Chapter 260: Ch 260 : The Failed Blessing

The River of Time was an images of events, a river of cause and effect that roared with the voices of infinite histories.

Sunny floated above it, a lone figure moving against the crushing current of existence. Every step he took sent a tremor through the River of Time.

He walked past the rise and fall of civilizations, past the creation of universes and the birth of nebulas.

’This is the limit,’ Sunny realized, his brow furrowing beneath his mask. He had reached one billion year back in past.

The resistance of the River was now a wall. His infinite mana generation was keeping him rooted here, but moving further with mana was just not feasible, because it was draining much faster than it was being generated.

He switched his energy sources. He opened the floodgates of his reserves, pouring trillions of Faith points into his Time Affinity.

The resistance vanished. He shot backward, accelerating through the billions years like a comet.

One billion years became two. Two became three. The numbers lost meaning. The multiverses around him began to decrease in numbers.

And then, he stopped.

He hovered at a specific coordinate, a place that, in his own time, was occupied by the Multiverse of Arcana.

But here, there was nothing. No stars. No cards. No gods. Just the silent, expectant darkness.

“So,” Sunny murmured, his God’s Eye scanning the nothingness. “This is the moment before the first card was drawn.”

He stepped down from the banks of the River, immersing himself in the memory of the reality that was about to be born.

He waited for a while and then, the fabric of the reality cracked and the shallow void became visible.

And that was not the end, the shallow void teared too, but the other side of this new fissure wasn’t visible.

Sunny held his breath. From this fissure, something emerged. It was a hand.

It was colossal, large enough to cradle a galaxy in its palm, yet it moved with a delicate, feminine grace that belied its size.

It was not made of flesh. It was woven from the same fabric as the cosmos; swirling nebulas, starlight, universes and deep darkness.

Sunny looked down at his own robe, at the shifting galaxies like pattern woven into its threads. Then he looked back at the hand.

The texture… they were identical.

’Is this a coincidence?’ a shiver ran down his spine. ’Or was I influenced? Did I fashion my own image after… Her?’

The Cosmic Hand moved. It closed into a fist, compressing the energies caught within it.

When it opened a millisecond later, a single object floated above its palm.

A Card.

It was a simple, rectangular construct, yet it radiated a complexity that made Sunny’s SSS-Grade senses reel.

In the center of the card was a single word: ’GOD’.

The Hand snapped its fingers.

Snap.

The card dissolved, morphing and expanding. It took on the shape of a man. He floated in the void, naked and unconscious, his long hair drifting in the ethereal wind.

Sunny stared. The resemblance was uncanny. The sharp jawline, the slender build, the aura of fortune… this newborn God was the spitting image of Merlin.

’So it is true,’ Sunny thought, his hypothesis has been true afterall, ’Merlin is the reincarnation’

The Cosmic Hand shrank, condensing its infinite size until it was human-scale. It reached out, extending a single finger, and gently touched the forehead of the newborn God.

A dot of light from the Hand’s fingertip detached and sank into the God’s mind.

BOOM.

An aura sorrounded the God of Cards, and from this aura began the formation of a multiverse.

The multiverse of Arcana.

“So the multiverses are created like this” Sunny gasped, his mind racing to comprehend the scale. “Is this Lady Sansa? Is this the Mother Void?”

The creation was finished. The newborn God drifted away, destined to wake up and build his empire of cards.

But the Hand did not vanish.

Slowly, it turned. It rotated in the space, and although it had no eyes, Sunny felt a gaze land upon him. A gaze that transcended time, memory, and reality.

It floated toward him.

Sunny tried to retreat. He willed his body to move, to step out of the River of Time. But he was frozen.

He was held by a presence that made his own SSS-Grade power feel like a candle before a bright star.

The Hand stopped right in front of his face.

Sunny braced himself for what was about to come.

But instead all the scenario he had imagined, something unexpected happened.

The Hand reached out. It was gentle and tender. It caressed his masked cheek, its touch passing through the defenses as if they didn’t exist.

It ruffled his white hair, a gesture of affection. It was the touch of a mother showing her affection to her child, telling him that she was proud of him.

Then, the Hand pulled back. It extended its index finger, just as it had done for the God of Cards. It moved toward Sunny’s forehead.

Sunny’s heart hammered against his ribs. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t speak. He could only watch as the finger approached, glowing with a light that promised untold power.

’Another SSS-Grade talent?’ The thought flashed through his mind, a spark of greedy hope. ’Another divine blessing from the mother Void herself?’

The finger touched his forehead.

Sunny waited for the explosion of knowledge. He waited for the surge of power.

But nothing happened.

The finger pressed against his mask, but the light did not transfer. The dot of power did not detach.

It was as if… it couldn’t. It was as if there was a wall, a barrier that blocked the transmission.

The Hand pulled back, hesitating. It seemed… confused. It tried again, touching his forehead, but again, the blessing failed to take root.

It floated there for a few seconds, a silent question hanging in the void. Then, seemingly realizing something, it ruffled Sunny’s white hairs once again and slowly withdrew.

It faded back into the crack in reality, and the void sealed itself shut, leaving Sunny alone in the empty darkness of the past.

“What… what was she doing?” Sunny whispered, his voice trembling.

He touched his forehead. He understood the caress. He understood the affection. But the failed blessing?

His mind raced to find the answer. And then, a realization hit him, a thought so shattering it nearly brought him to his knees.

The hierarchy.

“Is it… because I copied the talent?” he whispered.

He had copied Adam’s First-Born talent.

The talent placed him at the very apex of the cosmic order, second only to the Void Master himself.

“Is it because I am… above her?” Sunny choked out the words. “Am I now too high in the hierarchy to receive a blessing from a Void Beast, even a Royal one?”

The realization was a bitter, ironic poison. He had sought the First-Born talent to secure his power, to protect himself, to rule his empire.

But in doing so, he had inadvertently walled himself off from the gifts of his own ’Mother.’

He had climbed so high that even she could no longer reach down to help him.

If he had known… if he had just waited… he could have come here first. He could have received the blessing before copying Adam’s authority.

But time could not be rewritten in that way. The choice was made. The crown was on his head, heavy and permanent.

Sunny looked at the empty spot where the Hand had been. He felt stronger than ever, and yet, for the first time in his life, he felt a sense of loss.

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