Chapter 983: [983] : Power

Only now did Alice truly comprehend the terrifying extent of the man’s power.

But realizing it now was far too late. There was absolutely no way to defeat him.

What was she supposed to do? Everyone she cared about was dead. If this monster flew into a rage, he could effortlessly butcher her sister—

—slaughter her mother, execute her father, and wipe out her entire kingdom. And it would all be her fault.

She would go down in history as the empire’s greatest sinner. She never wanted any of this.

Yet, she was utterly powerless. She couldn’t hold a candle to him—even if she hadn’t sensed any divine, world-ending malice from him initially.

That level of strength wasn’t something she could fight. She had discovered his true might too late. Bitterness and regret gnawed at her, but what good was resentment now?

Things rarely went according to plan. Her entire world had been burned to the ground by this man, leaving her with nothing but crushing sorrow. Every other emotion had been burnt away.

———————

"I’m going to kill you," she whispered, her voice trembling. "I’ll kill you, and then I’ll end my own life..."

Shin just chuckled. In a way, his power had long surpassed anything a so-called god could muster. He looked down at Alice and spoke with a slow, deliberate drawl.

"I can feel it, you know. You’re holding back. This isn’t your full strength. But from where I’m standing, you don’t have what it takes to save your precious family."

"Oh, I forgot to mention one tiny detail—I can bring them back to life. But if you want me to do that, you have to beat me first."

"So get on your feet and fight me. I’ve been waiting for you to go all out. I have no idea what’s going through your head right now."

"We both know how this world works."

"Looking at you, you clearly still have some fight left in you. Beat me, and every single person here comes back from the dead."

"I’m a man of my word. The choice is yours. I’m not going to repeat myself."

"Resurrecting them is a bit of a hassle, but nothing I can’t handle."

"You might not fully grasp what I’m capable of, but I promise you—I can put everything exactly back to how it was."

Alice’s eyes snapped into focus.

"You’re bluffing. You can’t possibly do that," she gritted out. "Bringing the dead back to life... that’s god’s domain. It’s beyond human reach."

"You’re lying to me. Do you think I’m an idiot? I know how reality works."

"But if you want me to unleash my true power... fine. I’ll show you." Alice dragged herself to her feet, locking eyes with Shin. "You backed me into this corner. Now, I have no choice but to slaughter you."

"This power originally belonged to my mother. Today, I’m going to use it to make you drown in despair. Give my sister back!"

"Or I swear, I will tear you to pieces."

Alice’s mind was an absolute mess—a chaotic storm of fury, panic, and crushing regret. But none of that mattered now.

What’s done was done, and there was no turning back the clock. It was brutally obvious that the man standing before her operated on a level of power she couldn’t even comprehend.

Deep down, Alice was terrified. Unleashing her mother’s Spirit power ran the massive risk of triggering a complete, uncontrollable rampage.

But without it, she wouldn’t stand a ghost of a chance against this monster. She made her choice. She had to risk it all, if only to save her sister.

If she pulled this off, she could fulfill the promise she made to her mother. She never imagined that her own arrogant words would trigger such a catastrophic bloodbath.

Regret chewed at her, but she knew dwelling on it was pointless. She locked her burning gaze onto Shin.

"I AM GOING TO END YOU. JUST YOU WAIT."

"Seal Release! Devour! Space! Darkness! Light!"

"This is the full extent of my God Slayer Magic! Let the abyss swallow everything in eternal night!"

Shin took a slow, deep breath. So this was Alice’s full power? She had genuinely breached the domain of the gods. At the very least, she was playing in the same league as Zeref or Acnologia, the Black Dragon.

He didn’t expect to face off against a heavy hitter like this so soon.

"God Slayer Secret Art: All-Devouring Void!"

A colossal black hole materialized right in front of Shin. He immediately noticed something was off—Alice’s voice had warped, echoing with three distinct, chillingly apathetic tones.

Shin just smirked. She wanted to show off in front of him? Fine.

"Hollowfication. Vasto Lorde Form."

The world seemed to violently shudder. A bone-white, horned Hollow mask—resembling a demonic god of death—manifested over Shin’s face.

"Third-Stage Bankai."

"Rinnegan."

"Shinra Tensei."

An almighty shockwave erupted, violently repelling the massive black hole. Shin had officially entered a berserk state.

"You seriously think you can defeat me?" Clenching his hand, an overwhelming surge of power gathered in his palm, and he unleashed a devastating blast straight at Alice.

Alice wasn’t about to just roll over and take it. "I didn’t expect you to actually have some real skill," she shot back.

"Devour: Spatial Displacement!"

Shin was genuinely impressed. So this was the power of space?

"A parlor trick like spatial magic doesn’t mean a damn thing to me! Invincible Thunder, break it open!"

In that exact moment, the heavily sealed pocket of space was violently ripped apart by Shin’s sheer power.

Without giving Alice even a fraction of a second to react, Shin drew his blade.

He slashed straight at her.

Alice didn’t panic in the slightest. "Then let me show you the true depths of my power," she declared coolly.

"Darkness and Light, Fuse!"

"Healing, Reflection, Wish Manifestation!"

She rattled off a barrage of terms that went completely over Shin’s head.

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