There was once a god whose power was so great that everyone feared him.
Wherever she went, the ground was filled with glaciers, and all things died. Anyone who disobeyed her was turned into ice sculptures and dust. Her power was unparalleled, even in the many divine kingdoms filled with gods.
However, she was not satisfied with that. She still desired a more powerful tier, so she pulled herself down from the high altar and became a mortal to cultivate it again. Her name was Nia, the goddess who was crowned with ice and cold.
Nia looked at Watson, who was kneeling on one knee. It seemed like his ribs were broken. He was clutching his heart, but he did not admit defeat. Her eyes were cold. In the past, she had witnessed the rise and destruction of countless kingdoms, and some were even destroyed by her own hands. She had fought against heroes and gods countless times. Among them, many had the same strong fighting spirit as Watson. However, no matter how tenacious they were and what kind of fighting spirit they had, she always managed to kill them.
She was tired of such actions. In that life, she only wanted to seek Dao. She wanted to pursue the peak of power. In her eyes, as a mortal, Watson was able to do that though he could barely fight against her. Such a person might become a god in the future. It would be a pity to die there.
She looked at Watson with no killing intent, only pity.
“Miss Nia, you haven’t won yet. I still haven’t used my strongest move. If I can’t make that move, then I will admit defeat.”
Watson spat out a mouthful of blood that splattered to the ground; it looked gorgeous.
For Watson, he had experienced many battles with powerful enemies because he controlled the system, but he had won them all. Some of the fights were dangerous, but he had never been injured so severely. If he had not used the power of the Wheel of Reversal to seal his own time, he might have died in the next moment.
The intense pressure stimulated his strong fighting spirit. His goal was to overthrow the monarch and become the new ruler of the Holy Dragon Kingdom. If he could not even defeat Nia, who had the strength of a god, then how could he defeat King Landhar III, who had the support of seven gods?
Flames burned his eyes. Watson endured the pain and got up from the ground. The Wheel of Reversal and the compass floating behind him automatically floated into his hands.
“This is my strongest move. I can’t hold back. Miss Nia, you have to be careful! I’m not sure how powerful this move is. It’s very likely to kill you. I hope you can surrender.”
Nia did not say anything. She just looked at Watson quietly, as if telling him to continue.
Watson nodded and did not say anything else. He combined the Limitless Compass and the Wheel of Reversal and used the most powerful skill of the Wheel of Reversal, which he had not used since the beginning of the battle.
‘Summoning my future self!’
As Watson shouted in his heart, the Wheel of Reversal burst with bright light. A door made of pure time appeared behind Watson. Countless hands circled the door, pushing time into an infinite future.
A hand stretched from the door.
It was hard to imagine what kind of hand it was. It looked white and slender, no different from an ordinary person, but it was filled with divine radiance. There were tiny spheres on the fingers that were emitting starlight. They seemed to be miniature stars.
The moment he summoned that hand, Watson suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. The time froze his body to maintain the stability of his injuries seemed to be somewhat unstable, but he did not care and continued to summon his future self.
When he had obtained the Wheel of Reversal, he tried to summon his future self from the next ten years. His future self was too powerful, so he failed. At that time, things were different. He had obtained the Limitless Compass that contained the energy of space and could fold the distance between a thousand worlds together.
If his future self were too powerful and could not descend through the time gate for a short period, then he would use the Limitless Compass to shorten the distance between himself and his future self, forcefully descending into his main body.
“The Limitless Compass and the Wheel of Reversal, open it for me! Ten years from now, I will descend here.”
His voice squeezed through the gaps between his teeth and spread throughout the entire area. In that instant, the originally small time gate behind him suddenly increased in size and split, from one time gate to a hundred. Each gate was ten times larger than the previous.
After the gate of time expanded, the future Watson, with only one hand stretched outward, suddenly revealed his entire appearance.
The future Watson had a head of brilliant starlight hair. Every strand of hair was made of gentle light, and his appearance was 90 percent similar to Watson’s, only more handsome and mature. The most striking thing about his weather-beaten face was his eyes. His eyes were all-encompassing as if they contained the rise and fall of the sun and the moon, as well as the flow of the nebula.
In the future, Watson’s temperament would be different from his old self. Even the clothes he wore were filled with extraordinary characteristics. It was a long robe with the starry sky as the background. Through the robe, one could see the endless universe. A glorious divine kingdom floated between the universes, and continents covered in balls of light were beneath those kingdoms. Numerous rings of all sizes were waiting outside the balls of light. They were coveting the continents.
When their eyes glanced at the future Watson, who was the size of an ordinary human, they spontaneously revealed a fearful expression. It was as if they saw future Watson as a monster that they could not look directly at.
“Seems like my past self has summoned me. It looks like it has been almost ten years.”
After the future Watson appeared, he looked at Watson and looked around. He immediately familiarized himself with the situation and spoke slowly. His voice was very ethereal as if it resounded in everyone’s mind.
After seeing the future Watson, many audience members covered their eyes and cried out in shock. Some even had blood oozing out of their ears.
“My eyes hurt so much. Why can’t I see anything?”
“What happened? It feels like someone is talking in my ear. What a strong voice. My eardrums are about to be shattered.”
Those people could not see the future Watson. They only felt a blank space in front of them. At the same time, it sounded like someone was using a booming voice to say something in their ears. They could not hear it because it was too loud. It was beyond the limits of what they could hear.
Watson, who had summoned his future self, was also a little stunned when he saw himself. He had a feeling that he would be very strong in ten years, but he did not expect to be that powerful.
When he looked at his future self, the other man only glanced at him and extended a finger toward him. A strand of starlight from the finger wrapped around the stars that fell on his body, immediately healing the injuries that Nia caused.
Watson discovered that the big hole in his chest had completely disappeared. A powerful strength surged from within his body. It was even stronger than before the battle between him and Nia.
The future Watson retracted his finger and gently waved his hand. The Wheel of Reversal and the Limitless Compass immediately flew to his side and shook slightly.
Looking at the items in his hand, the future Watson said slowly, “The Wheel of Reversal and the Limitless Compass are nostalgic items. It’s a pity that these two items are only at the peak of the starlight tier. They won’t be able to support my current strength for long! As I don’t have much time, I’ll make it short. From now on, you must seize the time to become stronger. Your real enemy isn’t in this kingdom, but in the Thorn Empire in the east. Remember, you only have three years.
“Perhaps you won’t understand what I’m saying now. You only need to remember what I said. In three years, you must eradicate the empire because—”
When the future Watson said that, his words became blurry, and even his incomparably powerful figure became blurry.
“Looks like it’s time.”
Watson vaguely heard those words, and then he saw his future self turn his head and extend a finger to Nia in front of him. Ever since his future self descended, Nia had not made any movements. Instead, there was a look of doubt and even fear on her face. Facing her future self, even someone as powerful as Nia could not remain calm.
After seeing the future Watson stretch out his hand, Nia did not hesitate. She immediately put her hands together and formed a strange shape. The horn hanging around her neck shattered and turned into snow-white light spots that gathered in her hands. They formed a complicated and mysterious huge magical array, activated by her ability to accelerate molecules. A bright light immediately erupted.
The light was so huge that it blotted out the sky and the sun. It was brighter than the sun and was thousands of times stronger than the move Nia had used on Watson. Watson had a feeling that he would be melted into dregs if he could not resist that move. He even felt like Nia’s move could blast the capital to the end of the world, turning everything along its way into ashes.
Nia must have felt an intense threat from Watson’s future self. She did not even hesitate to destroy a divine weapon to launch that powerful attack.
The power of that attack was unquestionably Nia’s full-strength attack. However, it was useless against the future Watson. He only gently pressed down with his outstretched finger. The terrifying attack that could pierce through the entire world in front of Nia was completely absorbed. The huge magic array quickly shrank and turned into a small black dot. Following that, Nia’s body also shrank and turned into a small black dot.
Then, the small black dot disappeared into the air as if nothing had happened.
After that, Future Watson looked at Watson before his figure disappeared into the time gate that was gradually collapsing.
The time gate disappeared, and Watson sat on the ground. The Limitless Compass and the Wheel of Reversal returned to both sides of his body to protect him. His whole body was in pain. Even though his soul felt a piercing agony, his soul still had a starlight-tier chaos-elemental magical source. More than half of the energy had disappeared and was close to drying up.
Watson smiled bitterly. “Even though the future me has healed my injuries, I am still so exhausted. Fortunately, the battle is over. Otherwise, it would be very difficult for me even to lift a finger.”
Unfortunately, Nia disappeared after Future Watson attacked her. He did not understand it; it was beyond his comprehension level.
He had tried to persuade Nia, but she did not listen. He had done everything he could. Even if he felt guilty, there was nothing he could do about it.
He took a deep breath as he lay on the ground and looked at the white clouds floating across the blue sky. He felt relaxed. “Finally, it’s all over. This win has not come easily. ”
Before the competition, he did not expect that there were still people in the kingdom who could fuse holy relics to obtain starlight-tier power. He also did not expect that there were monsters with true divine power hidden in the kingdom too. However, after the battles, he felt like his strength had improved. At the same time, he had touched a corner of the great power hidden behind the kingdom. That made him feel like his efforts had not been in vain.
The only thing that weighed on his mind was what his future self had told him.
‘What do you mean by the real enemy is not in the kingdom but the Thorn Empire? Logically speaking, the Thorn Empire is not as powerful as this kingdom. They don’t even have a diamond-tier elite. Otherwise, they wouldn’t dare to act rashly because of Master Reid’s deterrence. If I become the king, won’t I be able to control the fate of my friends? Is there something in the Thorn Empire that can threaten my family and me? Also, why did future me say that I only have three years? What will happen to the Thorn Empire in those three years?’
Watson pondered that for a moment. He felt like the information he had was too little, so he decided not to think about it for the time being and enjoyed a moment of silence.
“What happened? Why did Miss Nia disappear? Does that mean that Watson has won?”
In the audience stands, a certain nobleman finally regained his senses after Watson defeated Nia. He rubbed his sore and tearful eyes and looked at the arena with great difficulty with a surprised expression.
Not far away from him, in the direction of the Saint Laurent family, the old woman suddenly stood up from her chair. Her expression was filled with panic and a trace of terror. “Nia has disappeared?” As the Child of God, how could Nia have lost? Perhaps Nia was unable to withstand the other party’s attack and took the initiative to hide? That was impossible. How powerful must one be to defeat a Child of God? They must be at least starlight-tier. Did that mean Watson was also a Child of God?
In King Landhar III’s private viewing room in the sky.
The King tightened his hold on his wine glass slightly, causing a crack to appear on it. “What just happened?”
King Landhar III looked around him. Antonio and Reid, who were sitting next to him, were also at a loss. Obviously, they did not know what had happened, which made his face turn a little gloomy.
With the help of the gods, he had reached the peak of diamond-tier, which was not bad at all. However, he had always concealed his strength. When Watson and Augustus fought, even if their strengths had reached the starlight tier, he would not think much of it. He knew that there was a fundamental difference between barely used strength and a god-like existence.
However, he had changed his mind. He saw and understood Nia’s ability, but he did not understand Watson’s actions at all.
‘Watson, you have really exceeded my expectations once again. That is great. If you are not a genius at this level, then my plans would be useless! Watson, are you going to show off your brilliance to your heart’s content? The more dazzling you are, the more helpful you’ll be to my future!’
Just as everyone was deep in their own thoughts, a sudden change occurred on the stage. Nia, who had initially disappeared, suddenly emerged from a small black dot. At first, the small black dot was barely noticeable, but it quickly became a person-sized shape. Nia, who had escaped from the black dot, had also changed from the size of a pinhole to the size of an ordinary human.
However, Nia was covered in blood. Her long, iris-like dress had become tattered. The silver-gray curls that she had so carefully styled had become stuck to her face.
“No way! You managed to escape? How am I supposed to win this?”
Nia’s appearance caught Watson’s attention. He rolled his eyes, and the corner of his mouth had started to twitch. His opponent was too powerful. It seemed like he had to admit defeat, even if he did not want to.
“Miss Nia is still alive.”
“What!”
The audience burst out into cheers.
In the direction of the Saint Laurent family, the old woman realized that Nia had returned. She sat back on her chair. Then, a smile appeared on her face. “I told you that Nia wouldn’t be defeated so easily. Now that Nia is back, the battle will continue! It seems like Watson has lost his strength after that unknown attack. Nia’s victory is within reach. Our Saint Laurent family will control the kingdom’s future king.”
Then, the old woman’s smile froze in the next second. Nia, who had escaped from the black dot, raised her right hand to the sky. “I admit defeat. Watson won this match.”
What?
The old woman’s eyes widened. It seemed like Nia could still move. Why did she not go up and finish off Watson? She did not understand it, but before she could react, King Landhar III’s voice immediately burst from the private room in the sky.
“Since Nia has admitted defeat, then the final winner of this competition has been decided! Thank you for your contributions, allowing everyone in the kingdom to see your strength and witness the rise of our kingdom. I hereby announce that the winner of this competition is Watson. From now on, I will bestow upon him the title of The Kingdom’s Strongest Genius!”
