Alex''s world was practically overturned by what he was hearing from Mikhail. His whole life as an awakened boiled down to just being amb to the ughter for the System in some sort of never ending quest for energy.

    It made him sick to his stomach to think about.

    …In fact, he almost keeled over and let his internals spill out right then and there.

    He only held back to save thest bits of his dignity in front of a figure as ethereal as the legendary Mikhail.

    Though, he doubted whether he would bother the old fellow if he did.

    Mikhail stood, slowly, brushing his hand against Virtue''s Edge''s de, which had somehow found its way into his hands…

    Alex wasn''t even shocked that he hadn''t noticed his sword leaving his side.

    Such a thing was normal when taking into ount Mikhail''s power.

    He just epted it for what it was.

    "Virtue''s Edge was my final attempt at defying the System''s vile nature. It was forged with fighting against that truth in mind, or at least, to defy it."

    He began pacing, slowly, like walking was immensely taxing on his body.

    "I discovered the truth by ident. I was strong – unreasonably so by any standards. In those days, strength wasn''t asmon. When I broke through a certain threshold, the System was alerted and became apprehensive about my power. I could feel the System''s gaze be 10x as intense. Watching. Reacting. Like I''d reached a level where I wasn''t a tool anymore – I was a risk."

    Alex followed along, listening intently.

    He believed every word that came out of Mikhail''s mouth.

    "I could feel that I''d be a risk to the System''s dominance as well. I started noticing patterns. The energy that flows into the void when someone dies – it doesn''t just vanish like we once thought. It''s collected. Stored… somewhere. Fed into something."

    Mikhail paused, looking into the false sky with mncholy.

    "I traced everything back over countless millennia. Studied anything that seemed even slightly suspicious. Watched what happened when major wars erupted."

    "Every cataclysm, every poption copse… it was all by design. The System has its hands in every major event in the universe''s long history. All for one thing."

    "To harvest."

    Alex sat down on the grass, bing disheartened.

    His pursuit for power… his wish for freedom, to be free of any control…

    It all felt so useless now.

    How was he supposed to face up against what was essentially God?

    "Why hasn''t anyone else figured this out?" He asked.

    "Some have," Mikhail said. "A handful. I can count them on one hand. But once you know, the System notices. I managed to escape the System''s grasp by sealing myself in this realm – but they weren''t so lucky. They were either forced into bing the System''sckeys, or killed to cover up the truth."

    He turned and looked at Alex with haunted eyes.

    "They are the reason why I am in such a pitiful state now."

    Alex''s eyes widened.

    ''The gods!''

    He recognised who those figures Mikhail was referring to in a heartbeat when he mentioned that they were the reason for everything bad that happened to him after his disappearance.

    Those mysterious figures sitting atop the hierarchy of the universe…

    But now that he knew of the truth nature of the System thanks to Mikhail, he knew that their godlike status was nothing but a farce.

    However, it did remind him of one thing.

    ''If they are all gods… Does that not mean I am in the presence of a god right now?'' He questioned, feeling a little awed now that he had figured out Mikhai''s status.

    Who wouldn''t feel such a way if they found out a god was standing right in front of them.

    But Alex hid his wild thoughts and continued asking Mikhail more questions.

    Such as one, very important question, that had been bugging him ever since he found out that the universe was much bigger than he ever thought.

    "What ranks lie beyond S tier?"

    He''d thought about this ever since his encounter with Phoenix, who had opened his eyes to the potential power one could gain when pushing past the threshold of S tier.

    Mikhail smiled when he heard Alex ask this question.

    Like he was hoping for him to ask it at some point.

    "Very good question, my boy. In order to better understand the system, you need to understand just how vast the chasm of power is between you two – or even the strongest being you know."

    Mikhail continued.

    "After S tier, the ranks no longer follow the same alpha numerical progression. They be something else entirely, a sort of symbolic gesture to portray just how different someone at S tier, and someone at the rank beyond is."

    "The first of these ranks… is Ascendant."

    He revealed.

    The name alone carried a lot of weight.

    "To ascend is to break past the framework that binds you. Few people rarely ever manage to break past this barrier as the System gives out nigh impossible requirements toplete if they wish to reach Ascendant. Only those who are most ''worthy'' are capable of doing so. Beings at this level of power are capable of wiping out an entire Star system with a single attack."

    Mikhail waited for Alex to digest this information before continuing on to the next rank.

    "After Ascendantes Celestial Rank. The requirements of reaching this rank are actually not as hard as those to reach Ascendant rank. This is because they have already proven themselves worthy by breaking through the barrier between S tier and Ascendancy. Not much is to be said about this rank except for the fact that a single being at this level could wipe out your entire civilisation with a single attack."

    ''This sounds like the attack Phoenix unleashed against the Red Demon race… Perhaps he was a Celestial Rank being! It''s insane to believe someone as powerful as that decided to give the Federation a helping hand!''

    "Above Celestial is Divine." Mikhail continued to reveal.

    "Wait what? But I thought Divine was a ssification? How can it also be a rank?" Alex asked confusedly.