The light did not behave as Greed had expected.
For a long moment it hovered within the void, trembling faintly like a fragile ember suspended in endless darkness.
Greed observed it carefully, studying the small and fragile glow that now existed because of their will. It was weak and limited, yet it was undeniably real.
In their previous existences, creation had never been so simple. Entire worlds had required labour, industry, and the endless exploitation of resources and lives to produce what they desired. But for them, now a single thought had produced something tangible.
The simplicity of it was intoxicating, Greed wanted to experience it more.
Greed extended their will again.
The light multiplied.
One spark became two, then two became dozens, and soon hundreds of glowing fragments drifted through the emptiness like scattered embers from an unseen fire. The darkness that had once been perfect and silent was now speckled with faint, wandering light.
Greed watched them with quiet satisfaction.
More had always been the answer.
More territory.More wealth.More power.
Now there was simply more light.
Yet something unexpected happened as the sparks spread through the void. They did not remain still as Greed had imagined they would.Instead slowly, the lights began drifting toward one another. Their paths curved through the darkness as though guided by something unseen.
Greed paused.
He had not commanded this movement.
One small cluster of his created sparks drifted closer together, their glow intensifying as the distance between them vanished. When they collided, the flash was sudden and violent, scattering fragments outward through the void.
Greed observed carefully, taking note and studying the interactions going on around him.
The reaction had been predictable, yet it had not come from his will.
What was causing this?
Another cluster formed nearby. Once again the sparks drifted toward each other, spiralling slowly before colliding and bursting apart in another brilliant flash. Motion followed motion, reaction followed impact, and the fragments scattered endlessly through the emptiness.
Greed felt something fundamental stir within their consciousness.
Curiosity.
They began to experiment.
A single spark appeared in the darkness, newly created and alone. He focused his will and pushed it forward. The spark accelerated instantly, streaking through the void before striking another fragment of light. The moment they collided, both objects shot away from one another in opposite directions.
Greed repeated the action.
The result remained the same.
Every push created motion, and every collision produced an equal reaction. The universe was responding to something deeper than command. Beneath the sparks and the darkness lay a structure Greed had not yet understood.
There were rules.
He slowed his thoughts and observed more carefully.
This time he created two sparks close together and did nothing but wait, watching in silence as the tiny lights drifted through the void.
Slowly, almost reluctantly, the sparks began moving toward one another. Their paths curved gently as they approached, as though something invisible was connecting them.
Greed concentrated on the movement.
Nothing had pushed them.
Yet they moved.
They were being pulled.
Greed expanded their awareness, studying the strange behaviour with growing fascination. The pattern revealed itself gradually as they observed more sparks drifting through the darkness. Larger fragments seemed to pull more strongly than smaller ones, bending the paths of nearby lights as they passed.
Some sparks even began circling the larger ones, trapped in looping paths that repeated again and again.
Greed remained silent for a long time.
He had created the light itself, but not the rule guiding its motion. That rule had already existed, embedded within the structure of himself which he has spread across reality waiting to be discovered.
His curiosity deepened further.
Greed created a much larger spark and released it into the growing sea of light. Immediately the surrounding fragments changed their motion. Smaller sparks rushed toward the larger one, some crashing violently into its surface while others curved around it in wide sweeping arcs.
A swirling cloud of light began to form.
The motion slowly stabilised as the fragments settled into repeating paths around the massive centre.
Greed watched the pattern unfold with intense focus.
Mass changed motion.
Force created reaction.
Objects pulled one another through the emptiness.
The universe was not chaos.
It was structure. It was law.
And he was the universe.
Greed considered this discovery carefully. In their previous life, laws had been tools to manipulate or obstacles to overcome, things that could be bent by power or wealth. But these laws were different. They shaped the behaviour of existence itself.
Even Greed could not simply ignore them, they must have been born from his nature .
He could only learn these laws.
The realisation was irritating at first, but beneath that irritation something else stirred. Understanding these laws meant a possibility of him being able to claim possession of the rules that bound even him.
Greed looked upon the growing cluster of light and made a small adjustment.
Instead of forcing motion, they applied the slightest push to the swirling fragments. The pattern stabilised further, the sparks arranging themselves into a bright centre surrounded by orbiting lights.
Greed felt something close to satisfaction.
The first system had formed, not through domination but through understanding.
The universe was beginning to take shape.
And Greed had only just begun to learn its rules.
Far within the endless darkness, the growing mass of light intensified as its core compressed under its own weight.
Then, quietly and without command, the first star ignited.