Chapter 555: Offer

"Pride, Greed, Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Wrath, Sloth..."

Each name fell with terrible weight.

"I walked with them through their darkest moments, guided them past obstacles that would have broken lesser beings, showed them paths to power that no one else could see."

The voice became harder.

"I made them into monsters that every God fears to face in direct combat."

Damian’s mind raced despite his calm exterior.

’He... guided all seven Demon Rulers?’

The implication settled like ice in his chest.

’The current Oracle of the Light Bearers isn’t the same one who guided the Divine Rulers to power. The position gets handed across generations.’

His breathing remained steady, but his thoughts spiraled.

’But if he’s really the mentor of the Demon Rulers from their beginning...’

The question formed with terrible clarity.

’Just how old is this being? How has he survived for countless eras without becoming a God? Didn’t Grandpa say there’s no God of Fate?’

The Hooded One stopped pacing, standing perfectly still now.

"And yet, despite everything I helped them achieve, despite the power they accumulated and the Laws they bent to their will..."

The voice dropped to barely above a whisper.

"None of them ever gained such a title from the Universe itself."

Silence spread across the rooftop, heavy and suffocating.

"None of them were ever acknowledged as a True Demon."

The figure’s presence seemed to expand, filling the entire rooftop with oppressive weight.

"So tell me, little one..."

The question hung between them like a blade.

"Why is it that you were acknowledged as one?"

Damian remained silent, his expression unchanged, his breathing controlled.

The Hooded One waited, that void-like darkness somehow conveying expectation.

But Damian just stood there, offering nothing, his crimson eyes tracking the shrouded form without fear or hesitation.

After a long moment, the Hooded One’s head tilted away, as if dismissing the question.

"Forget it."

The voice carried something that might have been amusement.

"You probably don’t even understand the significance of titles that the Universe gives directly."

The figure turned, presenting their back to Damian.

"Why you got it, how you got it, what it means for the cosmic balance..."

A dismissive wave of one hand.

"None of that matters right now."

The hand fell back beneath the cloak.

"The only thing that does matter–"

The Hooded One’s entire presence shifted, becoming heavier, more oppressive, more real despite the dreamscape nature of their surroundings.

"–Is what comes next."

The figure turned back around, facing Damian directly.

And when they spoke again, the voice exploded across the rooftop with force that made reality itself tremble.

"I, THE HOODED ONE!"

The declaration rang across the dreamscape like a bell tolling the end of worlds.

"KEEPER OF FATE’S SECRETS! ARCHITECT OF DEMON ASCENSION! SHEPHERD OF THE SEVEN SINS! FIRST DISCIPLE OF THE ANCIENT BEGINNING!"

The voice became something inhuman, layered with power that made the air crack.

"GUIDE TO EVERY BEING WHO HAS EVER TOUCHED THE THRONE OF ULTIMATE POWER! WALKER OF TIMELINES THAT STRETCH ACROSS ETERNITY ITSELF!"

CRACK

The rooftop beneath them fractured, lines spreading outward from where the Hooded One stood.

"BY THE AUTHORITY VESTED IN ME THROUGH POWER THAT HAS SHAPED THE DESTINY OF EVERY BEING!"

The city below began flickering, reality becoming unstable as the declaration continued.

"HEREBY DECLARE DAMIAN BLOODWORTH TO BE THE CHILD OF SIN OF THIS ERA!"

BOOM

Thunder crashed across the dreamscape sky, the sound rolling through clouds that had materialized from nothing.

"YOU SHALL STAND AS THE EIGHTH PILLAR ALONGSIDE THE SEVEN DEMON RULERS WHO CAME BEFORE YOU!"

The Hooded One’s hands spread wide, darkness pouring from beneath the cloak in waves.

"ALL SEVEN DEMON PRINCES, THE CHOSEN HEIRS OF EACH RULER, SHALL KNEEL BEFORE YOU AS SUBORDINATES IN THE COMING BATTLE OF THE CHOSEN ONES!"

The darkness began taking shape, forming into chains that wrapped around invisible pillars.

"EVERY IMPERIAL FAMILY OF YOUR WORLD THAT HAS STOOD AGAINST YOUR BLOODLINE SHALL BE TORN FROM THEIR THRONES AND SLAUGHTERED TO THE LAST CHILD!"

The chains blazed with crimson light, each link pulsing with terrible promise.

"THEIR NAMES SHALL BE ERASED FROM HISTORY! THEIR BLOODLINES SHALL END IN SCREAMING! THEIR LEGACY SHALL BECOME A WARNING CARVED IN BONE AND WRITTEN IN BLOOD!"

CRACK CRACK CRACK

The air itself fractured, reality breaking apart under the weight of the declaration.

"YOUR LOVED ONES SHALL BE TAKEN FROM THE WORLD THAT IS MEANT TO BURN, SAVED FROM THE DOOM THAT AWAITS ALL WHO REMAIN!"

The voice became louder, each word carrying force that made Damian’s chest tighten despite his control.

"EVERY BEING YOU HOLD DEAR SHALL BE GRANTED SANCTUARY IN REALMS BEYOND THE REACH OF THE NIGHTMARES THAT WILL CONSUME YOUR WORLD!"

The darkness spread further, swallowing the moonlight.

"AND YOU..."

The word stretched out, carrying weight that pressed down on everything.

"YOU SHALL BE GUIDED ALONG A PATH OF POWER THAT TRANSCENDS WHAT THE BEGGAR COULD EVER OFFER!"

The Hooded One’s presence expanded until it seemed to fill the entire horizon.

"YOU SHALL BECOME THE ONE WHO STANDS ABOVE ALL OTHERS! THE APEX PREDATOR OF THIS UNIVERSE! THE INEVITABLE CONCLUSION TO EVERY STORY THAT HAS EVER BEEN TOLD!"

BOOM BOOM BOOM

Thunder crashed continuously now, the dreamscape itself trembling.

"ALL OF THIS, EVERY PROMISE SPOKEN HERE, EVERY GUARANTEE MADE BEFORE WITNESSES THAT SPAN DIMENSIONS, SHALL BE YOURS..."

The voice dropped suddenly, becoming quiet but somehow carrying more weight than before.

"All you have to do is..."

A pause that felt like the universe holding its breath.

"Renounce the false title of Child of Light that the Oracle bestowed upon you in her desperate ignorance."

The darkness pulled back slightly, revealing the Hooded One’s form again.

"Leave your world to the fate that was always meant to be."

One hand extended, palm up, offering.

"And become my disciple."

The offer hung in the frozen air between them, vast and terrible in its completeness.

Power beyond measure, vengeance delivered without mercy, loved ones saved from apocalypse, enemies ground to dust beneath cosmic authority.

All of it wrapped in darkness and presented with a bow.

And across the entire dreamscape, across the space between reality and dream where seers waged their wars, silence spread like a held breath.

The Hooded One waited, ancient and patient, that extended hand still offering salvation wrapped in sin.

While Damian, the Child of Light, the True Demon, the Beggar’s last piece who’d become a player in a game that spanned eras, stood at a crossroads that would determine far more than just his own fate.

The universe itself seemed to lean forward, watching, waiting to see what choice would be made.