Chapter 560: Sin And Power

Damian’s mind pulled backward, finding words spoken by that mysterious being before everything had ended.

"If one day you truly have the power to devour all the Aura in existence, to consume every Law and become what you’ve declared..."

The voice echoed through his thoughts with perfect clarity.

"Remember one thing. There is no such thing as true peace."

His crimson eyes tracked the Hooded One’s shrouded form, the question forming with cold precision.

’Was that being really the Beggar and not my future self?’

The pieces refused to fit together cleanly.

’Did he say all of that because he already walked the path to its end?’

His jaw worked slightly, the only outward sign of internal processing.

’Was he trying to warn me against making the same–’

"After the fall of the God’s Era..."

The Hooded One’s voice cut through Damian’s spiraling thoughts like a blade through silk.

"I searched for answers to questions that kept me awake through ages."

The shrouded figure turned away, looking out at the dreamscape city spreading below.

"Who was the Beggar? Where did such a being come from? What world had birthed something capable of ending the reign of Godkings?"

One hand emerged from beneath the cloak, gesturing at nothing and everything.

"And most importantly, what was his goal? What did he want that was worth becoming the Calamity?"

The hand clenched into a fist.

"I scoured every realm that remained standing. I traced legends and myths across thousands of races, searching for any scrap of information that might lead somewhere."

The fist trembled slightly, the only crack in the figure’s composure.

"But no matter how deep I dug, no matter how much time I spent pursuing shadows and whispers, there were no answers to be found."

The voice dropped to barely above a whisper.

"The Beggar had appeared from nowhere, as if reality itself had birthed him into existence without origin or explanation."

Silence fell across the rooftop, broken only by wind that shouldn’t exist in a dreamscape.

The Hooded One’s shoulders shifted, the movement suggesting something like a long breath.

"And that impossibility, that wrongness, made me realise something that changed everything I understood about existence itself."

The shrouded head tilted back, looking at stars that flickered like dying embers.

"The greatest sin in this universe has never been pride or greed or any of the petty failings beings obsess over."

A pause, weighted with terrible certainty.

"The greatest sin... is ignorance."

The words landed with finality that made the dreamscape feel colder.

"And the greatest power has never been Time or Space or even the ability to devour Laws themselves."

Another pause, heavier than before.

"The greatest power... is knowledge."

The Hooded One turned back toward Damian, that void-like darkness somehow conveying absolute conviction.

"Knowledge of what’s coming. Knowledge of who your enemies are. Knowledge of what they want and how they plan to achieve it."

The figure’s hands spread wide, encompassing the dreamscape and everything beyond it.

"So I abandoned my Godhood completely."

The declaration sat between them like a stone dropped into still water.

"I surrendered the power I had spent eons accumulating, the authority I had carved from the universe itself."

The hands fell back to the figure’s sides.

"I began walking the path of Fate instead, learning to see the threads that connect all things, to glimpse the futures that branch from every choice."

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

"And as I climbed higher along that path, as my understanding deepened and the veils lifted one by one..."

The voice became quieter but somehow carried more weight.

"I realized something that made my sacrifice worthwhile."

A pause that stretched into eternity.

"The war had not ended that day when the universe cursed him and restructured reality itself."

The words came faster now, building toward revelation.

"It had transformed into something far more insidious, far more dangerous than open battle could ever be."

The Hooded One stepped closer, each word landing with increasing force.

"A game of chess between the Beggar and Fate itself. The board spread throughout the entire universe, pieces positioned across countless worlds, and at stake in that game..."

The voice dropped to a whisper that cut like broken glass.

"Was the future."

Silence crashed down around them, absolute and suffocating.

"The Beggar couldn’t change the past. So he’d set his eyes on the future instead."

The Hooded One’s hands clenched.

"He started placing pieces years before they’d be needed, orchestrating events generations in advance, building toward outcomes only he could see."

The voice gained edges despite remaining quiet.

"And that was the day I made my choice."

The figure’s presence became oppressive, crushing down with weight that made reality bend.

"I had lost everything that ever mattered to me. My loved ones, erased in the battles. My race, scattered or destroyed. My path to power, abandoned when I turned away from Godhood."

Each statement fell like hammer blows.

"Everything I had built across eons, everything I had been, everything I might have become..."

The voice cracked slightly, emotion bleeding through the distortion.

"Gone. Consumed by the consequences of that being’s existence."

The Hooded One stood taller, the movement carrying terrible resolve.

"So I had nothing left whatsoever. No attachments to hold me back, no fears to manipulate, no hopes to corrupt."

One hand rose, pressing against where a chest would be beneath the shroud.

"Which meant I was the best choice to become exactly what the universe needed most."

The hand dropped back down.

"I willingly became the greatest chess piece of Fate in this game. Surrendered my autonomy, my choices, my very will to the one force that had ever made the Beggar bleed."

The doubled voice became something inhuman, layered with conviction that transcended mortality.

"I became the Hooded One! First Disciple of the Ancient Beginning! The blade in the darkness that cuts away every thread the Beggar tries to weave!"

The figure’s hands spread wide in declaration.

"And I made it my singular goal, the one purpose that would define every moment of my immortal existence..."

The words came out like a vow carved in stone and written in blood.

"To make sure he fails at everything he wants to accomplish."

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

"Every piece he positions, I will dismantle! Every plan he constructs, I will shatter! Every hope he nurtures, I will crush beneath my heel without hesitation or mercy!"

The Hooded One stepped forward, presence expanding until it felt like the entire universe was pressing down.

"And for some reason I still don’t fully comprehend, he wants to change the fate of your world."

The voice became colder than the void between stars.

"So I will do everything possible, sacrifice any piece, pay any price, to prevent it."

The words fell with absolute finality.

"If he wants your world to survive, I will ensure it burns to ash! If he wants you to become something great, I will see you broken and bleeding! If he has placed his faith in your potential..."

The Hooded One’s presence became crushing, suffocating.

"Then I will dedicate every resource at my disposal to proving that faith misplaced!"

Silence spread across the rooftop like spilled blood, thick and dark.