Endless Horde: Through the Eyes of a Godking

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Cedric assumed that his return would cause a commotion...cause, well...it would make sense if it did. After all, he left with his strength barely reaching the Planar Traveler Realm and returned as, most likely, the strongest human being alive.

However, his assumptions were proven wrong.

The moment he felt his consciousness descend to his body, he also heard the sounds of his joints popping and the faint cracks of invisible shackles shattering within him.

For a brief moment, he was unable to move. His body needed time to adjust to the sheer amount of unexpected strength being injected directly into it. As time passed, the synchronization began.

After a couple of minutes, Cedric opened his eyes and immediately noticed the difference.

"This feels strange." He frowned, slightly displeased. "I'm not used to being this weak."

Unfortunately, though, he could only complain to himself about this. Actually, there's nothing for him to be worried about since, after a week, his strength will return to how it should be.

He took a deep breath and immediately regretted that decision. Wearing an ugly smile, he muttered, "Ugh, that nostalgic and hateful stench of corruption. Oh, how I missed you."

Of course, he was being sarcastic. He did not miss this at all. Even though he's still within humanity's territory, he could feel and smell the corruption all over the world.

As much as he hated this, he had to endure it for now. It also served as a reminder that he still had a lot of things to do moving forward.

Cedric immersed himself in his entire being. He slightly marveled at the power coursing through his body, which grew with each passing moment.

He saw the five lit and four dimmed Extreme Sun Apertures brought forth by practicing the Nine Suns Empyrean Codex. He saw the residual baptism of Baleful Astral Qi on the grains of his flesh caused by his cultivation of the Fiendgod Celestial Scripture. And finally, he could feel his soul gradually increasing in size to catch up with his progress on the Astral Sovereign Mantra.

Aside from his strength being restored and synchronizing to reality, Cedric could also feel the intimate connection to a strange place deep within his consciousness. He knew that this was his connection to the Tower of Prodigies.

If he willed it so, he could communicate with the System AI of the tower to either bring him back or take out the things he gained from there.

Last but definitely not least, Cedric briefly recalled what happened before he went to the Tower of Prodigies.

He remembered that a great war was imminent. He also recalled that before he left, he facilitated the revival of leylines, at least within humanity's territory. Everybody experienced the Origin Energy Storm and greatly benefited from it. And it's this very event that led him to his meeting with Big Han of the Ancient Titan Race.

Cedric opened his eyes and released a faint sigh. He looked around his isolation room and smiled wryly.

Since he mastered the Runic Heaven Records, Cedric's understanding of runes, symbols, and inscriptions has reached an unfathomable level by human standards. Just from a slight glance, he could spot 10 ways to easily shatter the isolating array that his previous self created. With a slight effort, he could even turn it inside out.

Sighing at the discrepancy, Cedric waved a hand, and immediately a fresh set of runes flew out of his sleeves. In an instant, the isolation array transformed and transcended. To say that this room has instantly become the safest place on earth would be an understatement.

And this was made with Cedric barely trying...

Cedric stood up and felt the awkwardness in his movement. Taking a couple of deep breaths, he flexed his muscles and regained perfect control over all aspects of his physique. He erred to the side of caution because everything around him seemed and felt fragile. He had to be careful not to accidentally cause destruction wherever he went.

Once he felt certain that he had an accurate grasp of his strength, he took a step and teleported outside of the room—an act that he would never dare to do prior to his time at the tower, but he could now since his comprehension and control over space laws were pretty much perfect.

After briefly scanning his home, he discovered the presence of his girlfriends.

Cedric was momentarily stunned. Suddenly, the memories came rushing back at him. His heartbeat quickened, and his eyes turned slightly moist.

He released a sigh to settle his emotions. He then made himself a cup of coffee and made his way to the living room. He sat on his favorite couch, the one that's near the windows, giving him a clear view of the academy.

"10 years in an hour..." Cedric muttered to himself, feeling all sorts of emotions right now.

It's been so long, yet upon returning, nothing much has changed. He feels estranged for some reason. He doesn't belong to this world anymore, despite it being his home.

He wondered if his fellow challengers also felt the same, and if so, how did they deal with it? Sadly, he had no contact with them right now, so he could only deal with this by himself.

**

Erica saw her boyfriend relaxing on his favorite couch.

Usually, she would either ignore this or join him to talk about random stuff just to spend some time with him.

For some reason, though, even though only a few hours had passed since she last saw him, something was different about him. It's weird; he doesn't seem to be doing anything right now, yet it made her feel this way.

He didn't look any different than he did a few hours ago. He's wearing the same clothes, has the same length of hair, and has the same relaxed and calm expression on his face. In short, physically at least, he remains the same.

But Erica, especially after the changes brought by the Origin Energy Storm, had sharper senses than before. She could tell that something was different about him. He's still her boyfriend, but her instincts told her that his changes were out of this world.

Something that she couldn't fathom for now...

"Take a picture, love. It'll last longer." Cedric's playful voice echoed in her ears, causing Erica to blush.

She ended up staring at him from afar because of what she felt all of a sudden.

'His demeanor doesn't seem weird...' Erica muttered to herself as she gingerly walked towards him.

"What! Aaahh!"

She yelled all of a sudden when a strange and unknown force suddenly swept her off her feet. It caused her to float towards Cedric, who gently caught her and placed her on his lap.

A pair of bright golden eyes gazed straight through her entire being. They held sincere emotions and strong longing, which stunned her speechless.

"Hi," he greeted.

Erica felt his possessive but gentle hands wrapping around her. She shivered at their physical contact, which is weird because she could've sworn that she had gotten used to his way of showing affection for a while now.

Just where is this difference coming from?

With his face nuzzled at her bountiful chests, which tickled her but she pointedly ignored, his muffled voice sounded in her ears:

"I can practically hear your thoughts, love," Cedric muttered with a comfortable sigh as he smushed his face on his girlfriend's breasts.

"Well, you just seem..."

"Different?" Cedric smirked as he completed her sentence.

"Yeah." Erica nodded. "What happened?"

Cedric stared at her. Once again, she felt as if he were staring straight at her soul. He then shook his head and said,

"A lot." Cedric then went back to breathing in her scent and continued, "A lot has happened. I can't say much for now, but overall, it's a good thing. I'll tell you all about it soon, I hope."

"Hnnn!"

The two of them heard a whining sound behind them. Erica looked, but Cedric didn't. She saw Chrissy standing there with a pout and brows furrowed.

"This is unfair. I want cuddles too, but I can't because I still haven't gotten my new physique regulated."

"Nonesense! C'mere."

"Wha—! Hey!!"

The same unknown force that put Erica in his lap also grabbed Chrissy as well. She dropped by his right thigh, and before she could utter any word of complaint, Cedric sealed her lips with a searing kiss.

She tried to push him away, not because she didn't like it but because her poison was too potent right now because of the changes that had happened to her. But despite trying, she was powerless against the burning passion behind Cedric's actions and his greedy and possessive paws, which practically imprisoned her and made her weak.

After roughly three minutes of making out, Erica blinked and felt impressed. Cedric just reduced Chrissy into a mumbling mess of hormones that quickly. This was probably the fastest he had done so.

She then felt his heated gaze turn to her and immediately felt threatened. She wanted to run, but she had nowhere to go.

Helplessly, she could only succumb to what happened to her and Chrissy afterwards.