Duality of Shadows-Chapter 1006: Thousand Petal

After completing the creation, they moved a white point into the first body. There were plenty of doubts about whether it would work since it wasn’t exactly a soul as they knew it. But as soon as the white point entered the first wisp’s body, a pulse of energy flowed through, similar to a heartbeat.

"It worked. Great." He got excited and focused on the array.

All their allies felt their Qi being drained. Alm and Bruno wasted no time. Fortunately, Qi was extremely abundant. They extracted everything from the people connected to the array and even asked the Gaias of the planets to generate as much as possible to complete it.

Only thirty minutes had passed since they received the mission. Finally, they created billions of bodies for all the wisps.

[Congratulations, Side Quest Completed!]

Billions of wisps received new bodies and awakened. Now, they were no longer pure Origin-Law but rather Qi. The concept of being energy-based life forms remained, but they were no longer restricted and could live anywhere.

[Main Quest Received.]

[Absorb the Heaven’s Will]

[Reward 01: True God Realm Cultivation Unlocked]

[Reward 02: New Passive Skill *Celestial Conversion*]

He read it in surprise. Then, thinking about the details, another green screen appeared.

[The missionary already represents the Heaven’s Will, possessing its mandate. However, his power is still limited, as he must completely absorb the previous Heaven’s Will. Upon completing the absorption, the previous Heaven’s Will will vanish forever. From that moment on, the missionary will rely solely on his own abilities; the world’s hope will rest entirely in his hands.]

[The system will remain but will change forever, functioning completely automatically. The new Heaven’s Will will have full mastery over its power and be able to use anything without cost. However, any action taken will be perceived by the laws, leaving a mark on the world’s karma. As a result, the enemy will know and be able to perfectly track what was done.]

[The new *Celestial Conversion* skill will become your new and only source of points. By using your powers through the system with points, you will remain undetected.]

The whale read the entire message and sighed heavily. Heaven’s Will had always been manipulating their lives, like a shadowy hand behind the curtains.

They fought against it, cursed it countless times, but recognized that this entity had been their greatest support. Now, they were destined to destroy it completely. He knew this was the only way to fight the queen, and there was no time to mourn.

The whale snorted and activated his Celestial soul to the maximum. His eyes glowed as he focused on a distant corner, seeing through the heavenly laws.

The queen had already mastered two-thirds of the laws, but amid the golden runes, hidden and cornered, was a small figure resembling a wisp: Heaven’s Will.

Alm and Bruno’s previous guess, upon seeing Heaven’s Will for the first time, seemed correct. That "physical" form was the most basic and functional one possible; its resemblance to the wisps was no coincidence.

The whale waved, using the power of the mandate. With his will, he drew it toward him. It was as if it was a part of him, temporarily separated, now coming back together.

Heaven’s Will moved through the runes the queen had not yet mastered. Quickly, the Chaos Tree trembled, and the whale felt Heaven’s Will dissolving inside him. It was like pouring a cup of water into a river — it simply merged, seemingly without any...

Suddenly, Alm and Bruno felt their dark karma roaring out of control. Around the whale, a dark aura emanating directly from the heavenly laws surrounded them.

That aura was pure hatred and the desire for justice from all the lives they had taken in the past. That karma had always been tied to them and had never disappeared, not even for a moment.

It had never been a problem, and in some cases, they had even used it to their advantage. But now... it was clear that the karma was boiling and desperately trying to stop the union with Heaven’s Will.

They tried to resist, but soon gave up. It was preventing the assimilation and wasn’t going away.

The whale snorted. It had taken time, but the past was finally demanding its price. Karma is essentially the result of actions, whether good or bad. It wasn’t something simple and could never be erased. There was only one way to eliminate it: paying the price. No negotiations.

However, he noticed a change. That karma was one-third smaller than it had once been. The changes they had made in this new life had led them to help and save many people. They had even rebuilt an entire universe.

They had always tried to keep these people safe, even at a high cost. After all, they could have absorbed everything for themselves and ignored everyone else. That choice had cost them, and they could have been much stronger individually by now. However, that decision had reduced some of the accumulated karma.

Even so, the difference didn’t change much. The remaining karma clearly prevented them from absorbing Heaven’s Will and was even slowly expelling it from the body.

"Damn... it’s impossible to get rid of this. We only have a few minutes..."

Alm and Bruno could only curse themselves. It was entirely their fault. How many evils had they caused? How many innocents had their lives refined and died by their hands? They had destroyed entire galaxies slowly, one after another. Over the centuries, countless souls must have reincarnated only to be killed by them again. How much hatred had accumulated against them?

They were being mentally dominated by the queen. However, as long as they didn’t break her rules, they managed to live a relatively normal life. Of course, her imposed rules were extremely restrictive and dark, but it was still a life. The whale sighed deeply.

"Master..."

"Dad..."

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Suddenly, two voices echoed in his internal universe, snapping him out of that dazed state. His will shifted inward, and he saw the two women staring at him with eyes full of pain and affection.

Both had moved on their own to the base of the Tree of Chaos, calling for him, knowing they would be heard.

"Are you okay?" Meru asked with a worried look, standing beside Ruri.

He nodded seriously, observing them. These two women, pillars of his life, had instinctively sensed that his mind and will were wavering, consumed by guilt. But...

Their trust and desperate desire to help him created a warm feeling in his chest. They had changed, building something genuine. The past was in the past, and eventually, they’d pay for everything they’d done—but they wouldn’t be alone.

"Sorry..." he muttered, taking a deep breath before speaking seriously about the dead-end situation he was in.

"I always knew my past would come back to stab me and ruin everything," he added dryly.

"No, Master will never lose," Ruri replied quickly.

"Dad, don’t be so stubborn," Meru said, clenching her fists. "You always give us so much more than we can give back. Everyone wants to be by your side. We may be just side characters, but we’ll always be your support. At least trust the two of us..."

He looked into their eyes and saw their unwavering resolve and immense desire to help. Heaven’s Will had put them in his path, but he could have just used and discarded them afterward.

He had even tried. Ruri was supposed to be left behind with the Divinestone clan in the past, and they were supposed to walk a solitary path. But she refused to leave him and did everything she could to be accepted. After that, their bond only grew stronger.

Isla, on the other hand, was the catalyst that turned them into the villain they became. But in truth, they had only used her as an excuse for that transformation. That rebellion had always existed within them from the start. The shadow of his father from Earth, who had killed him, was always there. The desire to fall into darkness and do whatever he wanted just to feel better was the cause.

They had become what they hated most by choice. After all, there had been good people like Lyra in the past on their path. But they had refused to give up.

In this new life, upon discovering that Isla was still alive, they could have ignored her and chosen the safer route. But they were willing to go wherever necessary to save her. That forced Heaven’s Will to give them the mission. If they hadn’t received that mission, they would have gone anyway.

He sighed lightly and nodded. At that moment, Meru looked at Ruri, and the two exchanged a glance of understanding.

Meru then spoke, facing him: "Dad, the mission is only about absorbing, not fully assimilating, right? Your karma is preventing total assimilation. I can seal the karma with the mirror. Mom can use her mental power to keep Heaven’s Will stable inside you. Her power can allow it to be absorbed in parts as you gradually eliminate the karma."

He was surprised. He knew Meru could manipulate karma, but his was on another level. Could she handle it alone? As for Ruri’s mental power, since she had created a new level of the original technique, he knew she could fuse her mental power with anything and subtly influence it. But even Heaven’s Will?

Feeling their determination, he didn’t dare question whether they were capable. He knew their abilities but had never imagined they could achieve something so grand.

"Hmm... alright, let’s do it together," he said, and immediately saw smiles blossom on their faces. A comfortable feeling enveloped him.

They quickly left the internal universe and clung to the whale’s arms, closing their eyes.

The full power of the Mirror of Reincarnation was activated. Meru had grown quickly—not just physically. She never wasted time and studied everything she could to strengthen herself. She knew her power was unique and important for her father, and only she could do this.

As for Ruri, from the day she was accepted as his disciple, she never relaxed. She always gave her best but never felt like it was enough. In fact, she believed she was below what he deserved. So she gradually built something unique that would always be useful to him.

Two minutes passed slowly...

Ethereal petals of a lotus began to emerge at the top of the Tree of Chaos. Each petal had a different color, and in five minutes, a thousand-petaled lotus was formed with Ruri’s mental power.

The lotus spun gently, made of the pure power of Heaven’s Will. It was the brightest and most sacred thing in the world. But around it, a dark mist obscured its brilliance, creating a scene of pure, divine light immersed in a sea of darkness.

The whale felt the two faint, their eyes closing. He immediately moved his arms, holding both by the waist. They seemed to breathe easier as they felt his presence.

[Congratulations, Main Quest completed!]