After Galen fell unconscious, a chime once again echoed in his mind.

———

[ Ding ! ]

[ Re-awakening the Forgotten God's System... ]

[ Re-awakening complete ]

[ Fusion of the Forgotten God's Godking soul fragment with the mortal soul fragment—complete. ]

[ Integrating the Forgotten God's System with the Universal System... ]

[ Integration failed... ]

[ Cause ; the connecting medium (Mana) is still unavailable on Earth ]

[ Time till Mana explosion reaches Earth: 36 days, 7 hours, and 45 minutes. ]

— —

[ Activating emergency protocols... ]

[ Searching for alternative energy sources... 

Search - complete. ]

[ Restarting the system using the residual energy from the Godking soul fragment... ]

[ System restart complete. ]

[ Synchronising memories... ]

***

Atop the biggest black hole in the entire universe—with trillions of times the mass of our sun—a majestic castle stood, its obsidian walls swaying ever so slightly under the unimaginable gravity.

But, dwarfing both of their presence was a single man, his mere existence towering over everything.

Long black hair like the lightless abyss , flowing freely from the back of his head.

Glowing golden eyes, akin to the brightest of stars, closed in silent meditation.

Skin as fair and soft as snow, 

and a physique that's chiseled to perfection.

*

For millions of years, the man had been sitting there (on the castle's highest peak), immersed in his profound comprehension,

Unmoved by anything... and 

Untouched by time...

***

The Forgotten God's Pov

I was the first human, or any species for that matter to ascend and wield mana in this universe.

With that newfound power, I traveled the world and fought countless battles to hone myself. 

When there was no one left to fight in my world, I left it behind in search of new worlds and new opponents.

What followed next...

was an endless cycle of blood and battle, spanning countless worlds.

Subjecting myself to that grueling cycle for hundreds...

thousands of years, 

I have eventually shed my mortality, and 

became a God.

The First God, in fact—in the entire universe.

But, everything had a price.

Standing at the peak, there was no one worthy enough to fight me anymore. 

Even the other gods, who were born after sometime, were too weak to be my opponents.

Deprived of my craved battles, I had to change my focus. 

So I started travelling again. 

Only this time...

instead of searching for opponents, I began searching for new sights that I haven't seen before.

Countless worlds and their myriad races, 

Exploding supernovas and all-consuming black holes,

Swirling galaxies and their countless star clusters.

And many many more...

I saw everything there was to see in this expansive universe. 

Countless generations came and went during my travels, and all those mortals who had once worshipped me as their god, eventually faded away - their religions dying down along with them.

Only the other gods, who were almost immortals till the end of our universe, still remembered my existence and gave me the moniker,

"The Forgotten God"

**

In one of my travels, I came across the the biggest black hole I've ever seen since starting this long journey.

Somewhat curious, I decided to explore it.

But inside the blackhole, along with the distortion of space–time I had already expected, I also found something else.

An archaic gate like structure—steeped in profound aura—stood at the very centre of that black hole, its smooth surface etched with unknown primordial runes. 

Even more baffling was, the fact that I couldn't sense it at all even when it was right before my eyes.

With confusion colouring my thoughts, I moved a bit closer and reached out to the gate - hoping the universal system will reveal something about it.

In fact it did.

The moment my fingers touched the gate,

———

[ You've come into contact with the Universal Treasure - Aetherion seal (also known as - The Cosmic Gateway) ]

[ Initiating Character Analysis... ]

[ Opening Status Screen... ]

[ Name : Galen Vaelthorn

Age : 621,786 years

Race : Human

Level : 1000 ( Max )

Realm : Godking

Traits : None 

Titles : 

1. The First God

2. The Forgotten God ]

[ Reviewing life records of the chosen individual—Galen Vaelthorn... ]

[ Review complete. ]

[ Conclusion : 

The Probability of Galen Vaelthorn betraying the Universe - 0.0000000000000000001 % ]

[ Assessing risk-reward ratio... ]

[ Assessment complete ]

[ Congratulations Galen Vaelthorn—You have been chosen as the very first Guardian of this Universe. ]

[ You have been granted access to the Universal Treasure - Aetherion Seal. ]

———

After the final notification, a wave of information started pouring into my head. 

I came to learn that there exist innumerable universes, floating on the boundless River of Reality. 

And the mana as we knew it, was actually the water from that river, seeping into every universe depending on their maturity.

While I was in a daze processing that shocking information, the Aetherion Seal started shrinking all of a sudden.

When It became small enough, similar to the size of a base ball, it shot straight into my body, and settled in the depths of my soul.

Though a bit startled, I was able to calm down after remembering the system notifications I've just read.

And after the seal moved into my soul, I could barely make out something in it's previous loccation. 

Squinting my eyes, I noticed a tiny crack, barely visible to the naked eye—in the fundamental fabric of the universe. 

Through which, a new form of mana distinctly different from anything I've ever known—and incomparably powerful—was bleeding into our universe.

As if triggered by my findings, another wave of knowledge entered my mind.

According to it, the crack was the result of a nearby higher leveled Universe trying to invade us. 

To prevent it, my native universe, in it's semi-conscious state, condensed all it's origin power into an origin grade treasure (the Aetherion Seal) and used it to stop the crack from expanding.

But there was a drawback. After creating the seal, the universe's consciousness fell into a deep slumber. 

{ A/N : The universal system introduced with the mana, was just a program running on fixed protocols, devoid of conscious thought. }

So, If someone malicious were to get their hands on the treasure, they could easily use it to expand the crack and allow the invaders entry into our universe—practically giving them free rein over our lives with their incomprehensible strength.

To avoid that dreadful scenario...

after assessing the probability of my betrayal, the system chose me to guard the Aetherion Seal.

In fact, there was another simple, but equally important reason the system had for choosing me besides my loyalty—strength.

Because might makes right.

And in my universe...

I Was The Strongest.

***

It took a while to process everything that happened.

After that, I decided to settle near the crack, and constructed a personal castle for myself to reside in.

With nothing better to do, I sat down to meditate—trying to grasp the intricacies of the foreign mana.

However, even after spending millions of years studying it, because of it's higher origin, I could only comprehend bits and pieces of it.

But that alone was enough to rise my previously stagnated strength to an entirely new level.

***

While Galen was immersed in his comprehension, the mana pouring out through the crack began spreading rapidly throughout the entire universe.

Among the countless strands foreign mana spreading across the cosmos, a select few had spiritual imprints of powerhouses from the other side, carrying specific instructions.

Though after crossing over, those imprints didn't last long and dissipated within minutes,

Fortunately, or unfortunately for Galen, one of those strands, after jumping through space, landed exactly on the God of Deceit's hands. 

But before dissipating like the others, that strand shared several vital pieces of information, causing his narrowed eyes to gleam with a cunning light.

However, he quickly concealed it as though nothing had happened and went about his business as usual.

Meanwhile, Galen Vaelthorn remained completely oblivious to this occurrence. 

Thus setting the stage for a massive tragedy, that would unfold in the near future.