Chapter 238: Acquiring The Universe
The room turned silent. Evernight’s expression darkened, her arms tightening around Celestara. Shirley and Diva exchanged worried glances, while Ren Wen instinctively reached for the hilt of his blade. The Mountain King’s vast frame tensed like a drawn bow, and Jian Longchen’s gaze narrowed, already calculating unseen battlefields. Shadow Reaper’s form flickered at the edge of the room, restless with anticipation.
Dragon General Serynthia unfurled her wings slightly, scales glinting in the dim light, while Undead General Malthius knelt low, his hollow eyes burning faintly as if awaiting his master’s command.
"Who are they, Lord Husband?" Diva asked, her voice laced with worry.
Igaris’s gaze darkened, his tone heavy with truth. "The outer beings beyond our universe. The same ones who once brought chaos and mayhem across creation. They shattered the Akashic Records and destroyed everything we built. And now... they are coming again."
The room fell into a deathly silence.
For some, like Diva and Seraphina, the words struck deeper than a blade. Memories of their previous lives resurfaced with brutal clarity—the despair, the helplessness, the sight of children and loved ones torn away by the invaders. Their hands trembled as the past bled into the present.
"What should we then, Igaris?" Evernight asked, clutching their daughter as if her embrace alone could shield the little one from the infinite darkness.
Igaris stepped forward, placing a hand gently on Evernight’s shoulder. For a fleeting moment, the weight of a father eclipsed the mantle of an Overlord. "We do not run. We do not bow. Not again." His tone carried no hesitation. "This time, the outer beings will not ravage unchecked. This time, we will stand as the shield and the sword of creation."
Malthius bowed lower, skeletal jaw grinding with grim resolve. "Then command us, my lord. The dead will rise in legions for you."
Serynthia’s wings spread wider, a low rumble escaping her throat. "Let them come. I will burn the skies with dragonfire until none remain."
Jian Longchen pressed a hand to the hilt of his sword, eyes flashing with cold determination. "Even the Akashic Records may fall again... but I will carve their names into oblivion if I must."
Ren Wen straightened, his grip steady. "We followed you into hell once, my lord. We will do it again."
Even Diva, her face pale with the memories of her lost children in that previous age, clenched her fists. Her voice trembled but carried steel. "This time, they will not take everything from us. Not while I still draw breath."
Celestara let out a small cry, wriggling against Evernight’s arms. Then, as if sensing the mood, she pressed her tiny hand against her mother’s chest and let out a bubbly laugh. The sound was pure, untouched by despair, cutting through the suffocating tension.
The hardened warriors and godlike generals paused, their gazes softening for just a heartbeat.
Igaris’s lips curved into a thin, unyielding smile. "Even the heavens cannot silence her laughter. Remember this moment. Because when they come, we fight not just for vengeance... but for her smile, and for the future it represents."
He turned toward the balcony, his black cloak unfurling as if answering the pull of the night wind. His voice, once steady, now rang cold and sharp, like a blade being drawn from its sheath.
"I will consume the whole of creation within my inner world. To keep you all safe, and to rise beyond what threatens us—this is the only path."
The words struck the chamber like thunder. His spouses and subordinates stared at him in stunned silence, their breaths caught in disbelief.
At last, the Mountain King broke it, his booming voice carrying both awe and protest. "Consume the whole of creation? Is such a thing even possible, My Lord?"
Igaris’s gaze swept across them, calm yet burning with conviction. "With my realm’s infinite acquisition, with the laws I command, and with the will to protect what is mine... it is not only possible. It is inevitable."
A shiver rippled through the room. Even the Eternal Tree outside seemed to tremble, its silver branches whispering in the wind, as if the cosmos itself had heard his vow.
"Do it, husband. We are all with you."
Lilya’s voice rang first, clear and unwavering, her eyes glowing with unshakable devotion. Shirley stepped forward next, her delicate fingers clutching her robes as she nodded firmly. Lunaria, radiant in her quiet grace, placed a hand over her heart, bowing her head in solemn agreement.
One by one, the others followed, each gaze steady, each filled with love and trust that needed no further words.
They knew the risk was too great, the path too perilous, yet none faltered. To them, Igaris was not only their lord, but their protector, their beloved, their eternal. Even if the act of consuming creation itself tore at the fabric of reality, they would not abandon him.
Igaris rose from the throne and stepped beyond the balcony, into the night sky. His cloak stretched like wings of shadow, trailing behind him as his body ascended higher, higher still, until the Eternal palace became tiny as specks of dust beneath him. The heavens parted before his presence, stars trembling at his command.
He closed his eyes.
Then It began. "Infinite Acquisition"
With his command, the fabric of space rippled. Then from within his chest, his inner world stirred, vast and limitless, a hidden cosmos forged by his will. The laws he commanded shimmered, each thread ready to devour, absorb, and reforge.
His gaze fell upon Orca, the cradle of his return, his daughter’s first sky, the land that bore both his past struggles and present triumphs.
"I am sorry," he whispered, his voice echoing across the void. "But to protect you, I must first consume you."
At once, his inner world expanded, unfurling like a black sea of stars. It reached toward Orca, enveloping mountains, seas, and cities in its embrace. The Will of Orca surged forth, a vast consciousness born of the planet itself, ancient and proud.
‹No... You dare devour me, Igaris? I am the root of this world, the memory of eons!›
Its booming voice shook the heavens, trying to repel him. Tides roared, mountains cracked, and the skies blazed in defiance. For the first time in ages, Orca resisted.
But Igaris did not flinch. His hand stretched forward, golden eyes burning with divine light. "Calm down. You will not die. You will live again, greater than you ever were. In my realm, you will not end, but become eternal."
The Will of Orca faltered. His inner world pressed down, vast and inexorable, swallowing piece by piece. The rivers turned to streams of light, forests to emerald essence, mountains to crystalline laws.
And then it saw it.
Inside Igaris’s realm lay not emptiness, but endless possibility. A canvas without limit. Stars that could be reborn. Lands that could thrive forever without decay. A domain where its essence would not only endure, but ascend beyond imagination.
For the first time in its existence, the Will of Orca felt awe.
Its voice softened, trembling. "So this... this is what you carry within you... Endless becoming..."
Slowly, its resistance faded. The last threads of defiance dissolved into submission. With a deep sigh that resonated across the cosmos, Orca yielded.
"Very well, Igaris. I shall entrust myself to you. Let my roots anchor your eternity."
A blinding light erupted as the planet, which omce devoured countless other worlds, folded into his inner world, every memory, every soul, every grain of existence refined into eternal essence. Orca was no more in the outer cosmos, yet within Igaris’s inner world, it blossomed anew, untouched, perfect, immortal.
Igaris’s dark eyes, vast as the galaxies, opened within his inner realm watching his loved ones with quiet tenderness. His daughter Celestara was now safe.
From there, his hunger deepened.
Planets quivered as his inner world unfurled, but when they were swallowed, they did not vanish. Their oceans, mountains, and skies unfolded within his realm, pristine and untouched, waiting like jewels in his private creation.
Stars flared, their light scattering like rivers of molten gold, before folding inward. In his inner world, they reappeared, blazing brighter than ever, scattered across new heavens of his own design. Each sun he claimed increased his strength, their laws of fire and light becoming his to command with greater mastery.
Nebulae collapsed like painted veils, only to bloom once more within his dominion, eternal gardens of flame and mist. Even black holes, those gluttons of existence, found themselves broken down and reshaped, their gravity and density bent to his will, augmenting the immensity of his realm.
Galaxies followed. Spirals of countless stars stretched, folded, and were absorbed whole, their histories, their souls, their cosmic essence entering him. Yet inside his inner world, they reappeared as though never touched by ruin, preserved in eternal twilight, no longer subject to the decay of time.
Every world devoured became fuel. Every law consumed became his law. Every star gathered became a torch in his new heavens. With each breath, his power multiplied, rising beyond the comprehension of gods.
His wives and subordinates bore witness to this impossible act.
On the Eternal Palace balcony, Evernight clutched Celestara close. The child giggled, her tiny hands reaching upward as stars folded into her father’s realm. Her horns shimmered, one of light and one of shadow, as if resonating with the growing inner cosmos.
Shirley’s lips trembled, yet her smile never wavered. "So much... and yet nothing lost. He is making everything ours."
Diva leaned into her, her eyes shimmering with awe. "No god, no emperor, no creator has ever achieved this. Only him."
Ren Wen dropped to one knee, his voice hoarse. "To preserve creation within himself... to shelter it from those Outer Beings... this is no longer an overlord’s path. This is the path of eternity."
The generals followed in reverence. Jian Longchen lowered his blade in salute, the Mountain King bowed his vast frame, and even Malthius, whose dead eyes had never known fear or wonder, whispered hollowly, "My Lord, you are becoming the core of all worlds."
Dragon General Serynthia spread her wings wide, her scales glinting like molten gold. "Hehe.. when the outsiders arrive, they will find nothing to consume. Everything will already belong to our lord."
"Da da.." Celestara laughed again, her giggle ringing with innocent delight. She clapped her tiny hands as though cheering her father, and in that moment, the heavens trembled. Her laughter resonated with his realm, as though even she was beginning to grasp what her father was shaping.
Igaris turned his gaze briefly back to them. The cold void of his eyes softened as he looked at the child, at Evernight, at all his wives and loyal generals. Then he spoke, his words rumbling with quiet finality.
"This is just the beginning. We have the whole Universe to consume."
The room, the world, the very Universe seemed to bow to that vow.
He turned back to the collapsing firmament, extending his will once more.
Worlds. Stars. Galaxies. Nebulae. Black holes. All streamed toward him, devoured not into ruin but into eternal sanctuary, adding to his power with every heartbeat.
With each breath, his inner cosmos expanded. With each breath, he stepped closer to the Overlord he was destined to become.