The Epic Tale of Chaos vs Order

Chapter 2195: Three vs one

Kukulkatz still could not understand how such a thing was possible. There should not exist any force capable of consuming, weakening, or neutralizing the Power of the Root itself. The Root was absolute, sovereign, primordial. Yet before his very eyes, the flames he unleashed were devoured, twisted, and rendered harmless by Cain’s strange, unnatural frequency.

He had no time to process the impossibility.

A beam of condensed, raw energy erupted from Cain’s right hand, blasting forward with the sudden, violent force of a cosmic cannon. The brightness of it split the void, illuminating the dark expanse with a brilliance that forced even the Champions of the Root to flinch.

Kukulkatz reacted on instinct. With a sharp snarl he twisted his body aside, the beam streaking past him by the narrowest margin. Dodging saved his own life—but it also meant the full force of Cain’s cannon struck the Heart of the Root directly.

”Damn it!” Kukulkatz roared, rage shaking his voice.

He might not have been like the mindless spawns—he possessed wisdom, ego, and identity—but that did not weaken his connection to the Root. If anything, it made it stronger, more intimate, more unbreakable. So when he felt Cain’s strike tearing into the surface of the Heart, it was as if a blade had sliced into his own skull. The pain and insult were intolerable.

Snarling, Kukulkatz thrust both arms forward. The pipes jutting from his back expanded like grotesque veins, drawing in corrupted, decaying energy from the world-sized tumor behind him. Cosmic toxins and ruined star-light poured into his body, making his flames denser and more violent until they burned like a collapsing sun.

He unleashed everything as a gigantic cannon of orange Root-flames that tore through the void.

The attack was strong enough to pulverize a small world, but Cain only smiled.

Extending his left hand, he touched the incoming blast with his index and middle fingers. The flames collapsed inward the moment they met his skin. All that destructive energy was consumed in less than a heartbeat—redirected instantly through the Scarlet King’s body before erupting from his right hand as a new energy cannon.

This time Kukulkatz chose not to dodge. A massive wall of orange Root-flames bloomed around him—thick enough to melt divine artifacts—and met Cain’s redirected cannon head-on. The two forces collided violently, rattling the void.

While Kukulkatz focused on defense, Cain moved.

In the span of a breath he vanished, then reappeared above the Heart of the Root. A sea of invisible blades erupted outward, slashing down and pulverizing a large portion of its surface. The damage was immediate and undeniable.

”Bastard!” Kukulkatz screamed, the sound layered with fury and pain.

A thick tendril extended from the Heart of the Root and connected directly into the back of his head. Energy surged through him, empowering his flesh with enough strength to endure the purifying might of the Matrix.

The next second, the Dark Omen lunged toward Cain, abandoning long-range combat. He understood now—distance only made Cain more dangerous. Closing the gap was his only path forward.

Despite relying mostly on long-range power up until now, Kukulkatz’s speed in close combat was shocking. He moved like a meteor, tearing through the void toward Cain with devastating strength.

Cain’s eyes sharpened the moment he perceived the incoming strike. He sensed the full power of the Champion and did not hesitate. He lunged forward as well.

They collided in the blink of an eye.

A scarlet-and-orange explosion burst outward as their fists met. The shockwave washed across the battlefield, disintegrating any unfortunate spawn caught nearby. And in the aftermath, the physically superior fighter made himself known.

Cain’s punch sent the Dark Omen flying backward through the void.

But the Scarlet King’s victory was incomplete, as he was also hrueld across the body, orange flames clutching to his right hand. Entropy and Nihility activated instantly, purging the corruption. Yet the damage was already done: muscle fibers had ruptured, and parts of his flesh dissolved.

Kukulkatz regained control of his body after a moment. The blow he had taken from Cain left several wounds, but nothing lethal. His own defenses were monstrous. And before Cain could catch his breath, the Champion lunged back into the fray.

Worse still, Emprik had finally regenerated the missing half of his skull and reconstructed his shattered chest. The Grafted reentered the battlefield with renewed malice, blade raised high. Even if he lacked the strength to injure Cain now, he could still hinder him, break his rhythm, and create openings for Kukulkatz.

Cain grit his teeth and clenched his fists. He poured every ounce of energy in his body to its peak as he fought both Champions at once, unleashing an ocean of destructive power that rippled across the void in relentless waves.

Despite the numerical disadvantage, Cain’s nearly indestructible body allowed him to withstand the combined strikes of Emprik and Kukulkatz. Bit by bit he carved new wounds into the pair—slashing, smashing, and burning—but the injuries never lasted. Their regeneration was too strong. Every wound healed before Cain could exploit it.

And all the while, the Heart of the Root drew closer and closer to fully entering the universe.

Cain could not spare even a fragment of attention to damage it further, not with two Champions assaulting him nonstop.

The bad news did not end there.

Silently, without sound or warning, a new figure emerged from within the Heart of the Root. The aura she carried was identical to Emprik and Kukulkatz—making it clear she was another Champion.

Her form resembled an otherworldly effigy, her entire body woven from twisted, blood-dark roots. Her limbs branched and tapered like gnarled tendrils, splitting and rejoining as if she were still growing. Hollow knots and cavities ran through her body, giving her the appearance of a rotted tree forced into a humanoid shape. Her head bloomed into a crown of clustered, root-grown eyes that stared in every direction.

A mass of thicker roots spiraled tightly around her right arm, transforming it into a biological caster with ridged plates that opened and closed like a breathing weapon. In silence, suppressing her aura to avoid detection, the new Champion aimed her arm at Cain’s unprotected back. The weapon inside her arm channeled a strange, dark pointed rod of energy.

Its power was unmistakable. It carried decay—not decay of flesh, but decay of soul, mind, and identity.

She waited patiently, aiming, studying Cain’s movements. Once the moment aligned and nothing stood between her and the Scarlet King, she fired.

Cain was just preparing to strike Emprik and Kukulkatz when his eyes widened. He sensed the rod—a heartbeat away—traveling toward him at a speed that defied space-time.

Emprik and Kukulkatz grinned wide.

They had boxed him in perfectly.

There was nowhere to dodge.

No direction to escape.

No time to counter.

And the soul-rending rod shot toward Cain’s back with lethal precision.