Chapter 564: Seers Battle

The Hooded One’s shrouded form remained perfectly still, that void-like darkness tracking across the hundreds of seers forming circles around him.

The silence stretched, broken only by the sound of wind.

Then the doubled voice emerged, quiet but carrying clearly across the rooftop.

"The cult of..."

A pause, weighted with something approaching disbelief.

"True Demon?"

The shrouded head turned slightly, finding Damian’s frozen form through the crowd.

"You were right, Damian Bloodworth."

The doubled voice dropped lower, becoming almost contemplative.

"Life really does prove us wrong when we least expect it."

The shrouded form shifted, hands emerging from beneath the cloak to gesture at the assembled seers.

"Just a day ago, I, the one who created the Demon race from the foundations of sin itself, didn’t even know there existed a title called True Demon."

The hands spread wider, encompassing everything.

"Yet now an entire cult dedicated to it has emerged from nowhere? Spanning multiple worlds, coordinated across realms, hundreds of seers standing united?"

The voice gained edges despite remaining quiet.

"Do you comprehend how impossible all of this truly is?"

One hand rose, fingers extending toward the sky.

"Do you understand who possesses the ability to hide something of this magnitude from Fate itself? From me, who walks the path of Fate deeper than any being alive?"

Silence crashed down across the dreamscape, suffocating in its weight.

Then the Hooded One’s shrouded head tilted back completely, that void-like darkness finding the stars.

And the voice exploded across the rooftop, carrying rage that made existence itself tremble.

"UNIVERSE!"

The shout rang out like thunder, echoing across dimensions.

"HOW DARE YOU MAKE A MOCKERY OF MY EXISTENCE?!"

The doubled voice became something inhuman, layered with fury that had been building across eras.

"AFTER EVERYTHING I DID FOR YOU! AFTER EVERYTHING I SACRIFICED! AFTER I GAVE UP MY GODHOOD AND WALKED THE PATH YOU DEMANDED!"

Power radiated outward in waves, the dreamscape flickering under the pressure.

"YOU DARE BETRAY ME?! YOU DARE HIDE PIECES FROM MY SIGHT?! YOU DARE STACK THE BOARD AGAINST THE ONE WHO SERVED YOU MOST FAITHFULLY?!"

The Hooded One’s hands clenched into fists, the movement sharp and violent.

"I understand everything now!"

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

"From the very start, you never stood on the side of Fate."

A pause that felt like the universe holding its breath.

"And you never stood on the side of the Beggar either."

Another pause, heavier than before.

Then the shrouded head turned, that void-like darkness finding Damian’s still form.

"You were always on his side!"

The words fell with terrible finality.

The Hooded One’s hand extended, one finger pointing directly at Damian.

"That’s why you allowed him to create that devourer body art in the first place!"

The voice gained intensity, building toward revelation.

"I knew you were lying to me! I knew something was wrong from the moment I sensed its foundation!"

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

"It was never based on just a lower principle like gluttony, was it?!"

The shout rang across the dreamscape, carrying accusation that transcended time itself.

"IT WAS THE TRUE DEVOURER ART ALL ALONG!"

The moment those final words left his mouth–

BOOOOOOM

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

Light descended from above, splitting into two streams that spiraled around each other.

One black as the void between stars, consuming everything it touched.

One white as creation itself, blazing with purity that made reality bend.

The twin beams struck Damian’s form simultaneously, wrapping around him like living things, entering his body through every pore.

His vision fractured, peripheral sight shifting as power flooded through his consciousness.

Words appeared before his eyes, burning themselves into his awareness:

Devourer Body Art - ??? → True Devourer Art - EX

Damian’s mind went completely blank, all thought scattering like ash in wind.

’What...’

The question formed incomplete, his consciousness struggling to process what he was witnessing.

’What the fuck is going on?!’

His breathing came shallow despite his attempts at control, his chest tight.

’Has the universe... helped me?!’

The implication settled like ice in his chest, refusing to make sense.

’But wasn’t the tribulation consciousness trying to destroy me?! Didn’t it increase the power of the tribulation beyond the normal standards?!’

His thoughts spiraled, unable to find solid ground.

’And what was this–’

"The ultimate path!"

A whisper cut through his scattered thoughts, coming from one of the seers standing nearby.

"It really is true! After all these years of waiting, of believing in what we could never prove!"

Another voice joined from the right, this one trembling with emotion barely held in check.

"The universe itself has acknowledged it! The True Devourer Art exists!"

More voices overlapped, building on each other.

"The prophecies weren’t lies after all!"

"We were right to follow! Right to believe!"

"Everything our ancestors passed down, everything we’ve protected across generations!"

"He truly is the one we’ve been searching for!"

The whispers spread like wildfire, hundreds of seers processing what they’d just witnessed.

Then the Sage’s voice cut across the chaos, carrying power that made everyone fall silent.

"You are wrong, Immortal One."

His mask remained pointed toward the Hooded One’s shrouded form.

"The universe stands on no one’s side."

A pause, letting the words sink in.

"It is the balance itself. The force that prevents any single extreme from consuming everything."

His hands settled behind his back, the gesture deliberate and controlled.

"What you witnessed just now wasn’t betrayal or favoritism or cosmic conspiracy."

His voice became quieter but somehow carried more weight.

"It was simply recognition of what already exists in our reality."

Silence spread across the dreamscape, heavy with implication.

The Hooded One remained perfectly still for several long moments, that shrouded form offering no response.

Then his presence shifted, becoming colder than the void between stars.

When he spoke again, his voice emerged as barely above a whisper.

"Humans really are the most foolish beings this universe has ever created."

The doubled voice gained something approaching pity mixed with contempt.

"Your race wasn’t even born to witness what happened during the God’s Era! You never saw what that path brings when allowed to reach its natural conclusion!"

His hands clenched at his sides beneath the cloak.

"You stand here protecting him with such absolute conviction, such unwavering loyalty..."

The shrouded head turned, finding Damian’s still form.

"DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT HE REPRESENTS?!"

The shout exploded across the dreamscape, carrying force that made reality crack.

"THAT BOY IS THE TRUE CALAMITY!"

His voice rose higher, building toward something that transcended rage.

"THE ONE WHO WILL DEVOUR EVERY LAW! THE ONE WHO WILL CONSUME EVERY GOD! THE ONE WHO WILL END EVERYTHING THAT EXISTS UNTIL NOTHING REMAINS BUT EMPTY VOID!"

BOOM BOOM BOOM

Thunder crashed continuously now, the dreamscape itself trembling under the weight of his declaration.

"And no race across the entire universe will ever allow that to happen!"

His hands spread wide, encompassing everything.

"Once the truth escapes this dreamscape, once the Divine Rulers learn what walks among them..."

The doubled voice dropped to something darker.

"Even they will abandon their thrones and their wars with my disciples to do one thing with absolute unity!"

A pause that felt like the universe holding its breath.

"THEY WILL DO EVERYTHING IN THEIR POWER TO DESTROY THAT EVIL SPAWN BEFORE HE CAN BECOME WHAT THE BEGGAR ONCE WAS!"

The words echoed across the rooftop, carrying weight that pressed down on everyone assembled.

But before the echoes could fully fade–

THUD

The sound cut through everything, making heads turn toward its source.

A woman stood near Damian, her cane planted firmly against the dreamscape stone.

She looked ancient, her white hair pulled back in a severe bun, her face showing lines that spoke of centuries lived.

A smile curved across her features, gentle and grandmotherly in a way that somehow made reality feel colder.

"Ara Ara~"

Her voice emerged soft, almost playful.

"Then we can’t really allow the truth to come out, can we?"

Her free hand dipped into her robes, fingers emerging with a cube that pulsed with multicolored light.

She began lifting the cube, her movements deliberate.

"Let the battle–"

WHOOSH

Before she could finish, hundreds of seers moved as one.

Their hands shot out, fingers spreading, power flooding from their palms in streams of brilliance.

The light took shape instantly, forming ropes made of pure Fate principles.

Red, blue, green, purple, gold, silver... every color imaginable twisted together into bindings that blazed with authority.

The ropes shot through the air like living serpents, moving so fast they blurred.

CRACK CRACK CRACK

They wrapped around the Hooded One from every direction simultaneously, binding arms and legs and torso in layers of multicolored light.

The shrouded figure jerked backward as the ropes pulled, dragging him off the ground.

He rose into the air, held by hundreds of Fate bindings that pulled in practiced coordination.

The seers holding them spread out, forming a perfect sphere around the ascending figure.

The Hooded One struggled against the bindings, his shrouded form twisting.

But the ropes held firm, pulling tighter with each movement, restricting him completely.

The woman’s arm completed its arc, throwing the cube toward the suspended figure.

"–begin!"

Her voice rang out clear and absolute.

The cube flew through the air, spinning end over end.

It hit the mass of bindings and exploded outward, growing impossibly large in an instant.

Light blazed from every surface as it engulfed the Hooded One and the hundreds of seers holding his bindings.

WHOOOOSH

The sound crashed across the dreamscape like a tsunami of pure force.

And in the blink of an eye, they were gone.

The cube hung in the air where they’d been moments before, pulsing with light from within.

Shadows moved across its translucent surfaces, shapes that suggested the battle beginning inside.

The woman turned toward the remaining seers, her expression becoming serious.

"Even though the Immortal One is weakened considerably since Fate itself has lost power..."

Her grip tightened on her cane, knuckles going white.

"Those Fate Binders won’t be able to hold him for much longer! We need to hurry and complete the seal before he breaks free!"

The seers around her nodded sharply, their faces showing grim determination.

They spread out across the rooftop in practiced formation, taking positions that formed a perfect geometric pattern.

The woman planted her cane firmly, her other hand rising toward the sky.

Her voice exploded across the dreamscape, carrying power that made the air crack.

"FATE SEAL!"

The other seers joined her instantly, their voices overlapping in perfect harmony.

"FATE SEAL!"

"FATE SEAL!"

"FATE SEAL!"

The declarations built on each other, creating a chorus that shook reality itself.

Above them, the dreamscape sky began splitting open.

CRACK

Light poured through the cracks, forming shapes that grew more complex with each passing moment.

A star began taking form, its points extending outward in perfect symmetry.

The seers’ voices dropped to murmurs, their words overlapping and building into something that approached song.

"By the threads that bind all futures..."

"By the paths that branch from every choice..."

"By the certainty that underlies all chaos..."

"By the balance that transcends all extremes..."

The star grew larger, more complex, symbols appearing along its edges that seemed to rewrite themselves constantly.

And Damian stood frozen, his mind still struggling to process everything happening around him.

The black and white light had faded from his body, the notification disappeared from his peripheral vision.

But the warmth remained, settling somewhere deep in his consciousness.

Only he and the Sage remained unmoving, two figures standing in perfect calm while reality itself bent around them.