The stars had no order here.
Beyond the Abyssal Divide, reality twisted like a dying serpent—jagged, broken, and bleeding light from rifts that howled with eternal hunger. Zhen stood at the edge of this forsaken domain, the final boundary before the Forbidden Cluster—a realm whispered about in the oldest prophecies, said to hold fragments of the original Celestial Core.
Behind him, the last remnants of the coalition—dozens of races, shattered sects, and scattered sovereigns—stood breathless, bruised, and afraid.
"You're not going in there alone," growled General Varn of the Ironshade Legion, blood dripping from his cracked helm.
Zhen didn't answer. His gaze remained fixed on the churning darkness ahead, where no starlight reached.
But the weapon on his back pulsed.
A low, resonant hum throbbed through his bones. The crystalline fragments embedded in his blade began to shimmer with golden-blue runes, lighting up one by one as if answering a long-forgotten call.
> [System Notice: Celestial Resonance Detected. Fragment Alignment—94%.]
[Warning: Host is approaching a Tier-Ω anomaly. Unknown laws in effect.]
Zhen narrowed his eyes. "So it begins."
---
🌌 The Enemy in the Void
A ripple tore through the blackness.
Then, from the void, a figure emerged—no, not one, three. Cloaked in robes stitched from cosmic essence, their faces were hidden behind silver masks etched with symbols from pre-celestial languages.
The center figure stepped forward, raising a staff carved from what appeared to be a fossilized time fragment.
> "Zhen of the Ranking," the being spoke, its voice echoing inside the mind rather than the ears. "You seek the Core. But before it may judge you, we must."
Zhen's system pinged violently.
> [ALERT: Encountering Guardians of the Forbidden Cluster – Designation: "Echoes of the Dead Pantheon." Estimated Power: Class-Ω.]
> [System Override Mode: Initiating Temporary Combat Expansion.]
With a crack of dimensional wind, Zhen's feet slid back slightly.
Then he smiled.
"I was wondering when something interesting would show up."
---
⚔️ Sovereign Clash
The battle began with silence.
Then came the collapse of light—one of the Echoes summoned a storm of mirrored blades, each casting shadows that devoured energy. Another manipulated time, accelerating themselves into a blur that struck like a god falling through eternity.
Zhen moved like thunder given form.
His blade—the Celestial Fang—sang as it cleaved through the void, carving runes into existence with each stroke. His right arm shifted—veins glowing, scales forming as the Dragon-Blood Protocol activated, his bloodline transcending mortal limits.
Each clash shook the battlefield, hurling debris across space. Planetoids shattered. Forgotten oaths whispered themselves awake in the storm.
Then it happened.
> [System Fusion Triggered: New Skill Unlocked – Heavenpiercer Domain.]
> [You are now ranked 3rd on the Multiverse Sovereign Ladder.]
Across worlds, celestial monoliths trembled. Insectoid queens, void beasts, and immortal empires turned their gaze toward the notification that burned across every system-bound soul.
Zhen was no longer just a contender.
He was a threat to the hierarchy.
---
🌙 The Voice in the Darkness
As Zhen struck down the last Echo, its essence dissolving into stardust, something else stirred within the Forbidden Cluster.
From the cracked edge of a broken moon, a woman stepped forth. Her robes were woven from midnight and snow. Her face was concealed behind a veil of silver mist. In her hand was a shard—glowing faintly, resonating with Zhen's weapon.
He knew her.
Or… a part of him did.
> "You shouldn't be here yet," she said softly. "The Fragment is watching."
Before he could respond, her form dissolved into light.
---
🌀 The Core Awakens
Suddenly, the sky fractured—runes spiraled outward like an ancient eye opening. From the depths of the Forbidden Cluster, a beam of light erupted, piercing through reality itself.
> [System Broadcast: Celestial Core Fragment #2 has been activated.]
> [All Rankers within the Omega Belt will be summoned.]
> [The Second Multiversal War is officially initiated.]
Zhen stared upward as his blade vibrated violently. The Fragment was calling him—not just him, but everyone.
The peace was over.
He turned to the coalition remnants behind him.
"We move now," he said.
The air crackled.
As the celestial beam tore through the cosmos and the system broadcast echoed across multiverses, Zhen remained still—but within him, a storm raged.
> [System Prompt: You have been recognized by Celestial Core Fragment #2. Initiating synchronization scan…]
> [Multiverse System Hierarchy reacting to your presence.]
> [Warning: Detected convergence of Sovereign-ranked entities within the Forbidden Cluster. Estimated time of full arrival: 6 minutes.]
---
Zhen's gaze turned inward, thoughts racing.
He had fought enemies who could stop time. He had stood against dragons who ruled planetary systems, battled forbidden heritages and shattered soul-sealing arrays. But this was different.
This was the game behind the game.
The true rulers—the Sovereigns—were coming.
And not all of them would be strangers.
---
⚡ The System's Truth: Hidden Protocol Unlocked
A sharp jolt passed through Zhen's spine.
His system interface flickered—not the sleek, silver interface he was used to, but one older, darker, inscribed in a primal language of the Source.
> [System Root File "Ω-Origin Codex" is now accessible.]
> [Do you wish to unlock the truth of the Multiverse Ranker Protocol?]
Zhen hesitated.
"Show me."
The world around him dimmed, and time slowed to a crawl. In the space between seconds, a golden projection unfolded—images of countless worlds rising and falling. Systems being injected into souls like seeds. Rankers being selected, exalted, and finally… harvested.
> "The system is not your tool," a voice whispered. "It is your cage."
He saw them—thousands of rankers like him. Some triumphant, others crushed under the weight of ascension. Each one a part of a cycle—used, ranked, reset.
Then he saw himself—Zhen—standing outside the loop, his soul bathed in two conflicting lights: one from the system, and the other…
…from within.
> [Confirmation: Your existence is an anomaly. You are not bound to the original loop.]
> [New Trait Acquired: Beyond the Rank – Immune to Authority Suppression below Tier-Sovereign.]
Zhen's breath caught in his throat.
"They're afraid of me," he muttered. "Even the system."
---
🩸 The Fifth Sovereign Descends
Before he could recover, space shattered again.
A figure stepped through a black tear in the void—tall, adorned in an armor forged from still-living mythic creatures. His face bore ancient scars, and his left eye glowed with a clockwork iris: time itself trapped in his gaze.
The sky darkened. The stars dimmed.
Every being in the Forbidden Cluster—whether dragonspawn, shattered warlords, or silent watchers—knelt.
> [System Broadcast: Sovereign Ranker #5 – N'irath the Chronoslayer has entered the field.]
Zhen stood firm.
N'irath turned his head toward him. "So you are the one making all the noise."
Zhen said nothing. He only raised his blade.
The moment stretched, reality around them breaking apart under the pressure of two wills.
Then N'irath smiled. "Good. I was getting bored."
With a flick of his wrist, the very timeline split. A future version of N'irath stepped out, striking from a moment yet to happen.
Zhen parried. Barely.
The force of the blow sent shockwaves across the battlefield, upending mountains and collapsing light barriers.
> [Warning: Temporal Incursion detected. Calculating future-collapse risk…]
> [Heavenpiercer Domain initializing countermeasure.]
Zhen roared as his domain erupted—runes spiraled, constructing an inverted sanctum where fate bowed to his will.
The two clashed again. And again. Each strike a paradox, each dodge a rewritten destiny.
---
🌑 The Girl Beneath the Mask
As their battle tore through dimensions, someone else watched.
From within a floating shard of collapsed reality, the veiled woman from before hovered in silence. Her veil billowed in the cosmic wind, and in her hand, the shard she held flickered with familiar resonance.
"Even he doesn't know what he carries," she whispered, voice tinged with sorrow.
Behind her, a voice responded.
> "You intend to help him?"
She turned. A second woman stood there—one with violet eyes that mirrored swirling galaxies. Clad in a dress made of starlight, she radiated ancient, cold beauty.
> "No," the veiled girl replied. "I intend to test him."
---
🌠 The Sovereign Ladder Shifts
The battle between Zhen and N'irath continued, watched across the realms. Systems trembled. Rankers wept.
Then suddenly—
> [System Update: Multiversal Sovereign Ladder has been re-evaluated.]
1st – ????
2nd – N'irath the Chronoslayer
3rd – Zhen (Celestial Fang Holder)
4th – Liora of the Star-Eaters
5th – General Vaark of Oblivion Nexus
[Notice: First Rank remains obscured. Source Unknown.]
Zhen landed hard, his blade buzzing with unstable power. Across from him, N'irath wiped blood from his mouth.
"That blade of yours… it doesn't belong to you," N'irath said, staring at Celestial Fang. "It's not from this multiverse."
Zhen grinned. "Good thing neither am I."
---
🔮 The Final Summon
Then it came.
The second Fragment exploded into radiance. A portal ripped through the stars, swallowing everything in its path.
> [System Directive: All Sovereign Rankers are summoned to the Celestial Arena.]
> [Failure to comply will result in system deactivation.]
Zhen turned to the rift. Behind him, allies called his name. Ahead, destiny awaited.
With one final look at the fading world, he stepped forward.
--