The Monarch

A long time ago, Kayden rejected the divinity granted to him by the heavens. The path that everyone else followed held no attraction for him whatsoever. To become a god through heavenly assistance would have been to deny his entire life history, to betray every principle he held. It would have condemned him to become a mediocre god without a future.

Every step Kayden had taken up to that point had been driven by his desire to become something greater—to ascend above all others. He did not merely seek to reach the peak; he sought to go far beyond it, far beyond himself. This was not a competition with other people—Kayden only ever measured himself against himself.

Author's note: I changed it to trillions of years; I'll fix that in earlier chapters.

The energy Kayden had accumulated over trillions of years began to solidify into something greater. There was no longer any mana in his path; the mana had been completely replaced by laws. His actions were entirely different from before. At this moment, Kayden had to understand things on a far deeper level. After so many years in this world, he had come to grasp some truly special truths.

Mana had been both a crutch and not a crutch at all. Using mana to solidify his laws and his path had been far easier—the mana filled gaps and patched weak points unconsciously. He had not been forced to understand every single detail; the mana had smothered those small errors.

By then, Kayden's path had risen above even a high-level fundamental law, yet it hadn't quite transcended it. It hovered in limbo between a second-level law and a third-level law. Although Kayden was focused on converting energy and studying, he had overheard Thoth's lecture and the freely given insights of the sage.

After so much time studying his own law and his own strength, it became obvious to Kayden that he had leaned on mana for far too long. There were thousands of flaws in his law—not just a few, but thousands. It looked almost like the work of a lazy child once Kayden removed mana from his vision and focused solely on manipulating the laws themselves.

Mana still played a role, and it still held answers, but simultaneously it did not and could not be a part. It was practically impossible to explain to anyone who hadn't experienced it—like trying to describe the three-dimensional world to a being trapped in two dimensions. It was far beyond the lower mind's capacity to grasp.

There was no middle ground on his path. Either Kayden would be perfect, or he would rather die trying to become perfect. Defects could not be tolerated or accepted. The moment Kayden discovered those flaws, he completely shifted his priorities. He stopped everything else and began focusing solely on how to eliminate those weak points.

The energy Kayden needed to correct his path and his laws… was enough to elevate millions of mortals to divine status. It was enough energy to create entire universes. After Thoth spoke, the gods began paying far closer attention to Kayden. Thoth had come here on his behalf; there must have been something in this boy that set him apart.

"Holy hell," one of the elders exclaimed in surprise. "Look at the flow of time and energy this boy has amassed." After that, the gods felt a disquieting shift. The energy that Kayden had gathered…

It was not normal. It was not something even a god could achieve. It far exceeded the average, far beyond acceptable limits. And when you considered that Kayden was merely a mortal, it became all the more terrifying. It was enough energy to move entire universes—enough to create hundreds of them.

"He could obliterate the entire mountain if he cast that energy into a divine-rank spell." Quality would always outshine quantity.

This was a certainty that Kayden carried deep inside him. But… there was a caveat, a certain limit to that claim. That was one of them: the sheer volume of energy Kayden had expended over the years could surpass the quality present in this mountain. But… it would be virtually impossible to channel it all into a single spell—at least with Kayden's current capacity. It was far beyond his control in that moment.

"I want a patron for Kayden," Thoth omitted that detail about the boy. "I have gathered you here to demonstrate a bit of my candidate's talent." This time, the god was placing all his bets on Kayden. "This energy you're seeing…"

Thoth paused deeply.

"It is not for him to become a god." His words brought fresh surprise to the surrounding gods. Such emotion was so rare at this stage of their lives that they barely remembered what it felt like. "He is merely correcting flaws in his own path."

The gods fell silent, concentrating all their senses to glean every possible detail about Kayden. They examined everything they could perceive in the boy.

What immediately struck every one of them was the karmic burden Kayden carried at that moment. Observing his future was impossible. The law of chaos swirling around him was denser than the chaos surrounding a universe freshly born. The number of possible paths and events was infinite. The volume of karma Kayden bore rendered him virtually untouchable by any god. Yet…

The fame he was amassing was beyond the ordinary. These gods did not need to consult many records to learn Kayden's history—it was practically open to any being with a modicum of power. His feats and achievements made any genius of the recent ages look like a mere child.

"This boy is a challenger to the heavens who refused the celestial ascent," Thoth made his final observation. "The moment he becomes a god, he will be hunted—and you must understand why."

"At this moment, no one can touch him. But…" one of the gods added.

"Exactly. If he becomes a god, he will become king of the gods. But no one will accept that," Thoth smiled. "To patron him also means…"

"To stand against all gods that exist."