"You’re underestimating me!"
Daniel looked at his body as it began to dissipate—
and instead of fear, he laughed.
He released the Line of Causality from his grasp, allowing it to return to the great web of rules.
The universe, frozen moments before, resumed its motion.
But in the very instant causality returned to its rightful place, Daniel invoked the authority of [Infinity].
Upon the rule of causality itself, he forcefully grafted a new premise.
[As long as the Human Emperor exists, humanity shall never perish.]
This iron law—
Forged jointly from the souls of tens of millions of gods and the supreme authority of the Human Emperor—
Was elevated by Daniel to a priority equal to causality itself.
"My defeat," Daniel said calmly,
"is not a result you are qualified to define."
"Because as long as even the concept of humanity still exists—"
"I will never reach an end."
The logical chain guiding him toward defeat collided with this new rule—
And was instantly repelled.
For the first time, a crack appeared in the face of absolute rationality.
Knowledge Daniel stared at him.
"You’ve turned an entire race into your anchor."
"Using the sacrifice of millions of gods, you’ve locked yourself behind an unbreakable seal."
"The strongest Daniel..."
"You’re even more insane than I imagined."
Daniel did not respond.
He already understood—
A simple duel of rules would lead nowhere.
He could create rules.
Knowledge Daniel could distort them.
If this continued, even if the New Life Universe reached total heat death, no victor would emerge.
To end this battle, they needed something that transcended rules themselves.
"If rules cannot determine victory,"
Knowledge Daniel’s voice echoed throughout the New Life Universe,
"then rules themselves have no reason to exist."
For the first time, his perfectly rational eyes no longer carried streams of data.
Only emptiness remained.
He raised his hand.
A completely new God Rank Skill was activated.
[Return of All Things to Oblivion]
The rule-web forming the entire world—the clear, solid lattice of laws—began to fracture.
Not through attack.
Not through destruction.
But because the meaning of their existence was being stripped away.
Space was no longer space.
Time was no longer time.
Light and darkness merged.
The boundary between life and death dissolved.
The New Life Universe, unfolded through Daniel’s [Infinity] domain, was being erased—
Not physically.
But conceptually.
All things were returning to their most primordial state.
Nothingness.
Daniel watched in silence as the rules he had personally forged collapsed one by one.
There was no expression on his face.
As if none of this concerned him at all.
In the next instant—
Both figures vanished from the disintegrating universe.
Their battle ascended to an entirely new level.
In the ancient era of a certain worldline—
Two primitive humans sat beside a campfire, striking bones with stones.
High above them, two incomprehensible silhouettes flashed across the sky.
One of the primitives lifted his head in confusion.
He felt as though he had seen something—
Or perhaps nothing at all.
The campfire beside him extinguished silently.
In another worldline—
Within a magnificent city floating amid the sea of stars—
Daniel and Knowledge Daniel appeared at the city’s very center.
They did not make physical contact.
They merely exchanged a glance.
The city’s energy core instantly overloaded.
All lights flared to maximum brightness—
Then the entire city, along with the surrounding starfield, collapsed into an unobservable region of absolute darkness.
Their battlefield was no longer confined to any location.
Nor any moment.
Every exchange between them sent ripples through the River of Time.
Countless possibilities.
Countless worldlines.
Quietly annihilated by the aftershocks of their collisions.
From the origin of all things—
To the end of civilization.
From before the birth of the first ray of light—
To after the final star had extinguished.
At last, when the River of Time itself had been twisted into utter chaos by their conflict—
They stopped simultaneously.
Everything around them vanished.
No stars.
No matter.
No energy.
Not even the concept of temporal flow.
All things—
Were nothing.
Time, space, everything—
Seemed not to exist at all.
Daniel felt a faint intuition stir within him.
The place he now occupied—
Might very well be the so-called "end."
"Do you feel it?"
Knowledge Daniel’s voice echoed directly within Daniel’s mind.
"This is the end."
"Here, there is no distinction between life and death."
"No concept of victory or defeat."
"All struggle loses its meaning."
"You cannot kill me."
"And I cannot truly erase you."
"We have become beings equivalent to concepts themselves."
"As long as this world still possesses cognition, I will not disappear."
"So why don’t we stop here?"
"Give up ascending to that highest tier."
"There is no need for either of us to die."
"This is the most rational choice."
Daniel did not reply.
He simply raised his hand—
And once more launched a full-power attack at Knowledge Daniel.
Yet this environment responded like shouting into a vacuum.
Their powers, though rooted in rules, seemed utterly meaningless here.
Knowledge Daniel remained calm in the face of the assault.
He gazed at Daniel coldly.
"It’s useless."
"Every attack you make—"
"Every attempt to erase me—"
"Is itself a form of cognition."
"The more you try to kill me—"
"The more you prove that I exist."
As his words fell, his figure re-coalesced at its original position.
Completely intact.
His aura showed no sign of weakening.
Daniel stared at him in silence.
Then, as always—
He continued attacking.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Like a machine executing a predetermined program.
Attack.
Erase.
Watch the opponent resurrect.
No hesitation.
No deviation.
No end.
Time lost meaning.
Eventually, Knowledge Daniel’s form reappeared once more.
This time, a strange expression crossed his face.
It was not anger.
Not fear.
But a deep, incomprehensible confusion.
"Why?"
"What are you doing?"
"This is completely meaningless!"
"Our battle will continue for eternity!"
"You will be trapped at the end of time forever!"
"Tell me—what exactly do you want?!"
"What is the point of this endless repetition?!"
This time—
Daniel stopped.
He looked at Knowledge Daniel, who was spiraling into confusion from his inability to understand.
At last, Daniel spoke.
His voice was calm.
Flat.
Without emotion.
"I’m not like you."
"Your cognition is wrong."
"In truth, this meaninglessness—"
"Exists only because you believe it does."
"But let me tell you something."
Daniel’s gaze sharpened.
"You’re already dead."