The Sinful Life of The Emperor

The universe was able to exist from the beginning of time to present due to only one reason.

Balance.

Everything was balanced with opposing elements; holding each other in check.

Life with death, light with darkness, warmth with cold, strength with weakness...

Nothing in the universe was devoid of balance. Not even living beings. Without balance, life would not even exist, much less thrive.

The balance created everything but also destroyed everything. It was a continuous cycle...

"Balance."

Kiba remembered this theory of balance as he looked in front.

A spiraling, glowing cyan honeycomb; the size of a baby's fist. He obviously knew it was not honeycomb; it was just a physical resemblance.

It was hard to believe the object he has so long sought and desired was this small. Or that, it balanced the boundless, powerful nanite mountain.

The balance was never about quantity. Otherwise, darkness would have long overpowered light in the vast universe given it was mostly dark.

Nor the balance was about overbearing appearance.

The balance was only about creating an equilibrium. To ensure nature's cycle ran perfectly...

His lips spread to form a smile. He closed his eyes as simply looking at the spiraling honeycomb gave him the answers he has long sought.

Whenever a nanite explosion occurred in the cities, the explosion would die on its own in a few minutes. This was despite the fact the might of explosions have increased countless fold after devouring the fuel known as genetic potential.

The only reason for that was balance.

The nanites, despite their overwhelming ability, couldn't exist for long without the support of the balancing element that stayed in this spiraling honeycomb.

Many things in nature were like this. Two opposite elements would coexist in peace, but the moment they were separated, they turn violent, weak, and fade from existence.

~crackle~

The sea of nanites continued to sweep at Kiba. The Gravity Cage blocked and destroyed them, and the existence of the spiraling honeycomb further protected him.

He was happy by finding the element, but he was not a bit relieved by the protection. If he didn't run out soon, the seal would revert back, and he would be locked in this mountain...surrounded by the endless nanites.

Not wasting any further time, he stretched a hand towards the honeycomb. A flash of light conjured in his hand and transformed into a perfect-grade crystal container.

The lid of the container opened up as it closed to the honeycomb. With his other hand, he applied a gentle squeezing pressure on the honeycomb.

A shiny droplet dripped down from the honeycomb and fell into the container.

The droplet was like a blazing sun but radiating softness like a dewdrop. There were contrasting sensations, but there was no doubt the droplet was beautiful and spellbinding.

Its very presence made the space around the container twist.

Two more droplets dripped down and Kiba shut the container. He then observed a cord connecting the spiraling honeycomb to the endless mountain. He wasn't able to judge where the cord ended or with what.

Maybe there was some existence giving birth to nanites and the liquid droplets that nullified the nanites. Perhaps it was some bee given the shape, or perhaps some beast, or even some non-living source like a glacier. There were many strange things in Celestial Elysian Plane that could never be explained by human logic.

Whatever the source, it didn't concern him nor he was curious enough to fund out.

A second later, he transferred the container back to his storage dimension. He didn't take the honeycomb or squeezed out every droplet inside as he didn't want to break the balance.

Swoosh~!

Ripples surged out of his body as he shot down. The sound barrier exploded with his speed but the nanites weren't any slower; not after knowing his potential.

Gravity Cage was an overbearing ability, and in most situations, it should be able to handle everything in a matter of seconds. The problem was the nanites were infinite. No matter how many nanites the terrifying gravitational pull disintegrated, the nanites didn't stop.

They were like a moth to the flame.

With time, Gravity Cage began to shatter.

Most likely the nanites outside transferred a part of their strength to the nanites inside, and with the additional strength, they began to tear through the strange laws that formed Gravity Cage.

The nanites manifested strength that was similar to the mutants they have killed. Elemental, physical, plasma, poisonous, energy... every particle launched their entire strength to tear through his defenses.

Kiba was close to the exit, and as the nanites finally broke through Gravity Vage, his eyes flashed with a vicious glint.

Energy arcs erupted from his body. Hundreds of arcs circulated crazily and a bang sound exploded as they clashed against each other.

These energy arcs slashed across the incoming nanite mass, illuminating them with a golden hue, and erasing them from existence.

This brought him a precious few seconds to complete the task at hand. He rushed through the closing seal that was barely a meter wide. He squeezed him through it and charged out, and just then, the seal closed.

The real problem was outside the mountain though. As far as his eyes could see, there was just explosive blue.

"Where are the twins?" Kiba wondered as he created an energy layer on his body to stop the nanites.

He swept his senses out in the explosion cloud but didn't sense the presence of the twins.

"There is no way they could have died."

If it was anyone else, he wouldn't be confident of their survival, but with twins, he was. Before coming here, he has planned to tell them to leave him, but never got the chance. They stopped him with a kiss and told him they want to accompany him.

He believed they must have known where he was going and has a bit of an idea of what he has in mind.

"Now that I think about it...they were in the auction house where I bought the rock fragment with nanites. No one could have known what the rock contained, but Lillian could manipulate energy so..."

Kiba laughed as he realized why they were persistent to join him. They wanted to witness Ruby and other slaves being disintegrated.

"They are sadists."

Kiba has witnessed them murdering others with cute and naive smiles. They were crazy and even mentally insane.

"If Claudia was here, she would definitely say no wonder they were attracted to me."

Kiba liked the twins and loved their personalities. Maybe others loved a shy, conservative, and kind-hearted woman, but not him. He found those traits boring.

Without thinking anything further, he shot through the explosion waves, crossing a distance of a few miles.

The nanites here were obviously excited by his presence, and they dashed at him to consume his genes. As they swept at him, the explosion cloud turned into a gigantic face, surging with torrential destructive waves that ripped through everything!

It was backed by the power of thousands of mutants. Something that not even a Level VII Alpha could handle!

In reality, numbers didn't matter in front of an Alpha. Even if thousands of Beta and Gamma-rank mutants attacked an Alpha, the Alpha would still win, with ease.

But nanites were different. They absorbed latent potential that has the capacity to evolve a mutant into a higher form of life.

So the explosion was the untapped potential of thousands of mutants! This was the true power of nanites!

RUMBLE~

Sky cleaved into two and the ground caved in by ten thousand meters.

The might of the explosion was like an apocalypse; threatening to wipe out everything.

In response, Kiba snorted coldly. The half blue in his pupils turned golden and his hair grew.

In the cleaved sky, deafening noise rang out and dark clouds began to cover the sky. The pressure of countless mountains crashed down.

The clouds twisted and golden lightning flashed through them. It was an awe-inspiring scene especially as the lightning struggled to descend, ripping through the layer of dark clouds.

"I have always wanted to test the strength of this form."

Kiba has a devilish smile on his face as he raised his right hand towards the sky.

"But so far, I never got the opportunity despite transforming to this form twice."

As his hand stretched up, a bolt of lightning crackled and tear through the invisible confines. It crashed down and landed in his hand while still being connected to the clouds.

He was like a god in the mortal world, wielding lightning.

Explosive shockwaves swept out, and rippled through space, making it vibrate and distort.

BOOOOOM

Under the shockwaves, the indestructible tunnel leading to the spaceship completely collapsed and disintegrated. Even the spaceship - which was far away from the range of his powers - began to buckle down. The ground sank by miles and core of the world came in sight...

***

In the Hall of Legacies.

Fiona looked at the projection ripples on the lake in pure horror. Her face turned ashen and her pupils dilated as she looked at the scene outside the nanite mountain from a bird's eye view.

A bolt of golden lightning stretched from the heavens to the hand of a deity. A deity whose very presence was turning the world into an abyss!

"How can such power even exist?!"

Her knees turned weak and she collapsed in mid-air. The sight of his powers left her breathless...

Enchantia observed the scene without any change in expression. She was fully aware of his strength and knew why he didn't transform into this form until now.

The fluctuations of this form would try to destroy everything in the vicinity. Had he summoned his powers before, the spiraling honeycomb would have disintegrated from the pressure alone. This was why he relied on other mutants to divide the pressure and buy him some time.

Now, every nanite he earlier freed was rushing at him.

[[He hasn't entirely summoned his full strength though. Something is holding him back.]]

***

The gigantic nanite explosion face didn't stop despite the overbearing pressure. As it charged at its target, countless attacks manifested from its consumed strength.

An ocean of ice shards, elemental force, energy projectiles, light beams, beast phantoms, plasma bolts, prehensile hair blades, and thousands of other abilities.

In front of the explosion face and the ocean of attacks, Kiba was like a desolate boat in the middle of a chaotic storm, alone and negligible.

But despite his negligible physical size, he floated in the sky like a god that overruled everything. His long hair freely floated and he continued to smile.

As the attacks and the explosion cloud descended, like a titan stepping down on a human, the golden lightning in his hand jumped in action.

Like a spear, the lightning lashed out. It wove through the gigantic explosion cloud and sea of attacks.

A stifling power of suppression erupted and a violent lighting storm blasted through the explosion cloud.

Everything in the world froze.

By the time the lightning completed a slash, blinding flash swept across the sky and thunder rumbled through the world. The endless nanite explosion cloud faded and the ocean of attacks vanished.

In their place, a spatial rift appeared, emitting terrifying fluctuations.

"That was no fun."

The bolt of lightning rushed back into the layer of dark clouds. Slowly, the clouds disappeared and a bright sky greeted him.

Kiba continued to float as he reverted to his normal form.

"So weak."

He was disappointed with the nanites' power. They couldn't even handle one weak strike...

***

In the Hall of Legacies.

Fiona's eyes and ears ached terribly from witnessing the attack in the projection. The projection obviously has nullified the destructive powers from the attack scene, but she still felt pain.

When her ears slightly gained their hearing, she heard his words of disappointment. Her heart thumped violently and she trembled.

"Those nanites weren't weak!" She complained. "You are just too overpowered!"

Enchantia's lips curved up. Her incorporeal figure flashed with content.

[[She would be another nice seed on Earth.]]

Enchantia thought with a smile. She didn't keep her here to save her from nanites.

If her goal was only saving her, she could have directly teleported to the end of the core region after the selection of Legacy Orb. From there, it was just a matter of few steps to leave the meteorite and arrive back on Earth.

She kept Fiona here because she wanted her to witness Kiba's strength.

Enchantia turned back to the projection of Kiba.

[[It seems time for another goodbye is near.]]

Her words passed through the crystalline lake and came out of the band she gave to him.

"Yeah."

He turned into a beam of golden light and left the area. There was no land for him to step on, it has completely disintegrated.

As for the nanite mountain, it still existed due to the transparent seal, albeit barely because he was outside its range when he used his powers.

[[Where would you go now?]] Enchantia asked.

"Isn't it obvious? Home!"