Chapter 557: For What?

Damian’s hands folded on the table, his gaze finding the Hooded One’s shrouded form across the distance.

"Sure, I had my own suffering."

His voice never wavered, staying perfectly level.

"I was manipulated since I was a kid, shaped by forces I couldn’t see or understand."

His jaw worked slightly, the only outward sign of emotion bleeding through.

"Everything I held dear was taken away from me, piece by piece, until nothing remained except hunger and survival instinct."

A pause, his eyes tracking across the empty table.

"But did that give me the right to make everyone else’s life miserable?"

The question hung in the air between them.

"Did my suffering somehow justify inflicting the same pain on others who had nothing to do with what was done to me?"

His hands tightened fractionally on the table’s edge.

"Did that give me the right to take away everything they held dear, to destroy their families the way mine was destroyed?"

His crimson eyes lifted, locking onto where the Hooded One’s face should be.

"All of that for what?"

A pause that felt loaded with terrible significance.

"Power?"

The word landed like a hammer blow, echoing across the dreamscape.

The Hooded One remained silent, that void-like darkness offering no response.

Damian stood slowly, his chair scraping backward.

"I left my sinful life far behind me, Hooded One."

His voice gained conviction that made each word feel absolute.

"The man I was, the monster Alessio became, the killer who built an empire on corpses and called it success..."

He took a step forward, then another, his boots finding rhythm against stone.

"That person died the moment he jumped from this roof."

His hands spread slightly, the gesture encompassing the rooftop and the recreated moment.

"And I will not become a villain again by joining the side of Demons who’ve consumed countless worlds in their hunger for power."

His pace continued, steady and unwavering, carrying him closer to where the Hooded One stood.

"So I will not abandon my world to the fate you believe is inevitable."

Another step, his crimson eyes blazing brighter.

"I will not renounce my Child of Light title just because accepting your offer seems easier than fighting."

His voice became harder, edges appearing in the careful control.

"And I will not become your disciple, will not stand as the eighth pillar alongside the seven cancers you’ve created."

He stopped walking, standing within arm’s reach of the shrouded figure now.

"That is my answer."

The words fell with finality that made the air itself feel heavier.

Silence spread across the rooftop like a physical presence, pressing down on everything.

The Hooded One remained perfectly still for three heartbeats.

Then sound emerged from beneath the hood, low and rough.

A chuckle, dark and carrying edges that cut.

"Villain?"

The word came out disbelieving, almost mocking.

The chuckling grew louder, transforming into something harsher.

"You judge my side to be the evil one?!"

The doubled voice exploded across the rooftop, carrying force that made reality tremble.

"You foolish mortal!"

The voice became something inhuman, layered with authority that had shaped civilizations.

"Do you even know how this game began in the first place?!"

The city below began flickering, reality becoming unstable.

"Do you understand what you’re choosing to fight for?! Do you have any comprehension of what started the cycle you’re caught in?!"

The Hooded One’s hands emerged from beneath the cloak, spreading wide.

"A long time ago, in the most ancient era when there were no Demons or Light Bearers, when there was no status screen or ranks dividing power into neat categories..."

The voice dropped, becoming almost reverent despite the rage underneath.

"Just the normal path of cultivation, pure and uncorrupted by the limitations that would come later."

The hands gestured broadly, encompassing everything.

"The entire universe was filled with Gods and Demigods of all paths. Everywhere the Dao was spreading freely, with all the worlds flourishing under their guidance."

A pause, heavy with implication.

"It was perfect. It was beautiful. It was everything cultivation was meant to be."

The hands clenched into fists.

"Until one day, everyone started to notice an anomaly."

The word landed like a death sentence.

"Gods were starting to disappear."

Silence spread across the dreamscape, suffocating and absolute.

"At first, we just assumed they were in seclusion like normal. Pursuing insights into their Laws, reaching for higher understanding."

The Hooded One’s presence expanded, filling the entire rooftop.

"But it wasn’t until even their worlds started to lose Aura, until entire realms began withering and dying..."

The voice became quieter, carrying horror that transcended time.

"That we realized something was really, truly wrong."

The fists trembled slightly.

"Some of the High Gods tried to ask Fate directly, tried to glimpse what was happening through their cosmic sight."

A pause.

"But they received no answer at all."

Another pause, heavier.

"Fate itself remained silent, as if hiding what it knew, as if afraid to name what was coming."

The Hooded One’s head tilted back, looking at the dreamscape sky.

"This left them no choice but to seek help from the Godkings, the oldest of the Gods who were born alongside the universe itself."

The voice dropped to barely above a whisper.

"The beings who remembered when existence was new, when the first Laws took shape from primordial chaos."

Damian stood perfectly still, his breathing controlled, his mind racing despite his calm exterior.

’Gods disappearing... Worlds losing Auras...’

The Hooded One’s hands spread wide again.

"And finally, after the Godkings investigated, after they traced the pattern of disappearances across many worlds..."

The doubled voice became quiet, carrying weight that made reality bend.

"We found our answer."

Thunder rolled overhead, the sound building and building.

"A being had appeared out of nowhere with mastery over a strange law."

A pause that felt like the universe holding its breath.

"A law that shouldn’t exist, that violated every principle we understood about how cultivation and power worked."

The Hooded One’s presence became oppressive, crushing down with terrible certainty.

"A law called Devour."

BOOM

Lightning flashed across the dreamscape sky, illuminating everything in stark white light.

Silence fell across the rooftop, absolute and suffocating.

And somewhere between dream and reality, between past and present, a truth that had been buried for eras began to surface once more.