The Monarch

In the next few minutes, more people began to arrive. Those who were truly at the top knew that this was where the real battle would take place. The mere spectators couldn't even feel the vibrations in the threads of fate that led to this place. Han was exuding an obvious divine mana signal for anyone who wished to appear.

Within a few hours, around 20 mages had gathered nearby. Emperor Marco was among them. Jormund had also arrived. Kenian was one of the first mages to reach the group. Besides them, there was also Kayden's daughter, who…

"You've grown," Kayden commented upon seeing his descendant. "Congratulations on renouncing your failed path. That was an incredible decision."

Kayden immediately recognized what Jasmim had done to reach this new level of strength.

"Thank you. And what about you? Where have you reached?"

Kayden didn't answer directly, merely repeating a vague response.

"I don't know."

Some new faces had arrived in the meantime. Many of the people who were coming didn't know Kayden personally and only had some fragmented knowledge of his story. But that wasn't enough for them to understand the respect that all these mages had for this man.

Kayden didn't even have a strong aura. Any mage present seemed more powerful than him. Even the laws around him didn't bend in his presence. It was as if Kayden was just an ordinary mortal with no power at all.

"Kayden, I think we'll finally have our battle after all these years."

Matheus was one of the last to arrive, but he was also the only one who showed any hostility toward Kayden during this time.

Kayden looked at Matheus and simply nodded. He wasn't particularly concerned with this mage. In fact, Kayden wasn't concerned with anyone. He was merely standing there, waiting for something that no one else knew about.

Kayden's calmness and lack of reaction left everyone uncertain about what to do. Attacking him at that moment seemed completely wrong, but…

"I must test the mage of legends. I apologize for my lack of manners."

One of the mages in the area suddenly lost control. His ego had been deeply wounded by Kayden's presence, and his emotions became unstable.

Great talent with little discipline led to weak minds. The mage was an exceptional semi-divine mage with ten lightning marks—something utterly absurd in the past, yet today, he was just another mage among thousands of exceptional ones.

The man was tall and lean, with disheveled white hair that fell over golden eyes, glowing like lightning ready to be unleashed. His pale skin bore luminous cracks that ran down his arms like veins of unstable energy. He wore a long black robe adorned with ancient symbols pulsing in an irregular rhythm. His elongated, firm hands carried traces of electricity, reflecting his volatile nature.

"Do not torment me," Kayden responded absentmindedly, not sparing even a second glance at the mage. His dry and indifferent response erased any hesitation in the mage's mind.

An insane amount of mana condensed at the mage's fingertip—the mana of an entire galaxy compressed into a single inch. The space around it shattered under the mere pressure of this energy. But…

"Your existence is no longer necessary."

Kayden looked at the mage and spoke only a few words. The problem was… the mage simply disappeared. It was almost as if he had teleported away. His existence had simply ceased to be. There was not even the slightest trace that he had ever been there.

Everyone stared at Kayden in shock. There was no fluctuation of mana, no sign of a spell, nothing at all. Even Atlas and Han couldn't understand what had just happened. It made no sense to any mage's perception—Kayden had merely spoken, and that man had vanished.

While everyone was struggling to process what had happened…

Thoth was laughing in a fit of madness among the gods. The attention on Kayden's feat was completely redirected toward him, laughing like an idiot. All the peak gods understood what had happened, but they were unable to put it into words or describe it properly. There was some key knowledge they lacked—except for Thoth.

"Congratulations, Kayden Heart."

Thoth began clapping.

"For the first time in infinite eras and lifetimes, I was wrong in a prediction."

The god had understood perfectly what had happened, and that realization sent him into a frenzy of euphoria.

Thoth was not an ordinary god. In fact, he was—just as he was also a common mortal, an ordinary woman, an average father, a regular husband, a simple son, and a normal teacher. Thoth was simply everything and more, yet at the same time, he was nothing.

He was the most advanced god in the knowledge of the paths, and he understood exactly what Kayden had done. It was not a simple action. In all his predictions, Kayden should not have been capable of achieving this. There was simply no timeline, in any destiny, where he could have performed this feat. And yet, here he was.

"I offer half of my empire for him."

The gods who understood Kayden's potential began to bid for his presence. They could not turn this into a universal war—cases like this were too rare.

"I invoke a divine auction," Thoth murmured, and time stopped for all mortals. Only the gods continued their thoughts. The skies opened with golden clouds, ready to receive the words of the divine.

A divine auction was very simple. The representative of the heavens merely needed to call for it, and the gods would begin offering things to the heavens. The one who placed the highest bid would be rewarded, while the rest would retain their offerings but would no longer have a say in the matter.

"I offer a child of destiny for him."

One of the gods made his bid immediately, and the others nearly laughed. A child of destiny was a mage on the level of Achilles—it was truly an insane offer. But it still did not even come close to Kayden's true value.

"I offer a fundamental law stone of the highest level."

Now the offers were getting truly terrifying. A stone of this caliber could teach the law even to a monkey with two neurons. It was one of those treasures capable of putting an organization on the map of the gods without any difficulty.