The Insane Regressor: Throne of Pride

A silent wave exploded through his soul without warning.

Every path to his death vanished, and the false images of his mother and father shattered.

The serpent-like eyes within the black remnant went dark before dissolving completely into the deep gray.

The purple remnant returned to a single color for one brief moment, then lost its form and disintegrated into pure particles of power devoid of their owner’s will.

The severed white lines began reconnecting.

Meanwhile, the gleaming gray crown above Ravian’s head and the two crimson gemstones set within it ceased trembling.

A new window appeared.

[The two Law powers have been destroyed as a result of their mutual collision.]

[A Seed of one of the Taboos has been destroyed.]

[Destroyed Taboo Seed: Fate.]

[Their remnants have been purified by Sovereign Pride’s Void.]

[The curse of the Nightmare World has been eliminated.]

[The remnant left by the Taboo of Fate’s attack has been eliminated.]

[Soul Stability: Restored to normal.]

The process should have ended there, but the black and purple particles purified by the Void did not disappear. Instead, they moved within the gray and lost their former identities, yet the Law power and the concept carried by each force remained within the deep gray Void.

First came the first Law: Mirage.

The ability to grant something unreal a form perceptible through every conceivable sense.

Second came the second Law—Thread, carrying the concept of Fate that had frightened Ravian most when he had encountered it before.

The ability to choose one path from among countless possibilities and drive the world toward it with unimaginable, inescapable force.

Then came the third and final Law: Void.

The ability to erase everything that existed, did not exist, or sought to come into existence.

The System windows trembled violently as the red veins spread farther and farther across them.

[An unrecorded interaction has been detected.]

[The purified Law of Thread is interacting with the purified Law of Mirage within Sovereign Pride’s Void.]

[Absolute Focus previously intervened in the purification and formation processes.]

[The Host successfully constructed a complete causal simulation of a possible outcome.]

[An impossible condition has been fulfilled.]

[A new innate ability is forming through the Void and the remaining Law power.]

The gray within Ravian’s soul contracted into a single point for a moment before the black and purple coiled around it, no longer as two opposing forces, but as two parts of a single concept harmonizing in a way that should have been impossible under normal circumstances.

What had been made to seem as though it had happened, what had a chance of happening, and the authority to decide which deserved to remain and which should be erased from existence.

[Ding!]

[The Host has acquired a new innate ability.]

[Name: Sovereign Paradox.]

[Rank: Unknown.]

[Status: Developing.]

A window larger than all the others appeared before Ravian.

[Sovereign Paradox]

[A power formed through the fusion of three Laws that cannot be combined under normal circumstances.]

[It makes the impossible possible, turns falsehood into truth, and reveals what cannot be revealed.]

’There’s a lot of ambiguity here, huh...’ Ravian thought as he read the first window, his mind still too dazed to fully process it as the System continued.

[First Function: Fate Selection.]

[The Host may select one outcome from among the possibilities connected to his actions, body, or soul, then impose it as the dominant outcome over all other possibilities.]

[An outcome that is completely impossible cannot be imposed.]

[The lower the probability of the selected outcome, or the greater the disparity in rank and authority between the Host and the force he opposes, the higher the cost of activation.]

[The cost may be death... multiple times.]

[Second Function: Untouched Soul.]

[The remnants of curses, Fate, Mirage, and external Laws attempting to bind themselves to the Host’s soul will become visible to him before they fully reach it.]

[No external force will ever again be able to conceal its signature completely within the Host’s soul.]

Ravian continued reading the notifications in silence as the process ended and his awareness finally cleared enough for him to grasp them, and then—

’What in the fucking fucktion is this supposed to be?!’

That was his first response—just as it would have been for any normal person in the same situation.

Based on the System’s description, the ability did not rewind time.

Nor could it create miracles from nothing. Rather, if used properly, it was more dangerous than that in an entirely different way.

If an enemy swung a sword at him and only one possibility among a million allowed the strike to miss, Ravian might be able to select that possibility.

If Ravian swung his own sword at someone stronger than him and there was a single possible path through which the blade could bypass their defenses and reach their heart, he might be able to force that path to become reality.

As for an attack that had already struck him, if he could perceive its outcome and reject it with the ability before that outcome settled into reality—and therefore into his Records, at least according to his understanding—he could still evade or repel it somehow, regardless of how that outcome came about.

Turning truth into something that would never happen, and a possibility into the only thing that had happened.

’Damn...’ Ravian thought. ’This ability...’

A warning window appeared before he could finish the thought.

[Warning.]

[At his current rank, the Host does not possess sufficient authority to use Fate Selection without restrictions.]

[Any outcome the Host intends to alter through Fate Selection must be personally perceived by the Host before it occurs. Fate Selection does not reveal Fate to the Host.]

[The Host cannot retain more than one selected possibility at a time for activation whenever he chooses.]

[The current effect is limited to outcomes directly connected to the Host’s body, soul, or actions.]

[Attempting to oppose a higher Law or an entity several ranks above the Host may completely drain his soul, resulting in death.]

[Attempting to impose an outcome with zero probability will fail and cause a spiritual backlash that may also result in death.]

[The upper limit of the ability is tied to the strength of the Host’s soul, his comprehension of the Law of Void, the accuracy of his understanding of the event, and his ability to envision all its causes and consequences.]

’Well...’

Those were no small limitations, but Ravian did not need an absolute ability from the very beginning.

Even in its current state, Fate Selection possessed the potential to change the outcome of an entire battle at the right moment.

As for the future...

If his soul and authority grew stronger, a day might come when he could deny what others called inevitable death, or select a possibility with only one chance of occurring among billions and make it the sole reality.

What made the ability most terrifying was that no one else could use it, even if they possessed the same powers.

Mirage could create a false possibility.

Thread, carrying the power of Fate, could grant it a path into reality.

Void could erase all the rejected paths.

But only Absolute Focus, combined with all three, allowed Ravian to envision an outcome with all its causes and details without his mind collapsing beneath the weight of countless possibilities and the precision required to calculate their consequences.

It was an ability created from four different powers, none of which would have been sufficient on its own.

In the next moment, the room began taking shape around Ravian once again.

The sensation of his body returned like gravity pulling him from every direction, and his spiritual form was drawn toward the body seated upon the bed.

The white spiritual form entered his body.

Ravian gasped violently and opened his eyes.

His chest rose, his heartbeat accelerated, and a single drop of blood fell from his nose onto his hand.

He remained seated without moving until his breathing steadied.

Then he raised his eyes toward the mirror.

There was no crown above his head.

The gray crown and its two crimson gemstones had disappeared completely, returning to the depths of his soul once the disturbance that had forced them to manifest subsided.

[The Host has regained control over the manifestation of the spiritual crown.]

[The Host may reveal or conceal it at will.]

[Reminder:

The Host may view the requirements for advancing to the Eighth Rank—Soul Liberator.]

Ravian wiped the blood from beneath his nose, then silently stared at his palm.

He had entered the state of Soul Ascension to rid himself of a single curse that had been tormenting him.

He emerged after eliminating the remnants of two Taboos, witnessing the true nature of his soul, and acquiring an ability that might one day make the boundary between reality and possibility subject to his choice.

A slow smile appeared upon his face.

Fate had attempted to write his death.

Mirage had attempted to imprison him inside a lie.

But now, Ravian possessed an authority that would make the designation Nightmare of the Taboos more fitting than ever before.