Chapter 1954: The Birth Of Living Concepts, Domains!

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It seemed that Maria’s ascension was a celebratory event for the Will of the Multiverse. Perhaps the birth of Cosmic Monarchs was cherished precisely because of their ability to create.

"What’s my Rank?" she wondered before anything else.

Maria checked her Status and discovered that many things had changed. Yet there it was, clearly displayed: she was now Rank Z+++.

"Z?!"

A rank above X. Z!

At this point, she no longer knew what came after. They were running out of letters in the alphabet. Still, perhaps something even greater lay beyond Z.

For now, however, she had no intention of pursuing it.

After all, she no longer had levels and could not level up anymore. A new path for growth had opened before her.

Yet this power was not granted merely to reveal the possibilities of her evolution. None of that would matter if everything came to an end.

Right now, her entire Cosmic Soul Realm—the Great Beyond, as she called it—was under constant assault by the Armies of Heaven.

"It’s time to put all these new toys to use... Michael, come to me."

Using the power of {Womb of the Architect}, Maria seamlessly wove an entire Divine Realm and compressed it into the form of Michael. She breathed life into him and planted his soul within.

FLAAASH!

Michael was instantly reborn, stronger than ever before, becoming a Cosmic Herald—a direct creation of a Cosmic Monarch.

The Archangels could be considered Cosmic Heralds of the Heavenly Father, but Michael had been stripped of that power. Now, at last, he had reclaimed it under the Cosmic Authority of his new master and creator, Maria.

The first thing Michael did as he gazed upon Maria’s primordial presence was kneel and lower his head.

"I bow to the Great Celestial Void Cosmos-Born Star Venerable and offer my body and soul to your cause. I swear eternal loyalty, even beyond the moment the last star in the universe disappears and—"

"Calm down. It’s still me," Maria said. "I may have changed in appearance, but you’re free to speak to me casually. I don’t plan to stop being myself just because of my ascension."

"But Master...! You are an incredible existence, worthy of all praise and worship!"

"Hm. Your personality and the way you treat me have certainly shifted, huh? Relax."

"...Hah. Very well."

Michael smiled lightly and floated beside Maria as her first Cosmic Herald. He looked much as he had in life, yet his body was now composed of cosmic stars.

Then, she turned her gaze upon her family.

Even her beloved ones and her children were stunned by her transformed appearance and the overwhelming pressure she radiated. Her seven eyes looked down at them, and even Nyx felt a shiver run down her spine.

"Is she really still my mother?" Nyx muttered silently.

"Nyx, be silent..." Lucifer swallowed hard, an intense dread gripping him as he faced Maria. "M-Maria...? Is it... still you?"

"Mother?" Thanatos asked.

Maria looked down at them, her giant hand reaching toward the group.

"Ahhh! Please spare us!"

For a moment, Lucifer feared that Maria’s personality had been overwritten by her new powers, transforming her into an emotionless cosmic deity.

However—

FLAAASH!

Bright cosmic light enveloped everyone present as her power merged with their bodies and souls. They experienced eternal bliss, as if they had shed their mortal forms and ascended alongside her.

"Come to me, my beloved—my family and friends. All of you who have stood by me will now be granted the power of Cosmic Heralds."

Maria had no intention of fighting this war with only Michael at her side. She helped everyone ascend, transforming them into Cosmic Heralds.

Their powers, abilities, skills, and stats evolved rapidly. Everyone’s appearance shifted slightly as they gained cosmic auras and new strength.

"Wow! This is amazing! Mother! It’s really you?!" Nyx exclaimed, her cosmic aura expanding outward and revealing a vast underworld filled with millions of ghosts.

"Of course it is, my dear! Why wouldn’t I still be myself?" Maria replied warmly. "Ah well... I do feel a little... at ease, I suppose. My consciousness has expanded almost infinitely."

"Amazing... Hahaha!" Lucifer laughed, his cosmic aura unfolding to display countless mountains inhabited by spiritual dragons of light and darkness. "Maria! You’re incredible! To think that one day you would come this far... I still remember when you were just a ghost who found me inside a dark dungeon. Back then, we were nobodies running from the church... and now look at you!"

"Yeah, this is amazing...!" Jonathan said, admiring his new cosmic body. His aura expanded into a domain of pure light where countless swords emerged. "I-I didn’t expect you would ascend us to your level... I am speechless. Well, I always thought of you as my goddess, even back then—and that hasn’t changed."

"This cosmic power feels just like the one I once had!" Isabella said. Her aura bloomed into countless bright stars and heavens. "This is amazing!"

"It’s simply wonderful...!" Emeraldine breathed, her aura growing into a gigantic tree of holy light that spread across the skies. "But why am I a tree?"

"Hahaha! I am surrounded by flowers!" Oberon laughed, soaring with his enormous cosmic fairy wings. His aura unfolded into a dimension of flowers—an eternal garden.

"I had already been reborn into something cosmic-like, but this truly surpasses it!" Partner said, admiring her aura as it expanded into a living dimension of blood and shadows. "Just what is this power? It feels like our bodies have become dimensions... Realms?"

"Yes," Maria said. "It is a unique power that only I possess—even among other Cosmic Monarchs. Through my Ascendant Cosmic Root, {Womb of the Architect}, I have rebuilt your bodies with my own power. You have been reborn as Cosmic Heralds and as Living Embodiments of Divine Realms. I call this concept ’Domains.’ Not the Domains we used to create, but you yourselves are now Domains. Your power can exert influence across the entirety of creation. You are living Concepts etched into the multiverse itself. Later, you will be able to expand your influence to help me heal and grow the Great Beyond, so we can create an ideal world."

"We are Domains now?" Nyx asked, eyes wide. "That’s crazy...! Ah! Wait, what’s that?!"

Through her new Cosmic Consciousness, Nyx sensed a massive Celestial Army hammering against the Dimensional Walls of the Great Beyond.

"Unfortunately, we have visitors," Maria sighed. "The Administrators are trying to pierce through my Cosmic Soul Realm—the Great Beyond—and invade it to offer it to their Heavenly Father. But this Realm is also my very soul, so I cannot allow it."

Maria waved her hand, and space and time distorted.

TRUUUM!

In an instant, she and her family along with her strongest allies appeared "outside" her very soul, standing directly on Floor 91. An eternal white heaven stretched infinitely into the skies, with floating continents scattered everywhere.

Above them all waited a Celestial Army of billions of angelic beings—Cherubim, Thrones, Valkyries, and more—led by eleven Archangels.

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