—A dimension without cardinal directions, where every possible future leads to cosmic war.
When he opened his eyes again, his vision burst into clarity.
Before him stretched a city suspended in the void—the Meta-Origin Temple.
It had no foundation, yet stood with the solemnity of a divine shrine.
The grand hall was made of translucent crystal, every inch shimmering with rhythmic energy pulses. Above, countless beams of light floated silently, like myriad whispering souls.
There was no up or down, no east or west—every structure revolved around a vast central void.
And deep within that void, faint golden radiance pulsed—the core resonance of the Cosmic Singularity.
"Welcome to the Meta Genesis Realm," came Quinn's voice beside him, tinged with reverence. "Where you're standing now is no longer part of any known planet. This is the very presence known as the Cosmic Singularity. Here, time and space are no longer constants."
Shawn stepped cautiously onto the airbound platform beneath him—solid as stone, despite hovering in nothingness.
As he glanced around at the flowing light and shadow, he felt a vast, impassive awareness watching him. No emotion—yet entirely real.
"Where are we going?" he asked quietly.
"To meet the Meta Hierophant," Quinn replied, solemn. "Only it has the authority to summon the Central Core."
They began walking toward the temple's heart. Along the way, Shawn noticed lifeforms dressed in the garb of distant civilizations—some towering like mountains, others light as mist.
They all bowed in unison as the two passed, murmuring a single word: "OMMETA."
"They were once core intellects or proxies of various galaxies," Quinn explained. "Every being who enters the Meta-Origin Temple must undergo the Meta Hierophant's psychic calibration.
If they lack the Soul-Prime Factor, they will never step into the Core Corridor."
"And I have it?" Shawn raised an eyebrow.
Quinn met his gaze. "You don't just have it. The Soul Energy inside you has already begun to resonate with the Thunder Core. From the moment you activated it, you were no longer an 'observed variable.'
You became: a possible anomaly."
Shawn felt his pulse synchronize with the temple's energy pulses.
They arrived at the temple's core—an all-white space with no walls, yet invisible boundaries were clearly felt.
In its center floated a statue ten meters tall, slowly turning—part - humanoid, part - pure energy. A faint golden light blinked on and off at its forehead.
The Meta Hierophant was no physical being, but a manifestation of multiple consciousnesses within a specific frequency.
Everyone who saw it beheld a different form.
To Shawn, the statue took the shape of a vague human figure—his grandfather, the man who had raised and taught him with patience and quiet strength.
"Your mind will project its most deeply rooted emotion as a reference,"
the Meta Hierophant's voice spoke—not through language, but directly within Shawn's consciousness, as clear as thought itself.
"Why have you come?"
Shawn stepped forward and answered softly,
"For Kyng. For the Central Core. And for my own fate."
"Fate?" the Meta Hierophant's awareness rippled gently.
Hundreds of intertwined Soul Energy paths appeared throughout the chamber—every one a possible branch of the future.
"Do you believe you can bear the Central Core?"
Shawn stared at the branches—and saw that every path eventually led to the same destination:
conflict, destruction, and reconstruction.
"I don't know if I can," he said. "But I know this—if I don't try, those futures may have no place left for humanity."
The Meta Hierophant fell silent for a moment. Then gave a subtle nod.
"Well said. You have passed the verification of Initial Resonance."
Suddenly, the space trembled violently.
A jet-black surge of energy pierced the outer wall of the temple—a massive arm, forged entirely from antimatter, crashed inward, racing toward the Core!
"It's the O.S.S.! They've breached the Meta Genesis Realm!" Quinn shouted.
But the Meta Hierophant didn't move.
With a wave of its hand, time and space froze.
The antimatter arm halted mid-air—then shattered into billions of data fragments, which slowly dissolved into the light of the Cosmic Singularity.
"You underestimate the power of Meta-Origin," the Meta Hierophant said, voice calm as eternity.
Quinn stared, stunned. "They dared a full incursion… That means the O.S.S. has developed some kind of external boundary decoding protocol."
"They don't just want to control the Core," Shawn said gravely. "They want to replace it."
The Meta Hierophant slowly nodded.
"This war is no longer a clash between protection and exploitation. It is a direct conflict between the structure of existence… and the will to rewrite universal logic."
After a pause, the Meta Hierophant pointed at Shawn.
"You have passed the initial calibration. Now begins the Central Awakening Trial. If you succeed, you will gain permission to speak directly with the Central Core."
"And if I fail?" Shawn asked.
"You will be erased by the Core—along with your consciousness, memories, and all traces of your existence."
Shawn did not hesitate.
He stepped forward, into the trial path the Meta Hierophant opened.
Behind him, Quinn's eyes flashed with something strange.
Within the Meta-Origin Temple, all fell silent.
Yet elsewhere, at the edge of the Null Gate, the O.S.S. fleet had already assembled—ready to breach the dimensional firewall.
A war across spacetime was about to begin.