The One King

The Descent of the Great One, Bor

Baran was watching Gaia’s stunned expression in silence.

After a few moments, he seemed to realize something. He slowly turned toward Azrael and said, with a hint of reproach in his voice:

“Lord... did you not tell the little Empress what lies beyond the God King Realm?”

All the kings turned toward Azrael at once.

Their gazes were filled with curiosity.

Azrael remained silent for several seconds before answering with an utterly serious expression:

“I forgot.”

Silence descended.

One second...

Two seconds...

Then the entire Sovereign Hall erupted in laughter.

Even some of the kings who rarely displayed any emotion laughed loudly.

Baran placed a hand over his forehead and sighed.

“You haven't changed... Even after all these ages, you haven't changed, Lord.”

Azrael merely raised an eyebrow, completely unfazed.

Baran then turned toward Gaia.

“Very well, little Empress. You know about all the realms up to the God King Realm, correct?”

Gaia nodded.

“Yes.”

“Good.”

Baran turned slightly and said:

“Above the God King Realm lies—”

The words froze in his throat.

Not because he had forgotten what he was about to say.

But because something else had happened.

The domain trembled.

The smiles vanished.

The laughter ceased.

In the same instant, the expressions of every king turned solemn.

The energy throughout the continent of Astaria began to tremble violently, as though an invisible hand had seized the laws of the world and begun twisting them.

Then something even stranger happened.

The flames ignited...

Then froze.

The ice transformed into scorching heat.

Water solidified in midair without becoming ice.

The earth itself began to ripple like an ocean.

The Laws of Existence were no longer functioning normally.

Reality itself had become unstable.

Suddenly—

BOOM!

An indescribable pressure descended from the heavens.

Distant mountains were reduced to dust.

Seas evaporated.

Vast stretches of land collapsed beneath the sheer weight of that pressure.

It was not an attack.

Nor was it a technique.

It was merely...

the presence of a being.

A being had arrived in the domain.

Inside the Sovereign Hall, the expressions of the kings changed.

Even the strongest among them became solemn.

Azrael raised his head.

His gaze pierced through the starry heavens, crossing immeasurable distances as though searching for the source of that existence.

Gaia...

was affected the most.

Her entire body trembled.

She could barely breathe.

She felt as though her very existence were on the verge of collapsing.

She raised her head with difficulty and shouted:

“What is happening?!”

No one answered.

Several moments passed.

Then Baran finally spoke.

His voice was completely different this time.

Deep.

Serious.

And filled with a respect Gaia had never heard from him before.

“The Great One...”

He raised his head toward the heavens.

“...is descending into the domain.”

Gaia froze.

The Great One.

The very being she had been asking about moments ago.

The existence said to possess enough power to tear through the Cosmic Wall and enter the Chaos.

He had arrived.

Suddenly—

A strange sound emerged from the heavens.

A low hum at first.

Then it transformed into a tremendous roar.

Gaia looked upward.

And then...

the heavens shattered.

This was not a metaphor.

The starry sky literally shattered, like an enormous sheet of glass.

Behind it appeared an endless black expanse.

And from within that darkness...

an eye appeared.

Only one eye.

It was the size of a planet.

Its sclera was crimson, crossed by glowing orange veins resembling rivers of molten magma.

Its pupil was golden, split into four sections.

The enormous eye gazed toward the Sovereign Hall with complete indifference.

Then—

A voice unlike anything Gaia had ever heard in her life resounded.

A voice that made even Azrael's roar, which she had once heard within the Foyd Family, seem like a whisper by comparison.

“The Great One greets the Greatest.”

Silence.

Azrael looked toward the enormous eye.

For the first time since his return...

nostalgia appeared within his eyes.

“We haven't met in ages, Bor.”

A faint smile appeared on his face.

“I am glad you're well.”

All the kings rose.

They bowed respectfully.

“Greetings, Great One.”

Baran stepped forward and placed a hand over his heart.

“Greetings, Great One Bor.”

The enormous eye shifted slightly.

It passed over the kings one by one.

Then Bor's voice sounded.

“Greetings, Kings.”

The eye then turned toward Baran.

A brief silence followed.

Then Bor spoke in a strangely playful tone:

“Looks like you didn't die during these three billion years, old Baran.”

Baran burst into laughter.

“Hahahahaha! And what could possibly kill me?”

He raised his head.

“I still want to live for a few more billion years... long enough to witness the day our clan spreads its dominion across the universe.”

Several kings smiled.

Even Azrael smiled.

But Gaia...

could not smile.

She stared at the enormous eye in absolute terror.

Just one eye...

One eye of this being had covered the entire sky.

Her mind began racing.

If his eye is this enormous...

How large is his hand?

His head?

His entire body?

The more she tried to imagine it, the greater the terror within her became.

She was only twenty-one years old.

She had seen only a tiny fraction of the world.

And now she found herself standing before an existence whose mere eye was enough to cover the heavens.

Azrael noticed her fear from the corner of his eye.

But he did not intervene.

He knew this moment was important.

If she intended to walk beside him one day...

then she had to learn how to stand before things beyond her imagination without collapsing.

Azrael Netherval's wife could not kneel simply because she encountered an enormous existence.

Suddenly, Bor's eye moved.

It stopped over Gaia.

Her body froze.

She felt an immense consciousness descend upon her.

It was as though an endless ocean had fallen upon her soul.

She trembled.

She immediately lowered her head.

Then Bor's voice sounded:

“Oh...”

The eye paused.

“There are some new faces.”

Bor looked toward Azrael.

He was waiting for an explanation.

Azrael simply said:

“She is my wife.”

Then he added:

“Her name is Gaia.”

Gaia felt her heart stop for a moment.

She took a small step forward.

Her head lowered.

She said in a trembling voice:

“This junior greets the Great One.”

Silence.

Bor examined her with his consciousness.

Several seconds passed.

Then he spoke.

“Not bad.”

Gaia stopped breathing.

“Her potential almost rivals that little girl Beatrice...”

The kings exchanged glances.

Even Baran raised an eyebrow.

Azrael, however, showed no reaction.

Bor continued:

“But her temperament...”

He paused.

“...is lacking.”

The kings understood immediately.

Several of them exchanged meaningful looks.

Gaia, however, did not fully understand.

Then Bor's voice became sharper.

“Girl.”

Gaia froze.

“Look at me.”

She did not move.

Fear had overwhelmed her.

Bor spoke again.

His voice was heavier this time.

“I said...”

The surrounding space trembled.

“...look at me.”

Gaia closed her eyes for a moment.

Then she took a deep breath.

She thought of Azrael.

She opened her eyes.

And raised her head.

She looked directly into the enormous eye.

She was still trembling.

But she did not lower her head.

Silence filled the hall.

Then Bor's tone changed slightly.

“Good.”

There was something resembling approval in his voice.

“At least you have courage.”

Then he continued:

“Listen carefully, girl.”

Gaia maintained eye contact despite the terror.

“No matter how enormous an existence is...”

He paused.

“No matter how monstrous it appears...”

Another pause.

“No matter how powerful it becomes...”

His voice grew heavier.

“As long as it bleeds...”

The enormous eye remained motionless for a moment.

“...it can die.”

Gaia's eyes widened.

Then Bor continued:

“Do not allow despair to make you kneel.”

“And never allow fear to steal your will.”

“The world is filled with beings who will initially appear to you as untouchable gods.”

His voice rose.

“But remember one thing.”

A profound silence descended upon the hall.

“You are the wife of an existence...”

The enormous eye turned toward Azrael for a moment.

Then returned to Gaia.

“...whom the greatest beings of the universe regard with a thousand measures of caution.”

“So if you intend to stand beside him...”

Bor's voice became even more solemn.

“...do not allow the sight of my eye alone to make you forget who you are.”

Silence followed.

Gaia did not answer.

But something within her eyes had changed.

The fear had not disappeared.

She had not suddenly become powerful.

But for the first time...

she began to understand that true strength was not the absence of fear.

It was being afraid... and refusing to kneel anyway.

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