Ashura hung in midair above the ruined city, the streets below twisted and shattered from the previous onslaught. Smoke curled in unnatural shapes, shards of ice and molten black fire littered the streets, and the surviving hunters cowered at a distance. The three outergod commanders—Kurogami, Hyoryu, and Onikami—suddenly rose to their full height, laughing eerily. The sound was low, guttural, and tinged with madness, echoing across the broken buildings like the screams of the damned.
Ashura's eyes narrowed. He sensed a shift in their aura, something ancient and forbidden. They called it Sidax, a phenomenon the legends whispered about—an enhanced phase tied to their godly vessels, allowing their physical, elemental, and spiritual abilities to scale beyond mortal comprehension. Some, the oldest of gods, had three Sidax transformations; most had only one. These commanders had mastered their Phase 2, the level they had just reached, and it was a level even Ashura would need to respect.
The ground shook beneath their combined pressure. Ashura smiled arrogantly, ignoring the looming dread in the eyes of the remaining hunters. "So this is your Phase 2? Cute. Let's see how you handle me."
The three commanders unleashed their power simultaneously. Black fire roared from Kurogami's arms, Hyoryu's frost formed blades that shredded the air like scimitars, and Onikami's spectral army swarmed like a living tsunami. Ashura moved like lightning incarnate, launching himself forward with Transcendent Wrath, slicing through black fire and ice alike, dancing on rooftops, vaulting off crumbling walls, and striking phantoms before they could coalesce.
But their Sidax amplified everything. Every blow carried double the force, their speed doubled, and their strategic coordination became flawless. Ashura's strikes, though precise and devastating, began to lag slightly behind their ever-growing tempo.
Then the trap fell. They feigned retreat and then converged. In an instant, Ashura was engulfed: burned alive in Kurogami's fire, frozen solid in Hyoryu's ice, paralyzed and held in place while five spectral swords impaled him across his back from Onikami. Pain exploded through his body in impossible waves. He gasped, tried to move, but his strength failed. His eyes widened as the black fire, icy shards, and spectral blades pierced his chest, paralyzing him completely.
And then—nothing.
Ashura felt himself falling, his vision blackening, his consciousness slipping away. The world seemed to explode into chaos around him, the last sounds of the commanders' laughter ringing in his ears.
Suddenly, a strange warmth enveloped him. Light, soft and golden, seeped into his bones. His eyes opened, and he was lying in a bed in his own home, Arlena and Gina asleep beside him. The air smelled of home, comforting and real—but something was off. He could feel it.
The city outside moved strangely, as if he could sense events before they occurred. A merchant being robbed, a street fight he had witnessed as a child… he knew what would happen, and it unfolded exactly as predicted. The air shimmered, unnatural, almost dreamlike. Night came, and rain began to fall. Ashura walked the familiar alley, water dripping from his coat, his eyes scanning the shadows.
"Nameless One… I know you're here. Where are you?" he murmured into the rain.
Silence. Then the world shifted. The city melted away, replaced by a realm high above the planet, dark and infinite. A black haloed figure, impossibly tall, radiated authority and power unlike anything Ashura had ever sensed. The Nameless One stood there, motionless, and yet every inch of him spoke of divine war and judgment.
Ashura's breath caught. This is… real?
The Nameless One spoke, voice like rolling thunder and calm at once. "This is the instant dungeon… a test not of strength, but of the body, mind, and spirit. All else was preparation. You fought well, Ashura Bellet, but the time has come to understand why you were chosen."
Ashura's brow furrowed. "Why me?"
The Nameless One's black eyes glowed. "I was once a protector, the one who stood against the murder of the Creator, The One. When I fell, the divine power I held awakened inside the universe. I waited for someone like you. You are the heir—not by birth, but by potential. You alone can carry the mantle. Look."
A vision unfolded before Ashura, memories of the battle with the Divine General he had fought in the Gods' Ruin. He saw every movement, every calculation, every shred of divine will in action. He saw the truth: the cosmic play of the gods, the betrayal of The One, the rise of the Nameless One, and how his path had been intertwined with these events since the first war of the heavens.
"You see," the Nameless One said, "all choices lead here. Now I offer you three."
Remain in the dream. Become the Nameless One entirely. Control all that exists in this world, be omnipotent, omnipresent—but lose yourself. Die in reality. Remain Ashura Bellet, mortal and finite. The universe perishes with you. Return as both. Merge. Become the living embodiment of both Ashura and the Nameless One. Inherit my power, my divinity. But the choice comes with full responsibility.
Ashura's hands clenched. "I… I choose to return."
The Nameless One nodded. "Then say the word. One word will bind your essence to mine, and I shall rest eternally."
Ashura's eyes flared with black-purple lightning, his voice low, proud, and unyielding: "I AM."
The world trembled. The Nameless One's form dissolved into Ashura, their essences merging. Ashura gasped, feeling an unprecedented surge of power coursing through him. Time and space seemed to bend to his will.
Cut back to the ruined city: the outergod commanders who had attacked him were recoiling. They sensed the immense, familiar energy radiating from the burned, frozen, and stabbed Ashura. Kurogami's eyes widened in terror. "The Nameless One… he's coming."
Everos and the other wraiths materialized around Ashura's body, fully conscious, remembering past lives as part of the Nameless One's army. Arrogant, prideful, knightly—they formed a protective ring around their lord. Some radiated intelligence, others raw power, all dedicated to Ashura.
Ashura rose, transformed. His hair had grown, now a silver-black gradient, glowing faintly at the tips. His eyes shifted to a piercing purple with black flecks. His aura screamed authority. The system was gone, deleted by the divine merge, and with it, the old boundaries of his existence.
Ashura's voice carried over the city, calm yet dripping with aristocratic arrogance. "That's why I can't trust prophecies. Damn… who would've thought it would be like this?"
The wraiths bowed lightly, then straightened, ready to serve. Ashura stretched, sensing the infinite dimensions of the Nameless One now available to him. He could enter the Nameless One's domain at will, see the entirety of its reality, and command its ancient forces.
The chapter ended with Ashura floating above the ruined city, lightning dancing across his coat, wraiths arrayed around him like a divine army, and a smile curling across his face. He was both Ashura Bellet and the Nameless One, fully realized, with the world now knowing only a fraction of his true power.