Gregorio knew that he couldn't ask for something better.

This was already the best-case scenario.

"Of course, Shang. I would be happy with that," Gregorio said with relief.

Maybe, Gregorio hadn't made a mistake.

Shang would let Aterium continue to exist.

Even more, maybe, when Shang was about to leave, Gregorio could convince him to create a permanent solution for the Abominations.

Shang was so incredibly powerful that he would most likely find a solution.

Shang was already absorbing all the Abominations that appeared in Aterium.

Maybe, he could absorb the entire world of the Abominations?

That would take care of the problem.

"How will you call the Abominations from across the world?" Abaddon suddenly asked. "Don't they need to be inside your Spirit Sense?"

Shang chuckled but didn't look at Abaddon.

"You are bound by what the world acknowledges as a Spirit Sense," Shang said.

"I'm not."

"My body is already no longer bound by the rules of the world."

"My mind is already made up of so much Mana and Entropy that the rules of the world won't be able to suppress my senses anymore."

"I can already feel how my Spirit Sense is trembling under the power of my might."

"The world is resisting."

"The rules of the world won't allow such a powerful Spirit Sense."

Shang grinned maliciously.

"But the rules of the world are weak!"

"I will soon reach the Ninth Realm, and when I do, my Spirit Sense will no longer be confined."

"I understand," Abaddon said with a polite nod.

While Abaddon didn't say anything more to Shang, he had a question for Gregorio, which he transmitted.

"What's Entropy?" he asked.

Kali had also heard Abaddon's question, and she also looked at Gregorio.

Gregorio threw a glance at Shang.

"Do we need to keep secrets from the two of them?" he asked.

"No," Shang answered.

"The time of secrets has passed."

"I've had enough of fleeing from my status as the Child of Calamity."

"You can tell them everything."

"Abominations, Entropy, the God, whatever."

"Okay," Gregorio answered.

As Gregorio transmitted everything he knew about the world to Abaddon and Kali, Shang smiled.

He had done it.

He no longer had to hide.

The world was his!

Now, only a single person stood in his way.

Shang could still remember the God's appearance.

'What do you feel right now?'

'Fear?'

'Or are you still confident in your power?'

'Maybe, you look forward to a battle.'

'You sent me into this world, and you were the one that played with my life again and again.'

'You probably hadn't thought that things would turn out this way.'

'Do you regret your decisions or not?'

'I honestly can't tell with you.'

'But it doesn't actually matter.'

'Your feelings won't change anything.'

The next moment, Shang's body suddenly vanished, and Shang's true body reappeared.

Shang's three followers looked over in surprise.

Why had Shang's true body reappeared?

And then, Shang's body began to vibrate.

CRK! CRK! CRK!

Slowly, Shang's monumental body began to shrink!

It was almost like it was being compressed!

The three followers weren't entirely sure what Shang was doing, but they realized when they saw the next thing.

WHOOOOM!

An incredible storm of Mana appeared around Shang, and all the Mana in the world seemingly flowed towards him.

Shang was compressing his Mana and Entropy to achieve the density of an Initial Mage Emperor!

This meant that Shang was officially advancing into the Ninth Realm!

As Shang's body was compressing, Mana still continued pouring into him.

BANG!

But then, a barrier appeared around Shang that stopped the Mana from entering his body.

Naturally, this was Shang's barrier. After all, he didn't want to feel more of this filthy Mana than necessary.

For his advancement, Shang didn't need to absorb any Entropy or Mana.

After all, his body already contained enough Mana and Entropy to produce a Mid Mage Emperor.

He simply needed to compress his body a bit. Shang's humongous body shrunk more and more.

The reality around Shang seemed to strain under his monumental power, but it managed to hold on.

Some minutes later, Shang's body shrunk to a size of only five kilometers, half the diameter of what it used to be.

That was when Shang's body stopped shrinking.

The shaking of the atmosphere around Shang became more and more intense.

It was almost like a malleable sheet of rubber was trying to contain an explosion.

Waves upon waves of pure power came out of Shang's body, but the reality held.

Then, Shang's many eyes opened.

"Hmph."

BOOOOOOOM!

The reality containing Shang's power broke apart, and waves upon waves of power washed all over the world.

Gregorio, Kali, and Abaddon suddenly felt like they had fallen into an eternal abyss.

They felt like the ever-present ground beneath their feet had suddenly given way.

Something they had relied on hadjust been broken.

The waves of power expanded across the entire world almost instantly.

Even the weakest beings felt like something fundamental had changed.

They felt like the end of the world was approaching.

And the more powerful one was, the more one felt like one was about to die.

Eventually, the waves bounced off the silver wall, and they washed back towards Shang.

It took several seconds, but eventually, the waves vanished.

The next moment, a deep voice appeared in every living being's mind.

"Aterium is mine!"

Almost everyone had no idea where this voice had come from, but the Mage Kings and many Mage Lords knew what this meant.

Did this mean that their Emperors were dead?

A moment later, Shang's human body returned, and he smirked.

"I can sense all of Aterium," he said.

"The entire world is within my grasp."

"I can see all!"

Shang laughed loudly.

There was nothing!

There was nothing left that could fight him except for the God!

Shang still remembered the God's palace, but he hadn't found it in Aterium, which meant that it had to be past the silver wall.

'For now, I can't look past the silver wall.'

'But eventually, even that won't stop me anymore.'

The next moment, Shang saw a new part inside his mind.

Funnily enough, Shang had already found that part when he had recreated his body.

Shang knew that this was the ninth question he had asked the God.

If he wanted, he could have unlocked it earlier.

But he wanted to play along.

Now, Shang had reached the Ninth Realm.

Shang was a Sword Emperor.

It was time to look at the ninth question.

The reason why Shang was the Child of Calamity.