Mark's golden meteor tore through the sky, rushing back to the cosmic edge where the Great Old Ones' lair was located at an astonishing speed.
However, when he arrived, the fierce battle he had anticipated did not materialize; what greeted him was an eerie silence.
The massive lair, constructed from flesh and alien metal, floated quietly in the void, its surface scarred with charred craters and tear wounds left by the Alliance's new weapons.
But the suffocating pressure of the Great Old Ones' will that had once enveloped it had largely dissipated.
The Alliance's fleet circled the lair, their cannon muzzles still vigilantly locked onto the target, but most of the warriors wore expressions of confusion and bewilderment.
"Lord Mark!"
The Alliance's vice commander saw Mark return and immediately came to greet him, his tone full of urgency.
"Shortly after you left, the resistance within the lair suddenly weakened drastically, and the auras of those two Great Old Ones completely vanished!"
"We attempted several probing attacks and encountered almost no decent counter-attack. Now, the vanguard has breached the lair and is clearing out the remaining scattered minions, but... the core area seems to be empty!"
"Empty?"
Mark frowned, his molten-gold pupils scanning the silent lair.
They abandoned this old lair, which they had operated for so long?
This was definitely not a good sign, indicating that they had larger ambitions or a deeper conspiracy.
He no longer hesitated, his figure flickered, and he directly penetrated the lair's damaged outer wall, entering its interior.
The light inside the lair was dim, filled with an indescribable stench of organic decay mixed with metallic rust.
The passage walls seemed to be pieced together from wriggling flesh and cold machinery. On the ground, viscous, slightly corrosive dark purple liquid and scattered, inactive Great Old Ones' minion remains were visible everywhere.
The Alliance warriors who had entered earlier were carefully advancing, using flamethrowers and energy rays to clear every corner that might hide a threat.
Mark ignored these sporadic resistances. His senses scanned the entire lair like radar, heading straight for the core area where the energy fluctuations were most bizarre and concentrated.
The deeper he went, the stronger the mind-confusing sense of oppression became.
Finally, he passed through a huge archway, seemingly made of ribs, and arrived at the deepest part of the lair.
The sight before them made the elite warriors who followed him gasp, and some even bent over, dry-heaving.
This was an incredibly vast space, as if the interior of a small asteroid had been completely hollowed out and transformed. In the center of the space, a door of indescribable size and grotesqueness floated.
The frame of this door seemed to be forcibly pieced together from countless twisted, suffering, merged biological limbs and pale bones, and it was still slightly wriggling.
Inside the door frame, there was not a space in the usual sense, but a constantly rotating, flowing vortex composed of pure darkness and insane colors!
In the depths of the vortex, countless even larger, more twisted, and more indescribable shadows could be vaguely seen struggling, roaring, and crashing against the inside of the door.
It was as if billions of devils trapped in purgatory longed to rush into the human world!
This was the Door of Unsealing!
The channel through which the Great Old Ones sought to free their kin!
At this moment, this terrifying door had been opened by more than half. The dark vortex rotated faster and faster, and the terrifying entities behind the door seemed to sense the outside world, becoming even more frenzied.
Their collective will, filled with endless hunger and desire for destruction, continuously overflowed from the door like a tangible shockwave, attempting to erode the sanity of all who approached!
Even Mark, feeling the terrifying power gathered behind the door, far exceeding that of a single Great Old Ones, frowned deeply.
Just then, the entities behind the door seemed to notice Mark's arrival.
The countless madly struggling shadows paused for a moment, and countless pairs of eyes, filled with extreme malice and ancient vicissitudes, pierced through the vortex, locking onto him.
A voice, a mixture of billions of insane whispers yet strangely clear, resonated directly in the depths of everyone's minds, filled with unspeakable greed and a hint of surprise.
"Oh? A... young New God?"
"...A miracle that broke free from the shackles of entropy."
"Taviel... Ysogtha... Shub-Niggurath... the variable those useless beings mentioned... it was you after all..."
"What a... mouth-watering, delicious aura... devouring you... perhaps it will allow us to return... faster... more completely..."
Mark was expressionless, his molten-gold pupils coldly observing the door and the horror behind it, his voice calm but filled with an undeniable resolve.
"The day of your return will never come."
"This universe does not welcome you!"
"Hee hee hee... ha ha ha ha!"
The entities behind the door let out deafening, mocking roars of laughter.
"The universe... will eventually return to silence... return to us. Resistance... only adds to the suffering... join this feast... or... become the feast itself..."
Mark no longer engaged in meaningless dialogue with them.
He took a deep breath, stepped forward, and walked towards the massive Door of Unsealing, which continuously emanated terrifying fluctuations.
"Lord Mark, what are you doing?!"
The warriors behind him cried out in horror.
The aura emanating from that door made their souls tremble.
Mark did not answer.
He came to the door, extended his hands, those hands that seemed incredibly tiny compared to the giant door, yet firmly and steadily rested on the door frame made of suffering limbs and bones!
The door frame instantly writhed violently, as if a living thing trying to resist, even attempting to devour Mark's arms in turn, and the entities behind the door let out even more furious roars and impacts.
"Hmph!"
Mark snorted coldly, and the vast, star-sea-like power within him instantly erupted.
Buzz—!!!
Brilliant golden light suddenly bloomed from where his hands touched, instantly illuminating the entire dark core of the lair like a supernova explosion.
The solar might, full of vitality and the power of existence, clashed violently with the extreme decay and deathly stillness contained within the door, emitting a grating sizzling sound.
"Close!!! It!!! For!!! Me!!!"
Mark let out a soul-shaking roar, veins bulging on his forehead, his entire body's muscles strained to their limit.
He infused his arms with unimaginable divine power and began, little by little, with extreme difficulty... to push the enormous door, which was being desperately resisted by countless terrifying entities behind it!
Creak—Creak—!!!
A spine-chilling roar, as if the very foundations of the universe were groaning, echoed through the space. That massive door, which seemed to connect to the abyss of hell, actually... under Mark's brute force, began to slowly, inch by inch, close inward.
The entities behind the door let out incredible, earth-shattering roars of anger and curses!
They frantically crashed against the door, trying to prevent it from closing, but the door seemed to be subjected to an absolute divine power, steadfastly closing inward.
All the Alliance warriors who witnessed this scene were stunned, their mouths agape, as if petrified.
What did they see?
Their leader, using pure power, was forcibly closing a hellish door connected to countless Great Old Ones?!
What a miracle! What immense power!
This had completely exceeded their comprehension!
Finally, with a heavy, thunderous crash, as if an era had ended, the Door of Unsealing was completely forced shut by Mark.
The wriggling limbs and bones on the door frame instantly lost all vitality, becoming withered and stiff.
The frantically spinning dark vortex and countless terrifying shadows within the door also completely disappeared, leaving only a cold, silent, seemingly ordinary rock-like surface on the door.
Behind the door, the silent roars and curses of countless Great Old Ones, filled with extreme unwillingness and venom, could still be heard. They swore that once they broke free, they would drag Mark and everything he cherished into eternal suffering...
Mark slowly released his hands, breathing slightly. Closing this door was also a huge drain on him.
But his molten-gold pupils were filled with determination.
He turned around, looked at the still-shocked warriors, and said in a deep voice.
"Completely purify this place, ensure no remnants, and then, blow it up."
"Yes, Lord!"
The warriors snapped back to reality, their eyes filled with almost fanatical worship and awe as they looked at Mark.
...In the following days, the Alliance and the Earth GDA conducted continuous, years-long dragnet patrols and clean-ups throughout the known universe.
But just as Mark had predicted, the Great Old Ones and their core forces vanished as if into thin air, leaving no trace.
They seemed to have completely hidden themselves in the darkest, most unknown corners of the universe.
As time passed, the long-lasting clouds of war finally seemed to dissipate.
Civilizations across the universe slowly began to recover from the wounds of war, rebuilding their homes and exchanging resources.
The atmosphere of unity, forged by a common fight against a powerful external enemy, had somewhat faded as the threat diminished, but the framework of cooperation and the bonds of friendship had been established.
Many began to believe that the war against the Great Old Ones was over, and that they had perhaps been thoroughly scared off by Lord Mark, never daring to show themselves again.
The universe entered a rare and precious period of peace.
Even Mark himself, whose nerves had been stretched for too long, finally managed to relax a little.
Although he always remained vigilant deep down, knowing that the Great Old Ones would never give up and were surely plotting a larger conspiracy, he was confident in his current strength.
No matter where they hid or what they brewed, he would be able to defeat them again!
Two years later, on the second anniversary of the end of the Great Old Ones war, to commemorate the countless lives lost in that catastrophe and to celebrate the hard-won peace, a series of grand memorial events were held throughout the universe, spearheaded by the Alliance and the Earth GDA.
Every planet mourned the heroes and prayed for peace in its unique way.
And Mark Grayson, as the hero who ended the war and the golden god who saved the universe, became the centerpiece of all memorial activities.
His statues were erected in squares on countless planets, and his deeds were sung in epic poems.
At the main memorial ceremony held on Lishi Star, Mark looked at the cheering, joyful people of various races on the square, their faces beaming with happiness, and watched the holographic fireworks, symbolizing peace, blooming in the sky. A sense of comfort and tranquility filled his heart.
Hadn't all this sacrifice and struggle been to protect this peace and these smiles before him?
Though challenges might still lie ahead, at least for now, light had dispelled the darkness.
The universe seemed to be steadily moving towards the peaceful and prosperous future he had hoped for in his heart.
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