A powerful soul shedding from the dying vessel, Mu Ryl looked absentminded, watching without a care as a horrifyingly burned Alexander grasped his face.

He did not flinch as another black hand clawed his soul into pieces.

Mu Ryl did not feel fear even when his entire life turned pointless. Now facing the greatest unknown of all.

Stranded to the world of the dead, the Saint of Chaos falling off his throne.

"This dog!" His hair growing back, Alexander appeared physically devastated.

"Sorry brother! I didn't expect such a powerful blow at the last minute..."

Waving his hand, Alexander shook his head.

"Don't mind it. We won anyway."

Recovering their energy reserves, they fled the scene. Dealing with one saint was already hard, so doing the same with more was out of the question. For now.

°Brother Azvon, didn't it feel too easy? The more I think about it... it doesn't feel deserved...°

°Frankly, I'm slightly disappointed...°

In the middle of a flight across the Core Territory, Alexander spoke first.

°I wouldn't go that far. Sure, Mu Ryl underestimated us too much, but still. The only way to save himself would be to either manage another mind technique, even though it might have not worked at all a second time, or just flee. Logically speaking, he would have destroyed me in a one versus one. Simply because my cultivation is lower. Yours isn't much better than mine, but still closer to him. By adding our battle prowess on top of the other, winning became a guarantee.°

Still sour, Alexander nodded. He came to the same conclusion. The world was not one of overpowered villains and heroes, but one of simple brutality. To beat two, you needed three. Of course there were more variables than this, especially when one was stronger.

One versus two when the solo party was just a bit stronger meant a very difficult situation to overcome.

And now, they most likely turned from one versus two into a two versus nine.

'That clone in [Wrath State] made quite the distraction, and even the better attack. I don't know why I never used these as such. Better make a shit ton more!'

One may overlook something in their own hands, even when searching for it. But besides self blaming about one's own shortcomings, one could still appreciate a learning experience.

.

.

.

Deep into a sea of pure darkness, its waves crashing onto a shore illuminated in red, a tall man.

His skin was slightly red, his demeanor arrogant. Hands clasped behind his back, the man stood steadily surrounded by a black liquid fairly resembling water.

One could not see anything past their nose, but he did. He did see.

He watched below, the darkness of the sea covering a giant floor of off-white. If one looked closely, if they could, they would surely notice this floor to be made out of bones. And if one had this being's vision, they would be able to realize this floor to be part of a truly gigantic skull.

One aware of what this skull meant would know how truly frighteningly deep the sea actually was.

As for the man, surrounded by thousands of these...

He...

...longed for the past?

.

.

.

Millions of years later, a blowing wind caressing an old man's face, Azvon looked on at a seated Alexander nearby. He sat on a large piece of rock, surrounded by plains and meadows.

He looked pensive. His eyes lacking a certain lucidity.

Azvon would complain, but he knew what it most likely was.

Stranded in thoughts, Alexander reviewed his life. His memories were still jumbled together into an intricate mess, but he could still understand them.

He realized himself to be hiding. Hiding from his own self.

Both extremes shaped his recent ascensions, both bad.

During his time in the Celestial Realm, he became a robot devoid of most enjoyments. The only way to sustain his drive was to breakthrough faster and faster. Again and again.

So, when he entered Limbo, it was not too surprising of him, who understood his past well, to stop his perfect act. Away from the tedious and boring life of a runner relying on a brain, he became a somewhat softer and more malleable crawler relying on his heart.

After his last fight, he noticed a very obvious method of mass destruction, of easier victories, within the grasp of his hands. The problem was, it always had been.

It became a waking call. But even so...

What could he even do? His heart was still there, even if he ignored it. His brain would still work, even if he forgot about it.

The goal of achieving the best of both worlds... suddenly became unwanted.

It should be the most perfect and enjoyable way...

But even so...

Left with a sigh, Alexander patted his robes, standing up. The matters of the human body and human mind as well as the human soul were esoteric.

He never knew what he wanted. Especially so when these wants just kept moving around.

His sense of enjoyment, his sense of fulfillment... all of these senses that helped one shape their mind came to him as...

Shapeshifters?

'Strange, strange, strange... Life is strange...' Stretching his back even though he did not need to, Alexander noticed Azvon to be curiously glancing at him. It would however be more accurate to say he watched him in hilarious confusion.

"Are you trying to pick a fight with me?"

"Hahaha! I'm just joking with you!" Sipping on a cup of purple liquid, Azvon smiled, spilling some on his beard and moustache.

"Whatever..."

"So, what do we do now? Are we going crazy and challenge the Saint Hall, or just assassinate them?"

Laughter escaping, Azvon sternly glanced at him.

"The Saint Hall? That's not just crazy!"

"Is it? I have a new trump card now. Also, I am almost done altering a certain technique... Soon, I'll manage to complete its variations and reach greater heights."

Frowning, Azvon could not hide his longing gaze.

"What technique?"

Smirking, Alexander playfully watched his fluctuating expression.

"Have you ever heard of [Wrath State]?"

"Well, I think your clone used it when we fought Mu Ryl?"

"Exactly! The issue with this technique is the drawback. The aftermath alone will leave you dead. I'm also considering using True Time as a saving mean, but I don't want to rely on it. So, instead, I'll divide it into multiple layers or something."

"Oh? Will that be your secret art?"

"Maybe..."

Exhaling a breath as vast as the sky, Azvon contemplated.

"Then... you go complete your technique first. When you're done, we might as well challenge the Saint Hall? Hopefully you fail, I don't want to end up there. Still, I'll go search for similar techniques inside my Multiverse as well."

Plans over with, they both retreated in seclusion deep into the earth.

.

.

.

Spending eras down into the depths of the world, Alexander analyzed this powerful yet suicidal secret technique.

Something capable of multiplying one's battle prowess by ten would never be free. It did not matter whether one was a mortal or a god. This secret technique would always do its job no matter what.

A mountain of power would turn into ten mountains.

A thousand Origin Power would turn into ten thousand Origin Power.

So, what if he could change this principle?

But first, he would need to understand it more.

'Press the Reversed Heart Acupoint during the first and twelfth times. The... wait let me write this.'

1 - Reversed Heart

2- Right Hand

3- Brain

4- Heart

5- Center

6- Dantian

7- Left Foot

8- Right Foot

9- Brain

10- Center

11- Dantian

12- Reversed Heart

13- Heart

14- Reversed Heart

15- Heart

16- Center

17- Dantian

18- Left Foot

19- Right Hand

20- Brain

21- Brain

22- Dantian

23- Right Hand

24- Left Hand

25- Left Hand

26- Center

27- Dantian

28- Brain

29- Reversed Heart

'I think that's it... Truly puts in perspective how annoying and dangerous it can be. Fail one and you might paralyze your body for ten years. Especially so when I do all twenty-nine of them in less than a second. Also have to be careful with the strength of the fingers pressing and the precision.'

'Also...' Looking at a floating mess of Origin Energy, Alexander buried his face inside his own palm.

'I can't fucking draw! What is this stick figure?! What's with the crooked lines?! How come I still can't draw at my age!!'

'Whatever!' His artistic heart bleeding, he continued on.

'So! Looking at the pattern, I should alleviate the amount of acupoints pressed in total and see where it goes with a clone. The first one should be...'

---------------------------------

Lesser Wrath State Experimentation : Test 01

1 - Reversed Heart

2- Right Hand

3- Brain

4- Heart

5- Center

6- Dantian

7- Left Foot

8- Right Foot

9- Brain

10- Center

11- Dantian

12- Reversed Heart

13- Heart

14- Center

15- Dantian

16- Left Foot

17- Right Hand

18- Brain

19- Dantian

20- Right Hand

21- Left Hand

22- Center

23- Dantian

24- Brain

25- Reversed Heart

-----------------

'Well... let's start!'

And so began a mess of experimentations. Clones dying left and right, some turning blue while others red. Some exploding, some disintegrating.

'Oh!' Already a few months into it, Alexander saw one of the versions force a clone to act as if a master of a weak clan he knew.

'So that's where their stupid sword art came from...'

Back to it, Alexander finally obtained some success near a year into it.

A clone was exploding with might, but only five times the amount. It was also, while unstable, more sustainable long term. If one did not explode until then, of course.

'Not bad! But I feel like I can do better, still, let's record it.'

-------------------

Quasi Wrath State Experimentation : Test 148 (Success)

Description : Unstable, sustainable kind of sustainable.

Multiplier : 5x (flat)

Note : Clone still alive after ten minutes.

update : alive 43m+

updt : not dead 3h+

1 - Reversed Heart

2- Right Hand

3- Brain

4- Heart

5- Center

6- Dantian

7- Left Foot

8- Right Foot

9- Brain

10- Center

11- Left Hand

12- Reversed Heart

13- Heart

14- Center

15- Dantian

16- Reversed Heart

17- Right Hand

18- Dantian

--------------------------

'Now, I need to try and get three times instead of five. Then, I can dare think of bullying some saints!'