Caelum was not angry.

The gap between them was so enormous it was almost impossible to describe.

He simply found it interesting.

It was like keeping an ant farm and one day noticing a single ant rise above the rest, charging at you while shouting that it would kill you.

If he wanted to crush that ant, one finger would be enough.

Even a breath might be more than it could withstand.

Across the entire Endless Sea of Universes, only the swordsman and the old mage had ever seen Caelum’s true form.

Azur had learned of Caelum’s existence from them, but he had no way of imagining how powerful Caelum truly was.

He dared to say those words for two reasons.

Pride.

And ignorance.

That was how he had lived his entire life.

Proud and unbending, drawing his sword only against those stronger than himself.

He had carried that belief through everything, always challenging whoever stood at the peak.

However.

Caelum was completely different from the swordsman.

They were not beings of the same level.

Not even the same concept.

Curious, Caelum continued watching.

Inside the fused universe.

Proudblade Sect.

A sharp green mountain pierced straight into the clouds, filled with supreme sword intent as though it wished to split the heavens themselves.

Its edge shook the world.

At its summit stood a man holding a sword.

The three foot green blade in his hand gleamed with cold light.

His cultivation remained restrained, deep and unreadable.

Suddenly.

A streak of sword light roared through the sky like a dragon and landed atop the peak.

"Disciple greets Master!"

"How is the grand rite?"

"Everything is ready!"

A sword like gleam flashed through Azur’s eyes.

"Good."

The green blade in his hand shot through the air, cutting through the clouds as a streak of light.

In an instant, it descended onto the altar of the sect’s grand rite.

Clang!

The green light landed and embedded itself firmly into the altar.

Sword energy swept outward.

Azur arrived with his sword, dressed in blue, resembling the favored child of destiny he had once killed.

Now he himself carried destiny.

Only now did he understand that destiny was also a shackle.

Being destiny’s chosen was the fused universe’s highest recognition.

No one within it could stand above him.

But it also meant he remained beneath the universe itself.

Unable to break through its limits and reach a higher realm.

So he would cut heaven.

Cut earth.

Cut destiny itself.

Only then could he break free.

At the grand rite, countless disciples of Proudblade Sect stood tall.

The moment Azur appeared, ten thousand swords rang together and sword intent surged into the sky.

"Greetings, Master!"

Azur looked down over all directions.

Then he shouted with absolute resolve.

"Begin the grand rite!"

"By your command!"

This grand rite existed for one purpose.

To cut heaven and earth.

To destroy the universe.

Only by doing so could Azur sever the shackles of destiny and use the power of universal destruction to push himself into a higher and more profound realm.

An ordinary universe could never provide such power.

Only the fused universe could.

Azur believed this would allow him to step into the realm of the Supreme Sovereign.

And so, he chose to do it without hesitation.

The grand rite began.

Azur gathered the power of Proudblade Sect and slashed open heaven and earth.

The shackles of destiny were severed.

In an instant, the fused universe began collapsing apart and entered a state of ruin.

A supreme blue light emerged from within.

Sword intent wrapped around Azur as he devoured all the power of the universe’s destruction.

His aura surged sharply.

Then, at a certain moment, he truly shattered his limits.

Using the destructive power of the fused universe, he ascended to a higher realm.

Azur’s spirit soared.

"Only through ruin can one ascend. This realm shall be called the Realm of Ruin!"

The universe shattered.

Azur floated alone within the Endless Sea of Universes.

Only then did he finally see it.

Universes shone like stars.

Boundless cosmic energy surged through the endless sea.

And there stood a supreme existence bearing the entire Endless Sea of Universes behind him, as though he had existed there since the beginning of time.

He was looking down at Azur.

Azur realized he was nothing more than a grain of sand resting in that being’s palm.

Just like the swordsman had been back then.

Azur’s entire body shook.

Disbelief filled him.

"So this is the Supreme Sovereign?!"

Only now did he understand.

The Supreme Sovereign was the Supreme Sovereign.

The Realm of Ruin was only the Realm of Ruin.

The two were never the same thing.

He had believed entering the Realm of Ruin would grant him the right to fight the sovereign.

Now that he had seen the truth, he finally understood how laughable that thought was.

In that instant.

Azur’s sword heart nearly shattered.

But then.

His expression became firm again.

His gaze sharpened like sword light.

He resolutely raised his three foot blade toward Caelum and laughed wildly.

"Sovereign, do you dare fight me?!"

This was his sword path.

Even knowing the road ahead led to certain death, he could not retreat.

Sword intent erupted.

Azur poured everything into one final slash.

Energy surged across the Endless Sea of Universes as a majestic sword light cut through space, carrying the force to annihilate everything in its path.

Caelum did not move.

Buzz.

The boundless cosmic energy surrounding him swept outward.

The sword light vanished instantly.

Azur was erased along with it.

Without mercy.

In the end, Azur’s body and path both perished.

In Caelum’s palm, a glowing three foot green blade lay quietly.

It was the only proof Azur had ever left in this world.

The sword trembled softly.

Caelum remained expressionless.

With a casual motion, he destroyed it as well.

Then.

His figure disappeared without a sound.

Within the cosmic sea.

The shattered fused universe broke apart into countless fragments.

Hidden within those fragments remained faint traces of the Realm of Ruin, along with lingering proud sword intent.

After countless ages, the first Realm of Ruin expert ever born in the cosmic sea had vanished like a shooting star.

Fragments of the fused universe drifted through the Endless Sea of Universes, carrying traces of that realm with them.

Quietly, they became forbidden zones one after another.

Back on Earth.

Caelum returned to looking like an ordinary person.

His energy and aura were perfectly restrained.

His energy fluctuations were no different from a normal human’s.

Nothing about him seemed unusual.

In the eyes of his apartment neighbors, he was just another lazy slacker.

The days passed the same way as before.

He slept until he woke naturally.

Went grocery shopping when he ran out of food.

Fluffball wore that pretty bead around its neck and ran in and out every day, busy with whatever nonsense it had going on.

New Kirk remained as chaotic as ever.

Explosions went off constantly.

Alarms blared nonstop.

Game invasions and invading characters appeared all the time, throwing the city into disorder.

Whenever Caelum got especially bored, he would head outside to watch the show.

Eating sunflower seeds.

Licking popsicles.

Pointing and commenting from the sidelines.

Life was dull.

But comfortable.

Several times while walking around, he ran into invading characters disguised as humans.

He never bothered provoking them on purpose.

Boom!

"Warning! Warning!"

Explosions and alarms blended together.

Caelum crouched casually at the roadside, cracking sunflower seeds with zero regard for his image.

In one hand, he carried a white plastic grocery bag.

His whole vibe was hard to describe.

Click.

A camera shutter sounded.

A disaster news reporter raised his camera and snapped a photo of Caelum crouching on the curb eating seeds, forming a stark contrast with the crisis unfolding behind him.

In fact.

This was already the third time the reporter had seen Caelum casually spectating at a disaster site.

When writing his article later, he silently uploaded Caelum’s photo onto the news site.

And gave him a title.

Disaster Spectator.