Kyle smiled as Azazeal’s face stiffened. Sanity seemed to return to the man as he glared at him darkly—then smiled back.
"I told you... I told you not to show your face to me in this realm or I’d kill you."
Even as his bodies cracked with visible marks, he didn’t retract his power—a dark force that wanted to consume even him.
Kyle cocked a brow, amused.
"Can you?"
His eyes glinted with mirth.
"Believe me when I say—I have already learned the law you used earlier to boost your power. Maybe I will lose to you now, but I will survive with just that and come back even stronger. I don’t need to rely on my bloodline power to make it happen."
His words silenced everything.
The Rulers stared at him in shock.
Even Ares, Cassian, and the others with them were stunned. How could someone so easily reveal the origin of their power?
Azazeal’s brows creased. Behind him, the purple flower let out a displeased sound—a sinister aura pressing him to continue. But his focus had already shifted to the striking man standing on the snowflake before him, a confident, smug smile playing on his lips.
Slowly, his dark power began to retreat into the massive flower, and his aura dropped to that of a peak 6th-stage Celestial. Still, he wanted to wipe that smile off Kyle’s face.
"Hah, you are really shameless. Even after being beaten by me so many times, you still haven’t learned, have you? Still sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong. Incredulous."
Kyle’s eyebrow twitched. Was this man really itching for a fight that badly? Still, he ignored the obvious provocation. It wasn’t the right time—not yet. They were standing at the same stage of Celestial rank, yet he knew he was weaker. He couldn’t fight that all-consuming darkness behind him. One mistake and he would be consumed by it.
Soon. Very soon, he would give this man the death he deserved and so wanted.
Instead, he changed the subject.
"In a way, we both possess a somewhat similar power, even if yours is broken now. But do you know the main difference?"
He pointed to the snowflake below him.
"I’m standing on mine... I own it."
Then, he pointed at the massive flower floating behind Azazeal’s seven bodies.
"And that—it’s looming over you, almost like it’s the one who owns you. What monstrous entity did you create? It can manipulate you, control you, and to me, it now looks like..."
His voice dropped.
"...it no longer even needs you."
Those words made Azazeal waver.
But Kyle wasn’t done.
"Try to rein it in. It’s a part of you—not something that should consume you and then go on existing without you. It should return to nature once you are gone... but now I can tell it’s being greedy to survive."
Yet instead of appearing rattled or solemn, Azazeal’s eyes crinkled with genuine mirth—dark and laced with gleeful amusement.
At that instant, the Gate behind him—stained with his blood—began to glow.
Ethereal wisps surged forth, their tendrils wrapping around all his bodies, as if eager to drag him into the depths of the Layer of Ancients. He could have easily broken free from the tendrils, but he didn’t. He let them pull him in, moving his lips with icy clarity.
His dark gaze was fixed on Kyle.
’Do you think I care what happens to this world once I’m gone? Let it cease to exist. If my race was a mistake created by nature, and I am its consequence... then this great power everyone craves is a mistake too.’
’Let it all vanish completely... devoured by the silence I leave behind.’
Even without a voice, Kyle got everything.
He was stunned as he watched the man being willingly dragged into the gate. Then, an unreadable smile spread across his lips.
’So, you accepted your death long ago... Can you still see the future? That’s just like you... always one step ahead. It’s not fair.’
’Still, I will be the one to end you.’
He shook his head, yet his lips twitched as he realized the Rulers had surrounded him.
He glanced around, speechless.
"If you look at it differently... I saved all of you. Doesn’t that deserve at least a thank you? What’s the meaning of this...?"
The cold stares he received completely wiped the amusement from his face. One of the Rulers let out a merciless chuckle.
"You’re too dangerous to let live. Who’s to say you won’t become a monster like that obsidian-eyed man in the future?"
Kyle rubbed his temples.
"Indeed... this great power of being a Celestial—not everyone deserves it."
Perhaps Azazeal was right.
This power... it’s a mistake born of nature—something that should never have existed.
But it’s already too late to turn back. The world has tasted it, craved it, killed for it.
So how could it ever let it go?
He vanished just as a Ruler launched an attack, his cold voice echoing through the broken, dark sky, which patched itself and glowed under the sweep of his power.
"Come catch me if you want me dead."
Kyle flashed them all a smirk before disappearing with instant teleportation.
They followed immediately after.
Clan Leader Ares closed his eyes.
"What madness have we just witnessed?"
Cassian nodded silently.
No one around them dared to speak.
They had seen too much—far more than enough. The weight of it hung thick in the air. But of course, Gvette had to open his mouth and ruin the rare moment.
"Clan Leader! The Rulers are gone! We should quickly enter the floating Gate!"
All eyes turned toward the overly excited Celestial—just as Ares kicked him into the deep, collapsed space where the lake had once been, now long dried up. Silver shot him a deadpan look as she wiped the last of her tears. Seeing the obsidian-eyed man so broken—that evilly handsome man with dark eyes full of emptiness—had affected her more than she’d anticipated. His words were so painful, she actually wanted to go and tell him, no, you are not a mistake.
No one was a mistake.
She picked up a rock and threw it at him.
"How about you learn to read the room for once? Why are you always so clueless?"
Just as Silver spoke, a familiar voice echoed from behind the group.
"But he’s right. Let’s enter the Gate."