The black-robed leader of the World-Ending Society roared as he crushed a dark purple crystal hanging around his neck.
Instantly, an oppressive aura began to spread.
Shinji frowned slightly and stopped in his tracks.
Seeing Shinji halt, the leader grinned savagely. "You feel it, don't you? This is the power of my Lord! It's too late for regrets now. Prepare to face my Lord's wrath!"
Seemingly emboldened, the Society members pinned by Shinji's black receivers began to clamor.
"Tch!"
Shinji scoffed.
The reason he hadn't attacked the leader immediately was indeed because he sensed an ominous aura on him. However, this didn't mean Shinji feared him. He simply didn't want to prematurely summon the entity backing the Society, which might allow the other members to escape in the chaos.
After all, they were all Lantern Bearers. If they fled, Shinji wouldn't be able to find them in the short term.
Now that the other five members were captured and their Lamps crushed, Shinji had no more reservations.
From the aura leaking out of the crushed crystal, Shinji clearly sensed the power of a Hegemon. This confirmed Specter's intelligence: there really was a Hegemon hiding behind the World-Ending Society!
Just to be safe, Shinji raised a hand and used Bansho Ten'in to pull the five subdued members toward him, then tossed them all into his Kamui Dimension.
Having secured the prisoners, Shinji prepared himself to battle a Hegemon within the spatial barrier of this unknown world. He beckoned to the black-robed leader. "Hurry up and let it in. I'm in a rush!"
"You..."
The leader's expression wavered. He couldn't tell if Shinji was truly confident or just bluffing.
But soon, he became convinced it was a bluff. No one could face a Hegemon directly, and certainly no one dared to defy one. It was a crushing difference in dimensional existence, unrelated to mere strength!
Rumble...
Soon, a thunderous roar echoed from the sky above. The heavens darkened instantly, as if day had turned to night in a split second.
Amidst lightning and thunder, a massive vortex appeared in the sky, seemingly connecting directly to the deep universe outside the spatial barrier!
"I welcome my Lord's descent!"
The black-robed leader prostrated himself on the ground, bowing incessantly toward the vortex in the sky.
His expression was filled with excitement. The shock, wariness, and fear Shinji had instilled in him earlier were swept away. Only madness and devotion remained on his face!
This Lantern Bearer, meant to protect a world, was now worshiping a world-eating Hegemon like a devotee worshiping a god.
Shinji ignored the leader groveling like a maggot on the ground. He leaped into the air, flying straight toward the massive vortex in the sky.
As he ascended, his chakra surged violently. Nine Truth-Seeking Balls materialized instantly, converging rapidly in his palm to form a dazzling golden longsword!
By the time Shinji, now a golden streak of light, reached the mouth of the vortex, a massive grey-black figure was attempting to crawl into the world from the universe.
Without hesitation or doubt, Shinji thrust his sword forward with full force!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As Shinji's Golden Wheel Rebirth Blast struck the massive grey-black figure crawling into the vortex, a series of explosions erupted throughout the vortex and the entire sky. The collision of two immense powers seemed to trigger a chain reaction, causing the entire space to tremble.
On the ground.
Looking up at Shinji confronting the Hegemon in the sky, the World-Ending Society's leader was frozen in disbelief!
"Impossible... this is absolutely impossible!"
He muttered to himself, the terror in his eyes growing. He couldn't believe anyone dared to face a Hegemon directly. No! This wasn't just facing one; this was fighting a Hegemon head-on!
Roar...
In the sky, the grey-black figure let out a furious roar!
This roar, capable of scaring any living creature to death, only made Shinji feel slight discomfort. Clearly, the spatial barrier of this unfamiliar world helped block most of the Hegemon's power.
So Shinji didn't retreat. Holding his sword horizontally across the vortex entrance, he stared coldly at the intruding figure. "You like collecting dogs, don't you? For every one you collect, I'll slaughter one. Let's see if you can recruit faster than I can kill!"
The figure in the vortex stopped roaring and seemed to look at Shinji.
Shinji showed no fear.
When you have too many lice, you stop itching. He had already provoked the Hegemons of Terror, Reproduction, and Plague; offending one more didn't matter.
Moreover, after the initial probe, he found that the Hegemon behind the Society seemed slightly weaker than the Reproduction Hegemon.
If it were a one-on-one in the universe, Shinji would surely be crushed mercilessly. But hiding within a world with a relatively intact spatial barrier, he really wasn't afraid of the opponent charging in. At worst, he would fight until the sky turned dark, then flee once his chakra ran out. As a Lantern Bearer, as long as the spatial barrier held, the Hegemon couldn't stop him from leaving.
Just as Shinji thought the Hegemon wouldn't tolerate the provocation and would force its way in, the massive grey-black figure began to inch backward, eventually disappearing from the vortex.
"Chickened out!?"
Shinji froze for a moment.
But considering this Hegemon was shrewd enough to recruit Lantern Bearers as dogs—showing a level of flexibility rare among its kind—it wasn't incomprehensible that it chose not to fight Shinji within a spatial barrier that disadvantaged it.
As the Hegemon retreated, the massive vortex piercing the spatial barrier quickly vanished. The dark clouds covering the sky dissipated, and the sun shone once more.
On the ground.
The black-robed leader stared blankly, murmuring incessantly as if possessed: "Impossible! Impossible!"
Flash.
Wrapped in golden rainbow light, Shinji landed on the ground.
Seeing Shinji return, the leader finally reacted and hurriedly activated his Lamp, attempting to flee.
Shinji waved his hand, and Amenoiwatoyado locked down the surrounding space.
The leader, preparing to escape, watched in horror as the spatial rift opened by his Lamp was forcibly closed. His soul nearly left his body in fright.
Shinji flickered directly in front of him, reached out, and grabbed him by the throat.
The leader's face was filled with terror. "Don't... don't kill me!"
Shinji said calmly, "I always keep my word! I said I'd slaughter all its dogs, so I can't miss a single one!"
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