Chronos’s words provoked a fierce and immediate reaction from Pandora’s Box. Tarnished gold laws manifested atop the mountain and pressed down upon Chronos, one of the three blessed individuals atop the mountain.

  The laws nibbled away at Chronos’s weaker blessing with steady certainty. The realm treasure’s threat was clear: if he did not explain himself, and quickly, the blessing it had given would be whittled away to nothing.

  Chronos seemed to have expected this. Reality blurred as the former Titan used his mind and memories to paint a vivid picture. A lush green planet appeared before Sorin’s eyes. It was 80 percent greenery and twenty percent pristine blue waters.

  “I have been to many worlds since my exile from Pandora,” Chronos’s voice boomed in the background. “Some were thriving, and others were waning. Yet no matter what state I found each world in I encountered an unavoidable constant that pervades all of creation: Ruin is inevitable. Time is the ultimate destroyer of all things.”

  The vision shifted as Chronos displayed the world using his Authority. The planet appeared to be thriving, but their weakness in its core.

  This weakness stemmed from wounds both old and recent. They were laid bare as Chronos methodically stripped away time from the vision, revealing a crisscrossing pattern that wound around the planet’s inner shell, hampering its energy flow.

  “To live is to suffer, for time affects all things,” continued Chronos. “And while worlds might seem unchanging and eternal to the mortals living upon it, I assure you that worlds are living things. They breathe in cosmic energy from the void and expel harmful substances. Via net gain of energy, they grow and nurture their inhabitants, who further refine the world’s substance.

  “Yet when these beings reach a level of power the world can no longer manage, things change.” Time skipped forward, and the large mammalian creatures reached a state not unlike Sorin’s. They rejected the realm’s blessing and were exiled by the realm out of self-defense. Doing so cost the realm a great deal of energy, and that wasn’t even considering the large chunk of energy those beings took with them.

  “Strife. Competition. War. These things are necessary for the evolution of a world. They work out the inconsistencies and set out a compatible direction. They smooth out natural frictions and promote the generation of a broader and more tolerance rule set.

  “And yet…” Sorin winced as claw marks and uninhabitable areas built up over the surface of the planet. Like those beings with excessive powers, these wounds were something the planet couldn’t cope with.

  If that were all, it might have been able to recover. But then came politics and strife in the pantheon. This strife and collusion created further inefficiencies in the framework that resulted in loopholes. Even more deities broke free of the realm, and those who remained behind taxed the planet beyond what it could deliver.

  Gradually, the world’s core dimmed. The planet doled out its riches until it had nothing left to give.

  The plants wilted. The earth cracked. Oceans dried up, leading to doubts, starvation, and mass extinction.

  “This story plays out on every world. The elements change, but the results do not. On a metal world, I saw a magnificent mechanical civilization rust and collapse. On a water world, I saw poisonous substances accumulate until mortals could no longer survive.

  “Even energy worlds are not spared this fate.” A planet with the appearance of a sun appeared before them. The sky was plasma, and it was due to this hostile shield that creatures evolved to live upon the planet’s molten core. These beings were made of light and heat.

  “I experienced intense rejection on this planet because unlike the planet’s native life forms, my base is matter. While this prevented me from interacting with anything on the planet, I was able to watch as time unfolded without having to consider the impact of my presence.

  “At first, it seemed like the perfect world. The energy was so pure and free of contamination. Yet it turns out that even energy is not immune to the ravages of time. In the end, entropy prevails. The core energy of the realm can’t help but gradually degenerate. The process takes longer than it does with material worlds, but the end result is just as catastrophic.

  The scenery changed to reveal a massive city. It stretched on into infinity and encompassed all dimensions, including space, time, and many others Sorin wasn’t familiar with. Billions of connections expanded to connect this single city to the countless nearby sub realms. Pandora was one of these many sub realms, a small one at the outskirts. Little traffic passed between this world and Pandora.

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  “My travels eventually led me to a place called the Nexus. The Nexus is a multiversal hub that records the history of the universe. It is also where exiled deity eventually find themselves.

  “Though I wasn’t the weakest in the Nexus, I wasn’t anything impressive. In Pandora, we have five cultivation realms, but here, the world’s laws allow creatures to reach the twelfth realm of cultivation. The mortals of the Nexus are naturally born in the 4th realm and are considered employable adults when they reach the 5th realm and develop the ability to cultivate.”

  What followed were many scenes of Chronos being bullied and stepped on. He was forced to accept his lot in life and became a lowly dishwasher in a simple restaurant. It took decades before he was able to scrape together a living and access the Librarium.

  “The Librarium is the Nexus’s sole public library. It is a veritable trove of information, and it was there that I painstakingly researched Pandora’s situation.

  “Realm deterioration is a heavily researched topic. Millions of worlds have perished since the birth of the Nexus, so there is ample data. Pandora’s ailment is a common one called Acute Energy Mismatch Degeneration. This occurs when large outfluxes of energy reduce the realm’s total energy stores. Before the planet can adapt, a large influx of energy replenishes the planet, albeit with energy stores that do not match the planet’s law structure.”

  Sorin nodded as he interpreted Chronos’s words, and the pictures provided. The large outflux of energy occurred when the titans were banished. The world adapted by birthing the Eight Evils but underwent drastic changes when Chronos and his band of banished titans returned with Outsiders.

  The death of these few titans and the many outsiders topped up the world’s energy stores. This was good for the world but introduced foreign laws that the world wasn’t certain how to incorporate.

  A ready analogy existed in medicine. A man who lost an organ could receive a transplant, and while no material was lost, the organ could have varying levels of compatibility.

  Sometimes, this would result in rejection of the organ. At other times, this would result in imperfect functioning of the organ. Either way, it was impossible to avoid a drop in health and longevity. The source of this loss was the fact that the replacement organ and the original body had different origins.

  “In cases of Acute Energy Mismatch Degeneration, the best way for the world to recover is rebirth,” continued Chronos. A hard reset, if you will. “All life, matter, energy, and laws must be folded into the core and reorganized in its most base state.

  “Though the resulting world is much weaker, it is more stable and has greater potential. This enhances the world’s ability to absorb external energy and make use of it.

  “The only problem with this approach is the critical period of weakness. Pandora needs a guardian if it is to survive this trail. And what better guardian than one who has seen the multiverse and its history. One that had travelled through time and space.”

  Pandora’s Box responded favorably to these worlds. Chronos’s blessing saw a boost and improved inclusion.

  Pandora’s Laws also began to change. The cyclical nature of Chronos’s laws was incorporated.

  This wasn’t good news to Sorin, because alongside these cyclical laws were unique laws of erosion Sorin had yet to deal with. He pushed back with his Nemesis Authority and was able to stall this erosion, but remained cautious as the force of erosion grew stronger.

  At the same time as the realm blessed Chronos, it posed a question to Sorin, Madeline, and Hades: Why not? The question hung over Sorin’s neck like an executioner’s blade.

  Sorin thought for a few minutes before giving his answer. “Rebirth seems like a viable option, but it begs the question: Will you still be Pandora? Will you maintain your core identity?

  “More to the point, is it worth the risk? By collapsing upon yourself to recreate the world, you will put yourself at your guardian’s mercy. Who is to stop your guardian from claiming you as a trophy? Who is to stop your guardian from consuming you whole?”

  Pandora seemed to understand his concerns. It loosened its grip on Sorin and even halted its erosion of his powers. Sorin recognized this for what it was: a stay of execution. Chronos’s words had convinced it that exile wasn’t the only answer. It could slay Sorin and slowly reabsorb it through rebirth or a variant thereof.

  Madline and Hades must have also given satisfactory answers; their faces were relaxed, while Chronos’s eyes were burning with anger. His blessing had substantially reduced from its peak. That said, it was much stronger than it had been originally.

  “It looks like Pandora doesn’t like your suggestion, Father,” said Hades smugly. “Likely because both parts of the problem were introduced by you. It was you who decided to leave instead of returning to the realm’s origin. It was you who brought Outsiders into this world.”

  “To replenish its energy stores,” insisted Chronos. “Too many of us died following our exile. The world needed a top-up, and leading na?ve invaders into Pandora was the only way make up for that.”

  “I think the greater point to be made is that this solution is too much like death,” chimed in Madeline. “The world is a living thing. It wants to continue living.”

  “Agreed,” said Hades. “This world is damaged, yes, but we shouldn’t give up on it. We should help it recover. Alas, I suspect that we disagree on which approach to take. Madeline is soft and indecisive. In such a situation, you need a strong deity at the helm. Unless you would both like to present your own inferior solution first?”

  Sorin shook his head. “I have no interest in claiming Pandora’s Box. You go first.” Though he doubted they believed him, he honestly had no interest in governing the realm. All he wanted was not to be exiled. And for that to happen, he needed to understand the world. He needed time.”

  “Chivalry is dead, it seems,” said Madeline. “You already framed your argument, so you might as your profound vision of the future so that we might strike it down.”

  “In that case, I shan’t hold back,” said Hades. “This world… has a problem. Specifically, it has a management problem. My proposal involves the implementation of proper governance and establishing a structured system of official deities.

  “I present to you all: New Pandora.”