Lord of the Truth

Chapter 2007 Anti life

After ten long minutes-

Bfff-

Richard violently spat out a massive mouthful of blood, mixed with what unmistakably looked like fragments of torn flesh.

The second phase of the Wallʼs Trial had finally come to an end.

And somehow-against all logic-he was still alive.

But alive did not mean fine. Not even close.

Even after being repelled, each explosion had transmitted terrifying force into his body. His internal organs had been shaken, torn, and crushed repeatedly, as if his insides had been ripped apart layer by layer.

His right hand remained firmly planted beneath the dark coin, unmoving, almost stubbornly so. Meanwhile, his left hand trembled as it slid across his body, desperately forcing shattered bones back into place while he circulated his own life force, prioritizing the most vital parts-his heart and his life artery -barely keeping himself from collapsing entirely. ...Even throughout Richardʼs long and brutal history, one filled with near-fatal injuries, it was difficult for him to remember a time he had suffered internal damage this severe since the day he left the Aziel Tribe.

This... was agony in its purest form. (You you you you!!) Juri screamed in sheer panic. (Youʼve already exhausted all of your stolen life force reserves?! What are you planning to do during the third trial?!) ”Ghh...”

Richard gritted his teeth and forcibly snapped his dislocated shoulder back into place with a sickening sound. ”Did you see any other options in front of me?!” he snarled, lifting his bloodshot. eyes toward the sky. ”What kind of monster power is this?! How can something like this be called a mere Trial of Competency?!”

That colossal head still loomed above the heavens. It had not faded-if anything, it seemed more solid than before. Slowly, the creatureʼs three eyes locked onto Richard, burning with uncontrollable rage. (Everything about your existence violates the core rules governing the universe. Naturally, you will be treated with extreme hostility.)

Juri replied, her voice calmer, but heavier. (Even the law you intend to break through with is a merged law, and one half of it is the Fundamental Law of Life itself!) ”Heh~”

Richard let out a crooked half-laugh, wiping the blood from the corner of his lips. ”Then I hope the Life aspect attacks me again. At least then, I might gain something from it.”

The Law of Life was not inherently a merged law. By nature, it existed to give life-to animate, to empower others to fight. If the trial relied solely on the Law of Life, Richard could steal it effortlessly using his green flame. (The trial wonʼt allow you that luxury.)

Juri shook her head slowly. (The heavenly laws and the rule-observing spirits can read you like an open book. Your past, your limits, your potential-everything is exposed to them.) (...In any case, from what I can tell, the Trial of Laws has already concluded.) Her voice grew noticeably heavier. (Now begins the Trial of the Stabilizer. Your stabilizer will be evaluated, and based on the power it grants you, your next trial will be shaped accordingly.) ”The... Stabilizer Trial?”

Richardʼs brows knitted together sharply.

Hoooo-

Almost instantly, he looked downward. A small vortex appeared above the dark coin, spinning silently before vanishing as if it had never existed. ”.....?!”

A suffocating sense of danger poured directly into Richardʼs chest.

Rumble- ”..!!!”

He snapped his gaze upward so violently it nearly wrenched his neck apart.

Something had changed.

The creature itself had not moved. No new trial had been declared.

And yet the sky began to unfold once more.

First, a massive shoulder emerged, muscles packed so densely they seemed carved from divine stone. Then followed an enormous palm-so vast it could completely cover the entire scorched meadow below. ”

Richardʼs pupils shrank to pinpoints.

The aura radiating from that hand was no longer anywhere near the Martial Emperor realm.

In fact, none of the World Cataclysms he had ever faced inspired fear like this.

It reminded him-vividly-of the Nature-Erasing Strike Helen had once unleashed upon Planet Jura.

That attack had possessed at least low-level Nexus State power.

Then-

WHOOSH-

The colossal palm descended, tearing through space itself, intent on crushing

Richard into nothingness. ”Damn it!!”

Life surged back into Richardʼs eyes as the certainty of death loomed.

Without hesitation, he slammed his left palm into the ground. (Are you really going to use that method now? At the very least, use the Destiny Severing Device to seal the horrifying amount of negative karma youʼre about to accumulate!) ”Shut up!”

Richard roared as energy gathered violently around him.

He pressed downward with everything he had left, his voice dropping into a harsh, guttural whisper: ”ANTI-LIFE!!”

Disturbance

The region beneath Richardʼs hand had already been scorched black by the residue of the first wave of the test, layered thick with ash and ruin. Yet the instant he muttered those words, something far more unsettling began to unfold.

The ground trembled, then sagged inward, decomposing and collapsing in on itself. It didnʼt merely turn to ash-no, it became something darker, finer, more absolute than ash itself. A substance so pitch-black and minuscule that it made ordinary ash appear as though it were still burning with heat and light. That tainted patch beneath Richardʼs hand spread at a horrifying pace, racing across the land and burrowing beneath it simultaneously. In the span of a single breath, it swallowed millions of acres of the planetʼs surface and sank tens of kilometers below ground. Everything within that vast domain-stone, soil, minerals, life-was reduced and transmuted into that same fine, dark matter, stripped of all former identity. ”Arghhhh!!!”

Richardʼs appearance at that moment was nothing short of monstrous.

Veins bulged violently across his entire body-some jet black, others glowing green-both sets pulsing fiercely like overloaded conduits forced far beyond their limits.

Even his blood-filled eyes could not endure unchanged: one transformed into a luminous green, the other sank into absolute blackness.

Then, as if guided by an unseen will, every vein carrying that terrifying, radiant energy surged toward his heart-poof. The upper half of Richardʼs clothing didnʼt simply tear; it was obliterated, exploding into thousands upon thousands of fragments the very instant that colossal energy concentration slammed into his heart.

Then came a single beat.

BAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-DOOM

The sound of Richardʼs heartbeat detonated into a storm of darkness. That ultra-fine, pitch-black substance could not endure the shockwave; it was hurled violently in every direction. Beneath it was revealed something resembling a colossal ant nest-hollowed, brittle black earth extending tens of kilometers underground, so fragile it seemed it could collapse from nothing more than a passing breath.

Richard himself slowly lifted his gaze toward the sky, his movements heavy yet deliberate. One eye black, one eye green. Veins crawled across his face and body like living scars, while bloody tears streamed relentlessly from every opening in his face.

It was impossible to tell whether his unnatural calm came from absolute confidence in his power... or whether his features had simply locked in place, his body no longer capable of expressing pain or fear.

Then, directly facing that immense palm that appeared ready to erase the world itself... Richard raised his own hand.

BOOOOOO00000000M

The palm of the colossal creature collided with Richardʼs-an arm that, in comparison, looked no larger than an antʼs limb. In that instant, an apocalyptic shockwave erupted outward.

The corroded region surrounding Richard-nearly a quarter of the planet- collapsed like a house of cards, disintegrating layer by layer. The shockwave continued its rampage, sweeping across the world until every living being in the planetʼs northern hemisphere felt its impact.

Space itself shuddered above the planet without question, and the atmosphere warped and buckled, stretching so violently it came within a hairʼs breadth of tearing apart completely.

Yet, against all expectation-

Crack Crack

Fractures began to spiderweb across the gigantic creatureʼs terrifying hand.

Then-BAAM-it detonated up to the elbow, dissolving into green flames and overwhelming primordial energy before being violently dragged back into the vortex from which it came.

Richard remained staring upward, his gaze hollow, his expression utterly frozen.

Even so... he had not yet fully lost consciousness.

With agonizing slowness, Richard lowered his left arm and looked at it in silence, sorrow weighing heavily in his eyes. The same fate that had claimed the giantʼs limb had claimed his as well-his arm was gone, severed up to the elbow. Amid this catastrophic scene-tragic, yet undeniably epic-Richardʼs lips curved into the faintest smile, so slight it was almost imperceptible. ”I... did it...” (Did what? You endured the tests of the laws and the Stabilizer. What remains now is the test of breaking the constraints of the Young Belt.) ”...Huh?”

Rumble