When the scene shifted once more, Lucy found herself witnessing an entirely different existence—one marked by a cruelty unlike anything she had observed in his previous lives.
In this incarnation, he was a slave, bound in the oppressive darkness of the mines, extracting mana stones beneath the relentless sting of the lash.
It was not only he who suffered; every miner endured daily whippings.
Yet, it seed he bore the greatest share of the tornt, his back flayed until it was nothing but raw, unhealed flesh.
Day after day, he was forced to labor until his body could no longer sustain him. As with many of his lives, this one was tragically short.
He died in that cavern—quietly, without resistance, without anger—eting his end with nothing but silent acceptance.
Almost instantly, another life began, as if death were rely the act of closing one book and opening the next.
And still, the visions persisted.
Lucy took it all in watching him stand at the peak of the multiverses... All the way down to the lowliest mortal lives.
And was ant to be so sort of tribulation beca more of an enlightennt for herself. She couldn’t even form proper words to describe what she was seeing.
Ash leaned in slightly, his tone as casual as ever.
"Oh, Lucy... I know exactly what you’re up to," he said. "Dreams of seizing control of the Lower Dinsion again... and then moving on to do the sa with the Middle."
Lucy’s eyes shifted to him, watching with genuine curiosity.
He chuckled, "I have to say... you’re walking straight into your own doom. But! Lucky for you, I already consider you one of my won."
"What... what the hell are you?" She asked... even despite his words. Detailing her very plan and even with all her thoughts this was the best she could manage.
Ash stayed silent as Creara casually waved her hand.
A small, elegant hourglass materialized in his palm.
"This is for extre ti dilation," he said. "Use it in a private realm, and you can experience whatever amount of ti you choose without much passing outside."
He explained further that the artifact’s effect depended on the ti she set. She wouldn’t need to worry about years slipping by in the real world unless she chose to live through hundreds of thousands of them.
She blinked, sinking deeper into his mystery, but before she could speak, Creara waved her hand again. Ash held out three small vials, each glowing with a different hue.
"These are special elixirs," he said. "They’ll take you beyond being just a sin. I suggest using them during ti dilation, as you’ll need a few months to evolve."
Lucy accepted them slowly, her fingers brushing his.
Ash leaned back as the final vision unfolded.
It showed him as the Eye of First Dawn.... but this ti it showed the creation of the Ninth’s Middle Dinsion.
Much like before.... the mont he dissolved himself his body unraveled into specs of light... spreading outward, forming stars, planes, laws, life.
It was like creation born from self-sacrifice.
He spoke softly as the vision faded away.
"You’ll soon et two of my children — Aurora and Xeros. They’re coming for the Dragon Progenitor you sealed from the Ninth."
He smiled then, "The one you plan to use greed and gluttony on to make yourself the Dragon of Sin, right?"
Lucy’s eyes widened slightly as he continued to lay bare her deepest secrets.
"Release her to Aurora and Isis," Ash said. "Do that, and they might — or might not — help you in your fight to beco ruler."
He turned to et her gaze.
"Even if they don’t, with the help I’ve given, you’ll be fine."
She studied him for a long mont before smiling — small, genuine, almost vulnerable.
"...You really are sothing else."
Ash chuckled, tossing another piece of fruit into his mouth.
"Watch the rest of the show," he said. "It’s a good one."
Hearing this, Lucy leaned back in her chair.
For the first ti in longer than she could rember, she simply watched—without trying to figure things out, without plotting or planning—just taking him in, every bit of him.
-----
Lucy shook off her mories, realizing she was once again drifting above the ocean of sins. She pulled the three vials from her mana ring, a slow, wicked smile curling on her lips.
"These will push beyond a sin, huh?" she murmured, rolling the glowing containers between her fingers.
Before drinking them, she let out a soft, almost girlish giggle.
"Well... I won’t ask our children for help," she said lightly, voice carrying across the empty realm.
"After all, parents have to set the example... right?"
She popped the corks off the vials one after another—white, pink, gold—and knocked them back in rapid fire.
The drink was every forbidden craving she’d ever known, concentrated into a silky rush that slid down her throat and ignited deep inside her.
For a heartbeat, nothing.
Then, divinity burst forth.
A cocoon of pure, iridescent light wrapped around her in an instant.
Lucy curled in on herself, knees tucked to her chest and arms wrapped tight as the cocoon squeezed around her.
Inside, it was like every sin she’d ever embodied was being torn apart, reshaped, then shoved back together.
Pain, pleasure, hunger, and emptiness all slamd into one sharp, overwhelming point.
For six months she remained this way... but when it was over, Lucy erged as an entirely different being—quite literally.
Her appearance hadn’t changed much: the sa pale skin, long white braids, and bloody tattoos across her body.
Yet now, she was countless tis more perfect, divine, and breathtaking. Her eyes, though... they were like shattered realities.
They held seven colors, each representing a sin, not blending but existing together in perfect, impossible harmony, every hue distinct yet part of the whole.
She had beco the Goddess of Sins.
And in that instant of ascension, a bond snapped into place... connecting her directly to Ash.
It was obvious by now that those elixirs were made specifically for this, now at the ti Ash didn’t have divinity and a few other things set.
Which is why he provided three elixirs, one for a bond, one to strip the external influence, and one that carried essence to make her into a Goddess.
Everything after that was because of the verse and the Akashic records, everything about Ash was adaptive. So, when the verse made a change, any being changed afterwards would fall in line.
In this mont as she flexed her fingers and allowed all the knowledge to settle. She knew she was now Tier 16... a God Empress.
A soft, genuine laugh escaped her.
"So, this is what it feels like," she whispered, "to belong to soone."
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