Lord of the Truth

Chapter 2110 Ashification-2

The Fundamental Path of Destruction is immense, vast beyond imagination. It is undoubtedly the most powerful path when it comes to combat and direct confrontation. In the brutal world of cultivators and cosmic conquerors, where the value of a path is measured by how effectively it can erase an enemy from existence, the Path of Destruction stands supreme without dispute.

However, the number of minor laws within it is not very large. There are only a few dozen in total.

Once one truly understands the essence of destruction, the methods may vary greatly, yet the result always converges to the same ending. Collapse, dissolution, annihilation. No matter how many forms destruction takes, it eventually leads to the same silent conclusion. Because of that, it seems that whoever designed the laws of the universe intentionally limited them to a relatively small collection. Perhaps too many methods of destruction would have tipped the balance of existence itself, leaving no room for life to endure. Among Helmorʼs children of the second row and below, two or three minor laws are especially widespread. They are easier to comprehend, faster to achieve breakthroughs with, and their results are consistently effective. Even cultivators lacking extraordinary talent can make steady progress with them. Moreover, Helmorʼs children who do not possess the natural affinity required for certain destructive laws can relatively easily find substitutes within the bloodlines of powerful beasts. The monstrous vitality and chaotic essence found within beast blood often provide a crude but workable bridge toward those same laws.

Among these, the most common and valued are the laws of Shattering, Erosion, and Fracture.

They are practical, efficient, and brutally direct.

They were the very same laws that had been offered to Helen countless times. Her brothers had urged her again and again to choose one of them so that she could secure an easier path, a stable future filled with steady progress and predictable breakthroughs.

But she refused.

Instead, she stubbornly insisted on Ashification.

Everyone advised her otherwise. They told her she would be better off studying the Law of Flame. At the very least it was visually impressive, widely respected, and easier to understand than destruction.

But Helen never changed her mind.

And in the end, her father simply nodded and allowed it. ”...” Helen lifted her head slightly, her gaze steady as it locked directly onto Damirʼs face. ”To fools and the short-sighted, ashification is a trivial law. A law that merely imitates what happens after fire devours material objects.” A faint smile appeared at the corner of her lips. ”But when I was young, I asked myself something...”

Her voice grew quieter. ”Why does everything that burns turn into ash?” ”No matter what kind of thing burns, whether it is wood, flesh, metal, or stone... in the end it all becomes the same ash.”

Crack

The sharp-edged cube surrounding Helen suddenly began to show countless tiny fractures.

At first they were barely visible, like hairline scratches on a crystal surface.

Then they multiplied rapidly, spreading across the cube like a spiderweb across glass. ”What-?!” Damir let out a short cry.

He had not even registered Helenʼs words.

Immediately, he began pouring an enormous amount of energy from the third array into the cage, attempting to repair the damage and reinforce its structure.

But the cube responded like a bottomless abyss.

No matter how much energy he fed into it, nothing improved.

The cracks only multiplied.

They became so numerous, so densely layered, that Helenʼs figure completely disappeared behind them.

And from within those countless fractures, a thin gray mist began to seep outward.

A faint mist.

Ash-colored. ”...Finding the answer to my question, the reason why everything becomes ash, drove me to pursue that law quietly, with passion.” Helen slowly began raising her left hand, her movements calm and unhurried. ”And after I chose it and used it to break through the World Cataclysm...”

Her voice grew firmer. ”I knew I had made the right choice.”

As she continued speaking, her tone became heavier, deeper, as if echoing from some distant and low place. ”Ashification is the process of structural collapse within matter and energy. It is the final stage of disintegration. A process that can occur through many mechanisms, fire being only one of them.” ”But the true subject of the law is not fire.”

Her smile widened slightly. ”It is the ash.” ”So tell me, Lord Damir...” ”Why does everything become ash when its structure collapses?” ”What does that reveal about the true origin of material things?” ”...?” Damir was forced to hear the final sentence.

His eyebrows shot upward instantly. ”Oh no...”

At that moment he could feel it.

Something inside the cube was changing.

A strange energy was forming.

An energy that felt deeply wrong.

Dangerous.

Harmful.

Harmful even to someone like him, a being who had walked the path of the devil and drowned himself in darkness countless times. ”Die!!”

Damir roared violently and waved his hand.

The remaining arrays immediately activated.

The first array released the dark arrow before it was fully complete. Even unfinished, the massive projectile had already accumulated enough power to shatter a planet.

The second array abandoned every delicate technique it possessed and unleashed the entirety of the soul force stored within it, striking directly at Helen with overwhelming force, attempting to crush her spiritual domain outright.

Even the third array, the cursed cage itself, shattered apart into countless fragments that rushed toward Helen from every direction like a storm of blades.

Executing this attack would cost him dearly.

It would drain a massive portion of the power he had accumulated over the years, power he had slaughtered hundreds of millions of living beings to gather. But something deep inside him was screaming that if he did not do this now...

He might never get another chance.

Then he heard it.

A whisper.

Soft.

Calm.

Yet terrifying. ”The Final Throne of Ash.”

Zooooooom

A gray wave of energy erupted from Helenʼs body like a silent storm being unleashed. It burst outward in every direction, passing through the fragments of the damned cage, and the moment it touched them they turned instantly into ash, as if the very concept of their structure had been erased.

The shattered pieces did not even have time to resist.

They simply disintegrated.

Then the wave continued expanding rapidly, swallowing the massive dark arrow that Damir had released. The terrifying projectile that had enough power to destroy a planet was instantly turned gray upon contact, its structure collapsing in a single moment before it too crumbled into ash without the slightest resistance.

Even the thin air around them began turning into ash, particles so fine they were nearly invisible to the naked eye. Space itself seemed to corrode under the influence of the wave, momentarily eroding into nothingness before sealing itself again the instant the gray tide passed. ”No!!” Damir cried out as he staggered backward in disbelief.

Zooooom

The gray wave continued expanding relentlessly.

Within moments it swallowed the three arrays entirely.

The instant it touched them, the intricate structures that Damir had spent years constructing collapsed violently. Their frameworks broke apart, their power cores shattered, and within seconds the three Miserable World arrays all turned into ash and scattered into nothing.

Even the life energy that had been stored within them, the accumulated vitality harvested from countless sacrifices, turned into ash as well. Only the soul force resisted slightly.

Instead of turning into ash, it condensed into countless emerald-like crystals that burst outward like a rainstorm, falling toward the planet below where they scattered across the lands like a strange celestial gift. ”...!!!” Damirʼs eyes widened to their absolute limit as he stared behind him.

What was happening could only be described as terrifying.

Why did that brat, who had only just broken through, possess this kind of overwhelming power?

The Minor Ashification Law seemed completely devoted to her, responding to her will perfectly, almost as if it were a living force fighting in her place.

Swoosh

Bam ”Where do you think youʼre going?”

Helen stepped out of space directly in front of Damir.

He had not even realized she had moved.

Her hand shot forward instantly, gripping his neck with terrifying precision before he could react. ”Why would you think you could escape...” her voice was calm and cold, ”after witnessing the Final Throne of Ash?” ”H-Helen!!” Damir shouted with rage and hatred, his voice trembling between fury and panic.

Hooom

Hooom

Hooom

Dozens of soul gates opened around them simultaneously, forming a chaotic ring in the void. From within those gates, all kinds of different creatures began pouring out.

Some were massive beasts with twisted forms. Others were ghostly entities made of condensed soul force. Some looked like armored warriors, while others resembled ancient monsters pulled from nightmares.

Hundreds emerged within mere moments.

Bang

The purple flame above Helenʼs head suddenly exploded.

It was clear that Damir had just launched an extremely violent and direct soul attack, a desperate strike aimed straight at her mind and soul.

The attack shattered what little power remained within the soul borrowing protecting her. ”Helen Distra, this... is your final warning!” Damir spoke with great difficulty, his throat still trapped within Helenʼs grip. He was careful not to struggle too violently, fearing that even a small mistake might cause her to crush his neck instantly. ”Even without my arrays...” his voice trembled with anger, ”I am still a nine-star Soul Master!!” ”You couldnʼt kill me with the Miserable World arrays.” Helen showed a faint. smile. ”And now you think you can kill me with soul creatures and soul attacks?”

A trace of open disdain appeared on her lips. ”No...” Damirʼs eyes widened to the limit as he released something.

A hidden move.

But Helen had no intention of allowing anything more to happen in todayʼs battle. ”Die.”

Zooooom

Damirʼs neck instantly turned into ash.

There was no explosion.

No dramatic burst of energy.

Just a silent collapse.

His head separated from his body and both began falling freely through the air.

His eyes were still wide open, refusing to accept what had just happened. From his severed head he looked upward, seeing Helen growing more distant as he fell toward the ground below. Around him he saw his soul gates collapsing one after another.

The creatures he had summoned were dissolving.

Their forms condensed into emerald crystals before raining downward like glittering fragments of green light.

Even in that moment, Damirʼs mind was still racing.

He had already begun forming plans.

Plans to survive.

Plans to heal.

Plans to take revenge.

But-

Whoosh

The ashification that had begun devouring his head earlier had now reached his eyes.

In an instant they turned into dust.

Then the gray decay continued upward and outward, consuming every last strand of hair on his head.

Puff

By the time Damirʼs body struck the ground, there was no body left.

Only a loose mound of gray dust.

Helen stared downward silently for several seconds.

Her expression was completely emotionless.

Then she slowly raised her hand and examined it carefully, her brows knitting slightly together.

There was a mark there.

A strange mark that had not been present before.

Just as she had expected...

That bastard had not died quietly.

He had done something.