The extremely low-hanging thick and dark clouds appeared as if they would come crashing down at any moment. Such abnormal phenomena made it seem like the end of the world was fast approaching. Lightning crackled every so often, yet the sound was drowned out by the howling snowstorm.
Krackk...
Cracks had started to appear on the second Dream Creator barrier once more, indicating that it wouldn't hold out for too long.
The ground shook, and spider web-like fissures covering a wide area kept expanding.
Backing off slightly, Winston took a deep breath and reached out his hand to grasp the air. He could clearly feel that the temperature of the entire battlefield was rising continuously.
Caroline, chief of the Logistics Division, who had rushed over from the rear, was standing next to him. The woman had a lit cigarette, and blood was streaming from her shut eyes.
As the chaotic aether field within the battlefield had already far exceeded the scope of the aether surveillance monitors, Caroline had to personally mobilize in order to grasp more accurate information.
"Huuu…" Caroline blew out a stream of smoke while rubbing the corners of her eyes. Although Eyes of Gazing could directly obtain the information she wanted, it was rather strenuous and would cause some damage.
Wearily, she said, "Joseph has finally completed his own Law. A second Supreme-rank domain has been formed. Now... it's no longer a place for us minor characters."
“…”
Even though this meant that Joseph might have a chance to turn the tables, Winston didn't feel the least bit pleased.
The reason why the 'Indomitable Sacred Flame' got his name was Joseph's signature technique of burning aether to produce a white blaze.
Admirers and followers of Joseph claimed that these flames were the light of justice.
Yet now, it was completely dark on the other side of the barrier.
Winston stared into the distance, having understood what Caroline meant—What was about to unfold was a real battle between Supreme-rank, a collision between Laws and a clash between concepts that transcended everything.
He eyed the main supporting pillar of the Dream Creator's barrier and worried how long it would last. If this final layer shattered and Secret Rite Tower didn't intend to awaken the one in the Central District, then perhaps the whole of Norzin might really be destroyed.
In his dazed state, Winston said what was on his mind.
Caroline jokingly replied, "At least you won't have to worry about the punishment that might result from your earlier act of insubordination."
Winston scoffed. He didn't want to give a damn about Secret Rite Tower anymore. Glancing at the knights who had managed to escape death and were resting behind him, Winston felt that he had already done whatever he could.
When it comes to being a chief, I'm no worse than you, Joseph!
Winston couldn't help but chuckle when he recalled the open and covert strife between the two of them in the past. However, the smile on his face still faded rather quickly. He gripped his communications device tightly and had a complicated look on his face. Greg had yet to reply, but Winston had a rough understanding of the whole affair now.
The motive of the bookstore owner had been to let Joseph and Wilde rely on each other to ascend to Supreme-rank.
All other factors had been to bring about the success of these two. When the goal was achieved, all people and things involved in this process were considered trash that could be abandoned at any time.
The cruelty of these higher existences was truly suffocating.
Within the barrier isolated from the world, dream fissures opened from the space constantly bombarded by Supreme-rank aether. Low level dream beasts that took the opportunity to sneak through were instantly destroyed by the domain of Eventuality the moment they entered.
The man-made city of Norzin had been completely flattened, and the metal frame that supported the city from beneath the ground had been exposed and quickly rusting away as they swayed and gradually broke.
Heavy snow that filled the sky was vaporized by the high temperatures before hitting the ground, and even the air had started to distort.
With sword in hand, Joseph stood erect. There were no longer any blazing flames around him, but surging heat waves rippled, burning everything around him.
Burning without firewood was as resolute as seeking death.
The expanding domain of Burning rapidly cleared everything. With Joseph as the center, a huge empty circle gradually formed. Joseph, who had unleashed his domain of Burning at the cost of his life, seemed to have an inexhaustible supply of aether.
Although there was no light, the pitch-black substances vaporized instantly and disappeared as if they were shadows hit by the sun's rays.
Yet, the darkness seemed endless as more and more continued to surge forward.
Wilde sneered and proclaimed loudly, "Eventuality is an unchangeable fate; it is the true end. Even if you burn everything, what you see at the end would still be an eventuality. The concept of my domain is above yours, and you will never be able to defeat me.
"Therefore, what you and your daughter did was all for naught."
However, Joseph did not seem to hear this at all. Instead, he was staring at Wilde calmly. His severely chipped sword was dim, yet it made instinctive alarm bells go off in Wilde's mind. The black magician had a premonition and felt his heart shudder. "You…"
Joseph suddenly moved.
He did only one thing—stepping forward and slashing at Wilde with his sword.
There clearly wasn't any light at this moment, yet everyone gazing at this battlefield seemed to witness light.
At that moment, a huge white figure with a continuously changing shape akin to a living flame on the battlefield appeared behind Wilde and also slashed out!
[Soul Realm Image] — magnified millionfold!
And this time, it was Supreme-rank!
Wilde had a look of shock. He could read the words from Joseph's gaze: "I don't need to destroy your domain. I just need to kill you!"
That's right! Wilde had mastery over the concept, but he wasn't the concept itself.
Therefore, he had only been able to say, "I will become destruction," and not "I'll become eventuality"!
This, too, was something Joseph understood after he ascended to Supreme-rank. Even if one 'became a god,' he would still evolve according to the rules of transcendent power.
The flow of aether never changed.
Knights used life and death experiences to temper their physical bodies, so even a Supreme-rank knight with a Supreme-rank body would still fail to complete a simple spell.
Similarly, magicians trained their minds through meditation. A Supreme-rank magician might have mastery over all spells, but they would still have weak ordinary bodies.
In other words, Joseph had already grasped Wilde's weakness.
Although Wilde had craftily used a sacrificial technique to change his body, in truth, his true body was still extremely weak!
The long sword was pointed directly at Wilde's face atop his massive grotesque body. The domain of Burning that had been compressed to its extremes emitted a dazzling radiance, akin to the brilliant sun!
"Give it a try then. Since you've focused all your strength into the Soul Image, your main body should be rather weak now, right?" Wilde sneered.
Once more, he swept up rampant winds of snow, flesh, blood, and sacrificed souls along with the annihilative darkness to resist Joseph's burning.
At the same time, he willed countless tentacles to pierce Joseph's body.
The two Supreme-rank transcendent beings clashed with their fullest might in that instant.
Black and white intersected, melding the two into a grayish ball of light. Shock wave carrying the fragments of the entire city slammed into the dream barrier. Unable to withstand this force, the Dream Creators crumbled.
The boundary between dream and reality was utterly wrecked.
The energy that poured out was like a flood, drowning and flattening everything in its path.
This time, bearing the brunt of it wasn't a constructed dream world but the actual Norzin.
Wilde heard Joseph's final roar, or perhaps he didn't. Gradually, he was no longer able to see the outside world, and only the painful sensation of being burned remained—
Wilde's huge body burst like a balloon, and his scarred head was lopped off by the white giant's sword and stomped flat.
Milky-yellow brain matter was squeezed out, and at the same time, the white giant was dissolved into nothingness by the domain of Eventuality.
"No… Impossible…" Wilde muttered with great difficulty, his eyes that were opened gradually losing their luster.
"Nothing's impossible." Within the silent ruins, Joseph struggled to walk through the chaotic winds as he dragged his sword along. His voice was hoarse and he no longer looked human. Half his body had disappeared and his strength completely exhausted. At this moment, even an ordinary person could take him down.
But his burning wasn't over yet.
Squelch!
Joseph raised his sword and stabbed it into Wilde's head, ending the latter's life.
The black magician didn't even manage to finish his last words as his eyes turned completely dim. At the same time, the domain of Eventuality disappeared with the wielder's death as the darkness quickly disintegrated and returned to nothingness.
"Melissa..."
Joseph looked at his trembling hands and saw that his body was gradually reconstructing. Yet, his heart still felt empty. Even if he had killed Wilde, it didn't make him feel relieved at all.
After losing the person he wanted to protect the most, the power he had obtained was so useless and laughable.
"I, gurk—What...?"
Joseph suddenly felt a pain in his chest. He lowered his head and saw a violet tentacle, wrapped in dark annihilative matter, had stabbed into his chest and pierced through his beating heart!
"Pfft, bahahahahaha!"
Acute and all too familiar laughter sounded behind him... No, from all directions.
"Foolish Joseph, poor Joseph. You didn't really think that I was dead, did you? Hahahaha…!"
A ball of sludge-like substance emerged from the ground and formed the aged gentlemanly face of the black magician. A cynical smile was plastered on his face as if he was reveling in plaudits for a show he just directed. "How is my ability to integrate with death compared to back then?"
"Haah…" Joseph could not say anything. He gazed at the snowflakes falling from the sky and his heart was calm.
Wilde regained his original form and walked up to Joseph and pinched the latter's face, revealing a graceful smile. "This is destiny, Joseph. It's a reward for my loyalty to Boss Lin. Do you know? The purpose of establishing the Corpse Devouring Sect was to spread Boss Lin's gospel. And just now, when I became a Supreme-rank, I wondered if I had done enough.
"Can I be enough to repay Boss Lin? Apparently, it's not enough.
"My devotion isn't enough! I need more. Even more!"
Wilde had the look of a raving lunatic. "So... Guess what was the first thing I did after becoming Supreme-rank?"
Joseph couldn't answer. His consciousness was close to dissipating.
"That's right!" Wilde answered his own question excitedly, nearly losing his composure. "I immediately set up a ritual and sacrificed myself to Boss Lin! Hahahahaha!"
Lunatic… Even though Joseph knew how crazy Wilde was, this was the word that still popped up in his mind.
"And it was till the moment you killed me that this unparalleled ritual was officially completed.
“A sacrificer sacrifices himself. The one receiving the sacrifice has the right to accept it or not. If Boss Lin is willing to accept my life, I will become his eternal dependent. If he doesn't accept it…
"Then, I'll be resurrected."
Wilde lowered his head and gazed at Joseph. Chuckling, he patted the knight's shoulder and bowed. "Thank you, old friend."
Is this… the end?
Death was upon him, but Joseph felt a sense of relief.
A16 Manor.
Baam!
Just as Lin Jie was about to tell Miss Ji that this caterpillar was rather docile and not the least bit scary, the side hall's door was suddenly forcibly slammed open.
"Boss Lin!"
Lin Jie turned around and was surprised to see Greg, who was supposed to be waiting outside.
Ji Zhixiu nervously eyed Boss Lin's fingers above the Clockwheel Worm. Because its owner had turned his head, his fingers moved away slightly, making Ji Zhixiu heave a sigh of relief.
Ji Bonong frowned. "You are… Greg?"
Greg ignored him and rushed to Boss Lin anxiously. "Please, please save—"
There was a faint racket of guards and servants who were following behind. It seemed that they had rescued the butler who had been thrown to the side and were preparing to rush in.
Lin Jie didn't hear him clearly. "What did you say?"
Rumble... Boom…!
A loud sound was accompanied by violent shuddering of the ground, causing the crystal chandelier in the room to shake and clink. Blinding light flickered outside the window, and the entire house shook.
WTF?
An earthquake???
The bewildered Lin Jie staggered slightly, and he subconsciously tightened his grip on the small clock in his hand, accidentally turning the cog counter-clockwise with his fingers.
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