A gentle breeze swept through the dense forest, causing countless leaves to rustle softly as rays of sunlight pierced through the thick canopy overhead, illuminating patches of the woodland beneath.
High above the ground, a combat clone of Ash lazily sat upon the thick branch of a towering tree, his back resting comfortably against the trunk while one leg casually hung over the side.
The surrounding forest remained peaceful.
At least...
Until the memories regarding the newly created Domain suddenly flowed into his mind through the Akashic Mind.
Ash slowly closed his eyes.
Several minutes quietly passed as he organized the enormous amount of information before finally opening them once again.
Without moving from his spot, he quietly activated the [Eye of True Omniscience] and opened his Status Window.
His gaze slowly swept across the familiar entries before eventually stopping after several scrolls.
A new section had appeared.
[Domain]
Ash raised an eyebrow.
"So it appeared here too."
Without any hesitation, he opened it.
The next moment, a small notification appeared before him.
[Please Name Your Domain]
Ash silently stared at the window for several long seconds.
"..."
...World of Ash? Tsk... that’s such a horrible name.
Infinite Universe...? It certainly sounds cool, but it still doesn’t give me the feeling I’m looking for .
Boundless Creation...? Nah... I’m not creating anything here, at least not yet.
Origin World...? Too ordinary.
World Seed...? That sounds more like the name of some heavenly treasure than a Domain.
Ash rubbed his forehead in annoyance.
Why is naming things harder than creating them...?
He remained silent for another minute before his eyes suddenly lit up.
"...Cradle."
He quietly repeated the word to himself.
"...Cradle of Endless Worlds."
A faint smile gradually appeared on his face.
"Yeah..."
"That’s the one."
The moment those words left his mouth, the unnamed section before him suddenly trembled as countless golden letters rapidly rearranged themselves before settling into their final form.
[Domain Name Successfully Registered]
Without wasting another moment, Ash immediately opened its details.
══════ < DOMAIN > ══════
Name: Cradle of Endless Worlds
Description:
A Domain created by the Forsaken One, using the embryonic Universe residing within his heart as its Origin. Although it exists as an independent Domain, it remains forever connected to its origin, reflecting every change that occurs within it while remaining untouched by its destruction.
As the Origin grows, So too shall the Cradle that bears its reflection.
══════
[First Authority]- Domain Suppression
Effect: Reduces all enemy attributes while increasing all allied attributes within the Domain.
Enemy Attribute Reduction:
• Lower Rank: 70%
• Same Rank: 50%
• One Major Rank Higher: 30%
• Two Major Ranks Higher: 10%
Ally Attribute Increase:
• All Allies: 50%
══════
[Second Authority]- Independent Space
Effect: Upon activation, only the Domain Owner and designated targets are transferred into an independent Domain Space. The outside world, its inhabitants, and the surrounding environment remain completely unaffected.
══════
[Third Authority]- Lord of the Domain
Effect: Grants complete authority over everything existing within the Domain. The Domain Owner may govern its laws, command all things contained within it, and exercise absolute authority over every aspect of the Domain.
══════
Ash’s gaze quietly swept across the description and abilities, and although he had already expected the Domain to possess the basic ability of suppressing opponents while strengthening its owner, even he couldn’t help but pause after seeing the actual numbers displayed before him.
"...70%?"
A trace of genuine surprise flashed across his face.
A seventy percent reduction against those below my rank...? That’s... absurd.
He has learned a lot of information about domain from the information left by Henry.
Although every Domain naturally possessed a suppressive effect, the difference between them generally wasn’t too outrageous.
Most Domains could only suppress opponents by a relatively small margin, while truly powerful Domains were considered extraordinary if they managed to reduce an opponent’s strength by around 30 or 40%.
Yet his...
Started at seventy.
Even those standing at the same Rank as him would have half of their Attributes suppressed the moment they entered his Domain.
As for opponents one Major Rank above him...
They would still suffer a 30% reduction.
Ash couldn’t help but smile.
It seems incorporating the Runes into the Domain has produced a far greater effect than I originally expected.
Without lingering on the first Authority for too long, his attention quickly shifted toward the second one.
The moment he finished reading it...
His pupils visibly contracted.
"...Independent Space..."
Ash reread the description several more times before a grin slowly spread across his face.
"So that’s how it works..."
The more he thought about it, the more incredible this Authority became.
Normally, once a Domain was deployed, it would forcibly overlap with the surrounding world, instantly affecting everything within its area.
Whether it was mountains, forests, rivers, cities, allies, enemies, or even ordinary civilians, everyone unfortunate enough to be caught within the Domain would inevitably become part of the battlefield.
That was precisely why battles involving Domains almost always resulted in catastrophic collateral damage, until and unless they were done in a secluded place away from people.
His Domain, however, completely ignored that limitation.
Rather than engulfing the surrounding world, it created an entirely independent space where only the people designated by Ash would be drawn inside, leaving everything else completely untouched.
Ash’s smile unconsciously widened.
"...This.....This is incredible."
Unlike the First Authority, whose strength merely exceeded his expectations, the Second Authority fundamentally changed the way a Domain could be used.
From now on, he no longer needed to worry about where he fought.
As long as his Domain was activated...
The battlefield would belong to him alone.
In fact, out of all three Authorities, this one instantly became his favorite.
He could already imagine himself carrying out assassinations using this ability, silently dragging his target into an isolated Domain before ending the battle without anyone in the outside world even realizing that a fight had taken place.
It will be a piece of cake...
Shaking his head, Ash shifted his gaze toward the final Authority.
[Lord of the Domain]
Unlike the previous two, its description appeared deceptively simple, while at the same time remaining incredibly vague.
Complete authority over everything within the Domain.
Ash silently stared at those words for several moments.
This... definitely isn’t as simple as it sounds.
Although the meaning behind that long description was only a single sentence, he could instinctively tell that this Authority possessed tremendous potential, most of which he simply couldn’t comprehend yet.
Perhaps it wasn’t because the Authority itself was lacking.
Rather, he simply hadn’t understood his Domain deeply enough to uncover everything it was truly capable of.
After all, this was only the beginning.
Just as there were still countless Runes waiting to be incorporated into the Domain, there were undoubtedly many hidden possibilities within its Authorities that remained beyond his current understanding.
The thought alone caused the anticipation in Ash’s eyes to deepen.
There is still so much left to discover.
Just then, another stream of memories quietly flowed into Ash’s mind through the Akashic Mind.
His eyes slowly closed as the newly acquired information rapidly organized itself within his consciousness before a faint smile gradually appeared on his face.
"So they’ve finally started increasing the number of God Rank experts..."
Compared to the previous deployment, the structure of the Anomaly Hunter Units had changed noticeably.
Although God Rank experts had always existed within the various teams, their numbers had been relatively limited, with most teams consisting primarily of Saints and Demi-Gods.
Now, however, that balance had clearly shifted.
The number of ordinary combat units had decreased considerably, while a much larger number of God Rank experts had begun joining the teams, making the overall strength of the hunting force noticeably greater than before.
Ash wasn’t particularly surprised.
After suffering losses for so many days, it was only natural for the higher authorities to strengthen their forces.
In fact...
He had been expecting something like this.
Until now, Ash had deliberately avoided targeting teams led by God Rank experts, not because he lacked the confidence to defeat them, but because he couldn’t guarantee ending the battle quickly enough.
Once a God Rank battle dragged on for too long, the resulting disturbances would inevitably attract the attention of nearby experts, greatly increasing the chances of his location being exposed.
That risk simply wasn’t worth taking.
But now...
Things were different.
Ash’s gaze slowly shifted toward the newly unlocked [Domain] section before a faint smile gradually spread across his face.
With the Domain’s Second Authority, he no longer needed to worry about disturbances leaking into the outside world, while the tremendous suppression granted by the First Authority was more than enough to significantly reduce the gap between himself and a God Rank opponent.
For the first time...
Ash genuinely wanted to know just how powerful his Domain truly was.
His fingers lightly tapped against the tree branch beneath him.
"It seems..."
"...it’s finally time to hunt a God Rank cultivator."
What Ash didn’t know was that the sudden change in the deployment of the Anomaly Hunters wasn’t simply an attempt to strengthen their overall forces.
After analyzing every disappearance that had occurred over the past several days, the higher authorities had already concluded that the mysterious culprit deliberately targeted weaker combat units while avoiding prolonged confrontations against teams led by God Rank experts.
Because of that conclusion, they had quietly altered their strategy.
The number of ordinary Demi-God and Saint teams had been drastically reduced, leaving behind only a handful of such units to continue their investigation, while numerous God Rank experts quietly concealed themselves around those remaining teams, treating them as bait in the hope that the mysterious culprit would attack them once again.
It was a simple plan.
Reduce the number of possible targets.
Increase the number of hidden hunters.
But how could they possibly know that Ash had successfully created a Domain in just ten days and that he was crazy enough to use a God Rank cultivator as the very first opponent to test its capabilities?
Whether Ash would ultimately fall into the carefully prepared trap...
Or completely avoid it...
Only time would tell.
****