The sky above the Forge of Destruction shimmered as the final Pillar merged into Lucius. Fire danced along his arms, threads of possibility wove into his blood, and time itself bent in reverence. The four Pillars now orbited him like ancient stars—Time, Chaos, Creation, and Destruction. Power radiated from him not as pressure, but as presence. The Multiverse had acknowledged him.
But the Throne had not.
A pulse echoed across all of existence.
And Lucius vanished.
He reappeared on familiar ground.
The air was warm. The scent of brewed tea and dry wood filled his senses. A breeze passed lazily across stone-paved streets. It took a moment before Lucius recognized where he was.
The Multiverse General Store.
His home. His base. The beginning.
The glowing storefront sat as it always did, nestled in the center of this pocket realm. Behind it lay everything he had built—his allies, his women, the foundation of a future he had only begun to dream.
