Chapter #4 — Genesis Alpha (Paradis)

Lysara and I emerged in the Void, where she proceeded to consume the Whisker-Verse…

Despite the magnificent glitters of her Universe, I could only see a cat licking its own vomit.

My stomach churned in disgust at the sight, fortunately, my lack of facial features made me the ideal poker player. “What are you-?!”

“Relax, I’m just storing it, Nyan~”

The Feline Goddess said, “If you leave your Universe around, people will mess with it, Nyan.”

So other creators could impact my Universes? That’s good to know. “Can they change it entirely?”

“They can use their operatives to steal your influence, and once your Creations have been twisted to their image completely, you may lose control and lose your Creation Seed, Nyan~” Deviants likely utilized this strategy, from what I gathered. The Feline Goddess giggled as if she had read my thinking.

“That’s exactly what a Deviant is.”

She licked her paws as terrible screeches and hideous cries echoed across the Void. “Omnipotent City has a legal framework to prevent this from happening, as Fledglings might be more naïve. Some Deviants would gradually seize authority, while the warmongers would directly start an invasion, Nyan~”

But my attention had long been drawn to the abrupt sounds. “What was that?”

Lysara yawned. “Voidspawns, Nyan~ They’re foul, if keen-senses creatures.”

“This close to Omnipotent City?”

“Close, Nyan~?”

The Feline Goddess repeated teasingly, mischief glinting in her sparkling, soulful eyes, prompting me to turn, but the Sphere of Gold—endlessly collapsing and spilling outwards in a complex pattern no mortal mind, be them Man or Beast, could conjure— that had previously lazily spun on its axis there was nowhere to be found.

“We can teleport instantaneously, remember? We are Gods, Nyan~”

‘Gods…’ The words echoed in my head, prompting me to question why the All-Father and I were traveling normally in the first place. Maybe it’s like a human choosing to walk rather than ride a bike or drive a car? “You should go, Nyan~ The Voidspawns would be here soon… They’re drawn to us and our Creations like rats are to smelly places.”

On cue, horrific amalgamations—automatically translated by my mind into insects and creatures merged and melted together— crept forth, burrowing through the thick veils of Darkness.

“Can’t we just run?” I inquired worriedly.

There was a fine line between bravery and complete stupidity.

We’re incredibly outnumbered, and they appeared far stronger than the Voidspawns I’d previously encountered. “These pests must be wiped out, Nyan~ As Creators, it is our job and duty to rid the Void of their existences.”

“Why?”

Wasn’t it a pointless undertaking to begin with? “If not us, then who, Nyan~? The older a Voidspawn gets, the more powerful and clever they are. If we don’t fight for ourselves; if we don’t nip such threats in the bud, it will be us to perish next. The next generation to enjoy the fruits of our labor will be the Voidspawns, Nyan~”

If she uttered this type of thing on Earth, especially in first-world countries, she’d most likely be cancelled, but who gave a damn about cancellation anymore? It's sad, but true. If we don’t fight, the Voidspawns would steal our Creation Seeds and assume our positions as Gods themselves. “You should go. These guys are way outta your league at the moment, Nyan~” It was the reasonable conclusion, but something tugged at my heart, telling me to pick the correct course.

I had spent my life running away from everything… Would I ditch my friend as well?

Furthermore, Lysara looked innocuous… Confident as she appeared, could the Feline Goddess even scratch the Voidspawns’ hide when it came to it? “I’ll stay.” I said resolutely, even though all I felt was a deep-seeded terror at the Voidspawns. “Who knows? Might even learn a thing or two from this…”

Wet an almost wet, sticky thud, the Entities yank free of the tears, acidic slimes dripping down their forms. “You sure, Nyan~? They ain’t gonna pull punches like I did, and I don’t need the help, believe me.”

I pursed my lips. “I’m a Creator too…”

Lysara grinned—it’s uncannily human, yet cute, like the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland. “It’s your grave you’re digging.” Despite her words and the absence of the familiar ‘Nyan’ at the end of her statement, I had the impression I had won her heart, if only a tiny portion of it. “Don’t get in my way, Nyan~!”

With a hop and a flip, she became twice my height, the cuteness sucked out of her shape by the suddenly broad, stretched, and lipless smile she sported; the fangs half the length of my face; the coarse, pointed fur that looked like a hedgehog’s quills and would break the blade of a chainsaw if they touched.

“I… You don’t really look like you need the help.”

“Too late to back out now, Nyan~!!!”

Lysara slapped the Voidspawn’s head, causing it to spin before sinking her teeth into the Entity’s throat. Her tail smacked another away, and it was only then that I noticed the end of her tail had transformed into a club, similar to an ankylosaur’s.

As it turned out, unlike those Onlyfans e-girls who claimed they didn’t need help from anyone—men specifically—all while taking money from desperate men or the men who said they needed no friend and pushed everyone away while desperately wanting connections, the Feline Goddess was being honest…

She really didn’t need the help.

“Talk the talk, walk the walk…” I shrugged, narrowly dodging a toothy, oozing maw aimed at my skull. The Voidspawn’s entire left side smacked into me, and instead of resisting the current, I rode the wave, swinging up its back. Fight smarter, not harder, right? “Get fucked!”

I flexed my arms around its neck, attempting to strangle the Entity to death, and invoked all the Laws I had comprehended.

Time was the first to answer, but I quickly dismissed it, seeing as it had little influence on creatures without awareness, intellect, or the ability to age.

Next, the Law of Mutations I learned from Ïgal’s pub.

Unlike in fiction, mutations were not necessarily favorable for a being’s survival. Look no farther than the sloth, whose relatives previously towered over even the largest land animal on Earth, with claws capable of slicing through a dinosaur’s hide and probably a damn temper to match. Smiling, I drew energy from my Singularity and buried my fingers in ten of its seventy eyeholes, channeling Mutation.

The Voidspawn let out a demented howl as it tried to draw me into a Void Burrow.

I used the Law of Time to delay the Entity’s motions as well as the construction of the Burrow before pumping the Law of Mutation into the Voidspawn.

Its right side immediately exploded into a malignant mass filled with watery boils that just made my skin crawl in revulsion. “GRRR—!” However, I couldn’t deny it any longer… I felt alive. Despite the intense agony; the horror; the revulsion… Deep down, I felt more alive than I had ever been. Ironic, wasn’t it? That the very things that threatened to kill us made us feel the most alive.

Such a contraction, yet nevertheless true.

It’s the reason why some people drove recklessly,

The same reason some people went to drugs or selling while already being successful in their work.

The most risky and damaging actions kept us alive.

Digging into the boils, I couldn’t stop myself from beaming from the pure excitement.

Every instant could be my last, every second could find me inside the Voidspawn's maws, but I was beyond ecstatic.

There was no thinking put into it—just action.

In an instant, the Voidspawn erupted in a sloppy puddle of Antimatter. I turned to Lysara, amazed by my second kill, only to discover a pile of dissolving carcasses at her feet. "You done, Nyan~?”

I blinked, stared at the pile, and murmured. “… Now I’m just embarrassed.”

“It’s fine, Nyan~!”

The Goddess whacked my shoulder heartily. “We all have to start somewhere, don’t we? Furthermore, we are Creators, not necessarily combatants… So, lil’ Fledgling, ready to make yours, Nyan~?”

“… Right now?”

Shouldn’t Creation be done with a lot of forethought owing of its complexity?

“But I only understood two Laws.” To make it worse, my comprehension extended merely to the surface level.

For all of our strength, Creation was a matter of limitless intricacy rather than PL. A strongman could shatter a closet, but he might not be able to build one. “There’s a reason that grumpy old man call the Truth Experiences, Nyan~ Why do you think that is? What even is Experiences…? How do you gain it?”

“I—”

I paused, recalling the 3 a.m. motivational videos I used to watch when I could not sleep and was rolling around in my sheet after a day of work or study. “Most Creators do not start out knowing everything; rather, they actualize their fantasies—what their minds could conjure and then learn from their Creations’ knowledge. Don’t overthink it, just make, Nyan~ I will help you fight off the Voidspawns.”

Staring at her, excitement and anxiety rising in my chest, I began making retching noises, only to be slapped over the head.

“What the Hell are you doing, idiot?!”

I rubbed the back of my head and reasoned. “That’s how you did it earlier!”

“Each creator has a unique style of creating. Remember how your Creation Seeds are a part of you? You must pursue your own path. If you use mine—not that it would even work—are what you create yours or mine? Learn from your predecessors, then walk your own path, Nyan~ You may make mistakes; you will most definitely fail, but that doesn’t have to be such a scary thing… It is not like we are limited by Time, are we?”

I wondered as my brow furrowed in concentration. “How should I do it then?”

“It depends… Who are you, Nyan~?”

I nodded as I gazed at her, or rather through and into her.

What was my passion?

What did I like before reality broke me to pieces, shattered my aspirations and ambitions, and pissed on what remained?

“Reading…”

I recalled spending hours after school reading and playing interactive games, restarting the games over a dozen times, at time hundreds so I could get the ‘perfect’ or ‘good’ ending, which in hindsight predicted my personality perfectly.

I remembered being ecstatic when the first ‘AI’ game was published, even if it was quite shit at the time.

I recalled how fascinated I was by such wonderful worlds and realities, but they weren’t my own.

They were someone else’s. “I write…”

My figure began to twist and distort abnormally, losing the dark purple hue lit by the shimmering stars scattered across my body.

My head was the first to transform, followed by my torso, which was chiseled like the Greek Gods of old, but the skin no longer resembled human, but an ebony grey of Damascus steel, with several hundreds rubies set in the middle of my chest;

My lower torso became a tumultuous mass of heads of the same color, with bleary red eyes constantly blinking in a soulless stare, mouths gaping open to reveal shiny white fangs.

Despite the fact that there was no pain, I smothered a cry as two more arms ripped out of my shoulder blades; hardened light and hues solidifying to form a huge, ivory crown thrice the size of my head. It didn’t sit on my hair, but hovered above, continually releasing something I could only describe as Primordial Goo. “A Connate Artifact, Nyan~?”

‘Connate… what?’ I felt around and turned to discover that one of my extra arms was clutching a golden tablet similar to those seen in crypts or historical sites on Earth. Lysara said, “A Connate Artifact is… Treasures born from some Creator’s birth. It’s a part of you too, Nyan~”

“… Can you read minds?”

“Which one?”

“Mine specifically.”

The Feline Goddess smiled and teased, “I don’t know, can I?”

“What exactly do they do?”

Confused, I shifted the golden tablet from one hand to the other. “Some Creators, like the glorious Goddess you’re looking at—“

Lysara heaved up her chest with pride, mocking. “We can accomplish it with our bodies alone! You lowly heathens must use tools, Nyan~!”

Ignoring her taunts, I glanced at the tablet shaped like a book, and flipped it to the front. “Try writing in it, Nyan~”

“With what?” I questioned aloud before a startling notion occurred to me. The two hands that weren’t holding the tablet moved out to touch my face, feeling only smoothness and a pair of eyes.

“No mouth or nose, huh?” A faceless person… Just one amongst countless. As depressing as that was, at least I had eyes, which meant I was ’someone’, correct? At least to myself, I was. Next, I palmed the sides of my head, only to find wings fastened where my ears should have been, feathery wings that just seemed to beckon me incessantly. With a violent yank, I tore the left one off, revealing a boney growth beneath the feathers that resembled a pen. “I write,”

I laid my pen on the tablet and began carving.

The process was excruciatingly painful, and each sentence was terrible to write, but I couldn’t stop.

I wasn’t in love—that alone couldn’t express my feelings…

I was… Obsessed…

Completely taken by the reality which my mind had conjured, and which I was about to actualize. “Therefore you are.”

A realm the size of my hand sprang to life, throbbing like a lively star and floating over the tablet while I stared at its breathtaking beauty. “Ah…”

Could love or any other emotion even begin to match what I was feeling on a fundamental level? “Fledgling, what is your name, Nyan~?”

Lysara inquired, and I responded naturally. “Tupsharru… My name is Tupsharru. Do you want to—?” I paused, almost embarrassed to even ask. “Do you wanna take a look inside?”

Lysara showed me hers, so I should show her mine… It’s only fair.

The Feline Goddess jumped into my free arms, which were not carrying the tablet or pen. “Lead the way, fledgling! Onwards to the new land, where we shall conquer the people with fangs and claws, Nyan~!”

I pumped my fist, not even needing to feign my excitement as we entered the new, desolate Universe. The stars were actual specks in the sky, but underneath them was a continent millions of times the size of Earth. Without my express instruction, the entire system would have imploded into a star.

It definitely would not be enough at some time, but there was always room for expansion. “So… What do you think?”

Lysara glanced at the forest, which was purple, blue, and red;

It was full of trees that no human had ever seen before and would most likely never lay eyes upon; and it was bordered by waters that carried a crimson liquid which could cure any illness or injury, and similar to the Senzu beans it acted as a source of nourishment as well.

“Welcome to Paradis!” Maybe it’s bad luck to name it that, given what happened to Isayama-sensei’s version, but there was no Titan here… There was no living being, in fact.

“You name your Universe ‘paradise’ without the ‘e’? Somebody really ought to fix your naming sense, Nyan~” Despite her words, she seemed excited, leaping on the ground.

It did not take long for her to realize what was wrong, “Wait… I don’t see any animal, Nyan~?” Her concerns were not unwarranted.

Lysara’s Whisker-Verse was packed to the brims with all manners of animals and species, while mine was like a ghost town—a frankly stunningly-crafted one, certainly, but a ghost town nonetheless. “Where’re you hiding all the different species, Nyan~?”

The Goddess pried up a chunk of rock imbedded in the ground in quest of scampering insects, only to realize that there were none.

“Don’t… You will not discover anything. I have not created the species yet.”

“Oh, you wanna make each one personally, Nyan~?!” The Feline Goddess gazed at me, “Have you got a design in mind, Tupsharru? A plan at least, Nyan~?”

“Well, I’m going to make a super powerful species, with a hard cap to their powers so they won’t try to outright kill me.” If they even wanted to, this location was better than I could have imagined. They wouldn’t need or want anything because everything was free and in abundance, and if overpopulation became a problem?

I could just expand it… Add more to this story of Genesis. “Just one species, Nyan~?”

“Yes… A very powerful one, Nyan~”

I said, winking cockily at her, and retrieved my tablet, “I’ll make them now.”

Surprisingly, the process was far smoother now, whether due to the Experiences I had gained creating a whole Realm, or because making things was easier in my Realm than it was in the Void—which made a whole lot of sense by the way—I knew not, and frankly? I cared not.

I only wanted to create more, and hoped this euphoric sensation last.

“Come to papa!”

The first to emerge was a creature with skin texture similar to mine, wings protruding out of its joints, and helmet-like openings on its face that shone a soft tone.

Its color scheme was white with gold accents, and when it knelt before me, I had to stop myself from quivering with pleasure. “Creator… What is my purpose?”

“You mean… ‘Ours’?” I laughed heartily at the meme, while Lysara and the newly-created entity stared at me bewildered. “Sorry, inside joke.”

Then I pointed behind him to where hundreds more animals like him stood.

I say ‘like’ since the sole similarity between them began and stopped with their skin texture.

Some resembled a starfish with gold ornaments and an eye in the center, while another was smaller and sunk into their surroundings. “Live… Thrive, and maybe treat each other well while you’re doing it.”

“That’s… That’s all?”

The First raised its head, as if expecting more.

“Can you do it?”

It bobbed its head, seemingly emaciated form falling down in reverence once more.

“Thy Will Be Done, Creator.”