Chapter 554: The Hooded One

Damian’s hands rose slowly, covering his face as he stood on that familiar rooftop.

His head tilted back slightly, a long sigh escaping between his fingers.

’When I’m awake, everyone tries to kill me.’

The thought came tired and resigned.

’Now even when I’m trying to sleep, even when I just want a few hours of peace, the cycle continues without pause.’

His hands lowered, finding the hooded figure still standing there, that void-like darkness obscuring everything beneath the cloak.

The figure’s head tilted slightly, as if amused by something.

"Ah, I almost forgot."

The doubled voice emerged from beneath the hood.

"I erased your memories of our encounter, so technically this is our first time meeting each other face to face."

A pause, deliberate and weighted.

"It’s a pleasure to meet you, Beggar’s chosen one."

The words landed like stones dropped into still water.

’So it really is... The Hooded One.’

Damian’s crimson eyes tracked across the shrouded form, taking in details that refused to stay clear.

"What is this place?"

His voice emerged as barely a whisper, cutting across the distance between them.

The Hooded One remained silent for three heartbeats, as if studying him.

"You are calmer than I thought you would be."

The observation came quiet, almost conversational.

"Most mortals lose all composure when they realise they’re standing in front of a being like me."

Another pause, the voice becoming quieter.

"But then again, you’ve been through quite a lot ever since you reincarnated, haven’t you?"

The figure’s presence seemed to expand slightly, filling more space without actually moving.

"Experiences have a way of changing a being so completely that they can barely recognize themselves when they look in the mirror."

Damian said nothing, just waited, his breathing controlled and measured.

The Hooded One turned away, that cloak swirling as the figure began walking across the rooftop.

"This place you find yourself in, this recreation of your final moment as Alessio..."

One hand emerged from beneath the robe, gesturing vaguely at the surroundings.

"Is called a dreamscape. A realm that exists between waking reality and sleeping dream, where the boundaries of what is real become... negotiable."

The figure stopped at the edge of the roof, looking out at the city lights spreading below.

"It’s a battlefield for seers, a place where those who walk the path of Fate wage wars that the physical world cannot contain."

The hand withdrew back beneath the cloak.

"And I have summoned you here to have a talk."

Damian’s eyes tracked the figure’s movements, his mind processing the implications.

’Seer battles happen like this?’

His whisper cut through the quiet, carrying clearly despite its softness.

"Talk? Why would you want to talk?"

He paused, his head tilting slightly.

"Shouldn’t you be trying to kill me instead?"

The Hooded One’s form shook slightly, a sound emerging that might have been laughter.

"If it was the you from before, if you were still a piece the Beggar had shaped..."

The figure turned back toward Damian, that void-like darkness somehow conveying focus.

"Then yes, I would indeed try my very best to erase you from existence completely."

Another pause, heavier this time.

"But now?"

The word hung in the air between them.

"Now you’re different, aren’t you?"

Silence fell across the dreamscape, heavy with implication.

Damian remained perfectly still, his expression giving nothing away, his breathing steady and controlled.

The Hooded One began walking again, this time moving in a slow circle around where Damian stood.

"You know, after being alive for countless eras, after witnessing the rise and fall of races that your kind cannot even imagine..."

The voice took on a different quality, something approaching genuine interest.

"There is hardly anything that can shock me anymore."

The figure’s hand emerged again, this time both of them, spreading wide in a gesture that might have conveyed helplessness.

"The universe becomes predictable when you’ve seen enough of it. Patterns repeat, cycles continue and beings make the same mistakes over and over again across different worlds and different ages."

The hands fell back to the figure’s sides.

"But these past few days..."

A pause, weighted with something that might have been disbelief.

"I’ve been getting one surprise after another."

The figure stopped walking, standing directly in front of Damian now.

"Firstly, the last piece of the Beggar, the one whose understanding of the principles I made absolutely certain to erase completely..."

The voice gained edges despite remaining quiet.

"Happened to still become a chosen one of this era in such an impossibly short time."

Damian’s breathing remained steady, but something shifted behind his eyes.

’The Beggar taught me law principles as well?’

The thought came sharp and clear.

’That’s what he mainly erased? Not just the memories of this world?’

The Hooded One continued, unaware of Damian’s internal processing.

"Then, for the first time since the beginning of the universe itself, since the moment the first Law took shape and consciousness emerged from chaos..."

The voice dropped lower.

"Fate itself weakened."

A pause that stretched into eternity.

"Something I never thought possible, something that shouldn’t exist within the framework of reality as we understand it."

The figure’s head tilted upward, as if looking at stars that weren’t visible in this dreamscape.

"And now, as if those impossibilities weren’t enough..."

The voice became quieter.

"A timeline that I never foresaw, that exists in none of my calculations across millions of observed futures, has begun unfolding before my very eyes."

Silence crashed down between them.

Then the Hooded One’s attention snapped back to Damian, that void-like darkness boring into him with intensity that made the air feel heavier.

"A timeline where a True Demon has emerged."

The words carried weight that pressed against Damian’s chest as nobody spoke for several long moments.

The Hooded One began pacing again, slower this time, movements deliberate.

"I have walked this universe since before most races learned to crawl from their primordial pool."

The voice emerged measured, each word chosen with care.

"I have witnessed the birth of Gods and the death of civilizations. I have seen worlds burn and new ones rise from the ashes. I have guided beings towards power that transcends mortal comprehension."

The figure’s hands clasped behind their back.

"I have stood beside all seven Demon Rulers as they climbed from nothing to become the strongest beings this universe has ever known."

The declaration hung in the air like thunder.