Lake, Eternal on the Threads of Fate

But…

Could this be possible?

As the saying went, before and after a great battle, there was always a bombardment to clear the field.

This time was no exception.

Lake made no attempt to conceal his feelings and directly engaged in a vigorous battle with the trinity of the Creation Spirit of Destiny in the Gemini Maze.

At the beginning, Lake was indeed kept busy dealing with them. But by the middle and latter stages of the battle, the game had turned into an unusual game of hide-and-seek.

Lake caught Clotho, who had been trying to escape, and directly held her around his waist. Then, with a whoosh, he appeared before the mature Atropos. Clotho, hanging around his waist, had already gone limp, so Lake immediately switched to Atropos…

And so it went, over and over.

As Lake wrestled with the trinity of the Creation Spirit of Destiny, the Force Seed in his sea of consciousness greedily and hungrily absorbed energy. Threads of fate, symbolizing destiny, extended in three different directions.

One end of the thread of fate flew upward from the Force Seed, connecting with the dim universe projected overhead and adorned only by the Gemini Nebula. The dark universe seemed to be breathing.

The second end of the thread of fate spread directly from beneath the Force Seed, heading toward the evil dark domain born after it devoured the Black Heart Demon. The countless threads became entangled with the depths of this underworld, which possessed nothing but a name and no actual function.

As for the final end of the thread of fate, it wound around the Force Seed again and again like ivy, attempting to merge with it. Once that happened, the threads of fate would spread as far as the World Tree born from it grew.

The trinity of the Creation Spirit of Destiny wanted to conquer Lake.

But how could Lake not have the same idea?

This earth-shaking battle did not last long. Once the trinity of the Creation Spirit of Destiny finally realized that they could not conquer Lake, and after they had completely exhausted themselves, they chose to submit.

Lake remained virile as ever.

The trinity of the Creation Spirit of Destiny, meanwhile, had completely lost the ability to move. They hung directly from Lake’s body, serving him with their own bodies.

The youngest, Clotho, said, "You’re very strong."

Lachesis, about the same age as Lake, spoke up. "We are willing to weave destiny for your as-yet-unborn universe, so that your universe will be blessed by fate from the moment it is born."

Atropos, the mature woman, wrapped herself around Lake’s waist. "We will no longer weave destiny for you or the living beings you have pardoned. This is what you have won, Your Highness the future God King."

Lake threw back his head and laughed.

The entire Gemini Maze rumbled and trembled.

Lake picked up Atropos and rose to his feet, then looked directly at Clotho and Lachesis. "I accept your submission. But I still want to do it a billion more times!"

The elevation of his life level had brought Lake not only the blissful joy of happiness, but also some unknown troubles.

At the very least, neither Emilia, Rachel, Hermione, nor Seifer had been able to let Lake unleash his full strength even once after awakening his Sixth Sense.

Simply put…

Over the past few years, Lake had actually been pretending to be at his peak.

But this time?

Lake had truly experienced the sensation of the first time he and Emilia had gone all out—a passionate battle filled with desire and intoxicating ecstasy that made it impossible to escape.

So Lake wanted more.

The faces of the trinity of the Creation Spirit of Destiny changed in an instant. Even Atropos, wrapped around Lake’s waist, sensed the change within him. With a wet pop, she quickly fled toward the depths of the Gemini Maze, trailing liquid behind her, apparently wanting to play another round of hide-and-seek.

Lake laughed heartily, looking exactly like a foolish emperor.

A long time passed.

Of course…

To the outside world, however, it had been very quick. In merely the blink of an eye, Lake and that dilapidated coffin reappeared in Himiko’s burial chamber.

Inside the coffin, the rotten Queen Himiko was still lying there, both hands tightly clutching a round disk-shaped object resembling a tea cake.

The Plague Disk.

This was data Lake had read from the submissive Creation Spirit. The Creation Spirit itself possessed no offensive abilities. The reason outsiders had spread the rumor that merely touching it could spread a deadly plague was because of this Plague Disk, which had been buried alongside Himiko.

The Plague Disk could be considered a magical item. However, it should have been something the demons of the Hell Dimension had left behind during their retreat. It was also likely one of the objects Mephisto had left on Earth at the time.

After all, plague was one of the authorities belonging to the Hell Dimension.

However…

After so many years, the authority over plague within the Plague Disk had almost completely vanished. At the very least, when the Plague Disk had first emerged, it had been capable of spreading plague on a massive scale without requiring physical contact.

Now, it required manual contact before it could spread the plague.

Rumble!

Lake withdrew his gaze from the Plague Disk and turned his attention to his sea of consciousness. With the intervention of the Creation Spirit, the tender shoot that had emerged from the Force Seed grew at a speed visible to the naked eye, forming a phantom image that soared upward along the threads of fate and connected with the center of the universe above, which was adorned only by the Gemini Nebula.

Uh…

It was like drawing a picture. The threads of fate served as the brush, first sketching out the basic outline of the image. What remained was to fill in the middle with fuel.

When the World Tree of the Force Seed, connected to Lake’s own comprehension of the universe, was linked to the universe by the threads of fate, a thunderous boom rang out. Only then did Lake truly feel the complete fusion of the Force and the power of the Cosmo, transforming into a kind of cosmic power that, though weak, genuinely existed.

In an instant…

Buzz!

Lake looked at the universe that had completely merged into one. To the left of the Gemini constellation, it seemed that a brand-new constellation had also been born.

This was…

Aries?

Lake watched as the stars forming the Aries Nebula emerged from the void and slowly gathered into the shape of a ram. He raised his brows.

What was going on?

Lake’s true body had comprehended the Chaos Universe, while his Clone Saga had comprehended the Gemini constellation and used it to adorn his Chaos Universe. Now, an Aries constellation had appeared as well?

Moreover…

It had not been comprehended by his clone.

Then where had it come from?

Somewhere!

The Twelve Palaces World!

Wanda’s fiery red hair was elegantly coiled up, dignified and graceful. Her jade-like cheeks were set with two bright eyes that glittered like stars. Before her, Da Vinci had completely connected with the power of Aries. His body had begun to reverse its aging, changing perfectly from an old man into a younger form, until he finally settled at the age of forty-five.

"Congratulations. You have truly become the Gold Saint of Aries, one of the Twelve Zodiac Palaces."

As she spoke, Wanda opened her right hand. A Cloth Token engraved with a miniature image of the Aries Nebula appeared in her palm. After handing it to Da Vinci, she continued, "This is the Cloth of Aries. Once you truly comprehend the power of the Sixth Sense, you’ll be able to use it."

Da Vinci, restored from old age to the appearance of a forty-five-year-old man, accepted the Cloth Token and looked at Wanda. "I remember you said that once I comprehended it, you might go see him as well."

"Only at that moment will his existence become eternal!"

Wanda said this, then shook her head. "But now isn’t the time."

"Why?"

"Right now, he still can’t defeat me."

"…"

Wanda’s expression was cold, and she gave a chilly laugh. "I’m afraid I won’t be able to control myself. Even in the past, whenever I thought about how he treated women like stamps in a collection, I wanted to kill him. How much more so now? I’ll go see him once I feel that he can face my fury without dying."

Women…

She thought about killing him on one hand, while loving him on the other.

How contradictory.

Da Vinci shook his head inwardly.

Wanda said, "However, Hebe can go see him. Hebe is his daughter. I’ve raised her for so many years, so it’s time to let him know how hard I’ve worked."

From behind a certain palace in the distance came an excited, childish cheer.

Wanda looked over. "That’s only if your confinement period is over. You still have another year of confinement."

Hebe, locked inside Gemini Palace, was dumbfounded.

Wanda then turned to Da Vinci. "You are destined to be Aries, and even the leader of the Twelve Zodiac Palaces. I hope you can keep your promise."

Da Vinci nodded. "Of course. If things are really as you say, I don’t know about the absolute loyalty of the other palaces, but Aries Palace and Taurus Palace will honor your daughter Hebe above all others. Both Aries Palace and Taurus Palace will be Hebe’s guardians."

Speaking of Taurus Palace…

Da Vinci’s gaze fell on the distant palace. There, a familiar-looking Old Man with a beard was panting heavily as he threw punches, filled with the peak power of ten thousand strikes.

Wanda followed Da Vinci’s gaze and shook her head. Then she looked back at him. "I should go out for a while."

Da Vinci looked at Wanda.

Wanda said, "I really don’t want to see his other women. But as the Heavenly Queen, I should go see the ‘wings’ he mentioned. Perhaps we can reach an understanding on certain matters."

Da Vinci asked, "Aren’t you afraid he’ll discover you?"

Wanda replied, "He won’t. From now on, he’ll be very busy. By the time he realizes what’s happening, Hebe will tell him everything he wants to know. I raised her painstakingly, and it seems I’ve raised a little traitor."

From within Gemini Palace, Hebe shouted loudly, "Hebe isn’t a traitor! She isn’t, she isn’t!"

Wanda let out a soft laugh and turned around. Her power of chaos tore open the dimensional space. When she appeared again, she was already inside a palace located somewhere on the Great Snow Mountain.

After all…

As Lake’s Sixth Sense continued to grow stronger, the only place that could make him refrain from testing or touching it was Kamar-Taj, where the Sorcerer Supreme possessing the Time Stone resided.

Even the Twelve Palaces Dimension had been established behind the Great Snow Mountain where Kamar-Taj was located.

After stepping out of the dimension, the first person Wanda saw was the bald Ancient One, who seemed to sit cross-legged every time she appeared, brewing a pot of fragrant tea and leisurely drinking it alone.

The Ancient One looked at Wanda as she emerged and smiled faintly. "The one who calls herself the Heavenly Queen Hera, please sit."

Wanda walked over and sat cross-legged opposite the Ancient One like an old acquaintance.