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nDante looked at all his choices and made a decision.

nOnly a child would choose one; an adult would take them all!!

n…

nCough, cough…

nOnly a child would take one; an adult would take them all!

n…

nTsk, the Cosmic Tree refused even to pay him mind. Sure, he was being a bit greedy, but it could at least muster the energy to tell him ‘NO’ to his face, right?

nDante looked through his top choices seriously and hesitated. Then he looked through again and hesitated some more. In the end, he couldn’t make a decision and decided to put it aside for after his meeting with the cosmic tree.

nMaybe what it would reveal later might give him some key information that might help him narrow down what would be most useful to him in his future battles. With that in mind, Dante naturally glanced at the cosmic tree which seemed to be in the later stages of… whatever it was doing.

nAfter a short period that felt timeless, the Cosmic Tree exploded with green and white light that spread throughout his soul space, causing Dante to be wowed and temporarily blinded.

nWhen his vision returned, he saw that the glowing purple cosmic tree that seemed like it was rooted in space had greatly changed. It had come much closer, close enough that it now covered him and the Quantum Entanglement gate in its territory.

nWhat left Dante shocked was that the area around him for about 10 kilometers had turned into a lovely meadowland. The grass was healthy and lush, with a slight breeze that was cool, causing them to ruffle slightly.

nThere was the presence of casual sun rays that were not scorching hot, rather being warm and soothing, dispelling the darkness of one’s heart. In the center was a towering oak tree, with long branches and thick leaves, creating a canopy of vitality.

nBeneath the tree, attached to one of its branches, was a cheap swing made of rope and a small wooden plank for a child to swing from. The entire atmosphere gave off a timeless homely feel, like a tree that had seen the passage of time for eons.

nDante was rendered silent by this sight because he could never have pictured the majestic-looking tree, which looked like it had been the centerpiece of creation and supported all the universes on its leaves, would look so… gentle.

nThe trunk of the tree shook as a body separated from it, formed from wood. Once separated, it began to take human features, bearing a tall and slightly muscular form, a handsome visage with golden eyes and spiky brown hair with bangs.

n“Huh?” Dante muttered, now being made to look at a copy of himself.

n“Are you myself from another timeline? Or the higher-dimensional version of myself?” Dante asked with interest.

nThe avatar, which had just begun to get used to its existence, froze and glanced at Dante with incomprehension then amusement.

n“No, nothing of the sort. I just like to meet people using the same form as themselves to make them feel more comfortable. I’ve done this many times before this.” The avatar spoke in Dante’s voice with a slight chuckle. .𝒎

nDante nodded, not feeling ashamed. It was just an assumption, and it would be incredibly weird if he had been right anyway. The moment he had seen the true form of the tree, he understood that it and he did not have any fate whatsoever, so it made him all the more curious as to why he was chosen.

n“Right, so greetings Dante Alighieri of the Centralis Universe. My name is Etz Chaim, but you can call me Etz. My identity is a bit of a hard pill for you to swallow because it’s far higher than you could possibly imagine.” The avatar began by introducing itself with a smile.

n“To be blunt, I am the manifestation of the connection between Luka Sanguis and Myra Orbis. I am what linked them together and put them on the same path in the so-called higher-dimensional world, eventually leading to them falling in love and Myra sharing half of her power and authority with him.”

nDante was impressed. “So a matchmaker?”

nThe avatar of Etz Chaim looked speechless. ‘That would be SEVERELY understating my value… but something like that.”

nThe avatar quickly coughed and got back to it. “Anyway!! The important thing here is Lara. If you want to know more about Luka’s story, you can ask him about it one day.”

n“Lara is the first being created by Myra using her own efforts. As such, she occupied a place in Myra’s heart that was hard to shake. Likewise, Myra occupies a place in Lara’s heart that is extremely high, but that began to warp from adoration to obsession when Myra began creating more beings.”

n“It was manageable at first when Myra only created the Forest Fairies who would serve under herself and Lara. Because they worked to create them together, Lara’s obsession did not fester much.”

nThe avatar sighed deeply. “The real problem came when humanity was created. Much like Caela of the first universe, Myra became very enraptured by you chaotic beings and found your growth, achievements, and beliefs interesting, much more diverse and varied compared to everything else.”

n“To an obsessed person, there is no greater sin you can commit than to steal the attention and affection of the one they are obsessed with. It is a crime worse than the killing of one’s parents, and Lara made that fact known.”

nDante nodded with understanding. He only recently dealt with Aisha, whose growing obsession was becoming dangerous. Who knew what she could have done or tried to do, especially to Beatrice or Antonia, if Dante hadn’t made her a hellfire demon?

n“Lara became twisted and morally evil. She began to use her enormous and unmatched power granted by Myra to torment all lower species. Even though Myra was enraptured by humans, there existed many other races in the same world, living in different dimensions of space that barely intersected.”

n“After all, Myra, unlike Caela, was not skilled at creation, especially of systems and frameworks, but she was very good at creating life and souls. So she only created a small void in the higher- dimensional space where Earth floats within and just kept spamming new life forms until there had to be alternate dimensions created to house them.”

nDante was speechless. He felt his respect and the grand image of what should be his creator go down the drain. Such careless actions would surely have consequences, right? And why was there no one to advise her?

nThe avatar glanced at Dante pointedly. “If space collapsed and all the beings are swallowed into the vortex and crushed, who would benefit?”

nDante slapped his forehead as he realized it right before the avatar spoke. Of course, it would be Lara’s doing; she probably egged the young and ignorant Myra on, knowing the kind of consequences that would occur and looking forward to it.

n“Unfortunately for Lara, her control over Myra waned as time passed. Being young, Myra was curious, and Lara’s continual rebukes and reproaches that she could not go near humans or the human world soon fell onto deaf ears.”

n“Eventually, the young goddess snuck over and got into a bit of trouble but was rescued by the young Luka. They then spent time together in a meadowland at the outskirts of town where Luka’s family lived, much like where we are now.”

nThe avatar forked a thumb over to itself with a smile. “This foundational relationship between them gave birth to me, the transcendent connection between their existences, and I was nurtured rapidly by the two. The moment I bloomed, Myra freely shared her divine power with Luka, but the human child at the time could not bear such power, so I was the entity that housed and sealed it for him.”

n“Of course, nothing good can last forever. Lara eventually discovered Myra’s trick and found her. In a fit of fury, she slaughtered Luka’s parents and then altered his memories for him to forget about his time with Myra before casting him back into the human world.”

n“Myra was then taken back and heavily reeducated by Lara, but it was Lara’s first and final mistake that. She created a seed of doubt and resentment in young Myra’s heart, lowering her importance and image while she had gained the enmity of Luka.”

nThe avatar paused for a bit as if it was lost in memories. “And that’s about it for the background of the conflict between Luka and Lara. If you want to know the full story, that will come when you’re ready. Now, let’s skip to the relevant part affecting you and the situation now.”

n“Sure, go ahead. The way I see it, Luka was the original protagonist of the universe, right?” Dante joked with a smile, folding his arms.

nThe avatar chuckled similarly. “That is an understatement again. His fate is unmatched and cannot be replicated; likewise, even if I divulged all my power to you, we cannot reach the height he currently stands.”

n“Oh?” Dante muttered, not being bothered. He wasn’t in the habit of measuring himself against others, and he did not much care anyway. He just wanted to know how Lara would be a threat to him, if so, and how he was chosen from an uncountable number of beings.

n“So fast forward, and Luka grew up with foster parents and met friends, allies, and the like. Myra decided to also age herself naturally until she was 19 to meet with Luka and rekindle their relationship. Lara found out, became the big bad, and Myra was finally convinced by Luka that she was a plague. Full of hate, Lara attacked; she and Luka had a final battle that was epic, where she was beaten by the power of love and friendship.” The avatar continued, its tone rushing through the details carelessly as if bored by this part.

n“Luka then sealed her true body in me because I am the only other being at her level of power below himself and Myra.” The avatar forked a finger over to its trunk, and Dante could see the naked body of Lara locked within by bark and vines, her eyes closed and her expression locked into one of hatred.

nThe avatar became pensively silent. “I usually keep her asleep because when awake, she goes crazy and barks insults until her voice becomes hoarse and blood leaks from her eyes. Even Luka has given up on fixing her mental state.”

nDante was also overwhelmed, sweat forming on his brow. The sheer hatred radiating off this being was so intense; it almost formed a miasma in his eyes. Dante did not see, but his spiritual manifestation of his hellfire, the demonic face that usually hovered around him, yelped like a wounded puppy and rushed back into his body.

nThe avatar waved a hand and covered up Lara’s true body.

n“So, we have a problem. After Luka ascended to godhood and fully took his powers back from me, he helped Myra create the myriad universes and multiverse, which is the space you exist in. You call it a lower dimension because it’s true, it does exist on a lower plane than the original Earth.”

n“Luka left the universes to be created and destroyed in an automated manner, putting the task in my hands. Unfortunately for me, my power and Lara’s are equal, so she wrested some authority from me and split her consciousness down into various organic clones that were born in each universe, and will be born in each universe.”

nThe avatar’s expression became serious as it glanced at Dante grimly. “That isn’t the main problem. The main issue is that using her authority, Lara designed and created the Zero and First Gates, intending to use this strange mechanism to free herself somehow. We simply cannot allow that to happen at all costs!”

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