Ahmed slowly opened his eyes.
"No, my power! Why can't my power increase anymore?!"
His consciousness was still somewhat muddled, leaving him unable to think clearly.
At that moment, far away in Canada, Brad's consciousness sensed everything through the embryonic body.
"How fascinating. This body seems able to absorb energy by nature. Is it because the Life Stele has already appeared?"
"In other universes, the Life Stele appeared when Havoc was born. Here, artificial intervention has reversed that causal relationship."
Brad felt his embryonic self gradually growing stronger. Its tiny body looked as though a passing stray cat could kill it, yet its actual energy readings were steadily approaching those of Ahmed in his current Life Stele form.
But Brad chose not to accelerate the embryo's development any further. It was merely a means of restraining Ahmed-a limiter.
If he let the Life Stele grow indefinitely until it reached the size of a planet, Brad wasn't sure the little surgical procedure he had performed on Ahmed would still work.
This was just right.
Brad walked over to the sealed Metal Pillars, and an AI-generated voice sounded in Ahmed's ears.
"Ahmed, I hope you remember who you are. I can take this power back at any time. Remember, I brought you into being!"
The black giant inside the Metal Pillars slowly raised his head, his consciousness gradually clearing.
"...Y-yes, Mr. Brad. Ahmed pledges his loyalty to you."
His enormous body gradually shrank. Finally, Ahmed's pitch-black, nearly eight-meter-tall form returned to normal. Aside from his skin seeming a little darker than before, his appearance looked unchanged.
But Brad knew that compressed within this seemingly ordinary-sized body was enough energy to destroy heaven and earth.
Of course, that was only because Brad had happened to be fully prepared, and the hastily developed Havoc