In the high heavens, wrapped entirely within a brilliant, suffocating golden light...
Ethan felt his skin melting away like liquid gold. His flesh was dissolving, his bones were turning to dust, and even his very soul was being deeply tainted by the golden radiance.
Like a hatching egg, he was being forcibly transformed into an entirely different kind of existence!
It felt exactly like encountering Death itself. The only difference was that he was being violently stripped of everything that made him human.
[Is it true that no matter what choices are made, the only ending is to become a puppet of fate...?]
Ethan tilted his head back, staring up at the gradually shattering, pitch-black vault of the sky.
Clearly, there was absolutely nothing there. Yet at this moment, as Ethan took his final strides toward godhood, he could distinctly perceive those invisible eyes staring down at him.
"The Eyes of Fate."
They were ubiquitous. They attached themselves to every single person in this world like invisible puppet strings, forcing everyone to act out a predetermined play.
...Fate did not care about death. It simply demanded a puppet that would perfectly and flawlessly obey its grand design!
Only at this absolute final moment did Ethan truly understand this reality.
And the agonizing process of his ascension could no longer be stopped——————
Or could it?
The corners of Ethan's mouth slowly curled upward.
From his cobalt-blue eyes, which were now heavily bloodshot and heavily rimmed with invading gold, a bizarre, entirely foreign light suddenly burst forth!
"Interesting! Truly fascinating! Ah———————— I can feel inspiration and passion surging right up into my chest!" Ethan roared maniacally.
He threw his arms wide open, his face suddenly brimming with a pure, unadulterated smile. It was a expression so wildly unhinged that it caused the lingering ghosts drifting outside the golden light to freeze in sheer, dumbfounded bewilderment.
"...Have the people of this era been dealing with an absolute, thoroughbred lunatic this entire time? They've really had a rough time of it..." one of the ghosts sighed in genuine commiseration.
[Bzzzz... Soul synchronization decreased by ■■%... Glitch! Glitch!...]
[Current soul synchronization is immeasurable!]
[Soul synchronization detection disabled.]
[Achievement Unlocked: At the Break of Dawn]
["That is the moment when light and shadow intertwine. Whether you choose to walk into the light or step into the darkness, it will be decided by you, and painted by you."]
Endless, boundless power surged violently into Ethan's body.
—I can do anything. Not a single rule in this world can hinder me anymore.
Ethan was keenly, brilliantly aware of this fact.
He opened his hand, and the Perfect Paintbrush materialized seamlessly into his palm. But just as he was preparing to strike the air and begin his creation—
A trace of absolute, biting chill suddenly spread across the very tip of his brush.
It was a deeply familiar aura.
Ethan raised an eyebrow slightly and cast his gaze downward.
There, arising from the dark abyss where Death had just plummeted, a withered, ash-grey arm reached out, trembling weakly. It channeled a final, desperate shred of energy directly into Ethan's paintbrush.
And then, it completely fell apart.
Collapsing into fine dust, it vanished entirely into nothingness.
[You have obtained the remnant power of Death: The Power to Transcend Time!]
"Stop this ridiculous ascension ritual for me!!" Ethan roared, swinging his paintbrush with dramatic flair.
He watched his own flesh continue to dissolve, yet the sight only made him feel more intensely amused and exhilarated. His iron willpower had not suffered even a fraction of a blow!
The truth was, Ethan had never possessed even a modicum of interest in becoming a conventional god. Therefore, Fate had absolutely no leverage to tempt him.
It was exactly like triggering a game-breaking glitch in the fabric of the universe!
Swoosh————!
A torrent of magnificent, blinding colors poured out from the tip of Ethan's brush. Like a roaring river cleaving through the golden light, it cut right through the center of the celestial glow!
Ethan painted with sweeping, aggressive, and grand movements, completely disregarding the agonizing erosion of the golden light. Instead, he treated this very power of Fate as his personal canvas, applying pigment stroke by stroke, line by line directly onto it!
In an unbelievable twist, his colors began to erode the golden light in reverse!
His sweat turned into glittering gold, and a golden film coated his skin.
His memories of first entering the wizarding world, walking through Diagon Alley, starting his first term at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
Scene after scene of his past was coated in a layer of dazzling yet cold golden light, serving as the ultimate fuel for this endless power.
Stroke by stroke, line by line...
Ethan painted tirelessly and meticulously, just as he always did whenever he picked up his brush. No matter what tier of artwork he was creating, he invariably poured every single piece of his soul onto the canvas.
And the accumulation of those countless hours...
...finally transformed into a purely instinctive, unstoppable motion at this very moment. Even supreme Fate itself could not halt his hand.
Stroke by stroke, line by line...
Finally, Ethan lowered his arm, and the paintbrush slipped gracefully from his palm.
He gazed intently at the colossal, breathtaking masterpiece floating before him. The corners of his mouth stretched wide, displaying a deeply satisfied, terrifyingly handsome smile.
—————The final Tier 5 Painting: The Persistence of Memory!
[The Persistence of Memory]
[Tier: Tier 5 · Never-ending]
[Type: Live Painting]
[Description: A grand painting depicting a person's entire life up to this exact moment. Like an insect trapped flawlessly in amber, existence is frozen within this eternal scroll.]
[Effect: Freezes the present moment completely. No power, regardless of its source, can shake it in the slightest!]
[Tier 5 Painting Charges: 3/3]
A massive, circular clock face suddenly materialized out of the golden light!
It resembled a cosmic clock built to pass judgment on the mortal world. Its rapier-like minute hand ticked forward with sharp, heavy clicks.
Click. This mark represented the time Ethan had spent sketching charcoal portraits for random muggles in Spinner's End.
Click. This mark represented when, with the financial backing of Luna's family, he had proudly submitted his very first shocking masterpiece, Broompox.
Click. This mark represented the moment he had first entered Hogwarts, stepping straight through a portal and knocking Malfoy completely flat with a single, well-placed punch.
Each and every past memory was vividly displayed across the enormous clock face as the second hand ticked along! Within Ethan's mind, the memories that had been systematically eroded by the golden light became crystal clear once more.
And just as the second hand finished its full, sweeping rotation, snapping sharply onto the number "12"—
The golden light froze entirely.
It was as if reality had been suddenly locked in that exact split second. The light hung completely static around Ethan's body, its aggressive erosion brought to an absolute standstill.
The entire universe fell dead silent.
It felt as though someone had forcefully slammed the pause button on the world itself.
Only the colossal circular clock face suddenly began to shift and liquefy.
Squelch, squelch...
The heavy bronze frame began to melt, and the numbers and hands dripped down from midair like molten wax.
It felt as though what was dissolving was not merely the artistic clock face itself, but also the very concept of the relentless, forward-marching "Time"!
Creak, groan...!
The brilliant golden glow shuddered violently, attempting to shatter its new bindings. Yet no matter how it struggled—even as the raw radiance it unleashed scorched a noticeable piece of the starry night sky—it could not budge the restriction by a single fraction of an inch!
The ascension into godhood was brought to a grinding, definitive halt.
"Ah... how thoroughly refreshing."
Ethan straightened his spine once more, stretching out lazily as his vertebrae popped and cracked loudly.
The parts of his skin that had been severely eroded by the golden glow flaked off and fell away, making him resemble a beautiful, peeling porcelain doll. Golden fragments fluttered through the air around him.
Ethan lifted his partially fractured, strikingly handsome face. His pitch-black hair whipped wildly around him, and his piercing cobalt-blue eyes looked down upon the frozen world below.
He "saw" the expressions of absolute, jaw-dropping shock plastered across every single face on the ground.
After a long, dramatic pause...
The corners of his mouth slowly stretched into a wide, theatrical grin!
He threw his arms wide open, perfectly mimicking an eccentric lead actor taking his final grand bow at the end of a play, and delivered an elegant, sweeping bow to the audience below.
Behind him lay an entire expanse of brilliant, dazzling celestial light that had completely and utterly succumbed to his will!
[Congratulations!]
[You have successfully imprisoned Fate! With your brush, you have declared to the universe that you will never become a subordinate or a puppet to any entity.]
[You have thoroughly conquered this world; even supreme Fate has no choice but to bow before your feet.]
[If this cannot be called a "God," then what else could it possibly be?]
[By your own unyielding will, you have become a unique, supreme "God"—entirely unbound and uncontrolled by any existence!]
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