✦ Chapter Six – Omens of the War of a Thousand Worlds ✦
Volume Two: The Emperor Returned from Ruin
Ethan—the man who had erased an entire city with a single hand—found himself standing amid devastation.
Yet he had failed to notice the tree.
A lone tree had sprouted anew, taken root, and lived.
The old man sighed and spoke, his voice heavy with age and truth:
"Even if rivers collapse and dry away, the mind does not dry with them. You did not lose yourself—you drowned yourself in a sea of illusions. I know what destruction befell your world. But understand this: its savior now walks upon the last remaining branch of that tree… treading the very path of his enemy."
Ethan frowned, unsettled by the words. The old man continued, unshaken:
"Enlightenment is born only after darkness. And when the sun sets, it does not mean it has gone out."
Ethan, confused and restless, did not grasp even a fraction of the old man's meaning. Yet the old man extended an invitation—
an invitation to the War of a Thousand Worlds, a conflict that would gather fighters of every race.
"This war will begin in three Earth days," he said.
"But on that world, three years will pass—like a mirage."
Time twisted.
Ethan did not even bother to break the neck of the bottle in his hand. Instead, he set his course toward the Bloodied Earth Planet—a world the size of three suns, where sunrise lasts an entire year, and sunset another.
There, the Six Venerables welcomed all contenders, offering formal greetings to the assembled warriors.
Then appeared the Lord of the Criminal Alliance.
He saluted the crowd and declared his pride at their arrival—especially at the presence of the Five Calamities, the so-called disciples of the Venerables:
Vulcanos, Warchief of the Barbarians
The Lady of a Thousand Illusions' Fragrance
Marshal Eid, Lord of the Elements
The Hell Dragon of a Thousand Years
And finally… The Shadow of the Abyss
Vulcanos stepped forward in utter arrogance, trampling anyone who stood in his path. He advanced toward Ethan, who did not shift by even a fraction of a step.
Vulcanos halted before him and moved to strike.
Ethan calmly drew his spear.
"Crimson Shadows."
In the next instant, Vulcanos's corpse collapsed onto the ground—
before the tournament had even begun.
The Lord of the Alliance roared in fury:
"How dare you commit such a crime before me—before the tournament even starts?!"
Ethan replied coldly:
"You who hold authority speak of justice and enforce laws—but tell me, were those laws above all when this barbarian slaughtered hundreds? Or were their lives merely acceptable sacrifices, paid in bribes to the Venerables?
Before this crowd, I testify: you yourselves declared that laws exist—yet where were your voices then?
I swear… I will tear apart every arrogant, accursed tyrant."
The tournament was announced at last.
The presiding authority summoned Soth, Elder of Planet Volterra, whose fury was unmistakable as he vowed retribution against Ethan.
And amid it all, the Venerable of the Celestial Shadow smiled softly—
as though he were already planning something far more dangerous.