During that time in his life, Seth had been deeply depressed and struggling, with his grandfather's sudden death weighing heavily on him, being disowned cruelly by his family who should have supported him, and abandoned by everyone he thought cared about him, he had felt completely alone in the world with no one to turn to… but he had a wonderful girlfriend who wasted no time slapping the shit out of him when she caught him about to turn to alcohol to numb it all and escape the overwhelming pain.
Seth remembered that day vividly in perfect detail when he was genuinely scared that Lisa was actually about to beat him up with how loudly she was yelling at him and the fury burning in her eyes.
But she had cared deeply about him as a person, and seeing Seth going through it all without turning to lean on her shoulders for support had hurt her greatly and made her feel useless… but that moment had only made Seth fall in love with her even more deeply than before, seeing how much she truly cared.
Sure, for a time after that, the only people in his life had been her and Michael, but they were like one huge happy family together that filled the void. Seth had been genuinely happy for the first time in his life with people who loved him… but then Michael got sick with a terminal illness that required expensive treatment… well, you knew the rest of the story from there. Lisa did it; she slept with Seth's brother to get the money for treatment to save Michael's life, sacrificing everything.
She made a promise in that dungeon long ago to protect Michael no matter what it cost her, and seeing no other choice available to her at the time, what could she have done differently? She made a promise that was carved into her very soul, and if she knew how, she would have sold a kidney and a lung and anything else from her own body to save Michael without hesitation…
Flash Back End
Recalling everything from her past, all the pain and choices, Lisa smirked gently with sadness in her expression. Seth was happy now with Chu Yin by his side, and her arrival in his life would only cause him unwanted trouble and heartache that he didn't deserve after everything.
Although Chu Yin spoke about Seth as if he were some treasure to be owned and guarded, she could tell clearly that Chu Yin put Seth's interests first above all else, even if Seth might not like how aggressively she did it.
Indeed, it was selfish of them to come here hoping to see Seth after all these years… well, mainly her fault; she shouldn't have been too weak and should have told Michael right away firmly that she couldn't come with him on this journey.
Any and all forms of relationship with Seth had been destroyed years ago by her own actions and choices; she was just being selfish by coming here and hoping for anything.
"What are you saying?" Michael said, completely unable to grasp what his sister was trying to do right now. They were so close to finally meeting Seth after all this time and traveling this far, and she wanted to leave now without even trying.
"Let's go," Lisa said firmly, her tone hardening with finality that left no room for argument, making Michael lower his head softly in defeat, unwilling to just leave without seeing Seth and apologizing for everything.
"Cute." Chu Yin said mockingly, her voice dripping with disdain as she waved her hand dismissively through the air.
Instantly, Michael stood there frozen in complete shock… not because he was encased in ice himself, but because before him, Lisa was suddenly frozen solid in ice that appeared from nowhere and encased her completely. Slowly, Lisa's face twisted within the ice prison, her expression contorting as she was overwhelmed by unbearable pain shooting through her body.
"Anyone who harms what's mine; the only punishment I can give out is death." She said indifferently, her voice cold as ice itself, as she watched Michael desperately trying to activate and use his power to save his sister from this fate, only to find with growing despair that the whole room had been frozen in ice without him noticing when it happened, nullifying all talents but Chu Yin's own power.
He realized with growing horror and helplessness that from the very start of this conversation, Chu Yin had been gradually freezing the throne room piece by piece and had been buying time with conversation to ensure his talent was completely frozen solid and rendered useless before making her move.
"Why?" Michael said weakly, his voice breaking with emotion as he realized everything was playing out exactly just like his dream had shown him in vivid, horrifying detail.
"How dare you bring this nonsense before me, trying to steal what's mine? Seth, even if he wants to leave me, shall never leave, for he has no free will. He is my belonging," She said with a smug smirk spreading across her face, her tone carrying absolute certainty and possessiveness.
Her man was about to get the wish he had always wanted deep down in his heart… and change his race to something far better than human.
"You bastard! Seth isn't an item!" Michael roared with fury and desperation, his voice echoing through the frozen throne room with raw emotion, only for his entire being to be sealed away in ice instantly before he could do anything to stop what was happening.
What followed next was the Universe itself, taking the physical form of Seth, appearing before Michael with an indifferent expression that looked like his brother but wasn't.
"Seth will make his own race… am I clear?" Chu Yin asked sharply, her tone leaving absolutely no room for argument or negotiation.
The Universe, wearing Seth's face, nodded in acknowledgment of her command, taking Michael's frozen form in its hands, and disappearing from the throne room entirely without a trace.
Chu Yin looked at Lisa trapped in ice with cold, merciless eyes, and with a casual wave of her hand as if swatting a fly, Lisa, who was trapped helplessly in the ice prison, exploded violently into countless pieces, turning into dust that disappeared from existence without leaving a single trace behind.
***
[You have been given the chance to change your race. Please state the race you wish to change into.]
Seth, who was standing before Allura in the training ground, running various tests on her to understand her evolution and how her talents could grow, suddenly froze completely at the notification that appeared before him without any warning.
He was stunned into complete silence for a moment, and then instantly, he jumped up in pure joy at this incredible opportunity being offered to him. He wasted absolutely no time and quickly began thinking deeply and carefully of the perfect race that would suit him and his abilities.
"Nexus, the Nexus race. A race perfectly built to use my ability, Nexus." Seth said aloud with conviction, since of course, a trashy race like a human, no matter how rare humans with high-tier talents were, would never bring out the true potential of Nexus and what it could accomplish at its peak.
[You have picked a never-before-seen race… due to being the Honored One, the universe has decided to create this new race for you. It shall take the pros of all races, from the lowest of races, such as ants, to the strongest races, such as primoridals, and fuse them all into one race called Nexus.]
"I don't want weaknesses in me, so remove humans from the fusion," Seth said calmly, trying to exclude that weak part from his new race.
But sadly for him, the universe ignored his request completely without explanation, and instantly his blood began to boil like fire in his veins, burning from the inside. Seth clicked his tongue in annoyance at being ignored and overruled, and returned his attention to Allura standing before him, ignoring the overwhelming pain that was overflowing through his entire being.
It hurt like absolute hell, burning through every single cell in his body, but he honestly didn't care much for the pain at this point in his life; in fact, he was growing exponentially stronger thanks to Overcomer activating at an extreme rate from all the damage his body was taking.
At the rate things were going, he would soon break the world record and tier up. But of course, he wouldn't do that, but until Chu Yin and all of the SSS tier talents break the world record, seeing as he could easily break it.
***
Outside the multiverse once more, in that dark void beyond all reality, the man who was chained up and imprisoned opened his eyes slowly, looking over to the small universe once more with a light frown forming on his face. But he didn't see Seth this time when he looked, and instead saw Chu Yin standing in his path to Seth, looking up directly at him across the impossible distance with an unreadable look on her face.