CHAPTER 16: THE FIRST SIN
10 Days Later.
Drago had already reached World Master.
He stood beyond the edge of his universe, gazing down at the endless layers of existence beneath him.
Countless universes drifted like floating dust across an infinite sea of reality—stacked, folded, and repeated without end.
Everything below him felt… small.
Not weak.
Just distant.
"…World Master."
Drago's voice was calm, but heavier than before.
"…It truly is a different realm. Far beyond my previous level. It feels like the gap between me and everything beneath is… infinite."
He did not rush his thoughts. At this level, even a single realization took time to fully settle into existence.
Silence stretched.
Then, after a long pause—
"…Hmm. What should I ask for my reward?"
His gaze remained steady, but inwardly he searched.
Power? Knowledge? Authority over universes?
None of it felt urgent.
But then—
something shifted.
Not in the world.
In him.
A subtle distortion in perception, like a mirror slightly misaligned.
"…Why does this level feel different?"
He frowned slightly.
The thought deepened on its own, without permission.
"…It feels like my existence… is unmeasurable to lower beings."
The moment those words fully formed—
everything stopped.
Not the universe.
Not time.
But Drago himself.
His very existence locked in place, as if reality had detected a fracture in intent.
"…!"
Instant understanding struck him.
No confusion.
No delay.
He dropped instantly to his knees in the void.
"…Father… forgive me."
A presence descended.
Not arriving.
Simply becoming noticeable.
Light filled everything without beginning or end.
The First Being appeared.
Calm.
Infinite.
So gentle it felt like existence itself was being held in place.
"You are forgiven, my son."
The voice carried no judgment.
Only understanding.
"I understand."
The pressure in Drago's existence dissolved immediately.
He exhaled deeply, as if something inside him had been untied.
"…Thank you, Father."
He stood again.
But something had already changed.
Not his strength.
His awareness of himself within existence.
---
AATROXX PLANET
Aatroxx stood alone within a collapsed dimension.
The world around him no longer behaved like a world.
It was still.
Obedient.
Silent.
But his mind was not.
He had been observing for a long time now.
Not just cultivation.
Not just breakthroughs.
But something deeper.
The rhythm of others.
Their progression.
Their reactions.
Their existence in relation to him.
And slowly—
without permission—
something inside him shifted.
Not violently.
Not suddenly.
Just enough to become irreversible.
"…They are catching up."
The thought formed clearly within him.
Not spoken.
Not imagined.
Recognized.
A pause followed.
He closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, the thought returned.
Stronger.
Heavier.
More real.
"…If they reach the same level…"
He stopped.
His hand tightened slightly.
Not from anger.
But instability he could not name.
"…Then what separates me?"
Silence.
Even the void around him refused to respond.
For the first time, Aatroxx did not feel elevated by isolation.
He felt uncertain through comparison.
And that was the moment it formed.
Not as action.
Not as decision.
But as a shift in identity itself.
Aatroxx lowered his head slightly.
"…I was happy for them."
A pause.
"…I am still happy for them."
But both thoughts existed at once.
And neither removed the other.
That coexistence felt… wrong.
Incomplete.
Unresolved.
He did not know how to fix it.
---
Elsewhere.
Xxior stood at the edge of the golden mountain.
Wind moved gently across floating peaks suspended above infinite layers of sky.
Below, countless beings celebrated breakthroughs.
Their voices rose like waves of light.
"Another World Master has appeared!"
"The era is accelerating beyond imagination!"
"Brother Xxior, this age is truly blessed!"
Xxior smiled.
Naturally.
Properly.
As expected of him.
"Yes… it is indeed a good era."
But his gaze did not stay on them.
It lingered slightly longer than before.
Not outward.
Inward.
He began to calculate.
Not techniques.
Not power.
But progression itself.
Timing.
Sequence.
Delay.
"…They are all advancing."
A pause.
His smile remained unchanged.
But something beneath it had thinned slightly.
"…So why am I not moving in the same rhythm?"
He looked upward.
As if the sky itself should respond.
But nothing came.
Only others moving forward.
Not him.
A silence formed inside his chest.
Not pain.
Not anger.
Just unresolved awareness.
"…Am I behind?"
He rejected the thought immediately.
But it returned.
Again.
And again.
This time—
he did not erase it completely.
"…I will cultivate harder."
The words were correct.
But they no longer fully settled.
---
FAR ABOVE EXISTENCE
Yhach observed everything.
Silent.
Still.
Unmoving.
"…It has begun."
A pause.
"…The first comparison has formed."
His gaze descended across existence.
Across Absolon.
Across Aatroxx.
Across Xxior.
Across countless beings beginning to perceive themselves not through the Father… but through one another.
And he understood what that meant.
Not corruption.
Not rebellion.
Something far more precise.
"…The first sin is not action."
"…It is measurement."
Silence followed.
Existence continued as before.
But something fundamental within it had already shifted.
---
VEKTRON
Vektron stood alone in the sky.
Below him, countless World Masters now existed.
Kael.
Drago.
Others rising endlessly.
He observed them quietly.
"…They all advanced."
A pause.
"…And I remain Foundation Perfection."
His expression tightened slightly.
Not in anger.
But in confusion that had no resolution.
"…Why not me?"
A memory surfaced faintly.
A time when he had been ahead.
When progression felt natural.
Now—
it felt unstable.
"…I must break through now."
He turned forward.
Fully focused.
But something essential faded behind him.
Not cultivation.
Not power.
Only the original alignment before comparison ever existed.
---
1 DAY LATER
The gathering ended.
Beings stepped into golden portals one by one.
Kael and Amon stood at the church doors.
Amon spoke quietly.
"…Vektron, Drago, and many others did not attend today."
Kael nodded.
"…Perhaps they are cultivating."
Amon frowned slightly.
"…But this has never happened before."
Outside, countless beings spoke in confusion.
Something was changing.
But no one could define it yet.
Only feel it.
---
2 DAYS LATER
Azrathoz stood at the center of countless beings.
They sat quietly on the grass around him.
Vektron and Xxior were among them.
Azrathoz spoke calmly.
"…I have reached World Master."
A silence spread through the crowd.
"…To progress further, focus only on cultivation itself."
Vektron listened closely.
"…So that is it."
Xxior lowered his gaze.
"…So that is why I cannot break through…"
Inside him, realization formed slowly.
"…Because my mind is divided."
The crowd reacted immediately.
"…We will cultivate."
They began to leave.
Fast.
Unified.
But Azrathoz's final words were not fully heard.
"…And to reach World Master faster… focus on the Father."
Only fragments remained.
---
5 DAYS LATER
Countless beings reached World Master.
But Vektron remained Foundation Perfection.
So did Xxior.
Vektron stood high in the sky.
"…Why did they break through… and not me?"
A pause.
"…I was ahead before."
His expression tightened.
"…So why am I behind now?"
The thought no longer felt distant.
It felt close.
Immediate.
Real.
"…I must break through now."
He turned away completely.
Focused.
Determined.
But something essential had already faded behind him.
Not cultivation.
Not power.
Only the original center of existence before comparison ever began.
And in that absence—
the first sin continued spreading silently through everything.