Once the Layer of Ancients ceased to exist, the wave of darkness that spilled forth first engulfed the area surrounding the Gate to the Layer of Ancients, which floated at the center of the barren lake.
The moss-covered rocks along the dry lakeshore crumbled into nothingness, followed by the lingering pale-blue mist. In no time, the entire stretch of land—where the dried lake and the Gate once stood—was entirely devoured by the darkness.
The only small relief for Kyle was that this stretch of land was isolated from the rest of the Celestial realm by a deep, collapsed terrain, with no solid ground. After all, this place had only come into being when the earth split open, revealing it after Kyle had discovered the three symbols belonging to the first three Celestials in the Hell’s Layer.
The darkness halted for a brief moment when it reached the deep, collapsed terrain—and that tiny pause was all Kyle needed to combine all the arrays he had created so far into one and confine it within a barrier.
An angry, howling roar echoed as the darkness slammed against the barrier.
The air crackled and exploded. However, despite the terrifying, violent assault, the barrier held firm, shaking under the force but unbroken. Kyle rubbed his head with a groan. Now, at least, it would take some time before the darkness could break it.
Suddenly, he glanced over his shoulder, sensing a presence watching him—and his gaze met a pair of beastly eyes set within a skull forged from the darkness, blazing with anger. The skull loomed over Kyle, making him seem like a tiny ant in comparison. But before the skull could bite down, a wave of frost swept through, shattering it instantly.
Kyle’s fists tightened as unease coiled in his chest; the dark power around Azazeal was acting with too much of a will of its own. A bit of its own will was fine. After all, even Kyle’s cold essence had occasionally slipped out of his control before. But too much meant it wanted to devour everything—even its own master—as if it no longer needed anyone to continue existing.
As if its purpose wasn’t to serve, but something entirely different.
The thought sent a chill down Kyle’s spine.
What was happening? What disastrous mess had Azazeal brought about this time?
Azazeal was clearly lost in his own world, screaming and trying to mend Nathaniel’s shattered soul just to torment him again—but all in vain, for once the core of one’s existence was damaged, no one could restore it. Yet still, the darkness raged on, seeking to destroy everything in its path.
Kyle had a grim premonition about the shadows around him.
But before he could dwell on it further, a powerful force struck his chest, sending him hurtling through the pitch-black void that tried—but failed—to swallow him.
He barely had time to regain his balance before another attack followed. This time, he finally saw the figure assaulting him.
It was one of Azazeal’s bodies. Its empty obsidian eyes held nothing but madness.
Kyle steadied himself midair, a wave of ice spiraling faintly around him as he regained control. A low, humorless chuckle escaped his lips, his expression turning indifferent.
His gaze locked onto the figure bathed in darkness opposite him, devoid of warmth.
"So the last battle between us has finally arrived."
He wanted to add more, to confidently declare that this time he wouldn’t be the only one who gets beaton—remember it.
Yet the words died in his throat when he saw the figure opposite him remain silent, its dark eyes screaming die, die, die without uttering a word. In the next instant, the air erupted with raw force as the two collided.
Shards of sharp ice scattered in every direction, glinting against the darkness.
Kyle had just withstood one strike before five more powerful attacks came hurtling toward him from every direction, each one imbued with terrifying force meant to kill.
An ethereal, cold blue light flashed amidst the dark space, clashing violently with six crimson streaks of light that rained down upon it from all sides, each one merciless.
The sheer force of the unleashed power sent ripples of shockwaves through more than one-third of the Celestial Realm near the mass of darkness, sending waves of panic coursing through the Celestials, who had an inkling that something capable of destroying everything had drawn very near.
Opposite the six formidable yet mindless figures, driven by their corrupted power to kill and annihilate the one restraining the darkness, the seventh body of Azazeal dragged a faintly glowing, tainted soul.
Azazeal muttered to himself incoherently, staggering forward in a daze. The soul in his grasp had dimmed, its spirit shattered, its remaining light flickering weakly as the dark power in the surroundings greedily siphoned away what little power it had left.
He walked slowly in the air, dragging the soul behind him. One step, two steps, and by the third, he stood in front of the barrier Kyle had created to contain the darkness.
But against his overwhelming strength, it was nothing. In a daze, he passed through it. After staying in darkness for so long, he felt a ray of light. His eyes, unaccustomed to it, squinted against its brilliance. At that moment, he looked very small against the backdrop of the massive, writhing mass of darkness behind him. Yet it was this small figure that sent icy chills through the many Rulers and Celestials who had gathered in the area after tracing the source of havoc.
His mere presence was enough to strike fear into them. For many days, everyone in the Celestial Realm had been in constant panic—not because of any natural disaster, but because of the tremors spreading from within the Layer of Ancients—so powerful they had greatly affected the entire realm.
At first, many formidable old Rulers and powerful Celestials had stirred from their slumber and left their territories when they discovered that Valance, one of the most revered of all Rulers, and her followers had unleashed a massacre across the realm.
She was even raising undead from the souls of the dead, destroying the realm’s peace and leaving countless lives in ruin.
Those who had fought against Valance at the time had no idea what had happened to her or why she had become deaf to reason, let alone the fact that a formidable ancient realm—called the Layer of Three Ancients—had revealed itself in the Celestial Realm.
They had battled her with everything they had. In the middle, even one of Kyle’s fake bodies had joined the fight. But even Kyle—the young Celestial who had risen to fame across the realm over the past few years—fell under Valance before their eyes. They were left disheartened, yet also somewhat relieved that Valance couldn’t find his soul to create another formidable undead.
But before they could properly mourn his death, Kyle, whom they had believed dead, reappeared and defeated Valance, whom so many had failed to even approach.
He killed her so effortlessly that they all thought they were imagining things. Then he vanished, as if it had all been an illusion.
After Kyle vanished, a powerful tremor erupted from a distant place, felt by everyone present in the area overrun with undead.
Shaken by the upheaval, everyone finally shook off their stupor and eradicated the remaining undead, along with the Rulers who had lost their leader, planning to go check the source of the tremor.
Just as everyone had gathered and turned to leave after the exhausting battle, a group of Rulers, followed by countless Celestials, arrived in search of Kyle, asking if anyone had seen him. At the head of the group was a familiar figure known to every Ruler—Yizhe, the master of the old temple that stood tall at the heart of their realm.
Everyone was stunned when the stern, middle-aged woman behind Yizhe coldly declared that Kyle had destroyed the old temple and was now a wanted criminal responsible for challenging the power of numerous Rulers. Fearing his power, they were gathering forces to hunt him down.
At first, the Rulers and Celestials who had fought the undead and seen Kyle’s strength wanted to avoid Yizhe and stay out of the conflict. But when another wave of tremors came from the Layer of Ancients, shaking a vast portion of the Celestial Realm, they had no choice but to unite and locate the source of the commotion alongside Yizhe.
That was how they all found the ancient realm, known as the Layer of Ancients.
But sensing the great power behind the waves of tremors—power that sent them flying the moment they got close—they were horrified. No one dared to enter.
Ultimately, they all gathered around the collapsed land severing the gate of the ancient realm from the Celestial realm and started sending word throughout the entire Celestial Realm, calling for reinforcements and announcing that a formidable entity, capable of destroying their realm, had awakened within an ancient domain.
They had to unite to defeat it! Or else it would wreak havoc in the Realm! And the casualties would be unimaginable!
With time, more and more Rulers and Celestials arrived and joined the group.
Days passed, and the tremors emanating from the ancient realm grew stronger and more relentless. Amidst the silent, solemn atmosphere, Yizhe suddenly muttered, a sense of foreboding creeping over him:
"I hope this has nothing to do with Kyle..."
He swallowed.
"...or I’ll be the first to perish."
The stern, middle-aged woman floating behind him smacked him on the head.
"He’s strong, but not this strong! Don’t go saying something so ill-omened!"
Finally, after days of waiting, they noticed movement near the ancient realm gate. But no one could have anticipated what came next—a chilling sight unfolded as the gate was obliterated, and a massive wave of darkness erupted from within, making their scalps tingle with unmistakable dread, as if they were staring at death itself.
Everyone retreated as the darkness devoured everything in its path with terrifying speed. Panicked shouts and cries echoed through the air as they tried to halt it, only to see their natural laws, powerful skills, and artifacts vanish into thin air. In the end, they fled in horror, powerless to stop anything.
Just as chaos seemed unstoppable, the darkness was stopped by a barrier near the collapsed ground. The first thing they saw after surviving this nightmarish scene was a dark figure, clad in a robe, stepping out of the shadows and dragging a soul behind him.
Yizhe was the first to stagger back in midair at the sight of the figure.
His voice trembled as he whispered so quietly that, if those around him weren’t powerful Celestials, they wouldn’t have been able to hear him.
"What... what is that thing?"