The Epic Tale of Chaos vs Order

Chapter 1583: The Night Prince’s rebirth

There were hundreds of millions of Gu Insects scattered across the battlefield after Cain’s assault had annihilated every single Apotheosis Master within the stronghold. Yet it took less than two minutes for all of them to vanish from the charred ruins—half absorbed into the Night Prince’s heart and the rest locked away inside the Star Sealing Runic Formation inscribed on Cain’s left forearm.

Cain narrowed his eyes as he felt the surging influx of Gu Insects within the dimensional space of his arm. Without wasting another second, he sent his A.I. Gu Insect inside to safeguard and oversee them.

Whatever had ended the Night Prince’s life and seized control over countless Gu Insects was a terrifying force. Even though Cain’s A.I. Gu Insect was special—programmed to obey only him—he did not wish to take any chances of it being corrupted. Besides, the A.I. Gu Insect had critical work to do: devouring every stray Gu Insect, it could find and preventing them from returning to their strange new master.

With that urgent matter addressed, Cain took a deep breath and cleared his mind. He focused on the Night Prince’s unmoving corpse. A gaping hole in the chest marked where the winged salamander had pierced his heart.

The Night Prince looked utterly lifeless, but psychic waves still radiated outward, making it impossible for Cain to approach. Nevertheless, Cain sensed these waves weakening with every passing second. Soon, he would be able to destroy the body once and for all, cutting off the winged salamander from its host.

Unfortunately for Cain, his window of opportunity closed before he could act. As the waves of psychic force began to fade, the Night Prince’s body started to tremble, muscles twitching as if a surge of vitality was coursing through them. A massive amount of power suddenly flooded into the corpse. The bones fractured by Cain’s halberd regenerated with uncanny speed; sundered flesh knitted together as if time were being reversed. Within seconds, the Night Prince’s body, once so mangled that he could not even move, had been restored to a peak condition.

Light rekindled in the Night Prince’s eyes. He exhaled a slow breath, then stretched with a crack of mended joints. A wide smile formed on his face as he clenched his fists, testing his renewed strength. By all appearances, it was as though the Gu Insect had killed him, rebuilt his body, and then resurrected him. But Cain, his senses honed by countless life-or-death struggles, saw that this transformation was no simple necromancy or healing.

When he focused on the darkness lingering in the Night Prince’s eyes, Cain recognized the same ancient, venomous power that had targeted him when he sealed so many Gu Insects moments ago. Something old, malevolent, and far more imposing than a single Gu Insect now gazed out from within the Night Prince’s body.

After flexing his newly empowered limbs, the Night Prince—or rather, the entity controlling him—turned its dark stare upon Cain. Its smile faded into an expression of loathing so profound it seemed capable of swallowing the sky and earth.

Cain felt a suffocating pressure assail his senses, like a monstrous weight pressing down on his soul. Yet there was no hint of fear in Cain’s eyes; he stood resolute, halberd at the ready.

The twisted intelligence behind the Night Prince’s gaze flickered in surprise. It seemed taken aback by Cain’s lack of submission. Its black eyes then drifted to Cain’s left forearm, where a Gu Insect would normally reside but was empty.

“Interest…” the Night Prince’s altered voice rumbled, layered with strange echoes. That was all he said. Then, in a swift motion, he seized his sword and staff, his aura exploding like a detonation of stars.

“BOOOOMMM!”

A violent eruption of energy thundered from the Night Prince’s body, rising into the sky as a colossal pillar of black starlight. Flames still licked at the ruined stronghold, but the intensity of this new darkness consumed everything, even the dancing embers.

Cain’s eyes narrowed. He recognized the Star Power and the same Laws the Night Prince had once wielded. But there was a crucial difference now: the energy density had multiplied exponentially, and the physical power radiating from the body was off the charts.

“He is stronger, much stronger,” Cain murmured under his breath.

He did not hesitate. Lifting his Shooting Star Dragon Halberd, Cain summoned his own power in response, unleashing a swirling pillar of milky-white energy. Starlight met star-fire in a tension-filled silence, creating a calm before the storm. All around them, the flaming battlefield seemed to hold its breath as two opposing forces reached their zeniths.

Cain and the newly reborn “Night Prince” locked eyes, the world dissolving into irrelevance around them. They attained a state of almost supernatural focus, each reading the other’s stance, expression, and the faint shifts of energy in the air.

“BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMM!”

Without warning, the white and black pillars rushed forward, meeting in the center of the broken stronghold with the force of colliding suns. Their impact generated a cataclysmic explosion that sent shockwaves rippling across the scorched ruins. Flames danced wildly, and the ground heaved as though an earthquake had struck.

Cain’s halberd clashed simultaneously with the Night Prince’s sword and staff. Sparks flew in all directions as metal ground against metal. He planted his feet, tightening his grip on the halberd’s shaft, pouring every ounce of strength he had into overcoming the push. However, to his alarm, he found himself being forced backward.

Cain gritted his teeth. His feet tore through the ground, carving ragged trenches in the scorched earth, yet the new Night Prince advanced relentlessly, a grin on his face.

“His strength,” Cain thought, “is higher than mine.”

Acknowledging that fact, Cain moved instantly to adapt his combat style. Rather than trying to overpower his opponent, he twisted his body at an angle to break the stalemate. He whipped the halberd around in a blurring arc, the blade slicing through the ash-laden air toward the Night Prince’s neck.

Just as the weapon neared its target, the Night Prince performed an inhuman contortion. Bending backward at an impossible angle, he dodged the blow as if his spine did not exist. In the same motion, and without sacrificing any momentum, he drove his sword toward Cain’s neck.

Cain’s eyes flared with the golden light of The Flow, showing him the sword’s path before it even began. He stepped back, intending to retaliate with a counterstrike.

Yet, to his astonishment, the Night Prince’s sword seemed to warp space itself, flickering forward faster than Cain had anticipated. The blade sliced through the air, impossibly reaching Cain’s neck in a fraction of a second.