Chapter 568: In Reality

Laughter erupted from the hundreds of identical figures floating above, overlapping voices creating something that scraped against sanity itself.

The sound built and built, echoing across the dreamscape rooftop with force that made the air crack.

Then the central figure’s voice exploded across the space, cutting through the chorus.

“AND HOW WILL YOU PROTECT HIM, GRAND SAGE OF HUMANITY?!”

The doubled voice carried mockery wrapped in absolute certainty.

“DO YOU BELIEVE YOURSELF TO BE THE BEGGAR?! THE BEING WHO SPLIT EXISTENCE ITSELF WITH A SINGLE STRIKE?!”

All the floating forms spread their hands wider, darkness intensifying in their palms.

“OR PERHAPS YOU FANCY YOURSELF AS DESIDERIUS BLOODWORTH?! THE GREATEST PROTECTOR THIS UNIVERSE EVER BORE WITNESS TO?!”

The central void somehow conveyed contempt that transcended words.

“You might be a brilliant player, I’ll grant you that much.”

A pause that felt loaded with terrible significance.

“But in reality, when the board is swept aside, when all that remains is raw power meeting raw power…”

The darkness pulsed faster now, building toward catastrophic release.

“You could never be as great a warrior as either of them.”

Thunder rolled across the dreamscape sky, building alongside the gathering power.

“So let us end this pathetic farce once and for all!”

All the figures moved simultaneously, their voices overlapping into something that made existence itself tremble.

“BEAR WITNESS TO THE VERY SKILL THAT ENDED YOUR PRECIOUS BINDERS!”

The darkness reached critical mass, blazing so brightly it hurt to look at directly.

“FATE–”

And the moment that word rang across the rooftop, the gathered darkness finished coalescing in every palm.

All the voices spoke as one, carrying weight that pressed down on everything.

“–DEVOUR!”

BOOM

The sound crashed across the dreamscape like collapsing mountains.

Then multicolored light began emerging from every seer still standing, pulled toward the floating figures with inexorable force.

The Fate principles themselves being consumed, drained and devoured by darkness that grew stronger with each passing moment.

“No!”

A seer’s scream cut through the chaos, his hands reaching uselessly toward the escaping light.

“That darkness! He’s corrupted Fate itself! He’s turning it into something that can be devoured!”

Another voice joined, cracking with disbelief.

“How is this possible?! How can Fate principles be devoured?! It has universe’s powers!”

“What has he become?!”

Panic spread like wildfire, whispers overlapping and building into something approaching hysteria.

Then the Sage’s whisper cut through everything, soft but carrying clearly across the rooftop.

“Indeed…”

His white mask remained pointed upward at the devouring darkness.

“In reality, I could never be as great as the Beggar…”

A pause that made every conscious seer turn toward him.

“Or my Big Brother.”

The words landed like hammer blows.

Whispers of despair erupted immediately, spreading through the remaining sealers like poison through veins.

“Even the Grand Sage admits defeat!”

“If he can’t stop this, what chance do we have?!”

“All of it… everything we built… meaningless…”

“We’re going to die for nothing! All of us!”

Time seemed to slow down.

The world shifted into that state where Demigods operated, where moments stretched into eternities and normal perception became meaningless.

The old woman’s thoughts came crystal clear despite the Fate being stolen from her very soul.

‘After all the sacrifices our race made across generations, after every life given to reach this moment…’

Her gaze tracked toward Damian’s still form, toward the boy they’d sworn to protect.

‘We still lost?’

The multicolored streams continued flowing upward, the draining intensifying.

‘I just needed one more second to complete the seal! One more moment and–’

Then the Sage’s whisper reached her consciousness, continuing what he’d started.

“But–”

Her head snapped toward him, her eyes widening.

The Sage’s hand was rising, fingers extending toward where Damian knelt.

His white mask somehow conveyed absolute conviction despite showing no features.

“–this is not reality.”

Before anyone could react, before the implications could sink in, his voice exploded across the dreamscape.

“GOD SLAYER!”

BOOM

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

“COME FORTH AND SERVE–”

Light blazed from Damian’s chest, brilliant and sudden, something emerging through skin and bone as if they didn’t exist.

The black axe shot outward, that menacing blade catching the dreamscape light.

It crossed the distance in an instant, the weapon that had triggered tribulations just by existing now moving with purpose.

WHOOSH

The axe slammed into the Sage’s extended palm, that black handle settling against his grip with terrible finality.

And the moment his fingers closed around it–

“–THE LIGHTNING SOVEREIGN!”

BOOM

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

His upper clothes exploded, fabric shredding and falling away like paper in flame.

Purple marks began spreading across his exposed skin, starting from his heart and flowing outward like living veins of crackling energy.

They covered his chest, his arms, his neck, each line blazing with intensity that made the air shimmer.

His purple hair began extending, growing past his shoulders, rising into the air as if gravity had lost all meaning.

His white mask cracked further, pieces falling away to reveal the lightning blazing in his eyes beneath.

Then lightning erupted around his entire form, pure and absolute, wrapping him in power that pressed against reality itself.

CRACK CRACK CRACK

The dreamscape stone beneath his feet fractured, circles spreading outward from where he stood.

The pressure exploded outward simultaneously, two terrifying forces combining.

The axe that had ended the God’s Era.

And the sovereign state that every being in this current age feared to face.

Both radiating from one figure, building toward catastrophic release.

BOOOOOOM

The shockwave blasted towards the sky with force that made existence itself bend.

All the hundreds of floating Hooded Ones jerked backward simultaneously, their gathered darkness scattering like ash in hurricane winds.

The multicolored Fate principles stopped flowing, the draining cut off completely.

Bodies tumbled through the air, shrouded forms losing cohesion.

“IMPOSSIBLE!”

The central figure’s voice emerged for the first time carrying something that approached fear.

“H-HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?!”

The doubled voice cracked slightly, disbelief bleeding through the careful control.

“TH-THAT DAMN AXE?! THE BEGGAR’S WEAPON?!”

All the floating forms struggled to stabilize, fighting against pressure that kept pushing them backward.

“AND S-SOVEREIGN STATE?! THE TRANSFORMATION THAT ONLY BLOODWORTHS COULD ACHIEVE?!”

The central void somehow conveyed shock mixed with dawning horror.

“YOU– HOW CAN YOU–”

“Like I said before…”

The Sage’s voice cut through the stammering voice, quiet but carrying absolute certainty.

His hand shifted, settling the black axe against his shoulder with casual ease.

Lightning crackled along the blade’s edge, purple radiance mixing with the weapon’s inherent darkness.

“In the game of chess, the greatest move any player can make…”

He took one step forward, his boots finding solid ground despite the fractured stone.

“Is the one everyone believes impossible.”