Free Web NovelNight had fully descended.
The sky no longer resembled a sky.
It resembled a wound.
A vast scar stretched across the heavens, bleeding streams of crimson ether into the darkness above the city.
Golden angels floated among shattered clouds.
Demonic horrors crawled from rivers of blood below.
Reality itself had become unstable.
Distance bent.
Gravity shifted.
Space cracked like broken glass.
And at the center of the apocalypse stood two figures.
One was Lucien Valebrook.
The hidden holder of the Axis of Harmony.
The Dimensional Overlord.
A man who had spent centuries deceiving the world.
The other—
Was the nightmare wearing Eternia's body.
Lucien's four eyes narrowed.
His transformed body towered over ruined buildings.
Four muscular arms radiated violet ether.
Countless dimensional fractures orbited him like floating mirrors.
Each fracture contained entire landscapes.
Mountains.
Oceans.
Stars.
Pocket dimensions created through centuries of mastery.
Yet despite possessing power capable of rewriting reality itself—
He was losing.
Badly.
The realization tasted bitter.
Lucien twisted his body and narrowly avoided a chain descending from above.
The chain smashed into the earth.
An entire district vanished.
Not destroyed.
Erased.
The impact converted everything within hundreds of meters into dust.
Lucien's stomach tightened.
That had merely been a casual swing.
A casual attack.
Nothing more.
The monster wearing the young girl's body hadn't even bothered looking at him.
Its attention had briefly wandered elsewhere.
Toward something beyond the battlefield.
Toward some unseen objective.
And even distracted—
It remained overwhelmingly powerful.
Lucien's instincts screamed.
Run.
Escape.
Survive.
Every survival instinct cultivated over centuries begged him to retreat.
Yet he remained.
Because there was nowhere left to run.
The barrier surrounding the battlefield stretched for kilometers.
A prison.
A cage.
A tomb.
And within that tomb stood one of the greatest evils in existence.
The First Demon King of Calamity.
At least—
That was what Lucien believed.
He clenched his fists.
Reddish Violet ether surged through his transformed body.
The dimensional fractures surrounding him multiplied.
Thousands.
Tens of thousands.
The air trembled.
Space distorted.
The very laws of reality began bending beneath his authority.
Across from him—
The monster slowly turned.
Its silver hair flowed behind it.
Four arms rested at its sides.
One pair glowed with holy brilliance.
The other radiated corruption so profound it made existence itself recoil.
Golden runes covered pale skin.
The star-shaped mark upon its forehead burned brighter than before.
Then it spoke.
"Interesting."
Its voice carried neither hatred nor rage.
Only curiosity.
That frightened Lucien more than anger ever could.
He had fought tyrants.
Monsters.
Ancient entities.
Rogue saints.
Corrupted Heroes.
Every one of them possessed emotion.
Fear.
Greed.
Wrath.
Pride.
Something.
Anything.
This thing felt different.
Like it was studying him.
Like a scholar examining an insect.
Like a child pulling apart a toy.
Lucien hated that feeling.
He hated it more than death.
Without warning—
He moved.
BOOM!
The battlefield shattered.
Space folded around him.
Distance ceased to matter.
Lucien appeared directly in front of the monster.
Four fists descended simultaneously.
Each punch carried enough force to flatten mountains.
Each punch distorted reality itself.
The strikes connected.
Or should have connected.
The monster casually caught one fist.
Without looking.
Without effort.
Without concern.
Lucien felt cold.
A terrible cold.
The creature's fingers tightened around his wrist.
CRACK.
Bones shattered instantly.
Pain exploded through his arm.
Before Lucien could react—
The remaining three arms moved.
The holy sword carved downward.
The chained mace swept toward his ribs.
The axe descended toward his skull.
The golden chain shot forward like a serpent.
Lucien twisted reality.
Distance stretched.
The attacks should have missed.
Should have.
Instead—
The axe still struck.
Blood erupted.
Lucien flew backward.
Entire buildings exploded behind him.
His body smashed through seven structures before finally stopping.
Silence followed.
Then Lucien slowly stood.
Blood dripped from his shoulder.
His wounds regenerated immediately.
Yet his expression darkened.
His soul script controlled dimensions.
Distance.
Shape.
Direction.
Space itself.
The attack should never have landed.
Never.
And yet—
The monster's strike ignored conventional logic.
It wasn't merely powerful.
It possessed absurd combat mastery.
Perfect mastery.
Lucien gritted his teeth.
"How?"
The monster smiled.
"Experience."
One word.
Nothing more.
Yet Lucien understood.
The answer was terrifying.
Experience.
The First Demon King had existed for untold ages.
It had fought countless wars.
Countless heroes.
Countless gods.
Countless worlds.
How many battles had it experienced?
Millions?
Billions?
Trillions?
The number itself became meaningless.
Lucien suddenly realized something horrifying.
He wasn't fighting strength.
He wasn't fighting power.
He wasn't fighting talent.
He was fighting accumulated eternity.
The thought made his stomach churn.
The monster slowly began walking toward him.
One step.
Two steps.
Three.
Each step caused reality to tremble.
Each step felt heavier than the last.
Lucien instinctively stepped backward.
Then stopped.
No.
Enough.
He was Lucien Valebrook.
The Dimensional Overlord.
The hidden protector of the empire.
The holder of an Axis.
He would not retreat.
Not again.
Ether erupted.
Thousands of dimensional fractures opened simultaneously.
The night sky became filled with glowing cracks.
Each fracture revealed another dimension.
Another reality.
Another possibility.
Lucien raised all four arms.
"Sacred Art: Dimensional Dominion."
The battlefield froze.
Then—
Reality shattered.
Entire sections of the world transformed.
Buildings became paper.
Roads became rivers.
Stone became liquid.
The sky folded.
Space compressed.
Dimensions twisted together into a massive labyrinth.
An impossible environment designed to kill.
To trap.
To dominate.
Lucien attacked.
The battlefield vanished beneath an endless storm of dimensional blades.
Thousands.
Millions.
An impossible number. freёwebnovel.com
Every blade emerged from a different angle.
A different dimension.
A different reality.
The attack covered everything.
Every direction.
Every possibility.
The monster disappeared beneath the assault.
Explosions echoed continuously.
The world shook.
The barrier trembled.
Lucien did not stop.
He continued attacking.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Again.
His soul script operated at maximum capacity.
Every drop of ether.
Every fragment of strength.
Everything poured into the offensive.
He could not allow the creature even a moment to breathe.
A moment later—
The attacks stopped.
The battlefield became silent.
Lucien breathed heavily.
His transformed body trembled.
His reserves had dropped considerably.
Yet it had been worth it.
Nothing could survive that.
Nothing.
Then a voice emerged from the smoke.
"You've improved." free𝑤ebnovel.com
Lucien froze.
The smoke parted.
The monster stood untouched.
Not a scratch.
Not a single wound.
Not one.
Lucien's heart sank.
The creature tilted its head.
"You are stronger than the previous time."
Lucien's eyes widened.
Previous time?
What did that mean?
Before he could ask—
The monster vanished.
Instinct screamed.
Lucien twisted reality.
Space folded.
The axe missed his neck by millimeters.
The chained mace shattered a dimensional barrier.
The holy sword carved through another.
The chain wrapped around his arm.
Lucien roared.
Ether exploded.
Distance expanded infinitely.
The chain snapped.
He retreated hundreds of meters instantly.
The monster followed.
Again.
Again.
Again.
No matter how far Lucien moved.
No matter how much space he manipulated.
The creature remained in front of him.
Like distance itself had ceased to exist.
Lucien's confidence finally began cracking.
He had always believed himself nearly invincible.
Almost at the Godling Realm.
Holder of an Axis.
Master of dimensions.
A hidden guardian.
Yet now—
He felt powerless.
The realization disgusted him.
His anger exploded.
"WHY?!"
The battlefield trembled.
"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!"
Ether surged violently.
"WHY ARE YOU HELLBENT ON DESTROYING THE WORLD?!"
For the first time—
The monster stopped.
Silence spread.
The winds died.
The angels paused.
The demons froze.
Everything became still.
The creature looked genuinely confused.
Then it sighed.
A strange sound.
Almost disappointed.
"Destroy the world?"
Its voice echoed across the battlefield.
"Who said I intended to destroy the world?"
Lucien laughed bitterly.
"LIAR."
The creature remained silent.
Lucien pointed at the ruined capital.
The mountains of corpses.
The burning sky.
The rivers of blood.
The endless destruction.
"You call this salvation?"
The monster's eyes narrowed.
Something ancient stirred behind them.
Something vast.
Something incomprehensible.
Then it answered.
"You understand nothing."
The words carried no emotion.
No anger.
No hatred.
Only certainty.
Lucien clenched his fists.
"Enough."
Ether erupted once more.
"Even after reincarnating you remain the same."
His voice thundered.
"A plague upon existence."
The monster stared.
Then laughed softly.
The sound sent chills down Lucien's spine.
"You misunderstand."
The creature's smile widened.
"I never reincarnated."
Lucien froze.
"What?"
The monster spread its four arms.
"This body is merely another vessel."
The battlefield grew colder.
"One among many."
Lucien felt dread.
Deep.
Ancient.
Primal.
The creature took another step.
"One day you may understand."
Its voice became quieter.
"Although I suspect you won't live long enough."
Lucien roared.
Enough.
Enough riddles.
Enough horror.
Enough fear.
If death awaited him—
Then he would meet it head-on.
His ether exploded outward.
The sky cracked.
Dimensional fractures merged together.
Forming a single colossal gateway.
The gateway expanded.
Larger.
Larger.
Larger.
Until it dwarfed entire mountains.
Heat emerged.
Unimaginable heat.
The gateway connected directly to a star.
Not metaphorically.
Literally.
A living star.
The surface of a distant sun.
Solar flames erupted from the portal.
The capital illuminated brighter than day.
Everything began melting.
Stone liquefied.
Metal evaporated.
The barrier trembled violently.
Even the angels and demons retreated.
Lucien's body began breaking apart under the strain.
Blood poured from his eyes.
His skin cracked.
Yet he smiled.
This was everything.
His strongest attack.
His final attack.
His last stand.
"Sacred Art..."
The dimensional gateway expanded further.
The sun beyond it roared.
Solar fire flooded reality.
"WORMHOLE."
The heavens exploded.
An ocean of stellar fire descended.
Not a stream.
Not a beam.
An ocean.
A true piece of a star unleashed upon the battlefield.
Everything disappeared beneath the light.
Everything.
The monster looked upward.
For the first time during the battle—
It appeared amused.
Almost pleased.
"So."
The creature smiled.
"Your final stand."
The world trembled.
The heavens shook.
The abyss below churned.
Then the monster slowly opened its mouth.
And every living thing felt terror.
Pure terror.
Ancient terror.
The kind hidden deep within the soul.
The kind older than instinct itself.
The kind that whispered:
Run.
The creature raised its gaze toward the descending sunfire.
Its four arms spread outward.
The angels above ceased singing.
The demons below ceased roaring.
The battlefield became silent.
Then the monster spoke.
Three words.
Words that would forever haunt reality.
"Divine Art."
The world stopped breathing.
"Sanctuary's Sacrifice."
And darkness answered.
