An entire universe without any life was simply a terrifying thought, and at the same time, it reminded Kayden of the highest level of peace that something could achieve. Rational beings were not very useful in the harmony of great things.
"Most of the gods of Olympus are dead; some are still alive today under different names. They mostly live in hiding. From another universe, we will never be fully accepted by the will governing this place."
Kayden understood some deep secrets of this universe. Not only that, but he also discovered much more about Athena. His emotions were in chaos for the first time in a long time. He didn’t quite understand just how strong this soulmate bond was until he became one with his beloved.
"What happened to Zeus?" A being of that magnitude shouldn’t disappear so easily from the universe.
"Ares tried once again to destroy this universe to elevate himself. This time, Zeus and I interfered. His time had already passed, and he should not have cut the future of so many people again." Athena saw that Kayden had no idea about the Great War. She explained a little about what happened and continued the story. "Even without training, Zeus was still superior to Ares, even after so many years. He killed him at the cost of his own life in the process. I was able to be reborn by sacrificing my cultivation and laws. Zeus merely accepted his death."
Athena tells how she ended up being Yan’s daughter by pure luck and how that allowed her to have a much higher talent than what should have been permitted, just by having a foundation behind her. The woman’s story was long, and Kayden understood that she was one of the most feared beings in this universe.
"And you, Kayden Heart? Who exactly are you?" Kayden received the question and remained silent.
"No one, just an ordinary person, but..." Then Kayden began to tell the story of his life and how he reached the top of this universe in talent after a time much longer than all the other wizards.
The more Kayden spoke, the more Athena understood that she was in the presence of a true monster of willpower. Kayden never had great talent; in fact, he was well below average in most of the universe, but his effort surpassed everyone else’s.
Kayden sacrificed everything, absolutely everything, to achieve what he needed. From the very first moment of his life, Kayden understood things that 99% of people would never understand in their entire lives.
A person with white hair and wrinkles hadn’t lived for long; they had just existed for a long time. What Kayden learned in his first years of life, confined to a hospital bed, was something that few would ever come close to understanding in their entire lives.
Kayden’s life was impressive, but it wasn’t anything surreal in Athena’s eyes, at least not until the part where he entered Nyc’s prison of souls. From that moment on, Kayden took his first steps toward becoming a legend.
Living a bizarre time in soul form alone made it clear his capacity to manipulate souls. Besides that, Athena had never heard of any wizard who passed through the path of reincarnation and remembered it. She hadn’t been reborn through the true path but rather through a method where she merely skipped her soul to the final stage.
Kayden’s life was filled with moments where he performed terrible acts that would turn the stomachs of normal people. Athena also couldn’t understand how her soulmate was something so terrible. Kayden had no scruples; his actions were extremely heinous.
While Athena was a good being who, even after living for so many years, still had certain feelings for doing good and harmless actions, Kayden was the complete opposite. He didn’t care about killing or raping to achieve his goals.
The soulmate connection made Kayden tell Athena everything, from the first day of his life to the present day. He had no fear of being exposed by the woman. He understood the weight of being a soulmate.
The mere thought of hurting Athena caused a pain directly in Kayden’s soul, in the same intensity as taking away his past lives. In fact, it was an even greater pain, almost like killing a part of his soul.
"Han... that name isn’t unfamiliar to me, especially with the time talent." Athena thought for only a second before reaching the truth. "Zeus had a disciple with that name, and it matches more or less the time when you were on your home planet."
"I understand," Kayden murmured without much interest.
"You should at least find him to thank him. Han traded his life for yours," Athena murmured while glaring at Kayden.
"I don’t care; it doesn’t mean anything to me anymore. I have many goals to bother wasting time with that."
"Idiot," Athena cursed at Kayden and watched the boy close his eyes to return to his cultivation.
New n𝙤vel chapters are published on freewebnovel.cσ๓.
***
On a random day, years after Atlas had fallen into a coma, he finally woke up. The first monarch of the false gods had been born. The mere opening of Atlas’s eyes sent a shiver through the souls of all living beings within trillions of kilometers.
Fortunately, Yan was prepared and prevented any god from understanding what was happening. A false god was already a powerful being, but a false god monarch was something this universe had never seen before.
Atlas’s presence became completely surreal. Mana now came to him with frightening ease. At that moment, he found himself able to convert space itself into mana at will.
Atlas had achieved what Kayden and Yan had fought their entire lives for in just a few thousand years. His conversion was practically 100% as well. Not only that, but the mana absurdly obeyed his will.
He didn’t even need to break his cultivation. Monarchy was the noblest path that existed, and the false gods followed, in a way, the same principles, which made him perfectly fit in.
Atlas’s aura grew frighteningly. He surpassed any fourth-realm wizard Kayden had ever seen in his entire life. Not even he was that strong when he was just a monarch. Only after spreading his soul could he go beyond.
Without even needing to cultivate, Atlas rose to the fifth realm perfectly. His foundation was ridiculously stable after so many years of Kayden only strengthening him without letting him advance. As soon as he stepped into the fifth realm, his aura exploded once again.
"Master, thank you!" Atlas knelt before Kayden, placing his forehead on the ground in deep gratitude. This was one of the strongest moments of his entire life.
"We still have a long way to go, Atlas. You’ve only just begun to tread the monarch’s path." Kayden lifted him with his mana and smiled. Yan had disappeared as soon as his son awoke.
The father of the false gods was overprotective, but he was also wise. He knew he couldn’t suffocate a bird because, otherwise, it would never learn to fly on its own. This was one of those moments when he had to let Atlas be on his own.
***
"What is he doing here?" Yan’s second strongest son was named Matheus. He had a ridiculously strong rivalry with Athena, a shadow he had never been able to overcome, and seeing Kayden taking her away left a bitter taste in his mouth.
"Kayden is my husband, so he is also part of the family," Athena replied to her brother, not caring much about her family’s reaction.
Everyone was outside Yan’s estate to welcome Atlas and Athena to one of the family gatherings that took place once a century. This time, many surprises were present, the first of which was Kayden’s presence.
"Husband? Explain yourself now, you crazy woman," Jasmine jumped at Athena with a curiosity that everyone there shared.
All of Yan’s children wanted to understand what was happening. Only the god and his wife already understood. The two shared a similar bond, so they knew that Kayden and Athena were destined to be together, regardless of their intentions.
"We are soulmates." As soon as Athena spoke, silence fell over the environment. It was a very strong piece of information for them to process. Finding a soulmate was something extremely rare.
"Congratulations!" Jasmine jumped at her sister with frightening enthusiasm. She was genuinely happy. The girl also received some congratulations from her brothers.
"Now you can’t intimidate us anymore, Kayden, so behave yourself," Jasmine said jokingly, but unfortunately, Matheus continued.
"Yes, or you’ll get beaten like a dog." Kayden didn’t even look at Matheus while responding to Jasmine.
"You are still weaker than me, and besides, my wife can beat you up for me." Kayden smiled in a false display of social skills.