Free Web NovelChapter 252: _No Going Back
"Daddy? What’s happening?"
"Shh. We’re... playing a little game." Ambrose hushed Orion as he carried him out of the suite.
Devon, Viktor, Valentine and Gabriel followed behind him.
The hallway was just as dark as the suite. Some people had run out of their rooms, confused and terrified. As much as Ambrose felt like helping he genuinely didn’t know where to start.
Because really how does he explain that this whole thing was happening because of an Eldritch horror somehow manufactured by the universe to delete him or worse?
[You don’t need to explain.] Aura said in his head.
’I don’t need to do shit.’ he responded as he and the others basically ran down the hallway. ’I just need to make sure no one else gets hurt because of this.’
"Here, bud." Viktor handed Orion his phone when the kid seemed too scared to ignore the situation.
On the phone screen was a racing game that instantly caught the boy’s attention. He beamed, relaxing in Ambrose’s arms as he began playing the game.
Ambrose flashed a grateful smile at the ice Prince.
Once they got to the stairs, Devon lit up the path ahead with a glowing fireball.
"How are we even sure there’s an exit or something downstairs?" The red-haired Esper queried. "What if it’s the same endless darkness down there?"
"We aren’t sure of anything," Gabriel murmured as they descended the steps. "What I do know is that if this is happening because of the Void Entity then it has to be close."
Viktor’s face paled. "So shouldn’t we be trying to hide from it?"
"Hiding is pointless to a being capable of separating a sixteen-story building from the rest of reality." Valentine shook his head. "Our only option would be to face it."
"I’m sorry... FACE IT?" Viktor blinked at the Necromancer like he’d gone mad. "Well, Jesus. We’re dead."
The crew finally got to the lobby downstairs.
Devon was able to spread out more light with his flames, creating dozens of floating fireballs.
What they saw under the illumination turned Ambrose’s blood to ice.
Different sections of the ground floor—from the lobby to the restaurant and bar—had vanished. Actually vanished until there was nothing but darkness even Devon’s flames couldn’t light up.
People scrambled for safety, some of them getting erased before they could run far. Others hid under tables, sobbing and praying they didn’t get discovered.
[WARNING: Void Entity signature detected.]
Gradually they all found the source of the chaos, almost at the same time.
Standing at the far end of the hotel lobby was a man covered in shadows. That’s right—not just a dark humanoid figure. An actual person.
He took calm, deliberate steps forward, erasing people with casual waves of his hands. Despite the shadows shrouding him, the system was able to run a scan.
[Something is off... that’s not just the void Entity’s signature I’m picking up.]
Ambrose frowned.
His eyes narrowed on the man.
Even from this distance there was something... familiar with the way he walked.
[ALERT: A-Rank Guide signature detected from target.]
When those words flickered on a holographic screen in front of him it all made sense. Yet at the same time it totally didn’t.
He refused to believe it—
—Until the shadows receded from the man and he raised his head. Allowing Devon’s fireballs to make his face and those dark eyes clear.
"H–Han Jae-won?" Ambrose and Devon blurted in unison.
Viktor’s brows furrowed.
Valentine and Gabriel cut each other brief looks before dragging their gazes back to the Guide.
"You mean the Guide from Phoenix Flight? Who’s been giving you problems before you left?" Valentine asked. "How’s that even possible?"
"I don’t know." Ambrose’s expression hardened. "But he’s definitely not here for a friendly chat."
His words had barely settled when people began making way. Not because they recognised Han Jae-won.
But because instinct screamed at them to stay far away from whatever he had become.
The Guide stopped walking.
Then slowly spread out his arms.
The darkness around him rippled like living smoke as a grin stretched across his face. One far too wide.
"Well?" Han asked, turning in a slow circle as though presenting a masterpiece. "Are you impressed?"
Ambrose stared at the missing chunks of the hotel floor. At the people crying. At the darkness swallowing everything it touched.
Then he deadpanned. "Honestly? I’ve seen better."
Han blinked. The twitch that appeared beneath his eye was immediate.
Gabriel however looked less interested in the taunt and more focused on the phenomenon itself.
His iridescent eyes studied Han carefully.
"Tell me something," The Space God stepped forward slightly. "Do you realise you’ve somehow acquired the Void Entity’s abilities?"
Han glanced at his hands.
The darkness immediately coiled around his fingers like affectionate serpents.
"No."
His answer came surprisingly fast.
"I don’t know where these powers came from." He lowered his gaze toward Ambrose and Devon. "And frankly... I don’t care."
The smile returned, more unhinged than before.
"All that matters is that I finally have an avenue to destroy the two people who’ve ruined everything."
Devon’s jaw dropped. "Ruined—?"
"You’re killing people!" Ambrose snapped before he could stop himself. "You’ve gone too far, Han. Whatever obsession you had before, whatever excuses you told yourself—there’s no going back from this."
For a moment Han simply stared.
Then something whispered in his head. Only to him.
’Erase them.’ The voice slithered through his mind. ’Erase them all.’
Han’s grin widened. "Yes."
Before the others could think the darkness exploded outward.
"MOVE!" Gabriel’s shout came a split second before reality itself seemed to tear.
The group scattered.
A massive wave of black energy carved through the lobby where they’d been standing moments earlier.
Tables and walls vanished.
People shrieked.
Ambrose immediately shifted Orion higher in his arms while Devon launched harmless fireballs toward fleeing civilians.
"Everybody get back!"
Viktor conjured walls of ice to redirect panicked guests while Valentine blurred across the room, dragging two terrified hotel workers out of the attack’s path.
Han cackled as wave after wave of darkness crashed through the building.
And then—Gabriel froze. Ambrose did too, both men lifting their heads simultaneously.
A terrifyingly powerful disturbance rolled through reality itself. The darkness shuddered.
Even Han Jae-won’s expression shifted with uncertainty.
Then five figures materialised in the middle of the ruined lobby.
Apollo.
Kali.
Yemoja.
Wukong.
Loki.
Ambrose’s shoulders dropped with relief. "Thank everything unholy..."
The Pantheon had arrived!
