Chapter 16: Contain The Chaos
(A few hours ago)
Saerah had gone to see her mystery friend.
The arena that served as the selection grounds for the citizens of the Wild was now in chaos.
The Grim Reaper had taken over Li Fen, skyrocketing all his twelve laws to thirty percent completion.
The Grim Reaper flew above the arena, observing how much the Wild had developed—and how weak the people of this era had grown. In his time, the Wild had no forests or trees. Rather, there were Law Beasts—supreme and ordinary—roaming the vast lands of the wild wilderness.
Back in his era, the path of the Wild Dao was followed by many, based on their will—humans and other races alike. The Nexora was also followed by many, needing only 10–0 percent willpower, and was the fastest path to follow, though not the most powerful.
Back then, the Nexora–Daorin was still part of the vast world.
The life force coming from the Wild was immense. The Grim Reaper couldn't help but sniff the air; the force was more powerful coming from the first city rings, but it could not compare to the one coming from the Nexora.
But the Grim Reaper seemed to be saving the best for last and turned toward the capital.
The Seeker Elder, seeing the chaos about to unfold, used his adapted technique—Telekinesis—to lift massive boulders into the sky, hurling them forward.
But the boulders were cleaved into pieces with just a dead stare from the Grim Reaper.
It was only then the Grim Reaper realized that there were beings asking for a fight. He looked down and saw Brimel mourning the death of his grandson.
Brimel slowly raised his head, his hands trembling as he placed a piece of his grandson's lifeless body on the ground. The wind around him twisted unnaturally, humming with raw power. His eyes—once gentle and aged with wisdom—now burned with the fury of a god's will. But it wasn't just his own rage—it was the divine wrath of the Celestial God channeling through the veins of Brimel, causing faint cracks of divine light to appear on his skin.
The skies darkened as light condensed behind him, forming a colossal halo that pulsed like a living sun—the Light of Oblivion.
"Human," Brimel's voice echoed, layered with something ominous. "You will pay with your existence. Your race will face more than this. I declare a racial war between the Celestial Gods and the Humans."
The Reaper only smirked, his hollow eyes glimmering faintly. "Humans?" His tone was calm but heavy. "The universe always finds a way to create such powerful figures in an unholy race."
Without warning, the Reaper's aura erupted, expanding in waves of chaos. The air screamed; the very fabric of space trembled.
The Seeker Elder floated beside Brimel, his eyes glowing silver as invisible energy rippled around him. He extended both arms outward—his telekinetic force forming a massive barrier between the capital and the battlefield.
"We cannot let him advance," the Seeker said, his voice firm but strained. "If he reaches the capital, everything will perish."
Brimel nodded. At this point, all he wanted was to avenge his son and retrieve his soul—hopefully, Veythr might be able to bring him back. The ground beneath him shattered as he launched forward, moving faster than light. Time itself seemed to crawl while he blurred across the sky. He appeared right before the Reaper, his fist glowing with condensed divine light—and struck.
The Reaper caught it with one hand.
A shockwave blasted through the arena, uprooting what was left of the stands and turning stone to dust. Even the remaining beings on the scene were not spared.
"Impressive," the Reaper murmured. "You channel your light well… but you are still far from creating the original."
Brimel's eyes widened as the Reaper's grip tightened, dark smoke wrapping around his arm. Before he could react, his entire body was hurled downward, crashing into the earth.
The Seeker's eyes flared. He extended his mind outward, sending thousands of invisible psychic threads to bind the Reaper in place. The air shimmered, space bent, and for a moment—it worked.
The Reaper's body halted midair, trembling as if unseen chains held him still.
"Now!" the Seeker yelled, veins bulging on his temples. "Light of Oblivion—strike!"
Brimel rose from the crater below, blood dripping from his lips, divine energy flooding from his body like a burning tide. He raised both hands, summoning a blinding sphere of light. The heavens trembled. The ground split open as if the world itself feared what was coming.
He hurled it.
The Light of Oblivion screamed through the sky, leaving a trail of pure annihilation in its wake. It slammed into the Reaper—detonating in a pillar of white fire that reached the clouds.
The explosion devoured everything.
Silence followed.
"How is that for original?" Brimel fell to one knee, gasping, his divine link fading. The Seeker floated down, sweat pouring down his face, his telekinetic barrier flickering weakly.
"Did we… stop him?" the Seeker whispered.
But the light began to twist.
Inside the burning pillar, something moved.
The Reaper stepped out, unscathed. His tattered cloak fluttered gently, the flames bending around him as if afraid to touch. His hollow gaze fell upon Brimel.
"Your god's light…" he said, his voice echoing with a grim resonance, "…cannot erase what death has already claimed."
He vanished.
Brimel barely sensed the motion—then a cold hand gripped his chest. The Reaper appeared behind him, his arm plunged through the avatar's heart.
Divine light burst out violently, the sky turning gold, then white, then black. Brimel's eyes widened as his form began to dissolve, the Celestial God's control severing.
"Your era has ended," the Reaper whispered. "Return to your slumber, false light."
With that, Brimel's avatar shattered into countless fragments of golden dust that faded into the night.
The Seeker screamed, his psychic link snapping. "Brimel!" His fury and grief surged, releasing a mental blast that cracked the air like thunder. He stretched his power beyond his limits, attempting to crush the Reaper's mind directly.
The Reaper turned to him slowly.
For a moment, their consciousnesses collided—mind against death. The Seeker's thoughts twisted into a storm of screams and echoes. He saw endless corpses, forgotten souls—the dark sea where death entities rest. His body trembled violently as blood streamed from his eyes.
"Do you wish to see what lies beyond life?" the Reaper asked softly.
The Seeker tried to respond, but only a broken gasp left his lips. His telekinesis failed; his body plummeted, crashing into the ground below.
The Reaper hovered above, silent.
He looked down at the ruin of the arena—the broken stones, the blood, the silence. His gaze shifted toward the distant capital, where the life force pulsed like a star.
"The world has forgotten what true power feels like," he murmured. "Perhaps it's time they remembered."
With a faint motion, his cloak rippled, and his form dissolved into a dark mist that drifted toward the horizon.
The Seeker Elder lay unconscious amidst the debris, his mind shattered, his body barely clinging to life.
And as the last fragment of Brimel's divine essence faded, the heavens themselves fell silent—
—as if even the gods were afraid to breathe.