After a while, Jack finally got his emotions under control and after gingerly putting down Badger’s body, he stood up and looked at his bloodied hands.

“What now...?” Jack couldn’t help but ask.

As if waiting for that question, black mist began to pour out of Badger’s corpse. The mist slowly began to coalesce into a pitch black sphere around the size of a fist.

Looking at this happen, Jack wasn’t sure what to do.

“See, normally I’d have nothing to do with ominous black mist but considering the whole death theme my life seems to be following, I’m going to assume you’re supposed to be a good thing, “ Jack spoke aloud while looking at the sphere.

It didn’t respond but instead floated slightly closer.

“I’ll just take that as an affirmative, I guess, “he sighed. “Screw it, I’ve already come too far to back down now.”

He took one last look at Badger’s corpse and stepped towards the black sphere.

When he was one step away from the sphere, he barely had time to react before the sphere rushed him. The black mist poured into his body through his pores, mouth, eyes and nose.

Jack could only stand there, convulsing, as the mist spread throughout his body. It rampaged through his veins and arteries, destroying the capillaries throughout his body and causing blood to pour from all his pores. Soon Jack was completely coated in his own blood as he stood there, unable to scream or make any sound whatsoever, his body rooted to the ground.

Eventually, the mist finally reached his heart and dove in, slowly saturating it and causing it to turn dark purple and grow in size.

Jack could feel all this.

His mind was dominated by the pain of his body being destroyed from the inside out.

But along with the pain, Jack felt something else.

Power.

He felt power surge through him. As his heart continued to grow in size, that feeling only continued to grow. His body simply couldn’t handle this amount of power. If this continued, he would...

BOOM

...explode.

Jack’s body turned into a fine bloody mist intermixed with glimmers of black. There was nothing left of Jack.

No bones.

No organs.

Just the bloody mist.

The sanguine mist seemed to just float there for a second before it began to move and coalesce into an orb. Strangely enough, even the blood that had dried on the forest grass and Badger’s fur began to move to join the rest. Soon enough, Badger’s fur returned to its pristine condition and no sign of any blood was left in the lush grass.

After all the blood had joined the orb, it began to condense and form into the shape of a heart.

It was an unusual heart.

Dark purple and crystalline in nature, it seemed to be a fusion of flesh and crystal.

But that only lasted an instant.

The dark purple color receded inwardly until it concentrated into a similarly colored drop of liquid within the heart. The drop could be seen through the crystalline parts of the heart as the rest of it returned back to a much normal fleshy color

But that too wouldn’t last for long.

SNAP

A snapping sound as if someone had snapped their fingers resounded through the clearing and the drop of liquid immediately combusted into a dark purple flame. The flame floated docilely within the heart without damaging it at all.

In fact, the flame was strengthening it. The heart was very much like a clay pot being fired by the flames.

As the seconds passed by, the flame increased in size and the heart began to turn back to dark purple.

Bit by bit, it was being transformed.

—————

In the depths of space.

Hundreds of thousands of gems glittered, floating in space as various colors swirled within them.

A radiant cosmic sea.

That’s what they appeared as from a distance.

A closer inspection though, would reveal that these weren’t gems at all.

They were universes.

Each one, a cosmos filled with infinite possibilities.

Well, that’s what they used to be.

These cosmic gems were nothing more than hollowed husks with a pretty surface. Their potential, long since stifled.

Oh how they would weep if they could!

Weep, not for themselves, but for their children!

All those little ones that lived within them, ignorant of how far they had fallen.

Ignorant of how much they had lost.

Ignorant of their own ignorance.

There was nothing the universes could do. They were mere bystanders.

All they could do was observe as those two fought.

Two entities that held the fate of the multiverse within their hands.

Across this space, within the center of this cosmic sea, two entities had fought one another for an immeasurable amount of time.

Both of them looked extremely similar.

The first was a colossal whirlpool of stars and space that dwarfed any of the nearby universes. The truly eye catching aspect of this entity were the numerous, differently colored light beams swirling within its body as if they were shooting stars streaking through the starry sky.

The second entity was a similar whirlpool, only, it was minuscule compared to the other entity. It was barely the size of a universe. It also only had one light beam swirling within it.

A beam that seemed to be a kaleidoscope of dizzying colors. It seemed to shift through reality.

One moment it was corporeal, the other it was illusory.

These entities clashed against one another, the smaller one surprisingly able to withstand the much bigger one. Every time the whirlpools would smash against each other, space would shatter and universes would quake in fear.

Actually, it was pretty similar to that one show about magic spinning tops but on a much grander scale.

Anyway, these two have been at it for who knows how long, stuck at a stalemate for eons. It’s a wonder that the smaller entity hasn’t been destroyed after so long...

Fortunately, the tides of war were about to shift.

At the exact moment that Jack was going through his Rebirth in the Forest of Death, a change came over the first entity as its body suddenly shuddered.

Out of the numerous beams of light within its body, one in particular began to fade way. It was an almost pitch black beam of light, most of its light coming from the dark purple streaks in it. It intertwined with another beam of light that was white in color with golden streaks within it.

As the black beam of light faded away, a change also came over the second, smaller entity. Within it, an identical Black beam of light began to slowly appear. It was much fainter than the one that was in the first entity and it seemed to flicker in and out of existence but with every second that passed, it seemed to gain in strength and corporeality.

As this happened, the first entity seemed to slightly shrink in size while the second grew. An enraged roar resounded through space as the first entity witnessed this. The only response he got was victorious laughter from the second entity.

Unfortunately for the first entity, misfortune usually strikes in pairs.

The golden beam of light within it, which had once been intertwined with the black beam of light, also began to fade away. Unlike the black beam though, it didn’t appear in the smaller entity and even though the first entity once again slightly shrank, the second entity didn’t grow in size.

“YOU FOOL! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!” Bellowed the first entity, it’s powerful voice shaking the universes. It sounded like a man in his 70’s that has had one too many cigarettes.

In response, the second entity smashed into the first. While the size difference between the two was still immense, it was a lot better than the previous situation.

The first entity didn’t retaliate; its attention seemed to be on something else.

Suddenly, its body began to spin much faster and a hundred energy projectiles launched from its body. The projectiles didn’t fly towards the second entity but instead flew towards a certain direction.

Seeing this, the second entity also began to spin faster and launched its own energy projectiles, attempting to intercept the first entity’s attack.

Unfortunately, the second entity was only able to destroy ninety of the projectiles and the rest managed to get away.

Before it could intercept the other projectiles, the second entity was suppressed by the first. As such, the two entities went back to smashing against each other.

The second entity had done all it can for the time being, that madman could handle the rest.

Meanwhile, the ten energy projectiles flew through space until they reached a certain universe that was trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.

Well, as inconspicuous as a universe could be which admittedly wasn’t much at all.

Still, it could only sigh helplessly as the energy projectiles flew towards it.

They dove into the universe as if it was a pond, disappearing within it.

—————

The space surrounding a certain planet.

Ten streaks of light flew towards the planet, ripping apart the space surrounding them due to the sheer amount of power that they exuded.

Suddenly, an enormous draconic claw, that completely overshadowed the nearby planet, shifted into existence. It was layered with rainbow-like scales, each one seeming like a world unto itself.

The claw flexed and an imperceptible barrier appeared in the way of the streaks of light.

The barrier didn’t block them but as they passed through it, their very nature seemed to change and their immense power seemed to drastically decrease.

As this happened, a groan of pain came from the space surrounding the claw as it trembled, it’s radiant scales dimming.

“Fuck, why does he always have to be right?” Groaned Remwalt before sighing. “He’s never going to let me off the hook after he hears about this...”

Sighing in defeat, Remwalt withdrew his claw, his presence vanishing from the surrounding space.

The, now weakened, streaks of light continued towards the planet.

Soon enough, they broke through its atmosphere and descended towards a certain forest.

An enormous forest that went on as far as the eye can see.

The Forest of Death.

Stopping above the Core Area, the streaks of light merged together and formed two eyes that surged with divine lightning.

Any that peered into those eyes would be crushed by the power of Judgment that seemed to spill from them in waves.

Those eyes gazed deeply into the forest. Specifically, they stared at a Dark Purple Heart.

“You insignificant insect, do you even realize the consequences of what you have done?!” Roared the first entity.

Weirdly enough, its voice which normally would have resounded throughout the whole planet seemed to ̘̈́fad̫̒e aw̦̓ä̦́y̲͊ ̩̓a͖̓ṡ̼ ̧̆if̣̓ ̻̈́it h̳̽a͔͛d ̢͒fallȅ̪n͖̊ i̻̕nț̈o̗͑ ḁ̑ bò͕t̹̽t̝̃om̤̆lȇ͚ss ̰̓ab̆͟y̛͜s͇̀s̖̀.̻̐

Noticing this, the eyes turned their gaze from the forest to the man now standing across from them.

“You!” Exclaimed the first entity, its voice dripping with such deep hatred that the skies seemed to take on a slight reddish tint.

The Gentleman merely grinned, appearing very much the charismatic rogue.

“The King of Fools,” spat the entity. “Have you finally grown tired of scurrying around like a rat?”

The disdain dripping from every word was palpable.

The Gentleman didn’t seem to mind as he simply continued grinning before finally speaking.

“I didn’t come here to trade insults, you old fossil,” he said cheerfully. “Instead, how about you just stand there while I let off some steam.”

Not giving the entity any chance to retort, The Gentleman raised his cane towards the divine pair of eyes.

Multicolored lotuses began to bloom in the air. They floated languidly between the two of them and numbered in the hundreds.

The entity looked at all this with disinterest bordering on condescension.

He would soon regret that.

Suddenly, The Gentleman’s roughish grin turned manic as he twisted his cane.

The lotuses began to spin rapidly as they grew in size and bloomed even further, they’re layers increasing exponentially.

Soon enough, the lotuses began to change shape, flattening out and gaining a starry quality. In fact, if you didn’t know that they were previously lotuses, you would probably think they looked similar to a multitude of galaxies.

Miniature galaxies, to be exact.

And the longer the entity stared at them the more baffled it became.

They didn’t just look like miniature galaxies.

They are miniature galaxies!

The hundreds of multicolored lotuses had turned into miniature galaxies.

“You madman! Are you trying to blow up half the damned universe?!”

The entity couldn’t comprehend what this madman was thinking!

This just caused The Gentleman to start madly cackling, any trace of sanity long since gone.

“You wouldn’t dare!”

“Oh? If you truly believe that then you clearly don’t know me as well as you think.”

Finally done laughing his ass off, The Gentleman finally stopped and shot an imperious glare at the entity.

“You can only blame yourself for this,” said The Gentleman, madness mixing with his imperious air. “Who allowed you to exist in MY reality?!”

With that said, the cane was swung downwards and every single miniature galaxy began to detonate.

What followed was a symphony of destruction.

The divine eyes of the entity were immediately vaporized, no amount of ‘Divine Lightning’ or ‘Judgment’ could save them.

The planet was also vaporized.

Actually, a huge portion of this universe was basically just vaporized in that moment.

An innumerable amount of lives just gone.

The scale of destruction committed on this day was simply unbelievable.

In fact, it’s so unbelievable that it begs a question.

Did this really just happen?

Yes and no.

After all, reality is relative and there exists no one else in the Omniverse more proficient in it than the Mad King.

May his demented reign safeg̬͋u͎̓a̟̅ȓ̨d y̬͓͋̀o̥͌ù̗ f̨̭̀͆r͎̆̇͜o̠͠m̠̓ ͕̄t̰͑h̜̓ë̡̫̭͇̓͗͞ ń̤̯͔͖̫̈́̀̚̚i̭̼͗͞g͙̻̉͛ḥ̭̓̆t͕͐̌̚͢ͅm͈̜͔͂̏̈́a̛̟̠̹̜͂̒̿r̗̓ě̯̬̘̦̳̅̿̚͝ ̪̰͎̯̆̉̑͂̉͜th̡̰̀̍ạ͙͋͝t̖̜͖͇͗̀̂̅ ̞̳̙̹̒̐̓̔͠ͅi͇͉͓̜̓̉̍̉s̨̧̱̪̺͎͓͗̅͌̏̀͑͆̚͢ ̨͙̍̽R̢̯͉̥͍̃̾̋̈́̀e͍̚a͙̙̰̯̲͍̘̋̄͒͂̀̅͡l̗̤͓̟̻̯̆̇́͗̄͆̇̅͜ͅḯ̝̭͈̝̺͚͒͆͆͗̕̕͢͢͞t̖̞͗͞ỹ̛͙̘̠͊..̗̪̠̪̯̠̪͉͋̾̊̇̋͘͝͡.̧̘̥͖̲̳͖̭͚̲̓͑́̏̈́̀͆̃̀͘͟͝

—————

Back in The Forest of Death.

After a brief flash of red tinted the sky, nothing else happened.

W̙̄o̡͔͑̋ų̺̋̾l͉̰̮͋̽̂d͎̈́ ̨͚̖̎̑̈y̧̢͙̩̽̎̔̽̚͢o̫̎̔͜ṳ̳̅͞ k͕̳̆̉̈͘͜͟in̝̪̟̝͖̎͐̈̂́d̖̦̓̌l̼̻̞̅͛̅͟͝y ̰͇̈̿b̹͉̦́͝͠ę̬̻̦̒͒̀̚l͎̭͈̲̊͆̑̈ï̼̯͒é̩̣͒v̤͈̆̀e ̻̜̠͊͝͝t̓ͅh̬̦̏̅̿ͅa̮͖̍̚t̡̠͊̚ ̝͍̀̂e̟̽v͙̼̙̺́̊̾̕ḛ͔̾͐r̡̒y͍̗̥̾̃͌t͔̓hi̻͍͌̋n͇̆ǧ̨̳̻̞̋̈́̋ ͎̦͇̓̅͒wą̢̛̥̗͆̃͠ś̞̍͜ ͎̓̚͟j̪͛u͖͔̅̽s̰̾t̨̧̡̓̓͠ ̙̙͈̞̉̈̈͌f̧̢͚̹̉͑͌̕i̢̓͛ͅņ̜̰̏̆̕͜͠ḙ̛͓̪̐̿?̨̮̬̂̏͘

Good.

In the Core Area, Jack’s heart was done being refined.

As the flames, which had grown large enough to completely engulf the heart, receded back into it, a tremor went through the heart. The next second, the heart began to beat once again.

It was as if a motor engine was revved up. With every beat, flames would fiercely spill out of the heart before immediately receding.

It was a masterpiece of flesh, crystal and flame.

Immediately after the heart began to beat, the forest began the next step. All the nearby trees trembled as branches began to move towards the heart. The branches merged together, surrounding the heart and slowly forming into a shape.

After they were done, a human skeleton made of brownish bark was revealed. The heart continued to beat within the left side of its rib cage.

The trees that had used their branches were significantly weakened and their bright leaves dimmed.

None of them so much as complained.

Now that the skeleton shape was ready, the flames within the heart leapt out and immediately set it ablaze. It would be refined just as the heart had been.

Time slowly passed as the flames refined the skeleton but eventually they were finally done. The skeleton that was revealed was pitch black. It had an almost metallic shine to it that was a dark purple shade when the light hit it just right. Weirdly enough, it didn’t give off a sinister feeling at all.

Instead, a regal, almost imperious aura seemed to waft off of it.

Next, the flames spread out and began forming various organs within the skeleton. Unlike the heart, these organs looked completely normal.

After that was done, vines snaked down from the forest canopy and headed towards, not the skeleton, but the corpse of the honey badger that was still nearby.

As soon as they got close to it though, a bright flash of light flew from the body and coalesced into the shape of a honey badger.

The image was extremely weak and it kept flickering in and out of existence as if it was on the verge of being snuffed out.

Oh? A nascent soul.

Perh͍̊ap͙͝s ̰̀ţ͝h̖̐e ĺ͙i̥͗t̯͛tl̉͜e ̰̿ho͙͋n̫̈ey ͙̓ba̞͗dger ̝̔w̳̑a̧͌ŝ̪ ͑ͅmore ̦̆ţ͗ȁ͎lent̹̍ed͉͘ th͍̔a͓̕n̳͐ ͇̈e͍͛v͖̀e̻͗n ḫ̆e reã̞lize͔͌d̩̓.̹͡

The vines which had stopped when the light flashed out continued towards Badger’s body. Soul-Badger didn’t really like that and sent a silent growl towards them as he stood in between them and the body.

The vines took on a purplish tint as they approached the nascent soul and swiftly wrapped around it. They didn’t hurt it but rather gently carried it.

Soul-Badger immediately relaxed as the vines wrapped around him as if they had a calming effect.

Nearby, space was slit open and formed into a pseudo portal. A river of black and white could be seen through the portal. It was filled with purple and gold lights that flew alongside the river acting as guides.

The vines carried the nascent soul towards the portal and pushed it into the flowing river. With that done, the portal closed and the vines lost their purplish tint as they snaked back towards the honey badger’s corpse.

One vine poked the corpse and sent a wave of energy through it. Soon, the body had melted into a pool of blood that formed into an orb. The orb was taken by the vines towards the skeleton.

Flames once again leapt out from the heart and engulfed the orb. This time though, they didn’t seek to just refine but also purify. All the impurities and other undesirable substances and energies were incinerated. Eventually, the orb which had been the size of a basketball was reduced by almost half.

The vines hadn’t been idle, they wrapped around the skeleton, taking the shape of the muscular system. The orb of blood flew towards the vines and began drawing upon them the nervous system.

Another burst of flames from the heart engulfed the body.

Eventually, a naked male human body with pallid skin was revealed from within the flames. It lacked any hair but soon enough even that began to grow.

The heart wasn’t done yet though. Now that all the pieces were present, it was time to connect them all.

The flames within the heart compressed and lengthened before launching from the heart valves and drilling the arteries and veins throughout the body. Once the veins were all drilled out, vast quantities of flames flooded them and spread through the body. These flames were swiftly concentrated into a viscous dark purple fluid resembling blood. After a couple more cycles, even the color began to resemble blood. The body’s once pale skin took on a healthy luster.

Now, for all intents and purposes, this body was done.

But Death wasn’t satisfied.

Another snap rang out and the body was engulfed in pitch black flames.

One final refinement.

Honestly, most men would kill to have someone that dotes on them as much as Death dotes on this lucky bastard.

This bout of refinement didn’t last long but the change that overcame the body was unlike before.

It wasn’t a physical change but an auric one.

Once the flames dissipated, an aura of unprecedented magnitude blasted from the body and covered the whole Forest of Death.

—————

Tiger was living the good life.

Eat, sleep and then eat some more.

What more could a king, such as himself, ask for?!

Sure, there were sometimes some annoyances he had to deal with like that weird human the other day or the fact that Alpha wouldn’t stop yapping about his Pack but those were minor annoyances.

Nothing a good nap couldn’t fix.

And that’s exactly what Tiger was doing right now.

Lying down on his back with one hand scratching his satisfyingly full belly, Tiger snored the hours away without a care in the world.

Unfortunately, he was in for a rude awakening.

All of a sudden, an oppressive presence covered the forest with no warning. Tiger was immediately pressed into the forest ground as his eyes flashed open, filled with panic and terror.

He couldn’t move and his breathing had become labored. The very air within the forest seemed to become heavier and the Flux within his body that he had come to rely on had become sluggish and unresponsive.

It was as if someone had suddenly dropped a mountain on him.

But this wasn’t what truly terrified Tiger. His mind was far too occupied with the inferiority that this presence invoked within him.

What truly terrified Tiger was that, for the first time in his life, he didn't feel like a king.

He felt like an ant.

A tiny, fragile ant that was about to be stepped on.

He couldn’t help but laugh at himself deprecatingly.

Had he really thought he was a king?

What a joke.

Compared to this monster, he really was just an ant...

And the forest seemed to agree with him. As Tiger watched the trees happily sway as this suffocating presence pressed onto him, he couldn’t help but imagine that perhaps even they were laughing at him...

—————

Tiger wasn’t the only one going through this.

All the beasts within the Forest of Death felt this presence and all of them were scared shitless.

All except one.

Within the Core Area, quite close to where Jack’s new body was, stood a white creature. It appeared to be a four legged creature with crimson eyes but not much of it could be seen as its body was covered with a blur effect as if it was moving at an extremely fast speed even though it was just standing there.

The creature felt the presence wash over it as it stared at the very source of it. It didn’t feel any pressure from the presence and its sanguine eyes reflected none of the terror or panic that the other beasts felt.

There was only anticipation within them.

Its only response was a deep bow of its head towards the source before blurring away.

It left no indication whatsoever that it was ever there.

—————

Now, the beasts within the forest weren’t the only ones affected by this presence.

The forest itself was too.

Specifically, the Core Area. The trees and grass seemed to be experiencing a qualitative change. They drank in the aura as if it was the nectar of the gods. It was as if a long draught had finally ended and spring had come.

In actuality, that isn’t too far from the truth...

As they drank in this aura though, they began to change. The grass began to slowly take on a crimson hue and eventually they looked like precious rubies. The bark of the trees began to darken until it almost looked black while the leaves became dark purple.

With all these changes, the Core Area became a completely different place. It was bursting with such vitality that the other parts of the forest looked desolate compared to it.

They wouldn’t stay that way for long though.

Power began to slowly build up within the Core Area as if it was a decrepit machine finally being turned back on.

It wouldn't be long before the forest fully awakens...

—————

Within a certain room in a certain kingdom.

Crystals hung from the wall casting warm light on the polished stone that the room was made of and a smooth red rug covered the floor. There were no windows and only a single plain wooden door sat at the center of the southern wall.

The room was quite spartan and only had a low square table situated at its center. Currently, there were two men sitting at this table opposite each other. They did not sit on any cushions or mats and instead chose to sit cross legged on the floor. The only thing on the table between them was a gourd of wine and some wine cups.

One man wore a long black robe while the other wore a white one.

Both were currently staring at the Forest of Death.

Solid matter and distance meant very little to them.

“Did you feel that?” Asked the white robed man.

The other man snorted, “are you talking about the potent divine aura that appeared over the forest for a split second or whatever monstrous existence decided to let his aura out on full blast? I swear to Flux, this blasted forest keeps pulling shit out of its ass. Can’t believe we keeping sending the children into it...” the man continued to rant only stopping to chug down some wine.

The white robed man simply continued to stare in the direction of the forest before he turned away and sighed, “You know as well as I do that we do not have much choice. We only have 10 years left and this forest is the best training ground we currently possess. The children should be safe as long as they stay away from the Core Area. As for the Kings, as long as we are here, they will behave.”

The black robed man rolled his eyes, “that’s all well and good but whatever the fuck that thing is it’s definitely much stronger than the Kings. The fact that we can’t even see it even though it’s practically waving it’s dick around should be evidence enough of that.”

“I suspect that has more to do with the forest itself than the creature in question”, said the white robed man thoughtfully.

“Oh please don’t tell me your on about that theory of yours again. I really doubt that forest is alive”, groaned the black robed man.

“Oh come now, you cannot tell me that you can’t feel how the forest rejects Flux itself. Not to mention the fact it always feels like it’s looking back at us...”

“Well, I can’t argue with you on that point”, conceded the black robed man as he wearily looked back in the direction of the forest.

“Either way, we’ll have to have a meeting with the brat soon. This year’s trip into the forest will be very different.”

The white robed man nodded in agreement as both men lapsed back into silence, various thoughts swirling with their minds.

—————

Back over to Jack’s body.

The massive aura slowly died down and soon everything was back to normal. Well, except for the fact that the Core Area looked completely different now.

Jack’s body was complete and the rebirth was successful. Appearance wise, he actually didn’t look all that different. His body was slightly toned and his height had slightly increased. He had gotten slightly more handsome but it was only a tiny bit.

Overall, he went from being average to slightly above average.

There were only two differences that were immediately obvious. His hair had gotten much darker, somehow becoming even blacker as if it could suck in light and a tattoo had appeared on his back. It was of a humanoid skull adorned with a simple crown.

Dark purple energy seeped out of Jack’s body and turned into an ornate set of black robes that adorned his body.

Unlike the previous robes he wore, these weren’t plain black and instead were stylized with purple markings that crisscrossed into dizzying patterns that seemed to almost be constantly moving.

On the back of the robes, the image of the crowned skull was also present.

With that all finished, Jack’s eyelids began to tremble and soon he began to wake up.