Endless Regression: Limitless Evolution (OP MC/Kingdom Building)

[Ardenox]

Claire sprinted down the road, clutching the treasure tight against her chest while gasping for air.

It was a pity that her rank was only 1 star. If she had even a little more strength, she would have escaped long ago and hidden somewhere safe with the treasure in hand.

After darting through countless buildings and weaving through narrow alleys, her worst fear materialized.

A dead end.

"Where will you run now?" a mocking voice called out behind her.

Her pursuers were one star cultivators just like her, but unlike Claire, a wandering ascendant with no support, they had powerful factions behind them.

I don't have awakened abilities, or any power backing me. Why did I even bother competing for the treasure?

Regret gnawed at her insides at the prospect of her incoming death. She truly had no trump cards left up her sleeve.

Not even a minute later, she sprawled on the ground, her consciousness slipping away. She had tried to fight, but it was simply a futile attempt against the numerous enemies.

I don't want to die.

Her weakening consciousness inadvertently drifted to a piece of paper she had stumbled upon while cleaning her clan's treasury.

Even though her clan was no more, she remembered those words on the paper. Their family had descended from one of the major priests of a god.

However, she also knew that everyone had at least tried to call upon this god once. But 'He' never answered. Gradually, everyone knew that their god either didn't exist or might have fallen.

Could this time be any different?

With the last flicker of hope within her, she began to recite the words written on the paper.

"The one who walks in circles of time, whose footsteps erase their own shadow."

Her consciousness slipped further into darkness but her will kept her going.

"The one who can deny death and tomorrow. He who rewrites the destiny of the universe."

"Please…save me."

A small golden fragment burst out of her soul and shot into the sky, racing upward at astonishing speed until it left Earth and streaked deeper into the universe.

In a distant and forgotten corner of existence, a colossal entity lay dormant, wrapped entirely in golden chains.

Every few days, or months, or years, or decades, or centuries, or eras, the entity would tremble as if attempting to break free, causing the chains to rattle violently.

One of the weaker links of the chain already looked like it might break any moment.

The tiny golden fragment was heading straight toward the chained entity.

But it could not reach the being without passing through the bindings. Because of that, it slammed directly into the weakest link.

The very moment that chain broke, a tremor passed through the universe.

The vibration went undetected by everyone but the strongest ones of this era.

Their eyes opened in horror as a wave of energy unlike anything they've felt passed over them.

However, no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't pinpoint the source.

Back where the colossal entity remained sealed, the broken chain dissolved into glimmering points of light.

And then, at long last, one of the entity's eyes, vast as a star, slowly opened.

They contained nothing but indifference despite being sealed for eons.

As an Outer God who embodied a Major Concept, Holden couldn't die even if he wished to.

As his thoughts stirred, he became aware of his current situation after absorbing the tiny golden fragment.

If energy from outside could reach him now, then his own energy could also escape, and it had already begun to drain from the moment a chain broke.

His body was akin to an inflated open balloon. Even though the balloon was made of rubber, it required a constant supply of air to keep its form.

Just that if there was no instream of air, the rubber would start disintegrating entirely instead of just deflating.

His vast body, which required an unimaginable amount of Faith energy to sustain, had begun to collapse now that there was no source of Faith to keep it intact.

No one remembered him in this era.

Acting swiftly, Holden disintegrated his own body with a single thought before more energy leaked.

Unexpectedly, it brought about an advantage.

Because the chains had briefly lost their target, the remaining portions of his sealed strength and memories were released for a moment.

However, he had to act quickly before the chains found his soul and the majority of his powers and memories were sealed again.

Controlling the Faith energy which his disintegrated body had converted into, he molded it into a massive palace with a few items and connected it to himself.

The structure instantly shrunk in size and entered his soul.

Finally, the chains settled back into their place. His memories were immediately sealed once again, while the powers were gradually being sealed.

But he had already completed everything he needed to accomplish.

A strand of information manifested in his mind.

[Name: Holden.]

[Race: Outer God.]

[Major Concept: Regression.]

[Awakened ability: Evolution.]

[Faith energy: 0]

[You need to — !@#*#$^&]

I guess transferring my memories didn't work. Doesn't matter.

At least I can still track and use faith energy despite 99 percent of my existence being sealed.

His seals were not equal. The final seal carried the greatest weight and imprisoned the majority of his strength, while the first seal that had broken was the weakest and restrained only a small portion.

Tracing the path of the golden fragment with the last vestiges of his dwindling power, he found its source.

This small planet huh? Might as well start from there.

His soul rapidly traversed through space, gradually gaining a human's physique as he finally entered the Earth.

She is the one who woke me up?

Standing beside her wounded form, Holden took an item from the palace bound to his soul and crushed it.

The faith value began rising rapidly, but he didn't pay it any mind.

Focusing his attention on the young woman, he dragged her soul into the palace.

*****

Claire's vision had long since darkened, her breathing faint, and face pale.

After she finished the chant, she waited for a moment, but nothing happened.

I guess it didn't work.

Right after she had that thought, something shifted within her, and her vision brightened.

She found herself seated in one of the chairs circling a massive round table.

However, she wasn't alone.

Across from her sat a towering mass of gray smoke, vaguely shaped like a humanoid figure, resting upon a chair larger than all the others.

Recalling what she had recited moments earlier, her eyes widened and she rushed to her feet.

With a face full of hesitation and fear, she spoke slowly.

"The Endless Beyond?"

The Endless Beyond…so she is a descendant of that major priest.

Holden thought, while observing the young woman.

Considering how vast his religion had once been, it was only natural that countless branches formed over time, each with its own unique interpretation of him.

When no reply came from the being she believed to be her god, Claire could only continue in a hesitant voice.

"Is there anything I can do for you?"

While Holden considered his next steps, his physical body had already collected her unconscious form and brought her to a safe place.

Using Faith energy, he skillfully healed the person before him.

For someone of his level, acting on multiple fronts was effortless.

As he repaired her body in the outside world, his attention in the palace shifted back to her words, and he responded.

Naturally, she couldn't sense what was going on with her body. The Palace was a treasure he personally crafted which cut off all connections with the outside world.

His voice, accompanied by a deep, resonant vibration, filled the entire hall as his words reached her.

"I have been forgotten."

Quickly understanding the implications behind it, she bowed her head.

"I will be honored to take the task of enlightening the people of your greatness, my lord.
"Please…just allow me a chance to live."

The mass of gray smoke before her shifted before a voice echoed once again.

"Very well."

Holden checked the amount of faith he had left after restoring Claire's body.

Should be enough to evolve a few things.

His gaze drifted towards Claire once more.

"The star technique you practice is incomplete. Speak it, and I shall strip away the corruption others have added."

Of course, Holden had no idea what technique she practiced. But he needed to maintain the image of an all knowing god.

He did not want to spend faith to peer into her mind. With how little he possessed, every bit needed to be used with care.

He healed her physique using Faith energy because it would be troublesome to find another believer, better to make use of what he already had.

Claire never questioned her deity. Gathering her thoughts, she began to recite her star technique.

In just a few moments, Holden judged that it was extremely inferior.

There were countless worlds in the universe, but every single one of them followed the same system of cultivating star techniques to form a mana heart.

Depending on the number of stars orbiting that mana heart, the person's rank could range from 1 star to 9 star.

One needed to engrave spell models on their stars so as to use it in battle or in other aspects of their life.

But the quality of star techniques and the spell models engraved upon them varied enormously.

At his peak, Holden had witnessed the star techniques of the Divine Civilization. A cultivator at one star using those techniques would be equal to a cultivator at three stars practicing the technique Claire had just recited.

Unfortunately, all of his memories containing those advanced star techniques and spell models were sealed, leaving him unable to pass any of them on to Claire.

On the bright side though, his awakened ability could perfectly patch up his shortcoming in this regard.

Once Claire finished reciting her star technique, Holden envisioned it in his mind, and applied his awakened ability Evolution to it.

The direction of the evolution depended entirely on his intent, so he included a safeguard within it.

Through that safeguard, he would immediately know if she ever harbored betrayal, and he could erase her with a single thought.

In this early stage, it was the most dangerous period for him. He couldn't afford to get exposed. He needed to grow under the radar.

Even though he possessed enough Faith energy to regress to the moment his first seal unlocked, it would be a complete waste when that same energy could serve a far more useful purpose elsewhere.

After all, the faith energy of his massive body, which he had stored in the form of items, was limited. He would hate to spend it without a good cause.

After a period of heavy silence, Claire heard her god speak once again.

A few minutes later her heart was filled with astonishment.

He upgraded my star technique just like that?

It takes several generations of scholars to upgrade a star technique, and he did it in a few moments?

Not to mention that from the looks of it, this star technique is even better than the ones which those geniuses from holy lands practice.

As far as Claire could recall, even the other currently active gods couldn't do that.

There was a possibility that they could, but had kept it a secret, in which case she wouldn't know since she didn't belong to their church, or any church in fact.

A moment later, her vision shifted, and she found herself staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. She looked at herself, completely healed, and knew that it must be The Nameless Beyond who did it.

"I found you unconscious in a corner of an alley, so I brought you home. If you don't mind, have this soup before leaving."

Claire looked at the young man offering her soup, then quietly refused. After thanking him for taking care of her, she stepped outside.

She could not afford to waste a single moment now that her god had entrusted her with a mission. Besides, she had already received more than enough benefits from him.

Holden watched his first believer depart and returned to his preparations.

He couldn't have healed her out in the open when he knew nothing about the world, therefore he had brought her here.

As for the owner of this house? He had already met his end.

He envisioned the star technique once again, and used the majority of the remaining Faith energy in evolving it once again.

If the version he had given Claire was only halfway to the level of the Divine Civilization, this second evolution reached the same height. A flawless star technique.

Of course, he could still evolve it again, but evolving beyond the perfect level would consume too much Faith energy, which he'd rather expend on spell models.

After transforming the spell models, he would be back on square one regarding Faith energy.

I don't want to break another one of those items anytime soon, therefore for future power ups, I'll have to gather Faith energy from new believers and strengthen myself using the star technique power system.

It was time for him to blend into this planet.