The Regressed SSS-Rank Water Mage Wants To Live a Calm Life-Chapter 3: The Rule of Time Manipulation []

In the current Cacosphere, null realms were pocket dimensions that once belonged to now-dead gods.

After the death of the gods of the pantheon era, most of their pocket dimensions lost their owners, divinities and domains — just floating haphazardly within the Cacosphere. Some, unable to bear existing without divinity, dissolved, while the others spread out, becoming untraceable.

And currently, the two rebel gods of the twenty-four heavens were headed to one of such normally untraceable pocket dimensions.

As part of his incredibly meticulous plan, the God of Darkness, Malin, had roamed the twenty-four heavens for ages, researching the marks that the dead gods of the era of pantheons left behind, all in an effort to discover a clue about the divinity of time that fate itself had admonished the current gods and Celestials from tampering with.

Malin, knowing very well the price of going against both fate and the Celestial King himself, had already resolved himself to grasp this divinity of time. After all, his soul was already nearing its end, and whether or not he would be stripped from the cycle of reincarnation — the Mother Tree’s embrace — he didn’t care.

After painfully scouring the heavens for years while hiding his intent, he finally discovered details of an ancient god that existed during the era of pantheons whose domain was linked to the weavings of the branches of time, a concept that all current gods were tied to, excluding the Celestial King.

With this newfound knowledge, Malin traced the coordinates of the ancient god’s pocket dimension while digging deeper into his history.

That was when he located the ancient god’s ultimate weapon. A divine treasure claimed by the High Celestial Elders — a council whose authority in the Cacosphere was second only to the Celestial King himself.

Malin easily stole this treasure of the ancient god, and he carefully hid it in the null realm.

The name of this ’ancient god’ whose domain conformed to the manipulation of time was...

"Have you ever heard of the Divine Titan of Time, Kronos?" Malin asked Maxwell as they travelled through the void. A space devoid of light.

The Eternal god of water couldn’t quite make out his best friend’s face. The darkness of the void was too thick for even his transcendent eyes to pierce. Luckily, his other senses worked, including his sixth sense, seventh sense, eighth sense and his divine sense that picked up the movement of the eldritch creatures that swarm around them in the void. Creatures that his eyes couldn’t detect.

In this darkness, Maxwell, with his slightly narrowed pair of blue eyes, had an expression of utter confusion, forehead wrinkled.

"Titan? Kronos? What– I’ve never heard of those strange terms in my life," Maxwell declared with a hollow voice that rang through the void.

"Mn," Malin exclaimed, looking forward as the darkness of the void warped them. "It is only natural that you don’t know him. After all, I spent a whole century finding out about this elusive being."

The god of darkness, seemingly able to see in the dark, stretched his hands as he spoke, caressing the ’skins’ of the eldritch creatures as they warped in the void. These creatures stirred and hummed under the weight of his dark divinity.

"During the era of the pantheons, transcendents were also divided into three, like now. But they weren’t Celestials, Immortals and Gods. They were Giants, Titans and Gods."

Hearing Malin’s explanation, Maxwell’s eyes widened.

’How knowledgeable.’

Suddenly, in Malin’s outstretched palms, a force stirred, wringing the void around them. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

The rebellious gods came to a sudden halt, and they remained frozen in the void.

Maxwell instinctively guarded his face with his arms.

"What–"

Crack–!

The space in front of them tore open, like a twisted crack in reality.

Malin moved his fingers, tracing the edges of the cracks, and...

Rip–!

...He peeled it open.

"We’re here," The god of darkness uttered, voice resounding with an arrogant edge.

Maxwell finally unguarded his face, sighing.

"I still hate this place and its horrific creatures, Malin."

Malin’s lips stretched wide.

"Well, I love it."

Maxwell, unable to see his friend’s elated facial expression, could still somewhat sense the smile. His shoulders slumped as he shook his head.

’How absurd for a being to love the void.’

However, Maxwell didn’t dwell on his friend’s weird nature that he’d grown accustomed to. Instead, he stared at the only visible thing that floated in the darkness.

The crack.

"Is that the entity’s null realm?" The god of eternal water asked.

Malin, too, gazed at the tear in reality and nodded.

"Yes."

In the next moment, without any warning, the Celestial God of Darkness jumped into the tear in reality, a devious smirk stretched on his lips.

"Keep up, old friend!" The mischievous god yelled.

Maxwell grumbled, muttering inaudible words as he watched his best friend dive into the crack.

’I’m too old for this,’ The Eternal God thought.

After glancing at the void around him one last time, Maxwell swallowed, letting out a soft, resigned sigh as he crouched and eventually leaped into the crack with his eyes closed.

Fwoosh––!

For Maxwell, penetrating the reality essence of the crack felt like a blunt-edged pin desperately trying to pierce through a wall made of jelly.

With his teeth gritted and the warm azure energy of his divinity wrapped around him, the god’s body pierced through the tear.

Boom—!

The stones beneath him cracked as Maxwell landed on one knee.

The Cacospheric guardian slowly opened his eyes, and a warm light trickled into his field of vision, causing a minor disorientation. He shook his head, staring at the unfamiliar space around him.

"Finally decided to jump, huh!" Malin’s deep voice echoed weirdly, like the overlapping voices of a hundred Malins.

Maxwell blinked, staring past the space around him as he tried to pinpoint his friend’s location.

In this place, the skies — devoid of clouds — wept, raining down warm, silver hues on the world beneath it.

There was no star, no moon or any other visible source of light.

To Maxwell, the air that touched his skin was stale. It didn’t cascade, nor did it wave. It remained... suspended.

Numerous large trees with golden branches stood tall in different areas around this null realm. In fact, as Maxwell’s gaze brushed this space, the trees were the only things he could see.

Even the golden branches didn’t move.

’Ah,’ Maxwell thought, gazing at the null realm. ’This place is timeless.’

The concept of time didn’t exist in this space.

This fact caused the god of eternal water to let out a small chuckle as his gaze finally landed on Malin.

"What a dimension. Unique, I must say. The first time I’ve seen one."

Malin, who stood at a corner with his arms crossed, smiled at Maxwell, whose face betrayed his amusement.

"We have to get going. The other Guardians will be here any moment now. I’m sure they’re already tracking us. And the Celestial King’s vestige..."

"Ah," Maxwell moved immediately, ignoring the timeless realm around him as he followed Malin, "Right."

Malin nodded and began walking. His steps were devoid of their former majesty, replaced by the hastiness of a god rebelling against reality.

"It’s not far from here, the treasure of Kronos. I hid it meticulously," Malin explained.

"I see," Maxwell replied, walking with the same haste through the realm of golden trees. "About what you were explaining earlier..."

"Ah," Malin exclaimed. "About the transcendents of the era of pantheons. Yes, they were Giants, Titans and Gods. Gods were the absolutes, and Giants and Titans were seen as inferior. But the Titans were strong and possessed divinity. Especially Kronos, the leader of the Titans. After the Gigantomachy, a war where the Titans and Giants fought for superiority over the 12 lower heavens of the twenty-four heavens, the Titans emerged victorious."

Maxwell held his chin, casting a studious, almost suspicious gaze at Malin.

"Kronos became the Titan King who ruled over time. And so, driven by hunger for power, he sought to challenge the pantheons and gods of the 12 higher heavens and the absolute god of that era. He eventually waged a war. The 12 lower heavens versus the 12 higher heavens. The Titanomachy. It ended with the total extinguishing of all Titans. But Kronos didn’t die in that war..."

Maxwell narrowed his eyes.

"How did he die then?"

Malin smiled.

"He was killed by the three Titans who, with him, survived the massacre."

"But why was he killed?"

"Because they wanted his treasure. To fix the past. And..."

"And?"

"They found out that Kronos was never a Titan. Kronos was an abandoned god who sought revenge and tried to conquer the higher heavens, using the Titans as tools."

"..."

Just then, Malin halted, and his gaze darkened.

"We’re here."