Immortal Paladin

The lone figure stood at the edge of the Hollowed World.

His feet remained planted upon the fractured ground. Behind him, and far below, an enormous wound in reality connected directly to the depths of the Underworld. Beyond the Hollowed World stretched a dark vacuum illuminated by countless stars, where shattered fleets drifted like corpses across an endless sea. Entire armadas had been broken apart and scattered through space.

The figure’s shadow stretched impossibly far.

It crossed continents, swallowed oceans, climbed mountains, and consumed horizons.

The darkness was so vast that it stained the sky Itself.

Within that shadow lurked the silhouette of the Great Beast, a monstrous entity possessing seven heads and ten horns. 

The Father of the Apocalypse trembled as his flesh boiled, his skin sloughed off and regenerated, wrinkles formed and vanished, and bones shifted beneath skin. Faces emerged across his body before sinking back into the depths of his existence. Countless wills struggled for dominance inside a vessel that had become too crowded.

His voice erupted across creation.

“DA WEI! DA WEI! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!? GET OUT! GET OUT! I AM THE FATHER OF THE APOCALYPSE! I AM APOCALYPSE! GET OUT OF ME!”

A shadow eclipsed him.

The Warden’s colossal form towered above worlds, his enormous mace crackling with enough force to shatter dimensions.

“YOU ARE NOT WELCOME HERE, VILE BEAST!”

The mace crashed downward. Apocalypse crossed both arms to defend himself. The impact shattered every bone in them instantly. The world beneath him exploded. Continents cracked. Oceans parted. Reality groaned. 

Apocalypse was launched from the Hollowed World like a meteor and rage filled him.

The power of the Dark Veil surged from within his body. Since Da Wei existed inside him, he seized upon that connection and attempted to assert dominion over the authority. But, nothing happened.

A powerful qi suddenly surrounded him as countless enormous beams descended from everywhere. They struck his body. Explosions erupted around him, yet Apocalypse merely frowned. The attacks tickled.

However, his expression soon changed. The dispersed qi from every attack did not vanish. It flowed into him and merged with him. They became his. The lingering influence of Da Wei’s Supremacy Trait twisted ownership itself.

A familiar voice echoed from his own mouth.

“I’m only just starting.”

Apocalypse froze. His lips moved against his will.

Da Wei laughed, unleashing his power through the qi that he just absorbed.

“Heavenly Punishment.”

Thunder erupted. Tribulation clouds materialized across dimensions. From them, an enormous golden sword descended from above. The weapon carried the fury of heaven itself and slammed into Apocalypse. The explosion illuminated entire star systems.

Yet when the light faded, Apocalypse remained standing.

Snarling, he waved his hand.

The divine power scattered into nothingness.

“Immortal Art: Defying the Heaven’s Decree.”

Ru Qiu appeared before him. The moment Apocalypse saw him, memories surfaced about this man. Fragments. Connections. Knowledge stolen from Da Wei. He remembered this man as the Heavenly Demon. He remembered battles, conversations, and a shared history. But the deeper he reached into those memories, the more Da Wei’s presence stirred.

Realizing the danger, Apocalypse immediately severed the thought and memories .

Dark flames erupted around Ru Qiu’s body. Suddenly, the flames turned white and more violent, the nature of quintessence reversing rapidly. Ru Qiu’s fist shot outward. The power behind that single punch was monstrous, folding space violently.

Apocalypse was blasted backward and crashed directly back into the Hollowed World.

The Warden was already waiting. A gigantic hand closed around Apocalypse. He struggled. The Warden squeezed. Bones snapped. Organs burst. Golden flames engulfed Apocalypse’s body. His screams echoed throughout existence.

The Warden’s eyes burned like suns.

“YOU CALL YOURSELF APOCALYPSE? PUNY, THAT’S WHAT YOU ARE. LET ME TEACH YOU ABOUT DESPAIR, BOY.”

The crushing force intensified. Apocalypse howled as his flesh melted beneath the divine fire. After a few seconds of intense punishment, the Warden hurled him away. As he drifted through space, Apocalypse realized something horrifying.

The Warden was growing stronger. Not to mention, Apocalypse felt like there was something missing within him. Or more specifically, diluting his powers.

The realization filled him with unease. His shadow twisted and the Great Beast emerged. Seven heads roared. Ten horns tore through reality. The colossal monster lunged toward the Warden. Their clash shook the foundations of worlds.

Meanwhile, another voice echoed from Apocalypse’s left.

“Eldritch Blast.”

Alice appeared clad in full crimson armor. Scarlet energy erupted from her gauntlet. Apocalypse reacted instantly. Silver Steel materialized within his hand. The legendary weapon intercepted the attack. A moment later, danger surged behind him.

A sword stabbed toward his back.

“I see,” Ru Qiu said calmly. “So that’s what you want me to do.”

Something inside Apocalypse snapped. His anger reached a boiling point. He vanished and reappeared. His backhand connected with Ru Qiu’s face. The cultivator’s head exploded into countless fragments. Blood scattered across space.

Alice flickered forward, seized the sword, and immediately retreated.

Far away, the Great Beast suddenly staggered. Its battle against the Warden changed. The creature weakened drastically.

Apocalypse froze. His eyes widened. Slowly, he looked inward and deep within himself toward the countless existences imprisoned inside his being, the Horsemen, and the foundations of Apocalypse itself. He found the absence of something, like a piece of himself was carved away. The Unsupreme Death was no longer with him.

His voice became a whisper.

“W-What?”

Disbelief spread across his face.

“How?”

Far ahead, Alice fled at impossible speeds. Zealot’s Stride carried her across battlefields and through fleets. Thousands of flying vessels moved to intercept. Apocalypse roared and gave chase. Warships exploded wherever he passed. Entire formations vanished beneath his wrath.

Alice narrowly slipped through the destruction. Finally, she reached one of the larger vessels. The moment she entered, a warp array activated. Space folded and the ship vanished.

Apocalypse immediately pursued. His power tore through dimensions. He ripped apart the warp corridor itself. Moments later, he found the vessel and destroyed it. The entire ship exploded into debris. Victory flashed across his mind.

A hand suddenly descended onto his shoulder. It felt immovable and absolute.

Ru Qiu stood behind him, perfectly unharmed. “Stay still.”

Apocalypse’s eyes widened. At that exact moment, Alice appeared. The single-edged sword plunged forward. It stabbed deep into Apocalypse. Something fundamental was severed again. Before he could react, Alice vanished through an unknown teleportation art.

Apocalypse looked inward once more. The void was unmistakable. It was completely gone. One of the Horsemen had been stolen. This time, it was Famine.

The Great Beast weakened further.

The foundations of Apocalypse shook as genuine panic gripped the Father of the Apocalypse.

His scream echoed across worlds, dimensions, and realities alike.

“FUUUUUUUUUCK—!”

More warps tore open across the darkness of space.

One after another, vast ships emerged from folded dimensions until an entire armada filled the battlefield. Countless vessels of the Hollowed World arrived in response to the chaos. Their arrival transformed the silent void into a sea of steel, divine formations, and burning engines.

Alice did not hesitate.

The moment reinforcements appeared, she shot toward one of the nearest ships. The vessel accepted her aboard and immediately entered warp.

Apocalypse watched her disappear and his rage only deepened.

Ru Qiu still stood before him. 

The immortal had returned once again. This time Apocalypse did not allow even the slightest chance of recovery as he cast a spell at him. Disease bloomed and bloody flowers erupted across Ru Qiu’s body. Petals made from flesh unfolded from his skin. Roots burrowed through his bones. Entire gardens of corruption exploded from his organs.

Ru Qiu barely had time to look down before Apocalypse flicked a finger.

The immortal’s body shattered. Flesh? Blood? Bone? Soul? Everything scattered into countless fragments that drifted through the void. 

Apocalypse did not bother checking whether the man survived. Instead, his shadow expanded.

The Great Beast emerged once more, Apocalypse merging with it. The colossal monster roared into existence and immediately hurled itself into the armada. Ships exploded beneath its claws. Entire fleets vanished beneath its jaws.

Apocalypse could feel the weakness spreading through the Great Beast. Several of its horns had been broken. Cracks ran through its scales. Bones remained fractured from its battle against the Warden. The losses of Death and Famine had left wounds that could not easily heal.

The surviving vessels reacted quickly. Some hid themselves behind dead worlds and drifting celestial debris. Others immediately entered warp and fled. Many were clearly pursuing Alice’s escape route.

Apocalypse ignored all of them. His focus narrowed upon a single target. With immense strides through space itself, he pursued Alice. His senses stretched across dimensions. The trail was obvious. Soon, he found the vessel carrying her.

A blasphemous curse left his lips and the ship collapsed instantly. Metal rusted. Crew members withered. Souls rotted away. The vessel crumpled into twisted fragments before exploding into dust. Countless nearby ships suffered similar fates simply from his presence. Entire crews died screaming as their flesh decayed. The darkness of space became a graveyard.

Alice perished shortly.

Apocalypse noticed something floating nearby. A sword. The weapon drifted silently through the void. It was the Soulsunderer. The moment his eyes landed upon it, memories surged from Da Wei. Knowledge flooded into him. Understanding followed.

Death and Famine were inside the blade.

The sword itself possessed the power to sunder souls, but not enough to truly destroy beings like the Four Horsemen. Instead, it had been transformed into a prison.

A sealing sword.

The influence of Supremacy Traits lingered upon it.

Da Wei’s Supremacy Trait of Bearer.

Ru Qiu’s Supremacy Trait of Fallen.

Together they had temporarily elevated Soulsunderer into something capable of containing what should never be contained. Apocalypse inhaled. Power gathered within him. He intended to erase the sword completely. However, pain suddenly erupted.

The Great Beast screamed. A gigantic hand emerged behind him. The source of the hand was the Warden. Without warning, the colossal guardian tore one of the Great Beast’s heads completely off. Blood flooded the stars. The severed head drifted away.

The Great Beast howled in agony.

”RRRRAAAAAAGGGHHHH! IT HURTS! IT HURTS!”

The remaining heads writhed violently.

Apocalypse immediately forced his will through the creature.

”BE SILENT AND FIGHT!”

The Great Beast obeyed. Its surviving heads lunged toward the Warden. The void trembled. The Warden’s mace descended with celestial fury. Entire regions of space collapsed beneath the impact.

Apocalypse retaliated through the Great Beast. Their powers collided repeatedly. Shockwaves swept through galaxies. The Warden suddenly reached toward a nearby star. His hand closed around the sun. The impossible act compressed the stellar body into something smaller and smaller. Its light vanished. Its mass intensified. Then he threw it. The transformed star became a newborn black hole.

The black hole struck the Great Beast directly. Space twisted. Matter vanished. Another head disappeared. The Great Beast screamed again. Apocalypse felt his expression darken.

Because two core existences were gone, it had weakened the Great Beast considerably.

Of course, its essence remained. The Supremacy Trait of Death still lingered within its foundations, but it was no longer enough. Not against the Warden. Especially not when the guardian continued growing stronger.

The Warden devoured stars between exchanges. Each consumed sun increased his power. Each passing moment widened the gap.

Apocalypse growled and the Great Beast opened its mouth.

Something enormous emerged. An endless serpent slid from the Great Beast’s throat. Its scales reflected dying stars. Its body stretched across worlds. It was Nidhogg. The dragon-serpent that the Great Beast had previously devoured returned once more.

The creature roared and lunged at the Warden, the former recognizing the latter.

This bought Apocalypse enough time as he turned away from the battle and focused entirely upon Soulsunderer.

His senses searched frantically, replaced by confusion.

The sword was gone.

”WHERE IS IT!?”

He expanded his perception across dimensions, timelines, and warped space.

Finally, he found it.

Alice was fleeing with everything she possessed. Crimson bloody wings extended from her back. Trails of blood burned behind her. Every drop ignited into superheated flames. Her wings blazed scarlet. An Immortal Art carried her forward. 

Two horses pulled her through reality itself. One horse was red, ghostly figures trailing in its wake. The other was black and possessed two enormous horns. Together, they dragged her through space faster than reason allowed. 

Abruptly, the crimson flames intensified and Alice entered a warp-state.

Apocalypse immediately pursued.

The chase carried them across unimaginable distances. However, Apocalypse he stopped. Not because he wished to, but because he had to.

Ahead of Alice existed something far more terrifying than the Great Beast. 

It was the Abyss. Or some would describe as the Dark Sun. It was the center of the Greater Universe. Its gravity consumed light. Its existence swallowed possibility. Standing near it was equivalent to standing beside oblivion itself.

Alice hovered near the edge with Soulsunderer rested in her hands.

”Not another step,” she said coldly. ”If you want this sword, then stop acting like a monster and return to a form that can actually hold a conversation.”

Apocalypse narrowed his eyes. After a long silence, the Great Beast vanished. Its enormous form dissolved. The monstrous and collosal creature receded. Once again, Apocalypse stood in a humanoid shape.

Alice relaxed slightly. 

Laughter echoed from within Apocalypse.

”So this is your grand victory?” Da Wei mocked. ”You lost two Horsemen. You got beaten repeatedly. You chased a sword across the remnants of the Underworld. And what did you get? More insults to your face! How pathetic.”

Apocalypse smiled. The expression was far calmer than before.

”You continue to underestimate me.”

Da Wei remained silent.

Apocalypse looked toward Soulsunderer.

”Death and Famine were tools. I can recover them anytime I want. So, yes, you ridding of them would set me back, but it wouldn’t be enough. Hah~! So, what!? You keep thinking Apocalypse is about domination and endings. But Apocalypse is also self-destruction.”

A look of fear crossed Alice’s face.

Without hesitation, she lifted Soulsunderer and pressed its edge against her own throat. One swift motion followed. Her head separated from her body. Blood scattered into space. 

“Did you forget, Da Wei? I’m also Conquest, and not just Apocalypse!”

At the same instant, Apocalypse extended his hand, gravity bent, and space warped. The falling sword changed direction. Soulsunderer flew directly into his palm. The blade landed perfectly. Silence followed. Apocalypse stared at the weapon. Death and Famine remained sealed within.

Neither Da Wei nor Alice could stop it anymore.

The Father of the Apocalypse slowly raised the sword with a victorious grin spread across his face as he laughed. The sound echoed across stars, worlds, and dimensions.

”You lose, Da Wei.”

His grip tightened around Soulsunderer.

”In the end, Apocalypse always wins.”

The grin on Apocalypse’s face froze. The sword in his hand vanished. His fingers closed around empty space. More laughter erupted inside his mind. 

Da Wei laughed so hard that it echoed through every layer of Apocalypse’s existence.

”HAHAHAHAHA! Did you really think it would be that easy?”

Apocalypse’s expression darkened. At once, he reached into the stolen memories and connections binding him to Da Wei. Information surfaced rapidly. Soon, understanding struck. It was Divine Phantasm of Dreams, Da Wei’s most powerful illusion spell.

The realization landed like a hammer.

It did not matter how powerful he was. It did not matter how vast the difference in realms had become. The illusion had succeeded because it was built upon himself. Da Wei had integrated his existence so deeply into Apocalypse that the falsehood had become indistinguishable from reality.

Every emotion, expectation, and assumption had been manipulated. Before Apocalypse could react, his body lurched forward. The Abyss filled his vision. The Dark Sun pulled upon him with irresistible force. Space twisted around him.

Apocalypse immediately fought back. His muscles strained. His power erupted. The stars behind him shattered as he slowed his descent. For a brief moment, he managed to halt himself. The gravity of the Abyss howled around him.

Apocalypse laughed with an ugly and hateful sound.

”You think you’ve won, Da Wei?”

His voice thundered throughout the void.

”You’re alone.”

The pull of the Abyss intensified.

Veins bulged across his skin as he fought against it.

”You’re one man.”

His smile widened.

”There is no use in struggling.”

Darkness gathered around him and the shadow of the Great Beast stretched across space.

”I will destroy the Hollowed World. I will destroy the Greater Universe. I will find Alice. I will find every person you ever loved. I will recover Death. I will recover Famine. I will recover every missing piece of myself. And when it is done, I will destroy all.”

The Abyss groaned beneath his defiance, yet Apocalypse remained strangely calm. He understood what had happened. He had been played, tricked, and humiliated. But none of that truly mattered. The Abyss remained the only force capable of permanently destroying portions of his existence individually. The same was true for Death and Famine.

So, he would watch over the Abyss and secure it if he have to. He would recover that sword. Time was irrelevant. He could create more servants, more armies, and more versions of himself. Eventually, he would win.

Apocalypse’s grin widened.

”As Conquest, I was never alone. Apocalypse is no different.”

Da Wei laughed again. This time there was pity in his voice. ”Fraud.”

The single word sent a chill through Apocalypse.

Da Wei’s voice became softer and more dangerous.

”You’re mistaken about something.”

“What?”

”I was never alone.”

The moment the words ended, another voice answered. A familiar voice. A loyal voice. A disciple’s voice. ”I’ve always got Master’s back.”

It was Hei Mao. The declaration echoed through Apocalypse’s existence. Suddenly, something burst from his head. Countless red strings erupted outward. They were woven from blood, ghosts, resentment, and countless souls trapped within him.

The strings wrapped around his body, bound his limbs and restricted his movements.

Another voice joined the chorus, then another, and then another.

”It is time we repay the kindness shown to us.”

Hei Mei’s voice carried determination.

Beside it came Yuan Shun’s fragment.

”We owe too much to remain silent.”

The bindings tightened. Apocalypse’s control over his own flight immediately suffered. The Abyss dragged him lower. More voices emerged. Thousands. Millions. An endless choir of the dead. The countless souls devoured by the Great Beast cried out together.

Their voices merged into a tidal wave of anguish.

”We were abandoned.”

”You consumed us.”

”You stole everything.”

”We will make it right.”

The words struck deeper than attacks. Every declaration resonated through his existence. Every accusation became another weight dragging him downward. Apocalypse roared and his body expanded. Bones cracked. Flesh stretched. The Great Beast returned.

Seven heads, full, emerged. Ten horns pierced reality. The colossal monster fought desperately against the pull of the Abyss. Soon, bright and joyful laughter rang out. It was a completely unexpected sound.

Pestilence laughed.

”Oh, this is wonderful.”

Apocalypse froze. The laughter came from inside him. From one of his own core existences. Betrayal flooded his thoughts.

”Pestilence.”

The other half of Conquest’s existence laughed harder.

”Da Wei has shown me so many possibilities.”

Disease spread through the Great Beast. Scales blackened. Flesh rotted. Entire sections of its body began decaying.

Pestilence sighed contentedly.

”You never understood.”

The sickness intensified. Countless fragments of Conquest trapped within Apocalypse began falling ill simultaneously.

”It was always my desire to surpass you.”

The Great Beast trembled.

”It was always my desire to take control.”

More flesh sloughed away.

”And now you’ve finally given me an opportunity.”

Apocalypse howled. The sickness consumed him from within.

Da Wei’s voice echoed throughout the collapsing existence. “You’re immature. I know exactly who you are. And you’re a disappointment. Know that at every turn, you could’ve won, but you failed, Conquest.”

Rage exploded.

”I AM NOT CONQUEST!”

The Great Beast screamed.

”I AM APOCALYPSE!”

Da Wei answered immediately.

”Dao Domain: Sanctum of the Indomitable Radiance.”

A massive golden cathedral manifested. Countless pillars rose from nothingness. Golden stained-glass windows stretched across infinity. Sacred light illuminated the void. The domain expanded around them.

And then everything changed.

…

..

.

[POV: Da Wei]

I watched the cathedral rise around us. Golden light pushed back the darkness of the Abyss. Massive arches extended into infinity. Sacred bells rang somewhere beyond reality. Within the domain, I became an anchor.

Attacks directed at me weakened drastically. Anything targeting my allies suffered similar suppression. Damage reflected. Resistance multiplied. Protection spread throughout the sanctuary.

Of course, Conquest wasn’t included.

The moment the domain fully formed, Apocalypse screamed. The Abyss swallowed him. The Great Beast twisted violently as impossible gravity tore into its body. Entire sections of flesh ripped away. Heads shattered. Horns snapped.

The monster’s dying shrieks echoed endlessly.

”NO!”

The pressure increased.

The Abyss devoured everything.

”THIS ISN’T OVER!”

Reality peeled from his body.

His existence unraveled strand by strand.

”I AM APOCALYPSE!”

The Dark Sun swallowed him deeper. Its gravity rended flesh, soul, law, authority and everything. His screams became distorted, fragmented, and scattered. I wish I could’ve appreciated the moment more.

Unfortunately, I was also falling straight into the most horrifying black hole in existence.

”Well.”

I stared at the impossible darkness consuming us.

”This is bad.”

The Abyss disagreed with understatement. The gravity of the situation was completely ridiculous. I tried flying, but nothing happened. I poured Divine Qi into movement techniques. The Abyss consumed the energy instantly. My reserves dropped like water poured into a furnace.

”Ha ha.”

I laughed nervously, and then I laughed harder.

”Ha ha ha ha ha~!”

The situation was becoming increasingly absurd.

I formed seals.

”Egress.”

The skill began manifesting. A familiar pathway appeared.

However, the Abyss crushed it and the technique vanished before completion.

”Seriously?”

I stared at the fading remnants. The black hole did not care. I couldn’t die here. That much was certain. If I died, then Hei Mao died. Hei Mei died. The countless souls saved from the Great Beast died. Everyone connected to me died.

That wasn’t acceptable.

I gritted my teeth. Golden light surged through the cathedral. The Abyss continued dragging us downward. My Divine Qi evaporated at a terrifying rate. Every instinct screamed that we were running out of time, yet I forced myself to think. I let Ophanim guide me..

There had to be something.

There was always something.

The answer existed somewhere.

The Abyss continued pulling at me.

Every second felt like an eternity.

My Divine Qi burned away faster than I could replenish it. The massive cathedral of my Dao Domain groaned around us. Entire sections had already collapsed into golden fragments drifting through the void. The sacred pillars were cracked. The stained-glass windows depicting countless stories of defiance had shattered long ago.

I could feel death approaching.

The kind of death that erased everything and left nothing behind.

Pestilence’s familiar voice echoed inside my head.

”My lord.”

I blinked. Of all the people I expected to hear right now, she wasn’t one of them. The strange Horseman laughed softly.

”In the end, you fulfilled your part of the bargain. You showed me possibilities beyond conquest. You let me won. Perhaps, this is the inner workings of fate. Or maybe just plain coincidence. But, the way of the cosmos are different and strange. We can’t always strive to understand them You have my loyalty. Oh, Bearer of Everything. You have my faith and more. I will become your most loyal servant.”

My eyes widened.

I honestly hadn’t expected her to follow through on her words with a deal in the past I thought had fallen through.

”Dao Domain Recreation: Conquest of Thy Undying Will.”

The remnants of my shattered Dao Domain erupted with light. The influence of my Supremacy Trait spread outward as Pestilence borrowed it. No. Perhaps borrowed wasn’t the correct word. She wielded it alongside me. Countless souls connected. Threads of existence stretched from one spirit to another.

The disciples.

The ghosts.

The survivors.

The countless victims rescued from the Great Beast.

Everyone became connected.

Through that connection, I could hear and feel them.

And somehow, they could hear me too.

I inhaled and spoke.

”My friends.”

My voice spread through every connected soul. The fear and despair was obvious. Many believed this was the end. I understood why. Most of us should have died. Many probably thought we already had.

I smiled despite the pain.

”We’re getting out of this.”

The words sounded ridiculous.

Even I knew that.

Still, I continued.

”We didn’t come this far to die now.”

The connection pulsed.

I felt uncertainty, hope, fear, determination, and everything at once.

”We survived Apocalypse.”

I coughed blood.

”We survived the Great Beast.”

Another bloody cough followed.

”We survived impossible odds.”

The connection strengthened.

”The Abyss doesn’t get to decide when we quit.”

Something changed. Faith surged through me. One soul. Then another. Then hundreds. Then thousands. An endless wave flooded back toward me. Trust. Belief. Conviction. The power crashed into my existence.

My Divine Qi exploded upward.

The increase was so immense that even I became startled.

The cathedral brightened. Golden radiance pushed back the darkness. The remnants of my domain stabilized. For one glorious moment, it felt like we had become unstoppable. Then reality remembered to be cruel. 

The Divine Qi vanished almost immediately. The effort required to escape the Abyss was simply too much. Still, it had been enough. The darkness broke and the crushing pull weakened. The impossible gravity behind us finally lost its grip.

We escaped, barely.

I floated through space.

Or perhaps drifted was a better description.

My body was in terrible condition. One arm was gone. Both legs had disappeared. My remaining flesh looked as though a starving beast had chewed through it repeatedly. My intestines floated outside my body. It reminded me at the time I fought Aixin, when certain death was about to claim me. Not this time.  The sight would’ve been horrifying if I had enough energy left to care.

Inside me, Eldritch-chan clung desperately to what remained of my torso. She couldn’t even speak anymore. The journey had left her equally devastated, yet despite her condition, she refused to let go.

I reached up with my remaining hand and gently patted her head in my mind.

The broken remains of my Dao Domain drifted nearby. Golden fragments floated through the void like dying stars. Even the Hollow Star embedded within my crown had suffered. Cracks spread across its surface. The damage reached deep into its foundations.

Yet despite everything, we still weren’t safe.

The Abyss remained behind us. Its gravity still reached outward. Soon my Divine Qi would completely run dry. And when it did, the Dark Sun would drag us back. I gritted my teeth. Not yet. I wasn’t done yet. Using the fractured Hollow Star and the remaining scraps of the Dark Veil inside me, I stretched out my will.

The effort nearly caused me to black out.

Far ahead of us, the Hollowed World appeared as space shifted. The enormous world materialized within the darkness. Its gravity immediately took hold. Instead of being pulled backward toward the Abyss, we were now being drawn forward.

Toward safety.

Toward survival.

Toward home.

My consciousness flickered.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

The pain was unbearable. The Abyss had not merely injured me. It had shredded me. Every part of my existence screamed. Everything hurt. Yet slowly, another power emerged.

“Divine Sanctuary of Life.”

Gentle radiance flowed through my ruined body. Flesh began reconnecting. Organs regenerated. Bones slowly reformed. The process was agonizingly slow. But it worked. I watched new tissue grow across exposed wounds. For the first time in what felt like forever, I relaxed.

A smile appeared on my face.

A familiar voice echoed through the connection.

It was Hei Mao.

”Master.”

My smile widened. The young man sounded exhausted, but happy.

”We won.”

I closed my eyes.

The Hollowed World continued pulling us closer. The Abyss grew more distant. The connection between countless souls remained intact. I laughed softly.

”Yes, my disciple.”

My voice felt weaker than ever, yet I had never meant words more sincerely.

”We won.”

My vision grew dimmer with every passing second as the strain, the pain, and the exhaustion finally caught up to me. The connection Pestilence had forged still lingered, allowing me to hear the countless voices surrounding my existence one last time.

The choir of the dead resounded across the void like a sacred hymn, not with anguish or resentment, but with relief. One by one, then by the millions, souls began departing from within me. The victims of the Great Beast, the lost spirits trapped across countless ages, and the wandering dead all drifted away as streams of light, entering a new cycle of reincarnation that stretched beyond my sight.

Their gratitude, hopes, and farewells washed over me like a warm tide.

As my consciousness faded, strong arms caught my broken body before I could drift away. Hei Mao held me close against his chest, his grip trembling yet unwavering as he looked down at me with reddened eyes and a determined smile.

“Rest now, Master,” he said quietly. “You’ve done enough. Leave the rest to me.”

Hearing those words, I finally allowed myself to let go. The distant hymn of departing souls became softer and softer, the light of the Hollowed World blurred into a comforting haze, and with the certainty that the future would continue without me carrying it alone, I closed my eyes and fell into darkness.

And so, the Choir of the Dead sung.

”O bearer of the breaking light, who defied the endless night,

”You raised the fallen from despair and kindled hope with future’s fire.

”From shattered souls and broken dreams, you taught the lost again to fight,

”Now rest beneath the silent stars — for even death bowed low to Da Wei’s might.”