The Monarch-Chapter 529: Thoth

It wasn’t something particularly rare to witness. Athena had explained this phenomenon to Kayden several times before. It was extremely common among mages with weak mental fortitude; when trapped in the same situation for an extended period, most chose the easiest path. This tendency wasn’t limited to physical limitations but extended to a lack of spiritual resilience and a shallow understanding of their potential.

For this reason, the ascension process of Julia wasn’t entirely surprising to Kayden, although it left him with mixed feelings. He had hoped to learn more from observing her transformation. However, as the process began, much of what unfolded was beyond his grasp. Still, there were moments of clarity. When Julia finally broke through into the divine realm, the shift in her being was undeniable.

Her soul was utterly transformed. Kayden could see every intricate detail as the heavens worked at an astonishing speed. Her past lives were being erased in mere moments, fragments of memory burned away to make room for something entirely new. Her soul was being polished and restructured, piece by piece, into a state of perfection. The revelation struck Kayden like lightning: a god’s soul was flawless by design.

This realization caused a storm of thoughts in his mind. Suddenly, many aspects of soulcraft, which had previously eluded him, began to make sense. Dozens of seemingly insignificant details in Julia’s soul were being meticulously reshaped, and Kayden watched in awe as these minor adjustments culminated in vital new functions.

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Then came the moment that left him breathless. He observed something he had never seen before Julia’s soul appeared to be sealed alongside her memories,as if both were being eternalized simultaneously. A god, he realized, was a truly unique entity. There would never be another like them in the entire universe—no identical memories, no parallel personality. This singularity was what made them divine.

The eternalization of their essence also meant that gods could not reincarnate through ordinary means. They were barred from the rivers of souls. This was their final existence, much like Kayden’s own current state. His soul, too, was beyond the cycle of rebirth.

"Incredible," Julia said with a serene smile. With a mere wave of her hand, every living being on the planet turned into undead. There was no hesitation, no delay; her command was absolute, and the transformation occurred instantaneously. An entire world became the epicenter of one of the largest concentrations of undead beings Kayden had ever witnessed.

Kayden studied the transformation with great interest. He could see how the souls of the living were altered to accommodate this shift. Although he had learned much about such processes over the years, this particular event revealed subtleties he had not encountered before. The change wasn’t as radical as he might have expected—it was as if these beings were simply living a different facet of their existence.

"Kayden, thank you for your time and guidance. I’ve learned so much from you, and I believe we owe each other an eternal debt. But our paths part here," Julia said, her tone calm but resolute.

"Until we meet again," Kayden replied politely, watching as she vanished from his sight.

And with that, another chapter of his life came to an end. Once more, Kayden found himself alone in the vastness of the universe.

Solitude had been his companion since birth. It had only changed when he was with Athena. Even though his feelings for her had long since faded, the memories of their time together still stirred something within his soul. It was likely a wound he would never fully heal, a necessary scar that had shaped him into the person he was today.

Kayden remained on the planet for several more years, studying the undead souls without any rush to leave. This was a rare opportunity to deepen his understanding. It was fascinating to consider that even beings considered "dead" could possess souls. This paradox often caught the ignorant off guard, but to Kayden, it was another layer of the universe’s complexity.

One significant insight he gained during this period was the realization that the undead weren’t entirely dead, nor were they fully alive. They occupied a unique state of existence. Their souls were looser, less anchored, and lacking in the foundational stability of the living. This made their progression along the path of power turbulent and unpredictable.

Some undead could, by sheer luck, become prodigies, growing at a pace that even the most gifted living beings couldn’t match. Others were doomed to remain stagnant in the lowest realms, unable to progress at all.

Life and death, Kayden reflected, weren’t strangers to one another. Neither could exist without the other. Without death, life lost its meaning. This was the core flaw in Julia’s approach to existence. By removing death from the equation, she had amplified life to an unsustainable extreme, throwing the natural balance into chaos. The universe itself sought solutions to this imbalance, one of which was the creation of the undead—a fusion of life and death.

The more Kayden delved into the study of laws, the clearer it became that they were all interconnected. No law existed in isolation. Most depended on others to achieve their full effect, forming an intricate web of relationships that defined reality.

Kayden spent several millennia on the planet, using this time to fine-tune his soul based on the observations he had made during Julia’s ascension. The adjustments were minor, as his soul was already near perfection. The primary difference between his soul and that of a god lay in its integration with the universe—a stage he had yet to comprehend.

Despite this limitation, his power saw a substantial increase. Kayden felt his strength surge by approximately 20%, a staggering improvement given the already astronomical scale of his abilities. This translated into an additional 200 million kilometers in his sixth sense, achieved with minimal effort. It was a testament to the untapped potential still within him, despite his previous belief that he had reached the peak of his capabilities.

This experience served as another reminder that perfection was an illusion. Even if his soul was the most refined the universe had ever known, it still wasn’t flawless. There were countless nuances yet to be explored, countless ways to ascend further. The only obstacle was his lack of knowledge—a gap he was determined to bridge.

By now, Kayden’s sixth sense spanned an incredible 1.5 billion kilometers. He had surpassed the speed of light and broken free from the constraints of physical laws. The rules of the universe no longer apapplyo his existence. What was most astounding, however, was the absence of a visible ceiling to his power. He had no discernible limits.

"Hello, Thoth," Kayden said abruptly, breaking the silence.