The Monarch-Chapter 698: The war

Chapter 698: The war
Kayden woke up completely destroyed on the ground. The karmic lightning had consumed everything around him; it had also destroyed a large portion of his body. The sensation was extremely strange, because even though he could feel his body alive, those parts simply weren’t there.
Half of his face had completely vanished, revealing a shining skull and dead eyes. There were also pieces of muscle and remains scattered around him—everything had simply been obliterated. Kayden wasn’t even shaken by the scene or by the pain; his mind immediately focused on healing himself.
In less than two seconds he managed to regrow everything, but... it wasn’t the same. Kayden could feel the effects of the karmic lightning in his reconstructed limbs—they were nowhere near how they used to be.
It was as if he were using dead parts of his body, but they were alive—they were pulsing with blood right in front of him, and even then they showed no sign of life. The laws governing these new parts of his body were a mess—completely broken and senseless.
The karmic lightning had also sliced a portion of his soul in half. Kayden could feel that he was disconnected from that half, and that half was what should make the connection with the rest of his body. But there was a small detail that made everything even more special.
Kayden could feel the dead and living parts of his body. That meant he was directly sensing something from the past or something that didn’t exist—but that was impossible. The only scenario in which this made sense was one where he was capable of seeing the points where these connections
should
exist.
His soul had very specific holes, missing pieces in a highly organized pattern. This allowed him, within seconds, to advance billions of years. Kayden could see the connection his tendon should make with his soul, the connection his bones should make with his soul, the connection his muscles should make with his soul.
That connection didn’t exist, but at the same time it did. This was more or less what his soul needed—more or less the state he wanted to force his soul into. To achieve that, he would need to continue studying this state, but he had already made ridiculous leaps.
After a few days, Kayden had fixed a large portion of his soul—not only that, but he had placed it in a completely different state from before. He expanded where there had been nothing; he added things where nothing had existed.
A few years later, he finally reached the limit of his growth—but in just a few years, he managed to accelerate billions or trillions of years of development. Only after some time did Kayden realize that studying the karmic law and progressing in his understanding of it was what had made this advancement possible.
His growth in his soul had nothing to do with his ability to manipulate it or even with his talent. All of this happened solely because of the karmic law. But there was something very peculiar: Kayden still felt completely lost within the karmic law.
What was truly bringing him progress was applying his new knowledge to his path— the more he did this, the faster he developed. His talent was slowly returning. Over those years, he managed to go from an ordinary person to a pathetic genius—but still, that was something.
He was returning to his peak, little by little. With each passing day, Kayden grew. He was no longer stuck in that bizarre plateau of trillions of years. On the contrary—his strength was increasing at a frightening speed. But...
"Holy shit." Kayden was receiving karmic lightning in a very peculiar way—he had practically become a lightning rod for them. It didn’t take much knowledge on his part to begin attracting them in this world.
The void of the barrier contained a terrifying amount of laws and random things—practically a bottomless, purposeless pit. Kayden was capable of sending small signals using the karmic law itself so the lightning bolts would come to him. But that came with a small price.
His soul was shredded each time. His body was increasingly broken. These breaks and divisions could be beneficial and save Kayden a few millennia—or make him lose trillions of years, as had happened at least twice. All that time to fix a tiny error that seemed impossible. Many times he thought he had completely locked the doors of destiny for himself.
Unfortunately, this existence would still have to endure Kayden for a long time. Slowly, like a phoenix reborn, he rebuilt his soul and adapted again to his law. It had become intensely more powerful—Kayden couldn’t even understand at what moment he had been capable of creating something like this; the leap from where he had been earlier was terrifying.
"A war?" Kayden was approached by two powerful mages. It had been a very long time since he had been anywhere near the social areas of this world, yet he had been found anyway. Why, he had no idea.
"That’s right, Master Kayden. My king is asking for your help in this desperate moment. He said that long ago an agreement of two parts was made with our ancestor, and that you would be capable of fulfilling practically any wish." In front of Kayden were two young men with black hair and light eyes—both had a very striking trait.
They were made of wood—more specifically, heirs of Jordan. The boy didn’t think too much before accepting the offer and asking them to show the way. He wasn’t at his peak in strength, but it should be enough for him to help in something—or, in the worst case, to flee.
Kayden needed to test his proficiency in combat in this state. He was able to use a certain percentage of his strength—its entirety would be impossible—but it was still something. At least he hoped so.
As he passed through the landscapes, Kayden began to understand how the world had changed. War was practically everywhere; there wasn’t a single centimeter they flew over that was free of smoke or damage caused by mages. All the cities were desolate, looking like they had been built by starving people.
In compensation for all this destruction... the level of the mages was far above normal. The average combat strength could be felt. Kayden took a deep breath and smiled to himself—the same conclusion he had been reaching for years was once again reaffirmed.
Jewels and swords are forged with fire.
I apologize for being away from the internet for so long, dear readers.