Chapter 284: Totemic Chaos

“Totemic Chaos… I can’t believe I’ve lived to see the day when I would perform it for a stranger.”

Crimson steam escaped the old shaman’s lips as she released a heavy sigh, her frail body trembling beneath the strain of the forbidden technique. She struggled to remain upright before slowly sinking to her knees, her wrinkled fingers pressing against the ground for support.

Even her already white hair seemed to grow paler by the second, losing what little luster it had retained over the years. The wrinkles across her face deepened, and her skin grew increasingly thin, as though decades were passing through her body in a matter of moments.

It was almost as if her remaining lifespan were being drawn out through the countless crimson strands, each carrying a fragment of her vitality into the towering totem beside her.

Max felt the strange crimson energy invade his body, clashing against the ancient god’s rage that had been slowly tearing him apart from within. By now, his body had become a battlefield for forces far beyond his control, and although he despised having his fate decided by powers he could barely comprehend, he knew one thing with absolute certainty.

He had to live. And live, he would. A furious roar escaped his lips, shaking the surrounding forest as he raised his head toward the enormous crimson eyes staring at him from the depths of his consciousness.

Their dreadful gaze pressed against his very soul, attempting to crush whatever resistance remained, but Max refused to look away. If the ancient god wished to overwhelm him with its rage, then he would answer with a rage of his own.

Memories of his life on Earth came flooding back, bringing with them wounds he had spent years trying to bury.

The abuse he had endured at the hands of his own mother, the countless days of being tormented by other children for reasons he could never understand, and all those years he had spent pretending that everything was fine, convincing himself that one day the suffering would simply disappear. But it never had. Something deep within him cracked once more.

His Spirit Sovereign’s Heart began beating wildly, releasing torrents of spirit magic that surged through his body before crashing against the invisible barrier preventing them from reaching his veins. Each collision sent another wave of pain through him, yet the heart continued its relentless assault, refusing to yield even as the ancient god’s rage threatened to consume everything.

His blood boiled in response, stirring something wild and ancient within its depths, a power carrying the ferocity of a primordial beast alongside something far more mysterious, something connected to the very foundations of creation itself.

Yet among all the powers awakening within him, one responded more violently than any other. The darkness. The void that had become an inseparable part of his existence stirred with a ferocity he had never experienced before, its boundless darkness surging against every foreign power threatening its host. It cared little for the ancient god’s rage, the crimson energy attempting to contain it, or even the invisible barrier suppressing Max’s magic.

It fought against everything. The void expanded with such desperation that it seemed willing to tear apart reality itself if that was what it took to preserve his existence. For the first time, Max felt as though the darkness dwelling within him possessed a will of its own, one that had awakened in response to his fury and refused to allow anything, not even an ancient god, to claim his life.

The white mist totem trembled violently, unleashing powerful gusts of wind that swept across the village, ripping roofs from their foundations and sending broken timber flying through the air. The tribe’s warriors were forced to summon their magic and cling to whatever remained standing as the ground beneath their feet began to rise at an increasingly terrifying speed.

Even the pressure in the air started to change, making every breath heavier than the last. The distant forest, which had once stretched as far as the eye could see, was now rapidly disappearing beneath them, its towering trees shrinking until they resembled little more than patches of greenery scattered across the earth.

Then, without warning, the last stretch of forest vanished from their sight.

Where there had once been mountains, hills, and endless wilderness, there was now nothing but open sky. Clouds drifted far below the edges of the rising land, while powerful winds howled through the village, threatening to sweep away anyone who dared release their grip. Several women crawled toward the broken outskirts, hoping to catch a glimpse of the world below, only to retreat in terror when they discovered that the ground simply ended beyond the collapsing trees, with an immeasurable drop waiting on the other side.

The sight made many villagers dizzy, their stomachs churning as they struggled to comprehend the height they had reached. Some fell to their knees, refusing to look anywhere but the ground beneath them, while others desperately embraced their loved ones, knowing that a single misstep could send them falling into the endless expanse of sky.

And still, the ancient creature continued to rise, carrying the entire village farther away from the world they had always known.

Suddenly, a powerful roar erupted from somewhere deep beneath the rising land, followed almost immediately by another from the white mist totem where Max remained bound. The two roars overlapped, shaking the entire village with such tremendous force that the ground cracked beneath the villagers’ feet, while the remaining houses groaned under the strain. Even the warriors who had summoned their magic struggled to remain standing, their protective auras flickering as the terrible sound reverberated through their bodies.

Then, from within the white pillar, Max opened his mouth once more.

Yet the voice that escaped his lips was no longer his own.

It was deep and ancient, carrying an authority that made the villagers tremble, as though every word had been spoken by something that had existed long before their ancestors first walked these lands.

“Humans… You dare disturb my slumber after countless ages of peace? For such insolence, your destruction would be a fitting punishment. Yet I shall grant you one chance to preserve these lands. Offer yourselves to me as sacrifices, surrender your lives willingly, and I may allow your homes to remain. Refuse, and everything you have ever known shall perish beneath my wrath.”