Chapter 897: A Celestial symbol...
Within the trembling domain, while Kyle continued his brutal assault on the others, the old Celestial woman desperately tried to crawl away from the glacial flames that had engulfed her arms and legs—freezing them solid like blocks of ice. Her eyes widened in horror when her frozen limbs cracked, then shattered into glittering particles of frost.
A cry tore from her throat, disbelief laced with pain in her voice. Instantly, her power surged to life, desperately trying to mend her body. But her mind was screaming.
Impossible.
Utterly, absolutely impossible.
How could a mere 4th stage Celestial possess this much power? How could someone so young make her—a majestic 5th stage Celestial—feel this helpless?
Every shred of logic rebelled against what she was witnessing, but the pain told her the truth. This wasn’t a battle anymore—it was a one-sided brutal beating.
And Kyle... he wasn’t just strong.
He was something else entirely.
But how?
How was he this powerful?
How did he wield such formidable skills and otherworldly freezing flames, infused with the very essence of nature itself?
Her thoughts came to a screeching halt amid the chaos—because finally, she saw it. Floating within the cold flames was a massive snowflake. Majestic. Beautiful.
Its edges pulsed with multiple colors.
And then... realization dawned.
Why Kyle was so strong. Why a 4th stage Celestial could overpower those in the 5th.
Her heart sank.
"A pure Celestial symbol... but how? Only those who have reached the final stage of the Celestial rank and earned the Crown of a Ruler bear the Celestial symbol on their bodies—since they’re closest to the End!"
The old woman’s voice trembled, barely a whisper beneath the chaos around her.
Her words rang out, but she knew no one would understand her shock—they couldn’t, because they didn’t know what she knew as the oldest Celestial among them. Suddenly, a long-forgotten story stirred in her mind.
A tale buried in myth, passed down in broken fragments from the oldest texts.
Long, long ago—before there were cities, clans, or even a structured realm to rule—before natural laws had names—three beings had first ascended to this plane.
The very first Celestials.
They were absolute.
The rulers of both chaos and order.
Each of them had been born with a unique symbol etched onto their bodies—symbols that pulsed with primordial natural power.
These marks shaped their destiny, carved their path, and declared to the world their undeniable right to reign above them all.
A flower.
An hourglass.
And the third... her thoughts faltered as dread coiled tightly around her heart.
A crimson ice crown.
Not just any ice crown—but an intricate, searing one. Its ever-shifting edges were layered in colors one could barely register, each end unique and impossibly detailed.
They were, by nature, symbols of the End— not acquired, but born into the very flesh of their bearers. The End was something only the Rulers had ever described, never found.
Yet, two of the bearers of those symbols fell—betrayed by those closest to them.
The third, heartbroken by their deaths, abandoned the world and shattered its existence, merging with nature itself.
In the end, their power faded... and with it, the End itself vanished from the records.
After them, no one—not even the people naturally born as Celestials—was ever born with a Celestial symbol on their body.
It was as if... nature had lost the will to choose another. From then on, one could only earn a symbol of nature by reaching the final stage of the Celestial rank.
And yet, right now, before her very eyes, a Celestial was wielding a Celestial symbol—despite not having reached the final stage of the last rank in existence: the Celestial rank. Did that mean... he was born with it?
Had nature, after eons of silence, finally decided to find the successor to the empty thrones of the three fallen Supreme Ones?
She let out a strangled laugh.
Who would have thought she would live long enough to witness this?
The End wasn’t merely a force—it was the very balance of existence. And only those chosen by nature could reach it. Only they had the power to bring realms to stillness.
And that snowflake floating within Kyle’s flames—majestic, glowing, commanding everything around it like a living judgment—was one of the Symbols of the End. One he didn’t earn but was born with. A mark that signaled the rise of a new Supreme.
Her breath hitched.
"He... he isn’t just powerful. This kid is the successor of the End itself. He is already this powerful as a 4th stage Celestial—so what would happen when he reaches the final stage of the Celestial realm? Would anyone ever be able to reach him?"
She could tell—clear as day.
Even at just the 4th stage of the Celestial rank, he was no longer bound by nature. It was already too late. Nothing and no one could stop him now from rising to the very top—from becoming the strongest.
She choked. They were fighting the will of the End itself. And she had thought they had a chance of winning against that?
How utterly foolish...
Her thoughts screeched to a halt when she noticed the eerie calm around her—and the looming shadow above. He had been there the whole time, listening to her murmurs.
When she turned, Kyle lowered his head to meet her gaze, eyes calm and unreadable.
"Keep talking."
He said, his voice low.
"It was rather interesting."
Yet, instead, she immediately lowered her head, her body trembling—her expression a twisted mixture of fear and reverence.
"I submit! I submit! I will follow you in this life—without question! Please, spare me!"
Her voice broke, desperation lacing every word as she dropped her gaze, forehead pressed to the cold, trembling ground. She dared not lift her gaze to meet his again—not when she had just realized the truth.
She wasn’t before a mere Celestial... She was before a force close to the End itself.
Kyle blinked and tilted his head.
"Weird. I remember saying I wouldn’t kill you. I’m just giving you all a taste of your own medicine. So why do you already look like you have given up—like you can’t even stand before me...? Is it because of what you were muttering earlier?"
He paused for a moment.
"Alright, that’s enough."
His gaze swept across the area, taking in the bloodied figures scattered around him.
"All of you—heal up and gather. This place needs cleaning so I can meditate in peace. And..."
He turned to the old woman.
"...you. How about we talk a bit more about the End you mentioned?"