Immortal Paladin

Just outside the Hollowed World, upon a secluded planet barren of life, two Supreme Beings stood facing one another. One was the Supreme Heart, sovereign of the Mortal Plane and all of humanity. The other was me, the Supreme Bearer, ruler of the Hollowed World. Countless worlds revolved throughout the vast cosmos, yet this dead planet had been chosen as the meeting place where we would finalize the agreement we had forged.

Heart clasped his hands behind his back and smiled pleasantly. “Da Wei, thank you for coming. Let us finalize this agreement and make it official.”

I stared at him flatly. “Was this even necessary? We already made a Binding Vow.”

“It is necessary,” Heart replied without hesitation. “You have a rather notorious reputation. You cheat. You trick people. You create mischief wherever you go. I would be a fool not to exercise caution.”

The corner of my eye twitched.

It annoyed me how much he knew about me. I knew he had been observing me for a very long time. I had tolerated his attention thus far because there was little point complaining about a Supreme Being doing whatever he pleased. Still, hearing him say it directly to my face made me feel strangely uncomfortable.

I folded my arms. “What exactly do you want to do? How do you wish the agreement between us to be further enforced?”

Despite my confidence in the Binding Vow, I could not help feeling wary. I had spent an absurd amount of time ensuring there were no loopholes hidden within it. In particular, I had made absolutely certain there was no possibility of Heart somehow changing his sexual orientation, twisting the interpretation of the vow, and turning the whole thing into some bizarre marriage contract.

Knowing Heart, such a possibility could not simply be dismissed.

I had secured every clause I could think of. The vow should have been airtight.

Unfortunately, paranoia had a remarkable talent for making me doubt even my own preparations.

Heart spread his arms.

“We need a third party. Someone to witness our agreement and place it into words. A proper contract.”

As soon as he finished speaking, an immense pressure descended upon the barren planet, causing the world itself to groan. Space distorted around us, and time grew heavy, weighing down every breath. My expression darkened with dawning realization. A Supreme Being had arrived. High above, a majestic figure emerged, standing calmly amidst the stars as though gravity itself had become meaningless before him.

“Allow me to introduce our guest," said Heart with a mysterious lilt on his voice. "Oh Supreme Fate, welcome.”

“Heart,” I said coldly, brandishing Silver Steel at him, “what's the meaning of this?”

“Don't think too much about it.” Heart waved dismissively. “If you think this is an ambush, perish the thought. See, Supreme Fate here owes me a favor.”

Fate's gaze drifted past me, lingering briefly on the Hollowed World that floated in the distance beyond the endless void. After a moment, his eyes settled upon me once more. He remained aloft in the heavens, a commanding presence high above, while Heart and I stood firmly upon the surface below.

“It seems the Warden has found his way back,” Fate remarked calmly. “Never do that again, Bearer.”

My grip tightened around Silver Steel. “It was you who tampered with his memories.”

Fate ignored me entirely.

Instead, he looked toward Heart.

“Do you truly wish to waste your favor on something as trifling as this? A game?” His voice remained calm, but there was unmistakable curiosity beneath it. “What are you planning, Heart?”

Heart suddenly grinned.

He formed finger guns and pointed them dramatically.

“Bang! Bang! Right on the money!”

I immediately felt a headache coming.

“I am indeed planning something!” Heart declared proudly. “Do you know, Da Wei? I am the weakest among the Supremes!”

Fate raised an eyebrow.

Heart continued regardless.

“The reason is simple. I am the only one who has yet to reach the next realm beyond Supreme Being. Sure, I can sense the threshold. I can glimpse the world beyond. I can even tap into it occasionally. But I remain stuck!”

He placed both hands over his chest.

“It is absolutely miserable, Fate.”

I already knew where this conversation was heading.

Unfortunately, so did Fate.

“Therefore,” Heart announced grandly, “my solution is obvious! I am planning to make Da Wei here pregnant with my seed—”

“Enough,” The word came out as a hiss as I resisted the urge to stab him with all my might. “You fucking idiot. You don't need to broadcast it to the entire cosmos.”

Heart looked genuinely disappointed, but my attention remained fixed on Supreme Fate. My Ophanim, capable of observing countless layers of reality at once, could perceive destinies, concepts, truths, and lies in all their complexity. Yet when I looked at him, I saw nothing. There was neither darkness nor light, only an absolute void. It was as though a bizarre silhouette occupied the space before me, an existence my vision simply refused to comprehend. Fate was concealing himself through means I could not begin to unravel, and that realization alone left me deeply uneasy.

“The impudence,” echoed Fate's voice across the planet.

He raised a finger, and the shadow at my feet churned violently. In an instant, a figure exploded from within it. It was Ru Qiu. The moment he emerged, he launched himself toward Fate with astonishing speed. Boulders shattered beneath his feet as the air screamed around him, his movement technique propelling him forward like a bolt of lightning.

Unfortunately, his target was Supreme Fate, and attacking a Supreme Being was an exceptionally poor life decision.

Before he could get any closer, I grabbed his leg. His momentum vanished instantly. With a sharp swing, I drove him downward. A deafening boom echoed across the planet as Ru Qiu slammed into the ground, the impact sending tremors through the surface and carving a deep crater beneath us. Dust erupted skyward in a swirling cloud. Ru Qiu struggled to rise at once, but I planted Silver Steel beside me and looked down at him.

“Stop, Ru Qiu.”

I shouldn't have agreed to bring him here.

Ru Qiu had insisted on coming along, claiming he wanted to witness what a mature Supreme Being looked like. The problem was that he was nowhere near qualified to stand in the presence of one. He was still in the Ascended Soul realm. Although he had awakened his Supremacy Trait, the difference between him and an actual Supreme Being remained unimaginably vast. Against Fate, he might as well have been a mortal.

The truth was that even I did not feel confident protecting him.

Ru Qiu spat a mouthful of blood onto the ground and glared at Fate.

“Fucking bastard.”

Heart immediately burst into laughter.

“Wahahahahahaha~! If it isn't the failure himself! Man, you've got some guts—”

“Fuck you,” Ru Qiu snapped.

Spiritual fluctuations gathered around Ru Qiu as he prepared to unleash his Immortal Art. I sighed, knowing I had to act quickly. Before he could do something irreversibly stupid, I tapped his shoulder. The Dark Veil cape behind me rippled, space folded in on itself, and in an instant, Ru Qiu vanished from the barren planet only to reappear safely within the Hollowed World.

Only then did I relax, slightly. Not much, but just enough to regain some composure. At the same time, I quietly activated the Hollowed World’s warp formations, ready to seize the entire world and flee at the first sign of real danger. After all, I was currently facing two Supreme Beings: Supreme Heart and Supreme Fate. No sane person would feel comfortable under those circumstances.

“Be at ease, Bearer.”

Fate's voice descended from above.

“I have no intention of involving myself in whatever exists between you and Heart. Furthermore, I possess no interest in either you or the Hollowed World.”

“I don't believe that.”

“You are free to believe whatever you wish.”

His expression remained calm.

“In truth, I am more interested in your destiny. Or rather, the destiny shared by Supreme Beings born from the Source.”

I narrowed my eyes. That statement carried far too much information. Supreme Beings born from the Source? The implication was obvious. It meant there were others who had not been born from it.

Before I could pursue the thought further, Fate continued. “I have read the threads of destiny. I have witnessed the desires held by each of you. Therefore, I shall now draft a contract.”

He slowly raised both hands. “An original for myself. Two copies. One for each party involved.”

As his words fell, three rolled parchments materialized before him. They appeared ordinary at first glance, yet my instincts screamed that they were anything but. Fate snapped his fingers, and the parchments unfurled, on and on, stretching endlessly across the dead planet. Their length crossed mountains, plains, and distant horizons until the ends vanished beyond sight.

Heart whistled softly. “That’s a lot of paper.”

Fate ignored him. “You are free to examine your copies and the original.”

I immediately activated my Ophanim. Countless perspectives unfolded before my eyes as I examined the contract from different dimensions, angles, timelines, and possibilities. At the same time, I drew upon the vast wisdom of the Hollowed World, consulting every scholar, sage, philosopher, and genius whose soul I had marked. An ocean of knowledge surged through my mind while I scrutinized every word, punctuation mark, hidden implication, and conceptual layer.

Several hours passed, at least from the material world, before I finally concluded my inspection. Only then did I move on to Heart’s copy and, afterward, the original. The wording matched perfectly across all three. There were no omissions, no substitutions, no hidden clauses, no concealed concepts, and no loopholes. At least none that I could find.

Simultaneously, Heart lowered his copy.

“We're done.”

“We're done.”

Our voices rang out at exactly the same moment.

For a brief second, we stared at one another. I was fairly certain we had both been searching for the same thing: a loophole.

Fate looked at us calmly. “If either of you possess questions, raise your hand.”

I immediately raised mine. Heart did the same. Neither of us spoke. We simply exchanged a glance. If a loophole could not be found, perhaps one could be created.

Fate sighed. The sound carried enough disappointment to make reality itself seem embarrassed. “If your question remotely suggests revising the contents of the contract for the purpose of creating an exploitable loophole, I advise both of you to forget it. Otherwise, you shall earn my displeasure.”

I slowly lowered my hand. Heart did the same.

“Pretentious prick,” Heart muttered.

“Virgin,” I replied. The word came out sounding suspiciously close to a curse.

Heart immediately covered his mouth, his shoulders trembling as he fought hard not to laugh. The insult should have been directed at Fate, and Heart clearly found the situation amusing. As for me, I had simply wanted to test Fate’s temperament. If he became angry, I would learn something useful. If he attacked me, I would run. Simple. I was confident I could escape with the Hollowed World. At worst, I would waste the favor Fate owed Heart.

Unfortunately, Fate remained completely unfazed. Not a twitch. Not a frown. Not a flicker of annoyance. It was like trying to provoke a mountain.

“Mark the contract with your quintessence,” Fate instructed, pointing toward the signatures at the bottom. “Place your thumb beneath your respective names.”

I stepped forward without hesitation. A trace of my quintessence gathered at the tip of my thumb as I pressed it firmly against the parchment. A radiant golden imprint bloomed beneath my name. Heart followed suit, leaving his own mark.

The moment both signatures were completed, the contracts erupted with brilliant radiance. Fate’s voice echoed across the barren world, deep and resonant.

“This contract is bound through Fate to both the Source and the Origin. The Laws contained within shall be obeyed to the letter. Failure to comply shall result in consequences ranging from misfortune and damnation to expulsion from reality itself.”

His gaze pierced the endless cosmos as he continued, “Those cast away shall suffer an unknown fate within the furthest reaches of the multiverse.”

The golden light intensified until the parchments burst into brilliant flames. Within moments, nothing remained but fading embers. The contract had become absolute.

Fate nodded once. “Then I wish both of you good luck in your endeavors.”

His figure dissolved into countless streams of shimmering light and vanished into the ether.

Silence returned to the dead planet. The contents of the contract were relatively straightforward: in two thousand years, a grand contest would be held atop the Tower. Each side would field six champions, all restricted to the Ascended Soul realm and limited to a single layer of immortality. The battle would continue until one side emerged victorious. Simple. Brutal. Exactly the kind of thing Heart would enjoy.

I turned away, my cape billowing behind me. “Prepare wisely, Heart,” I said, glancing back with a smile. “Because my team is going to kick your team’s butts.”

Heart immediately pointed at me, grinning. “Bold words from someone who’s about to lose!”

I ignored his taunt. The Dark Veil cape swelled and swallowed my figure completely. A moment later, I returned to the Hollowed World.