The Epic Tale of Chaos vs Order

Chapter 2252: Nine flowing petals of deep darkness

The battle within the Ninth Layer of the Heart of the Root grew more and more explosive. Limbs, splintered bones, and broken bodies flashed in every direction as the Red King clashed against the eight Champions and the three High Lords of the Root.

The Zero-State Spear carved through the air in his grasp, pulverizing, exploding, and erasing everything it struck. By any reasonable measure, the Champions should have already died ten times over, each one reduced again and again to shreds. The High Lords fared only marginally better. Yet none of them fell.

The Heart of the Root kept regenerating them, restoring their bodies to pristine condition even when all that remained was a head and a few fragments of torn flesh.

The destructive power of the Red King was monstrous, but the restorative force sustaining his enemies managed—barely—to keep pace. Worse still, despite his formidable defenses and flawless command of the Light of the Flow, wounds were beginning to appear upon his body.

At first, they were nothing more than cuts and bruises, but they accumulated steadily. Slowly, inexorably, the Red King’s defenses were being breached.

Radagon observed the conflict from afar, his gaze sharp as a blade. He had not interfered so far. Though he was the strongest among them, the moment he exerted his full energy, the backlash of his premature awakening would be triggered.

The King of the Root could not risk destabilizing himself unless there was really no other path forward. Besides, everything was proceeding according to plan.

The Heart of the Root was losing vast amounts of vitality and energy, and this would complicate their long-term strategy, but now was not the time to be concerned with reserves. The immediate objective mattered far more, and they were getting closer to it.

There was, however, one point he could not ignore: the severed head.

A massive cocoon surrounded it, shielding it from the ravaging chaos of the battle, but the Ninth Layer trembled with every clash, and the destruction was approaching critical levels. The Heart of the Root could heal the Champions from any damage, but if even the aftershock of the battle reached the head itself, their mission might be doomed.

A sharp intent flared in the King of the Root’s eyes, and an instant later that same fierce resolve reverberated within the minds of the High Lords and Champions.

Despite the wounds covering their bodies, despite the strain on their energy, despite the crushing realization that no matter how hard he struck or how many times he destroyed them, the High Lord and Champion would keep coming, the Red King did not lose his composure.

Even when their movements shifted in unison, revealing a clear intention to execute a special maneuver, the Red King’s expression did not change. His eyes remained perfectly calm.

Then the maneuver began.

The eight Champions of the Root advanced together, their dives echoing like a single unified heartbeat. They moved as one, each forming a segment of a single sweeping force. The pressure they generated was overwhelming—an impact capable of sinking entire continents.

The Red King tightened his grip on the Zero-State Spear and surged forward, answering their collective might head-on. Their collision tore through the Ninth Layer, detonating in a storm of ruptured stone and light. Five of the Champions were destroyed instantly, their bodies shredded into scattered fragments. The remaining three, however, managed to break the Red King’s stance for a single instant.

It was enough.

High Lord Godfrey appeared before him, his two arms fused into one massive limb, every muscle condensed and hardened for a single devastating strike. With all the power his body could muster, he brought the blow upon the Red King.

The impact made the Red King’s frame shudder. The force blasted him upward into the ceiling of the Ninth Layer. Just as he was about to crash into it, an opening appeared in the mass of rotting corpses overhead, allowing his body to pass through into the Eighth Layer.

Yet the assault was far from over.

Before the Red King could regain control, High Lord Morgott materialized, his entire body rotating like a spiraling tornado. He unleashed his momentum in a fierce explosive strike, launching the Red King even higher—into the Seventh Layer and away from the cocoon that contained the rest of the High Lords.

The last of the awakened High Lords, Rykard, attacked next. He conjured a massive, concentrated surge of dark orange flame. It engulfed the Red King, dealing little actual damage but pushing him further upward, into the Sixth Layer—far from the cocoon of the Champions.

The Red King tumbled through the air before regaining balance, drifting across the Sixth Layer like a falling star, blood leaking from the corner of his mouth. A heartbeat later, all eight Champions re-manifested, their bodies fully restored by the Heart of the Root. Small smiles rose on their faces as they advanced with everything they had.

The enemy was powerful—unbelievably so—but at last momentum seemed to be shifting. This was the moment they needed to seize, the advantage they needed to capitalize on. If they struck now, perhaps they could end this impossible opponent.

But as they closed in, the Red King’s eyes glowed faintly, and he nodded to himself. "This should be enough."

With those quiet words, he regained full control of his body. The rune etched across his chest ignited with light. The next instant, a majestic flower of darkness blossomed around him—nine flowing petals of deep darkness unfurling in a perfect circle.

The petals folded inward, wrapping around him, and a moment later, a colossal dark forcefield erupted outward, sweeping across nearly half of the Sixth Layer.

The sky trembled. The ground withered. Stone decayed, collapsing into dust before it could even crack. Everything touched by the field deteriorated, as though time itself had surrendered.

It was a power that embodied death in one of its highest forms—pure, absolute, unyielding. Even the immortality of the Root seemed insufficient before it.