While Rozen and his Biologist and Engineer clones were busy with their research, the Fighter clones were out in the snowy wilderness, tackling their own missions.
TING!
A sharp, metallic clang rang out across the snow-dusted field. A soldier's spear slipped from his grip, soaring through the air before stabbing into the ground far away.
It's over!
He thought, panic gripping him as his only weapon disappeared from his hands. His armor clung to him, scratched and dented, barely holding together after the fight.
I'm going to die! Sorry, Dad and Mom…
Despair and fear took over as he watched the enemy's attack barreling toward him. He squeezed his eyes shut, praying for a quick end.
But then—
BOOM!
A deafening explosion rocked the earth. The ground trembled violently, and a powerful shockwave flung the soldier backward through the air.
"Ugh… What just happened?!" he groaned, prying his eyes open. His jaw dropped. Where he'd been standing moments ago, a massive hole now scarred the landscape.
The crater was staggering—over 10 kilometers (6 miles) wide and 100 meters (328 feet) deep. The once-pristine, snow-covered expanse now looked eerie and warped.
"This…" He froze, unable to process the sheer power behind it.
How strong is the creature that did this? Did it save me, or was it just coincidence that it struck right in front of the Antimatter Legion?
His mind raced for answers. Then he noticed something strange: glowing brown mineral stones dotted the crater's rim, shimmering faintly in the snow.
He didn't know what they were, but one thing was certain—he had to report this to his superiors right away. Scrambling to his feet, he snatched up his spear and bowed low. "Whoever you are, thank you for saving me!" he called out, then bolted from the scene.
As the soldier fled, a mysterious figure in a flowing cloak hovered in the sky above, positioned exactly at the center of the blast zone.
That figure was none other than one of Rozen's clones. He'd stumbled across this lone Silvermane soldier, patrolling the area, just as the Antimatter Legion closed in for the kill. Acting fast, the clone stepped in—but his attack was far more devastating than he'd intended, carving out that enormous crater.
I didn't think a casual meteor strike from Morax could cause this much destruction…
The clone mused, gazing down at the wreckage he'd created.
Next time, I've got to rein in my power, or I might accidentally wipe out the whole world…
This clone—or it can be called as Morax—couldn't believe the raw strength he wielded. It made sense why Morax, or Zhongli from the world of Genshin Impact, was hailed as Teyvat's mightiest Archon.
Maybe it was because Jarilo-VI didn't have Teyvat's Ley Lines or the restraints imposed by the Second Throne or Celestia—safeguards that kept the Demon Gods from tearing that world apart during the Archon War. Without those limits, Morax's attacks were magnified beyond anything he'd imagined.
As he'd suspected, his power here had reached a planetary scale. A single serious strike could shatter the planet beneath his feet.
At the same time that happening, a strange events were unfolding everywhere. Reports came pouring in—stories of fierce, unexplained attacks carried out by unknown figures who appeared out of nowhere to rescue Silvermane Soldiers from harm.
Bronya and Jeppard, their commanders, were utterly perplexed. A single odd report? That could be dismissed as a trick of the mind or sheer exaggeration. But when it happened more than ten times? This was no coincidence—it was real, and it was staring them right in the face.
"Lord Bronya! A soldier just back from patrol has a new report!" an aide burst into the meeting room, panting and wide-eyed with urgency.
"This…" Bronya and Jeppard shared a quick, loaded look. Whatever was going on, it was far bigger and more troubling than they'd first guessed.
Jeppard spun toward the aide, his voice sharp. "Another sighting of that mysterious entity?" The aide nodded eagerly and launched into the latest account.
"A massive, gaping hole was blasted into the ground, and odd, glowing minerals shimmered in the aftermath of the attack…" Bronya mused, rubbing her chin as she pieced it together.
She leaned back, mentally flipping through the earlier reports. "First, a hill cleaved clean in two, like a giant blade had slashed it along with relentless lightning appeared around the area. After that, a towering tornado tearing across the battlefield. There also a report that said plants and grass sprouting out of nowhere, wiping out monsters and transforming dead land into a thriving green haven." Her words were deliberate, heavy with realization.
"This!" Jeppard suddenly shouted, his eyes flashing with a jolt of understanding.
Bronya gave a slow, serious nod. "Exactly," she said, her expression darkening.
"These aren't just random acts by one entity. There are multiple mysterious forces at work here—and far more of them than we ever thought possible."
"What?!" The aide's voice broke with shock, her eyes widening as if she'd been struck. The news she'd just heard was beyond anything he could fathom.
Jepard felt a chill settle into his chest, his heart freezing with dread. The idea of not one, but several unknown forces—each strong enough to crush Belobog like a bug—made his skin crawl.
And as everyone knows, nothing is scarier than the unknown. Fear and suspicion about these strange powers surged in their minds.
"S-So, what do we do now, Lord Bronya?" Pela, the nervous aide, asked, her voice shaking. She couldn't stop picturing the dangers threatening Belobog.
"Calm down, Pela. Take a breath," Bronya said, her voice steady yet kind. "It's not as hopeless as it looks. These mysterious forces have saved our soldiers more than once. That might mean they're not here to hurt us—or at least, I hope so."
"But, Lord Bronya, what if—" Jepard began, still uneasy, but Bronya cut him off with a raised hand.
"I know it's a gamble," she admitted. "But they've helped us before, and that's no accident. I could be wrong, but for now, we have to hold onto hope that I'm right." Her face showed a quiet surrender, like a tiny creature staring up at a towering giant.
Jepard and Pela nodded slowly, feeling the same powerlessness. In their hearts, all three silently prayed that these forces might save Belobog from ruin.
Meanwhile, in a bustling lab, Rozen and his clones worked tirelessly. Not one of them rested; every corner of the room hummed with activity. Some fiddled with cutting-edge tech, while others dug into biological puzzles.
Using the power of 'Omega,' Rozen turned one of his clones into Kars, a character from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. With the Biologists, he examined Kars' genes and DNA, hunting for their hidden potential.
They carefully unraveled every DNA strand, examined it closely, and modified it for a bold experiment: transplanting it into a clone crafted with the DNA of a Belobog human.
Thanks to Multi-Paul's cloning power, Rozen could sense everything his clone felt. But by tapping into Medaka's Body Supremacy ability, he blocked the clone's pain receptors—no need to let it go through any suffering.
The first try flopped. The clone became a vampire, like Dio—strong, but not the goal.
For the second attempt, they adjusted Kars' DNA. This time, the clone turned into a vampire with Kars' evolving traits, only faster and tougher. Better, but not quite there.
The third try hit the mark—the clone became Ultimate Lifeform Kars. Sadly, it still couldn't handle sunlight.
More experiments followed. At last, in one stunning success, they crafted an Ultimate Lifeform Kars with no sunlight weakness and even sharper adaptive skills.
"But this isn't enough!" Rozen yelled, his passion flaring. "I want Belobog's people to be stronger, faster, smarter—ten times more powerful than Kars! Anything less won't do!" His clones agreed eagerly, jumping back into the fray.
They enhanced the adaptive powers so this new race could thrive in space without freezing. Intelligence soared to an IQ of 800. Body control? Refined to the molecular level.
A full day of nonstop work passed. Finally, they finished.
"Iwae(Rejoice)! We've made a perfect race—masters of body and soul! Beyond the physical and the spiritual! Rulers of life and death! Immortal, brilliant, unbreakable! We'll call them… Homo Perfectus or The Absolute!" one clone shouted, his voice echoing with victory. Everyone in the lab—Biologists, Engineers, all—stared in wonder and excitement.
At the exact moment the clone finished speaking, an overwhelming aura enveloped them—no, not just them, but the entire planet itself.
The lively atmosphere in the lab came to an abrupt halt. Without a trace of panic, Rozen and his clones—those in the lab and the fighter clones outside—tilted their heads upward. Hovering above was a projection of a colossal figure, its size dwarfing the planet, its gaze fixed intently on the lab.
The projection took the form of a massive mechanical humanoid head, its surface crisscrossed with ripped, multicolored cables. At its center pulsed a faint red glow, vaguely reminiscent of an eye.
It was none other than Nous, the Aeon of Erudition.
THEY had arrived after detecting a drastic shift in the universe's future calculations—an anomaly so profound it immediately drew THEIR attention.
It must be understood that in all of THEIR long existence, no event had ever disrupted THEIR predictions with such severity. Even the arrival of beings from beyond the universe, such as Walter Yang or the Void Archives, had caused only the slightest ripples in THEIR computations.
So, it was no surprise that Nous had come to witness the cause firsthand. And THEY were not disappointed, for THEY beheld a groundbreaking achievement unlike anything the universe had ever known.
Initiating analysis of 'The Absolute' race's future trajectory… Processing… ERROR! ERROR! Unknown variable detected! Recalibrating… CAN'T CALCULATE! Variables multiplying beyond comprehension! ERROR! ERROR!
Nous strained to compute the destiny of this new race, THEIR mechanical mind whirring with unprecedented intensity. For a fleeting moment, it seemed as though smoke poured from THEIR "head," a visual testament to the overload. Unable to pierce the veil of this creation's future, Nous fell silent, halting all calculations in defeat.
Then, shifting THEIR "gaze" to the surroundings, Nous noticed another presence—a humanoid figure sculpted from shimmering, reflective crystal, crowned with a mianguan befitting an emperor.
It was Fuli, the Aeon of Remembrance, tasked with recording every event in the universe's vast tapestry.
Fuli had sensed that something monumental was unfolding on Jarilo-VI, an event with the potential to reshape the cosmos.
Having observed Rozen's experiments from the beginning, Fuli had remained hidden, silently documenting each step—until this climactic moment, the birth of 'The Absolute' race, compelled them to reveal their presence.
And so, two Aeons descended upon Jarilo-VI, their arrival unintentionally casting the people of Belobog into a whirlwind of fear and confusion.
But it wasn't just Belobog that took notice. Civilizations far beyond—such as the IPC, Xianzhou, and especially the brilliant minds of the Genius Society, like Herta—turned their attention to this unprecedented phenomenon.
"That mechanical head?!" Herta exclaimed, her voice trembling with a mix of awe and disbelief. "Why did it appear there? What could possibly command its full attention like that?!"
(A/N: For your information, the future of the Belobog civilization—after its evolution into The Absolute—could be realized in the Downstreamers civilization from the Manifold Series. In that narrative, the civilization has advanced so far that it can be considered a "God" civilization.
Also, please give me more stones—they fuel my motivation to write even more!)