CHAPTER 401: EX 401. ERA OF CORRUPTION

Leon already knew there was a stage beyond the Divine.

He’d sensed it long before this moment, each battle had made it obvious that his power had long outgrown the limits of divinity.

His squadmates weren’t far behind either. They all radiated strength that bent reality in subtle ways, strength that didn’t fit neatly into any known category.

But now, at last, the stage had a name.

The Origin Stage.

The primordial wearing his mother’s face let out a soft chuckle, her crimson eyes gleaming faintly in the endless dark.

"This stage has nine levels," she said, her voice smooth but edged with admiration. "And it’s... impressive, what you and your squad have accomplished. The two boys and the elf are at the first level. The dragon girl stands at the second. And the one capable of wielding primal energy, she’s reached the third."

Leon tilted his head slightly, his tone casual.

"Is that good?"

The void went silent. The primordial blinked, as if uncertain she’d heard him correctly.

"...Don’t you think it’s good?"

Leon shrugged.

"It seems okay, I guess."

The primordial let out an incredulous laugh under her breath, shaking her head. "Okay, he says..." she muttered, half to herself, as though she couldn’t quite process his indifference.

Then, her gaze returned to him, sharp yet amused.

"I suppose I understand why you don’t see it as anything special. After all—" she smiled faintly, almost proud, "you’re at level six. That alone puts you above most of the primordials that have ever existed."

Leon didn’t flinch at the revelation.

Deep down, he had known.

His instincts, his very being, had whispered it to him from the moment he arrived in this realm.

There were few entities here whose presence pressed against his, fewer still who could make his pulse quicken.

His eyes narrowed slightly as he studied the woman before him.

’She’s one of them,’ he thought. ’Level eight... at least.’

****

Leon’s question slipped out before he could second-guess it.

"But... I’m curious about something."

The woman wearing his mother’s face turned toward him. Her eyes softened, patient in a way that made the air feel still. "Go ahead," she said. "Ask. We have all the time."

Leon hesitated, sorting through the pressure building behind his thoughts.

"I can feel it," he said. "The Origin Stage. It’s on a completely different level. Each rise in power... it’s ridiculous. Stronger than jumping from mortal to divine. A Level Six can’t compare to a Level Seven, and a Level Nine should be untouchable. Beyond anything."

She nodded, slow and certain.

"You’re right."

"Then why?" Leon asked. The words rolled out sharper than he intended.

"Why leave us to fight? Why not just use your power of creation... or destruction... to wipe out corruption? Why let so many people suffer? Why let so many die?"

A quiet sigh slipped from her lips. For the first time, her expression wasn’t unreadable or ancient or divine. It was tired.

"We have tried, Leon."

The answer landed like a stone in his chest. He stared at her, waiting for some hint that he’d misunderstood, but she held his gaze with a grim sincerity that left no room for doubt.

"And we failed," she said.

Her shoulders lowered, and a melancholic weight crossed her face as if she was reliving a memory heavy enough to crush mountains.

"Long before time had a name, there was only the Origin Core," she said. "The first existence. Alone in the vast emptiness, resting in silence. Everything began with it."

Leon stayed quiet, watching the change in her eyes as she continued.

"It remained that way... until we appeared. Primordials. We rose like stars in the void, bright and burning. Companions to the Origin. We bonded with it, and it with us. That connection created the first spark."

A faint light flickered around her, the past echoing through her voice.

"That spark led to creation. The first era. Humans, elves, dragons, beastmen. Four races born in a young universe. There was no supernatural power then. No system. No trials. Each race lived believing they were alone in all existence."

Her expression hardened.

"Until corruption appeared."

The word dragged the temperature down. Leon felt it like a shadow brushing the back of his neck.

"It came like a plague," she said. "The more we resisted, the more it learned. Adapted. Shifted. Improved. And when it grew strong enough, it destroyed the world we had made. Not through cosmic devastation, but through plagues, disasters, famine. The simplest assaults. Things we could erase with a wave of a hand."

Her voice tightened.

"Corruption used those things against us. And it won."

Leon opened his mouth, instinctively wanting to argue, anything to break the bitter finality in her tone, but she raised a hand and stopped him.

"We remade the worlds," she said quietly. "Again and again. Fighting to force different outcomes. But each one ended the same. No matter how many times we tried, the worlds fell."

Her eyes glimmered, reflecting something ancient, something worn down by eras of failure.

"And so began the Era of Corruption."

****

Leon stood still, listening as the primordial, wearing his mother’s gentle face, walked him through the era she called the Era of Corruption.

Her voice carried that steady, patient rhythm she’d kept since the beginning, but the weight behind her words only grew heavier. Piece by piece, she laid out how every world they formed eventually collapsed, no matter how carefully they had shaped it.

He tried to follow every detail, but what truly hooked him was when she shifted to the final worlds they had created in that long era.

When she spoke of the human world, Leon felt something subtle tighten inside him. The way she described that place... it felt too familiar.

"Humans lived brief lives," she said, almost reflective, "yet they advanced faster than any race. Their ingenuity burned bright. Curiosity pushed them past their limits. No other world in that era produced minds that could reshape their entire existence so quickly."

Leon’s breath stalled for a moment.

That was his old world.

The one he had died in. The one he had left behind when he woke on the Blue Planet as Leon Kael.

And she didn’t know. Not a hint of recognition touched her expression when she mentioned that world. To her, it was nothing more than one failed creation among many. She had no idea her words were brushing against the memories of the boy standing in front of her.

****

{Author’s Note}

Mass release on the 19th if we can stay in top fifty of golden ticket rankings.