by their own curiosity and the unanswered questions surrounding his existence.
Yet, with the constant rate of Multiversal expansion, even wielding Aspectual Authorities made the search feel like looking for a grain of sand in a haystack.
’And now, on top of everything, there was the bizarre occurrence of the Aspects manifesting physically and choosing him immediately.
If keeping the Aspects with him and observing how things unfold gives me even the slightest clue, then it’s worth it.
I’d leave Akasha and Roland out of this. Those two are too stuck-up and too fearful of anything that might have ties to the Previous Era.’
These thoughts passed through Ranus’ mind in the span of a single second. In that one second, Ranus had made his decision and spoke.
[Besides, you do realize that—even if only in a minor way—you’ve altered the Fate of the Cosmos, right? You’ve completely erased one of its possible Main Paths of Progression.
You’ve also significantly changed the Fate of this Universe and the quintillions of lives that would have been affected by Bewússtsein’s continued complete existence.]
Drumming his hands on the table between them, he continued.
[That brings me to the secondary reason I called you here. As the Interim Governor of Time—who was entertained by your battle—I’ve decided to reward you for resolving a Nexus Event.]
It had taken some time, but now, the reasons Ranus had summoned Arthur—and likewise called Artemisia, Beatrix, Evan, Alvey, and McEnda III to different ’Mini-Realities’—had been revealed.
Of course, each of them had subtly different sub-reasons. In Evan’s case, it was his connection to a future Eternal, while Artemisia was essentially the Universe’s favourite child.
But at their core, the main reasons were the same.
"So...what is the reward?"
[I wonder, what is the reward?]
Ranus casually tossed Arthur’s question back at him, and immediately, Arthur saw through his intent.
"You’re giving me a blank cheque?"
[You could call it that.]
Arthur fell silent for a moment before narrowing his eyes.
"What’s the catch?"
The boy found it hard to believe Ranus would be so generous without a hidden price...
[First, it was the Aspects, and now this. You’re a rather distrustful one, aren’t you?]
Ranus pointed this out, which made Arthur give him an incredulous expression.
"You’re a Higher Dimensional being, in an Existence Realm I don’t even want to know the name of—a blank cheque from you is worth far more than anything we did.
So, I’ll ask again. What’s the catch?"
Ranus chuckled at Arthur’s words about his Existence Realm, then responded.
[There are limitations, of course.]
He leaned forward slightly, amusement flickering in his gaze.
[But I won’t say what they are until you reach them. It’s far more fun to watch you try to stay within limits you don’t even know exist.]
Hearing this, Arthur sighed.
’I know Lucifer said this before, when he told me about the Eternals and their personalities, but this guy is actually a pain to deal with.’
Knowing better than to say that aloud, Arthur scratched his head, thinking about what he could possibly request.
’A new power? No. Leaving aside the reliability of that, gaining more abilities would mean spending less time mastering each one. I already have enough to deal with as is so adding another would be unwise.
I don’t need a new weapon either. Lostvayne and Celestia are enough for a lifetime.
Armour...?’
[You don’t need that either, Master.]
