The Epic Tale of Chaos vs Order

Chapter 2613: Final refinements (I)

The Scarlet Council had done a superb job maintaining safety and order across the Everstrife Empyrean World and the Scarlet Kingdom. Conflict between cultivators was allowed, and even death in battle was accepted, as struggle was the core nature of cultivation itself. The Scarlet King had risen to his current throne atop the skulls of billions, and no one under his rule would ever deny the brutal reality of the path to power.

However, those battles were regulated and confined to places where they would not endanger ordinary citizens, people who simply wished to live their lives in peace. While killing was tolerated in the wilderness and lawless regions, there were still limits to the kinds of crimes the Scarlet Kingdom would overlook.

Acts born from depravity and twisted cruelty were forbidden in every corner of the kingdom. Those laws granted great freedom and even allowed practitioners of demonic paths to flourish, provided they respected the innocent and did not descend into monsters driven solely by corruption and sadism.

Unfortunately, not everyone accepted those rules.

Some believed themselves above the law, while others were cunning enough to hide their crimes beneath layers of deception. The Scarlet Council constantly deployed troops to hunt such people down, neutralizing them before they could inflict further damage. Yet even the Council had limitations. There were individuals clever and patient enough to avoid detection for years.

Unfortunately for them, nothing could escape the eyes of the Scarlet King.

The power of the Flow allowed Cain to peer directly into the soul, exposing the deepest darkness hidden within a person’s heart. For the next stage of his experiments, he needed living wielders of Scarlet Stars in order to understand what flaws or dangers might emerge when following this new Path of Power. There was no reason to endanger loyal warriors when filth destined for execution already existed.

Without the slightest hesitation, Cain seized one of the prisoners, a man from the Godslayer Humankind. Scarlet flames ignited in his eyes as the Primarch of Conquest materialized behind him. The entity smiled coldly before extending a finger. A single scarlet drop of blood emerged from its fingertip and shot directly into the prisoner’s forehead.

The blood immediately invaded the man’s Ego and will, not erasing them, but dominating them completely like a puppeteer controlling a marionette.

The process of forging a Scarlet Star began.

For an ordinary Divine Rank warrior, creating a Scarlet Star required years, sometimes even decades, of growth and refinement. Cain, however, accelerated the process by pouring vast amounts of energy into the man. The Scarlet Seed rapidly evolved into a Scarlet Leviathan before finally ascending into a Scarlet Star in less than an hour.

Such unnatural acceleration naturally generated severe problems. The man’s Alter-Ego was placed under immense strain due to the absurd difference in power. After all, a Scarlet Star was fundamentally a Prima Deity phenomenon. Fortunately, Cain did not care about the side effects. No matter the outcome of the experiment, the prisoner would never leave alive.

Once the Scarlet Star was complete, Cain returned to the Scarlet Throne alongside the man. He pulled the heavenly body down from the crimson sky and immediately sensed the difference between this living Scarlet Star and the dead ones he had experimented on earlier.

Because its creator still lived, the Scarlet Star possessed an active soul and a living will.

Cain took a deep breath and pushed the computational abilities of the [A.I. Chip Module] to their absolute limits. Countless streams of information flooded his mind as he analyzed every possible variable before turning his attention toward the ghostly river.

The choice of the first phantom was crucial.

It would become the core of the Chimera Will, the foundation that suppressed and guided all the others. If it were too weak, growth would be slow and unstable. If it were too strong, the owner of the Scarlet Star would lose control entirely.

After careful analysis, Cain selected a Peak Divine Transcendence phantom. The ghost twisted violently before transforming into a gigantic winged whale, a terrifying Will Beast radiating immense psychic pressure.

Without hesitation, Cain thrust it into the living Scarlet Star.

His eyes sharpened as the Will Beast immediately erupted into violent resistance within the heavenly body. The creature rampaged wildly, trying to seize control, yet the will of the Godslayer Human managed to suppress it.

At once, the Scarlet Star began to shine brighter.

The amount of energy it radiated rose dramatically, but that was far from the only change. The Godslayer Human’s body trembled violently as his physical strength surged.

A small smile appeared on Cain’s face.

“Primordial Essence is the foundation of a life form’s existence,” he murmured softly. “A change in one of its core components, such as the will, naturally strengthens the whole being. The improvement is small for now, but this is only the beginning.”

Satisfied with the result, Cain continued.

He selected another phantom from the river, forged it into a Will Beast, and fused it into the Scarlet Star. The winged whale immediately mutated, growing larger while assimilating the traits of the second creature. The light in its eyes intensified as two wills merged into a single vessel inside the heavenly body.

After confirming the Scarlet Star remained stable, Cain repeated the process.

More and more Will Beasts were fused into the Chimera Will.

The Godslayer Human’s power continued to rise at an astonishing rate, but signs of internal collapse soon appeared. Blood began to pour from his eyes, ears, and mouth as his body struggled to endure the escalating strain.

Cain ignored the suffering and continued the experiment.

The Chimera Will grew increasingly powerful with every fusion. Its body mutated endlessly, becoming a monstrous entity formed from countless merged wills. The pressure radiating from the Scarlet Star intensified until even the heavenly body itself began to crack.

Finally, the Chimera Will became too powerful.

With a deafening explosion, the Scarlet Star shattered apart.

Immediately, the Godslayer Human began to tremble violently as his will and soul shattered into countless fragments, killing him instantly. The Scarlet Throne wasted no time consuming the corpse, devouring the man’s body, energy, and every remaining trace of his existence.

Cain showed no concern for the human, nor was he surprised by the destruction of the heavenly body. The entire purpose of the experiment had been to determine how much strain a Scarlet Star could endure before collapsing. The warriors of the Nine Empyrean Suns Alliance needed to understand the limits of this new Path of Power and learn how far they could push themselves before the burden became fatal.

Still, the experiment had revealed something valuable.

Cain’s eyes narrowed as he studied the Chimera Will that had broken free from the shattered Scarlet Star. He could clearly sense a new presence within it.

“It consumed the human’s will and ego embedded inside the Scarlet Star,” Cain muttered softly, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face. “Interesting.”

The Chimera Beast roared and prepared to lunge toward him, but Cain merely waved his hand. Instantly, the abomination exploded into pieces, its energy and essence returning to the Scarlet Throne.

Without wasting time, Cain exited the throne and repeated the process with another prisoner, this time a member of the Abyssal Clan from the Inferno Daemon Race. Once the Scarlet Star had been forged, a meaningful light appeared in his eyes as he observed the results.

“The Chimera Beast continuously grants power to the Scarlet Star, which is then transferred to its creator,” Cain said while analyzing every fluctuation. “However, the Scarlet Star itself is not evolving. That creates a severe bottleneck.”

There would be no point in creating a new Path of Power if its upper limit remained below the cultivator using it.

Fortunately, Cain had already encountered a similar problem long ago when he created the Scarlet Knights.

His gaze shifted toward the three Scarlet Worlds floating high in the sky, the heavenly bodies forged from the fusion of the will, ego, and Primordial Essence of Leonidas, Bael, and Amon with their Scarlet Stars. Unlike ordinary Scarlet Stars, those Scarlet Worlds possessed the ability to evolve endlessly, limited only by the power of the Scarlet Throne itself, which by now had nearly reached the Fourth Realm.

Of course, if Cain had possessed the ability to forge Scarlet Worlds for every warrior in the Nine Empyrean Suns Alliance, he would have done so long ago. Unfortunately, such a feat was impossible. Not only would it place unbearable pressure on the Scarlet Throne, but it would also create terrifying risks.

If the Scarlet Throne were ever destroyed, the Scarlet Knights would perish alongside it.

And if Cain had learned anything from his clash against the Curse Eaters in the World Forge and the monsters of Paradise, it was that nothing in the multiverse was truly untouchable. Countless terrifying powers and abilities existed across reality, and some of them could eventually reach the Scarlet Throne itself and shatter it into pieces.

Cain remained silent for several minutes as the [A.I. Chip Module] processed endless streams of data and simulations. Finally, a faint smile appeared on his face.

He had found an answer.