Chapter Title: "Sacrifice of Divinity – Awakening the Mirror Core"
A full moon hung over the Spirit Ascension Platform, casting silver light on the lone figure who stood unmoving at its center.
Itsuke Kurogane.
Once the God of Time and Space. Now… mortal again — but carrying within him the echo of eternity.
The memories of his future self churned like a storm behind his calm expression. He could feel the sealed power of a god rumbling in his soul like a chained beast. He had been given a second chance — a reset. But the path to victory would not be forged by raw power alone.
"The Creator erases anomalies because they threaten his design," he murmured.
"Then I must become more than an anomaly... I must become something he can't calculate."
He looked down at his palm.
His Martial Soul, the Mirror Beast, slowly materialized behind him — not in its final god form, but in its original, slumbering state.
But the beast shimmered, its eyes reflecting endless possibility. It was more than just a copy tool — it was the core of everything he had become.
And his innate ability — Copy and Merge — had always been restrained by logic, by rule, by system...
Not anymore.
Itsuke took a deep breath. Then he sat in a lotus position, activating the sealed divine essence within him — the leftover Time and Space God Core.
System prompts erupted around him.
[Warning: You are attempting to break divine hierarchy.]
[Divine Essence Transfer Target: Innate Ability – "Copy and Merge"]
[Secondary Transfer Target: Martial Soul – Mirror Beast]
[Result: Permanent loss of Godhood. Are you sure?]
"Yes," he whispered. "I don't need godhood to win. I need potential that no god can predict."
[Confirmed. Initiating Soul Collapse and Reforging Sequence.]
Time itself twisted violently.
Golden veins of energy burst from Itsuke's body. Space cracked around him as his godhood unraveled — piece by piece — and fed directly into the very soul of his abilities.
The Mirror Beast howled, not in pain — but in ascension.
The Copy and Merge ability mutated, absorbing laws from beyond reality, gaining depth and dimension.
Where once it could imitate...
Now it could replicate even divine constructs.
Where once it could merge techniques...
Now it could merge entire laws, attributes, and soul traits.
His body trembled, cracked, and bled — but he didn't stop.
The system screamed.
[Godhood Lost.]
[Innate Ability Mutation Complete.]
[Martial Soul Mutation Complete.]
New Ability Tree Unlocked: "True Mirror Path – Law Reflection & Fusion Node"]
You can now copy not just powers — but concepts.
Itsuke collapsed to the ground, barely conscious, breathing heavily. His divine core was gone. He was now no stronger than a Spirit Elder — a mere speck in the world.
But inside him?
A storm brewed.
He no longer held borrowed power.
He had become the ultimate adaptation engine.
"I don't need to outrun the gods…"
"...I just need to understand them."