But Uriel did not care.

He had not chosen to die, so he wouldn’t. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

It was as simple as that.

WHOOSH!

Like a phoenix rising from its ashes, Uriel’s Will took shape once more and roared to life, the white flames of his gaze returning.

KAH!

But just as fast as he rose, he fell once more.

In truth, infinity remained infinity. His small and weak mortal will could survive the presence of the voice once, defying death, but could it do so twice?

Thrice? A thousand times? A million?

WHOOOSH!

Uriel’s Will shattered again and again, and as that happened, the point growing in the midst of his cores continued to build and thicken.

It was a small marble bead of pure ivory.

[...fascinating.]

The voice, the entity who’d taken hold of the system, observed Uriel’s struggle with as much fascination as amusement.

They were mildly interested by the strange nature of his soul, which had birthed the weird and amorphous Will Uriel possessed, and somewhat intrigued by the corruption deeply rooted within it.

But it was just that. Mild interest.

After a while, the voice saw nothing else of note, and a sigh echoed from it, one filled with disappointment.

Across the infinity of existence, how many others just as impressive as Uriel existed? Countless. They were endless.

Mortals able to slay Gods, children born from long-forgotten heretic lineages, warriors that swam through the waters of time—the voice had seen it all.

And none of it was ever impressive. None of it was ever worthy of the attention of a Regulator, those who ruled over the Weaves.

Yet Uriel had caught the entity’s attention, only to end up disappointing it and—

[...oh?]

The Regulator noticed something odd.

Uriel’s Will didn’t shatter anymore. In fact, the Regulator couldn’t sense his Will at all anymore. It was as if he were well and truly dead.

But they knew he wasn’t.

"..."

The frozen, kneeling corpse in the center of the brazier was unmoving, the flames still dancing around it, as if, in death, the body had become its kin.

The chill of the flame was accompanied by the field of stillness emanating from the corpse, a field that oozed quiet and solace, an aura of pure and unbroken silence.

It was almost peaceful. Almost.

The corpse’s eyes of ivory, which had once burned with flames of defiance and madness, were now nothing but a white canvas of pure tranquility and calm.

A canvas untouched by anything at all.

"..."

Uriel clearly sensed the presence of the Regulator now that his Will had stopped shattering. In fact, he could feel it even more than before and was able to truly perceive the maddening power of the entity.

"..."

His broken body shook, cracks echoing as his head craned upward to stare at the gigantic eye which unknowingly appeared to cover the skies of the sea.

The system eye.

For a moment, a slight beat, heaven and man stared at one another, almost acknowledging the other’s presence and might.

There was no anger, wrath, defiance, battle, or chaos. It was a simple exchange of gazes, from the divine to the mortal.

And through it all, Uriel was completely indifferent.

But it was less about indifference rooted in pride and endurance, or even bravery born from all the agony he’d undergone, like a blade sharpened again and again by the fires of the world.

It was none of that.

His Will wafted an aura of pure and unbridled disregard.

Disregard for his own life as much as the heavens’ will.

[You have forged a Formless Will Origin!]

[You have forged a True Will!]

[You have regained your True Core!]

Uriel had noticed the oddity a while back. After forming his tri-cores, he’d felt like he had lost a part of himself that came with his true core.

It just didn’t feel quite right, and the fact that he somehow understood nothing about his new cores had only exacerbated the feeling.

The power of his tri-cores had been such that he’d simply ignored it, assuming it to be a small price to pay for greater power.

But now, as the small white marble bead in his solar plexus grew again and again, truly blooming into a singularity, a True Core, he felt its importance.

He felt complete again.

SHI!

And as smoothly as his new True Core formed, anchoring itself in his broken body to rule over his cores, rings, and stars, comprehension flooded his mind.

He understood the truths of his cores now.

SHOOOO!

The Regulator, the System Eye, barely had time to react to his shocking breakthrough when suddenly, his Will roared out.

It peeled across the skies and tore them open, his cores spinning under his orders to twist and pull the world’s runic fabric under his reign.

And with nothing but a push, his cores twisted the fabric to Uriel’s image, exploding with a tidal wave of force, of the world’s force, that simply—

KAH!

—shattered the Eye, sending the Regulator back before they could react.

The shard of their projected Will was broken, just as the notifications of Uriel’s death stopped pinging, and the projection in the skies broke alongside the fabric of space.

From the skies, rain began to fall, harsh and torrential, accompanied by sharp shards of space and avalanches of void flames.

"..."

Uriel heard a loud and deep shriek echo as he pushed back against the Regulator, but he didn’t care. He had bigger and greater things to do.

’I see.’

Now that Uriel understood the purpose of his tri-cores...

BANG!

...he could expand his horizons.

The frozen corpse shook as, finally, he let his eyes close, and a deep sigh escaped his lips.

The agony was over. Now came Ascendance.

[You have achieved a Singularity Feat!]

[You have achieved a Timeless Feat!]

[You have achieved a Godless Feat!]

Just like last time, the notifications came rolling in, announced by three different systems, each more agitated than the last, as if his feats truly were unseen.

And perhaps they were.

What mortal could claim to have simply refused death? And how many more could claim to have survived the presence of a Regulator?

Not many.

[Jade Source Rewards Granted!]

[Jade Source Rewards Granted!]

[Jade Source Rewards Granted!]

The pile of shocking rewards in Uriel’s Abode Mark grew a couple of sizes larger, but he didn’t pay it any mind.

No, what he focused on was something else.

The formation of three new cores.