Chapter 14
"No. You lose."
The original Vastro said it with a small broken smile on his face.
Sincerely, the battle had been tough. No, tough was an understatement. If there was anyone who could defeat Vastro in a fight, then it had to be Vastro himself. That truth had been clear from the very beginning.
His mind had processed it fast. Brutally fast.
He was too weak to even dream of harming the other Vastro. Killing him was impossible. So he chose the only path left.
He would let Vastro destroy himself.
The Law of the Abyss was his greatest weapon. It was also his greatest weakness.
The abyssal energy inside Vastro absorbed every form of power that struck it. Holy or unholy. Mundane or divine. It devoured everything without exception.
That was why, during the fourth round, the second to last round, he attacked with everything he had.
But he was careful.
He attacked specifically with chaos.
Pure chaos energy was the most destructive force in existence.
Overwhelming.
Dominating.
Unforgiving.
When Vastro managed to strike the fake Vastro with a massive surge of chaos energy, the abyss inside him devoured it.
But it did not assimilate it in time.
It took a while. Eventually, the abyss swallowed the energy whole. That alone showed just how terrifying the Abyss truly was.
But that was not all.
Not even close.
That was only the foundation of the plan.
In the final round, he attacked again. More chaos. More pressure. More destruction.
The abyss inside Vastro tried to consume it once more.
This time, it failed.
It was already weakened by the earlier catastrophe of chaos energy it had devoured.
One more intake was enough to destabilize it. And that was exactly what happened.
The chaos energy ruptured the Law of the Abyss embedded deep within Vastro soul.
The destabilization began instantly. The abyss turned inward.
It devoured him from the inside.
Energy. Soul. Core. Organs. Every fiber of his being was consumed at a terrifying speed.
Vastro was too focused on ending the original to check his own condition. He did not notice when critical became fatal.
Then the abyss finally collapsed.
It devoured everything.
What remained was an empty shell.
The body of Vastro fell to the ground with a dull thud.
The surviving Vastro stared at the corpse. His eyes were distant. Exhausted. He was beaten.
Truly beaten. Physically, he had won. But what had been done to his soul and existence orb was far worse.
That damage would take time to heal.
Too bad he was taking the Trials of Hell.
And Hell was not known for mercy.
He rested briefly. Forced his healing as much as he could. Then he rose to his feet.
His body was renewed.
His soul was not.
"I have no time to waste," Vastro muttered. "Hopefully the last gate is not as threatening as this."
He stepped forward, leaving the empty body behind.
The world around him began to dissolve. Reality peeled away until only endless darkness remained.
A path formed beneath his feet, paved with silver light that glistened and shone, guiding him forward.
At the end of the path stood a massive double white door.
Vastro stopped just short of it.
His eyes locked onto the surface. No expression.
No fear. Only quiet resolve. Deep down, he hoped whoever awaited him inside would not be worse than what he had just survived.
He was the greatest usurper.
The wielder of five existential domains.
He could not fall here.
Not at the ninetieth gate.
And certainly not at the final gate of Hell.
If there was one respite in all of this, it was the simple fact that this was the last.
After this, it would be over.
He would be reborn in the Eighth Realm once again, one step closer to vengeance. His heart burned with reinvigorated determination.
Not to lose.
Not to die.
Not to become a slave of Hell for all eternity.
Vastro pushed the massive door open and stepped through.
Whatever Hell had left for him, he would face it head on.
---------------
Meanwhile, outside the Hell Trial, the wardens felt their worlds turning upside down.
Beings of their level, leagues above the current Vastro, could not believe what they were witnessing.
Even they had never believed it possible to clear the Trial of Hell and reach the very last gate. It was deemed impossible.
Only a handful had ever conquered the gates of Hell, and not one of them had done it at this speed.
The fastest clearance record since the founding of the Trial stood at one hundred cycles.
Vastro had spent barely three.
And yet he had reached the final gate.
"Soris, you lost the bet."
The red cloaked warden spoke calmly, facing the one clad in white.
They had made a wager. A simple one, at least by their standards. Whether Vastro could defeat his peak self.
The sane answer was no.
They had felt the power the peak Vastro radiated. They themselves were no match for it. With that kind of strength, the fake Vastro should have erased the original in mere moments.
Yet it did not happen.
Soris had bet that the fake would win.
Rrys had bet that he would lose.
Or rather, Rrys had bet on the abnormality called Vastro himself. The trials alone had proven that much.
The result was clear.
Soris lost.
They were paying in megatons of pure Hell Essence. Soris felt ripped apart just thinking about it.
Losing that much essence would make him the weakest and poorest Hell Warden among them.
"You know what, Rrys," Soris said coldly. "If you dare, take another bet."
The red cloaked warden turned toward him. Or at least, that was the assumption. His face was endless darkness, giving away nothing.
"What bet?" Rrys asked.
Soris felt it. This was his chance to turn everything around. To reclaim his losses and more.
"There is no way Vastro passes the final gate of Hell," he said, satisfaction dripping from his voice.
The pattern had already been set. Soris opposed Vastro. Rrys supported him. Soris would exploit that faith and multiply his gains.
Or so he hoped.
Rrys did not answer immediately.
He fell into thought.
He was not a fool.
There was a reason the final trial existed.
If he was being honest, no matter how astonishing Vastro had been, there was a ninety nine point nine nine percent chance he would fall at the final gate.
"What is it?" Soris sneered. "Losing hope in your golden boy?"
Rrys saw through him instantly. Soris plan was obvious. The risk was real.
Only a handful of those who challenged the Trial ever passed the ninetieth gate. Even fewer reached the final one.
But Rrys felt something rare stir within him.
He wanted to gamble.
Vastro was not just another participant. He was the most astounding anomaly the Hell Trial had seen in countless ages.
"I accept," Rrys said.
Soris burst into laughter.
"He will surely lose," Soris said confidently.
Rrys merely shrugged.
Both wardens turned their attention back to the sphere before them, their expressions unreadable. The remaining two wardens did the same, eyes never leaving the scene.
As if answering their focus, the image shifted.
Vastro had just stepped into the final gate of Hell.
The gate that would decide his fate.
To be continued.....