In an unknown place filled with endless white, an old man sat cross-legged with his eyes closed. However, it was clear that his expression was far from calm. His brows remained tightly furrowed, as if something continued to trouble him deeply.

As time passed, he suddenly gritted his teeth. Without warning, he slammed his palm onto the white ground in front of him.

"Damnit!" he cursed, his voice echoing across the vast white realm. If that strike were to fall upon a world, it would be enough to destroy it entirely.

That single slam revealed his frustration for unable to resolve the problem before him. A problem he could not understand, nor explain.

It had been so long since he last felt such a headache.

As one of the strongest gods, granted authority over one of the heavens in the universe his group had invaded, he should never have fallen into such a situation in the first place. Even if a problem did arise, it should have been something he could resolve with ease.

Yet even as a god who had already reached the Master of Universe level, his abilities were still insufficient to solve this matter. A problem that had begun to create cracks among the gods within their alliance.

A massive problem, one for which he still sought the truth.

His followers from the higher heavens had been accused of descending into the First Heaven, an act that violated the covenant. Worse still, they were accused of killing Tarius' followers, an act that sent Tarius into a furious rage.

Tarius had come directly to him, demanding an explanation, even insisting on meeting his apostle. A demand that Arvegis could not fulfill instantly.

How could he?

His apostle was in the First Heaven.

If he told Tarius about his apostle, it would be the same as confessing that he had broken the covenant by sending his followers into unconquered territory. Tarius, who had been tasked with conquering the First Heaven, had yet to complete it, which meant no other gods' followers were allowed to enter it.

Arvegis could only show his anger as he tried to defend himself, accusing Tarius of making baseless claims and merely shifting the blame for his own incompetence.

However, Tarius remained adamant. He claimed he had solid proof that Arvegis' followers had indeed entered the First Heaven and killed many of his followers.

Unable to convince Tarius, the situation finally escalated into a fight, causing the Highest Heaven to tremble. Other gods were soon drawn in, taking sides between him and Tarius.

Tarius' animosity only grew stronger after the First Heaven was suddenly cut off from them, a development that left even Arvegis confused.

The clash only subsided when that mysterious being stepped in, easing the tension through overwhelming power and authority.

They were strictly forbidden to continue fighting. However, the problem remained unresolved. Tarius, feeling that he had been made a fool of, refused to let the matter go. If he could not act directly, then he would use his followers to fight on his behalf.

Since then, Arvegis' followers and Tarius' followers had become openly hostile toward each other.

The Second Heaven, Arvegis' domain of responsibility, had already turned into their battlefield. As time passed, the situation only grew worse, dragging in the followers of other gods as both he and Tarius gained support from different factions.

Even now, the situation had not improved. In fact, it was still slowly getting worse. He knew that if he did not do something soon, it would only be a matter of time before something more disastrous happened.

He could already see fragments of the future. In many of them, both he and Tarius ended up in positions where they had to pay for this conflict with their lives.

The mere thought made him furious.

He was a god, yet he faced a future filled with death? After everything he had gone through, after all the power he had gained, he would still end up meeting such a fate?

He would not allow that to happen.

He had to resolve this problem as soon as possible.

The first thing he needed to do, and what he was still trying to accomplish at this moment, was to prove that none of his followers had descended into the First Heaven. He needed to convince Tarius with undeniable evidence that he had never deliberately ordered the killing of Tarius' followers.

He had considered the possibility that the mysterious enemy within the First Heaven was responsible for all of this. However, the fact that Tarius seemed completely certain that his followers had been there, and had even slaughtered his own, made the situation far more troublesome.

One way to ease the tension and defend himself was to bring back his apostle.

Even though doing so would be the same as admitting that he had indeed broken the covenant, his apostle was the only one who could serve as a witness and explain what truly happened in the First Heaven.

Moreover, after the death of Tarius' apostle, there was no better source of information than him.

Although his apostle had not yet reached the Immortal Realm, Arvegis still had a method to bring him into the higher heavens. As long as his apostle could reach the center of the Heaven, everything could still be salvaged.

All he needed to do was send a command through his system and instruct his apostle to move.

That part, at least, was simple.

However, the problem with this approach was that he and the other gods had already lost contact with the First Heaven. They could neither observe it nor influence its heavenly laws, as if something was completely blocking their authority.

This left them deeply shocked, as such a phenomenon had never occurred before. They had never heard of a method capable of sealing off an entire heaven to the point that even gods were rendered powerless.

His connection to his apostle through the system had also been heavily disturbed for a period of time before it was completely cut off. At this moment, he could no longer contact his apostle at all.

He could not use his divination abilities to uncover the truth behind the problem, and neither could the other gods. Some among them even attempted to peer into the past using their time-traveling abilities, hoping to witness what had happened before the First Heaven was sealed.

Yet the result was the same.

They could not identify the one responsible, nor could they prevent the event from taking place.

Basically, the First Heaven had become completely untouchable across all timelines.

Arvegis immediately suspected that the gods of the rebels had used some unknown method to cause this. However, neither he nor the others could understand how it was done, which only made the situation worse.

Tarius had come to a similar conclusion.

Yet he still refused to let go of the matter of Arvegis' followers violating the covenant.

Tarius, along with several gods on his side, had even begun accusing him of betraying their alliance and siding with the rebels.

The uncertainty surrounding the First Heaven had pushed the situation to this point.

Their entire plan was already on the brink of collapse. Not only had they failed to find what they were searching for, they had also lost control of the First Heaven.

'Fuck! How am I supposed to fix this problem? There are too many things that need to be handled.'

Arvegis felt a surge of frustration.

He wanted to send his avatar to the Second Heaven to personally inspect the situation. However, he knew that he needed to calm Tarius first if he intended to do so. He did not want to create further complications if Tarius interpreted his actions as hostility.

He gritted his teeth.

In truth, he had already thought of one possible solution that might calm Tarius.

But he hesitated.

His pride made it difficult to take that step.

He would have to back down and offer compensation.

He would need to relinquish a portion of the Second Heaven's territory to Tarius. While it could not replace the loss of the First Heaven, it would at least show his sincerity in attempting to mend their relationship.

This was also his fault, in the end.

He had broken the covenant because of his own greed. He wanted to expand his influence while also searching for the thing they had all been seeking. He believed that if he found it first, he could secure its benefits for himself before anyone else.

Even so, he still felt reluctant to accept the consequences.

He did not believe this situation had been caused by him or his followers. He knew that neither his apostle nor any of his followers would act recklessly without his command.

Why should he compensate for something they had not done?

'That mysterious bastard… and those rebels. If I catch you, I will make sure you suffer endless torment.'

The thought surged with killing intent.

Arvegis took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

It had been a long time since he last felt like this.

A situation with no clear way out, forcing him toward a choice he despised.

'Do I really have to step back and let Tarius take a large portion of the Second Heaven?'

He inhaled once more, steadying his thoughts.

'So be it. It is better to retreat for now. Continuing this conflict with Tarius will only make things worse… especially when we still have not found what we are searching for.'