Chapter 268
The Sublime Terror
Terror…
Is nothing more than a complex chemical reaction, creeping into hormones to impose its control over body and mind.
An ancient question forces itself upon us:
Do the Great Old Ones feel terror? Do they know fear?
This question was proven true one day…
At the hands of a single human, who shook the heavens and the earth with his power.
Arthur Narin.
But, what if an entity stronger than this human were to appear?
Would the hormones of terror submit to it?
Would fear creep into its existence?
A difficult question, isn't it?
And the answer… is simple.
No.
He will not be terrified.
He will not fear.
He will not be crushed like an ant before an elephant.
And he will not run, no matter how vast the disparity.
No… a thousand times no.
We are talking about a human who held the world in his palm,
Shattered countless constellations,
Distorted infinite timelines,
And destroyed an entire planet in a fit of rage, then erased its laws and imposed new ones upon it.
He faced terrifying, transcendent entities… and shattered them.
Time and time again.
Yes, gentlemen…
This is the descendant of the Narins.
Arthur compressed space around himself, his voice echoing like a final decree:
{{{There is no escape for you today, Gezgoth}}}
...
Let us go back in time a little now
Arthur's hand trembled as he watched the stars extinguish around him, one after another, as if the universe were turning off light after light.
|Arthur… can you even see him?|
{No… but}
Arthur calmed his mind, lowering the flow of his power by half. He quietly closed his eyes, as if isolating himself from everything.
And in the darkness of his eyelids, he focused his power into his eyes for three full seconds.
Then he opened them.
And there…
He saw the truth.
A magnificent entity, beautiful and terrifying all at once, devouring the stars mercilessly, star after star.
{Damn it…}
|What?|
Arthur said in a low, almost mocking voice:
"Cain… have you said your goodbyes to the comrades?"
|What are you babbling about, Arthur? Have you gone mad from fear or what, you bastard?|
Arthur smiled calmly at Cain's comment, then clapped his hands together in the heart of space.
"You fool…
Do you really think I'm afraid?"
{{I am Arthur Narin… afraid of a space fish?}}
With every word, power surged even more inside him, escalating without restraint.
Then… a sound was heard that hadn't been heard in a long time.
The sound of shattering chains.
The chains of the seal.
That seal which Arthur had placed upon himself, to prevent his power from leaking and overflowing.
A seal whose flaw he knew all too well:
What is locked behind it does not easily come out…
And if it does come out, the seal will never accept containing it again.
|Arthur, you damned fool! Are you planning to abandon them and never return?|
Cain shouted within his depths, while Arthur gripped his body, bursting with overwhelming power.
{{Cain… I will return, I swear to you.}}
He whispered it in a calm, steady voice…
Then—
He erupted.
A terrifying explosion split space itself, swallowing everything around him.
{{G… Grandfather?}}
Gezgoth spoke in trembling astonishment, abruptly stopping his devouring of the stars.
He looked toward the center of the explosion, where a human form was slowly taking shape.
An entity compressing space itself, moving with a strange composure, like an elderly man walking in tranquility.
The body appeared fully:
Human in its figure…
Yet of a dark, mysterious purple hue.
And a strange head, encircled by spinning lines of burning red, as if his head were an independent planet.
{{Gezgoth.}}
An arrogant, haughty voice emanated from the mysterious entity, as he raised his head with condescension.
{{What destruction you have wrought, little child…
Yet I congratulate you.
Truly, I congratulate you on this great achievement.}}
{{Who are you? Identify yourself!}}
Gezgoth shouted, his voice shaking space.
{{To make me, Arthur Narin, use my full power for the very first time…
You should be proud of yourself, boy.}}
Arthur spoke with calm superiority, looking down upon Gezgoth.
Gezgoth shut his mouth in rage, then charged toward him like a hurricane.
{{I will kill you!}}
{{Kneel.}}
A single word.
And suddenly…
Space itself compressed around Gezgoth's body, freezing him in place.
{{What is happening?! Are you…?}}
{{Yes.
I control your space, boy.
Or did you forget that it is… merely a small law?}}
{{This is impossible…
This cannot be happening!
Not possible!
How can an ordinary human possess the power of laws?!}}
{{The impossible… has already happened.}}
Arthur raised his hand calmly.
And in the middle of his dark face, a majestic eye opened, releasing a dominant, solemn aura that swept through everything.
Arthur smiled a cold smile…
Then he compressed space.
{{There is no escape for you today, Gezgoth.}}
{{No… no… this is impossible!
I am the closest to the Throne!
I am the only one!
I am the last!
I am the greatest Old One… and the strongest of them!
I am—}}
{{You are nothing… before me.}}
Arthur said it with deadly composure.
Then he brought his hands together, compressing all of space.
And Gezgoth's body shattered… entirely.
Arthur stood alone in space.
Nothing… but absolute, silent darkness.
And in the heart of this darkness, a beautiful portal appeared.
The portal back to the world of Song.
Arthur exhaled softly, looked at it, then snapped his fingers.
{{Let there be light.}}
And with those words…
This entire world was remade:
The stars, the planets, and everything Gezgoth had swallowed in his rampage…
Returned from nothingness.
It has returned anew
Arthur looked calmly at the shimmering portal before him, an expression devoid of emotion, as if everything that happened moments ago was merely a closed page. Then he slowly descended toward Gezgoth's planet, which he had just remade, landing upon its silent surface and sitting there… alone.
There was nothing around him but stillness.
A heavy stillness, as if a lingering trace of a power that still dominated existence.
|Arthur… can you hear me?|
{{Yes, I can.}}
|You… you won, man.|
{Yes, I did it.}
A brief silence ensued before Cain's voice returned, this time weighed down with anxiety.
|Arthur… what now?
The seal you placed upon yourself—the one that prevented the use or even the leak of the slightest fraction of your full power—is gone.
You won't be able to put your power back into it again.
How will you return to the world of Song in this state?|
Arthur answered with absolute calmness, as if the question did not concern him:
"With this."
He slowly raised his fingers, pointing at the open air in front of him.
|…???|
Cain did not understand his intention at first, but as soon as he saw the next movement of Arthur's hand, his realization suddenly broadened.
|Arthur… do you intend to… stop—|
And before Cain could finish his sentence, absolute stillness prevailed.
All sound vanished.
The air ceased to move, as if time itself were trapped in a single instant.
Even the void seemed to hold its breath.
Arthur said in a low, decisive voice that accepted no retreat:
"Either it… or nothing."
And with those words, Arthur quietly closed his eyes.
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