Villain: The Play of Destiny

A while earlier...

Seeing Yexuan fall right into his trap, Keith rejoiced a little and did not even resist when a Spatial Force whisked him away from his position, bringing him here to this secret world that he had been looking forward to visiting.

Unlike Yexuan, Keith knew a lot more about this secret Realm thanks to the Plan of Destiny he had read in his dream, and yet, he was still surprised at the vitality that he felt oozing out of this place.

His senses had never been as sharp in his life before, and he felt right at home here.

There were some constrictions on him since Yexuan intended to imprison him here, but Keith was already prepared to deal with them.

"Let's start."

The System easily neutralised every restriction placed on him, and within seconds, he was free to roam around as he liked.

However, he was not here to tour the place or even appreciate the stunning Palace that looked over him from the distance.

He was here to make sure that Yexuan could not escape his death, and to make sure that they would not get whisked away to another world.

Keith did not want to leave anyone behind, and he still had to deal with the Children of Destiny who were present on Gaia to gather some more Fate Value and get his hands on their blessings. And then there were his plans that were already in motion and could not be aborted without making some losses.

He did not like making losses.

"Call it out." He gave the order, and the System got to work again as it forced the Steele of Time & Space to manifest before him.

The Realm trembled a little as the Divine Treasure was forced to reveal itself, and Keith soon found himself staring at an enchanting rhombohedral metallic body, which had sprouted from the ground through a portal, and now stood hovering before him.

It was almost as tall as him, and on it were Runes and Verses in a Divine Language that he was not familiar with.

The sheer potency of the Law of Space that the treasure oozed excited his Blood, and a light smile crept on his lips.

He did not even mind that the System used over two thousand Fate Value to do what he had asked. It was all worth it.

The Steele of Time & Space suddenly started emanating a silver glow, and Spatial Cracks began appearing in the space around it.

Seeing this happen, Keith proceeded to make an incision on in right hand, letting the blood ooze out.

When the light around the Steele got brighter, he braced himself and slowly reached forward with his blood-soaked hand, plunging it into the Spatial Cracks, letting the Treasure judge his legitimacy and assess the innate Law of Space that he possessed.

Keith merely frowned as he watched his fingers and hand disappear, and he did not panic when he lost the connection to his limb.

He only had to wait for a few seconds before the Spatial Cracks subsided and he felt his hand again, which was no longer coated in his blood and was already healing.

His eyes narrowed after a few seconds as nothing happened and the Steele stopped shining, making him curious.

"System..." He had just called out to it in his mind before he found an irresistible force warp him away to an unknown destination.

And a hellish Trial started for him.

Keith felt like his entire body was being torn apart into innumerable pieces, and in that agony, even a second felt like an eternity.

He managed to force open his eyes, and they immediately turned to their true shade, their mesmerising Amethyst Shade, and he witnessed something with them that made him forget the pain for a moment.

What surrounded him was the most mesmerising and beautiful sight he had ever witnessed.

It was the Truth of Existence, and he was piercing right through the cosmos, flying at a speed that was hard to even imagine, much less make sense of it, and more than that, he was flying right through a never-ending vastness, with lights littered all around him, bringing life to the eternal Darkness.

There did not seem to be an end to it all, and Keith just kept flying, not having any control over his body which was in unimaginable pain right now.

The only relief he felt, came after what felt like an eternity, and it was the warmth of Blood that had started soothing his aching body. If not for it, Keith was sure that he would have lost consciousness long ago.

What was happening was not what he had expected. This was not the Trial of Space that he read about in his dream that Yexuan was planned to go through later in his life.

It was not even close to what he had read, and it was certainly not supposed to be a risk so dire.

What was worse was that he could not even utilise his Aura and Mana, or even use his God Ring to help himself.

Even the System was not responding, so, he was truly in a very inconvenient position right now.

A terrifying thought crossed his mind that he might forever be stuck in this place, but he immediately shook it off and concentrated on everything around him.

Strangely enough, even at the speed he was travelling at, he could see things very clearly, and at any other time, if he could, he would have just stopped and appreciated the scenery that surrounded him.

But right now, the pain did not allow him to truly appreciate anything.

In the end, when everything became too much to bear, and his body and senses started going numb, Keith used all his willpower to only focus on the warmth of his Blood, feeling it flow through his veins excitedly, and then he closed his eyes.

His decision helped him take his mind off the pain, and he finally heard a sound, a soul-stirring chiming sound, emanating from his body.

He felt his wings sprout from his back, just like in his dreams, and as much as he wanted to open his eyes again to take a look at them, he kept them shut and focused on only his Blood.

Even the slightest of the quivering of his eyelids felt like his soul was burning in Hellfire.

Keith did not know when, but a new sensation coursed through his breaking body, which only kept growing with the passage of time, and as it grew, the pain jolting through him started to diminish at some point.

The numbness was gone, and his body was no longer aching either.

He felt the space around him as if it was part of his senses, and every Spatial Crack that occurred as a result of his piercing through the cosmos felt as natural as the beating of his hearts. Yes, hearts.

For a moment, he wondered if he had fallen asleep and entered his dreamland.

Suddenly, he had this urge inside of him that he wanted to teleport away and out of this place, and when he focused on it and willed it, he felt his body come to an abrupt but safe and comfortable stop.

His eyes snapped open, and he frowned as he found himself shrouded by nothing but darkness.

Even his eyes which were used to seeing in the dark could not see anything here, and he could not even see his own limbs in this place.

What was strange was that he no longer felt his Spatial Powers, and just like before, he could not even utilise his Aura and Mana.

"Great." He sighed and then chuckled to himself when the System did not answer him again, making him believe that he was still in the Trial.

The problem was that he had no idea what he had to do to pass it and take control of the Steele of Time & Space.

And so, he decided to do nothing.

Keith simply let his body float in the darkness and closed his eyes again, quite tempted to take a nap as he felt a little too comfortable in this place, and even though he was not breathing, his body was functioning normally. At least, that's what his senses told him.

However, he did not give in to the temptation and started meditating, focusing on his Blood, searching for a solution.

Time passed, and he did not know how long he had been in this void, but it certainly felt like an eternity.

He meditated and meditated, failing to find any solution, and then he decided to float around the place on a whim.

When he found nothing and saw no light, he felt himself grow a little frustrated, but he managed to calm himself down.

To distract himself, he started reading the Devil Sutra in his mind, starting from right where he had left off, and it worked as he was soon immersed in it.

When he finished reading it, again not knowing how long it took him, he lost himself to his thoughts as he reflected on his recent understandings.

Since there was nothing he could do about the situation he was stuck inside, he decided to make the most out of it.

He played chess with himself in his mind, went through his Medical Knowledge, Alchemy, Forging, Smithing, and Runes, and out of boredom, he even played with music in his mind and created melodies.

It surely took its time, but the frustration did catch up with him again. And this time, he grew quite agitated.

He tried to convince his mind by reasoning out his worst thoughts and began looking around the void, where he found nothing but Darkness.

Tired, bored, and frustrated to the core, he eventually decided to meditate again, focusing on his Blood.

At least, he could see inside his body, and he decided to explore it.

Soon, he found himself inside his Heart, looking at the Drops of Blood that existed there, which were no longer emanating any power that he remembered them to possess.

In the end, he got bored of looking inside his body too.

Since he could not even feel his Aura, he could not even cultivate in this place, and his instincts told him that it would be pointless even if he could do it.

Keith eventually got bored enough that he decided to focus on the Darkness itself as it kissed his skin. And it was funny because he was not feeling anything at all. All he managed to do was waste more time if it even existed here in the first place.

The sudden thought made him freeze and then he frowned at it.

He was quite sure that he had passed the Trial of Space, and he should have returned to the secret Realm inside the Steele. But why was he in this void?

Keith had brushed this thought aside earlier as he knew that Yexuan had already passed the Trial of Time and had control over this Aspect of the Divine Treasure, but now he could not help but wonder if he had been thrown into the Trial of Time.

This was definitely not the Trial of Time that Yexuan went through, but was it not the same case with the Trial of Space?

And was it even possible to take this Trial when Yexuan had already passed it and still lived, holding 50% control over the Steele?

Or was Yexuan dead?

Keith now had a lot of questions revolving in his mind, but in the end, he did not find a definite answer to his current predicament.

Even if he was in the Trial of Time, what exactly was he supposed to do here?

It sure took him a while, but eventually, he settled on a crazy thought and closed his eyes, focusing on his Blood.

There had to be a reason why he was thrust into the Trial of Time without his permission and without even testing whether he met the requirements or not, and Keith had a hunch that the answer was in his Blood.

The only possibility was that he did meet the requirements, and it meant that he possessed the Law of Time as well.

Now, all he needed to do was reach for it and see if he could access it.

He set aside all his worries, thoughts, and questions, focusing only on the task.

Keith bore the feeling of helplessness as he found no answer but still searched for it, only surviving the ordeal because of his ridiculous mental strength. He just refused to give up.

And in the end, his stubbornness saved him.

He felt something, a sensation that made his body tremble, and when he opened his eyes, he saw the Light.

Keith witnessed a sight that he would never forget in his life, and he would not see again for a long long time...