Lord of the Truth

Chapter 2404 Final Curse of the Witnesses

”...Final Curse of the Witnesses.”

DADOOOOOM

The Curse Planet, along with every single planet belonging to the first and second rings, began simultaneously emanating an overwhelmingly gloomy and oppressive aura, while the entire northern region of each planet started flashing with an intense black light that rapidly spread outward until its darkness seemed to overshadow even the natural blackness of space itself.

”....” Hedrickʼs pupils gradually began to widen as he sensed what was happening across those distant planets. He could feel the suffering of every living creature inhabiting them, could feel their life force and primal soul force being forcibly sucked away while they were still alive and drawn into the enormous arrays suspended above each planet, and beyond even that, he could actually feel the planets themselves steadily weakening as their very souls screamed beneath the unbearable extraction.

And every single one of those terrifying planetary arrays was connected to all the other arrays spread across the surrounding planets, together forming one enormous interconnected ring whose very center was occupied by the heart of the galaxy.

The sheer intensity and terrifying speed of the ongoing slaughter and power extraction were so extreme that Hedrick could actually feel the influence of the Galaxy Gift weakening noticeably, while even the power of the soul lightning that had been continuously raining down above his head began declining along with it!

”This is bad!!” Hedrick raised his voice sharply, and for the first time since this battle had begun, he finally started feeling a genuine sense of danger from what was unfolding around him.

Then Whoosh he abruptly threw his sword aside and pressed both hands downward with tremendous force while gritting his teeth tightly.

His entire body began trembling violently as he pushed every ounce of strength within himself, then, with his eyes blazing intensely in their brilliant ruby hue, Hedrick shouted, ”Domain of Ruin.”

HOOOOOOOMM—

The oppressive soul pressure and raging lightning surrounding Hedrick suddenly vanished in an abrupt and visibly unnatural manner, as though an invisible bubble had emerged directly from Hedrickʼs body and immediately begun expanding outward in every direction.

Wherever that strange bubble expanded, space itself collapsed, soul force collapsed, everything it touched began collapsing, and everything within its reach was steadily reduced to ruin.

”....!!” Naked panic immediately appeared in the eyes of the twelve sons as they watched that bizarre and terrifying domain rapidly approaching their positions, yet despite the obvious terror reflected in their expressions, not a single one of them moved from his place.

Their eyes began darting rapidly toward one another before shifting toward their father, yet their muscles stubbornly refused to move no matter what their instincts demanded. They could not move.

They could not move unless the heart of the array granted them permission, and that heart was none other than their father!!

And their father remained completely silent, his resentful gaze fixed firmly upon Hedrick from beginning to end, as though Hedrick, and Hedrick alone, was the only thing that existed within his sight.

DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

The Domain of Ruin expanded over them and instantly swallowed all twelve sons at once.

”MMMMMMMMMMMMMM----!!”

They could not even open their mouths wide enough to properly scream, yet muffled cries of unbearable agony still forced their way from the throats of every single one of them. None attempted to escape with their bodies, but their eyes undoubtedly tried, darting around with such frantic speed and madness that they seemed ready to burst free from their sockets.

Within the very first second, all of their Miserable World Arrays began rapidly eroding while countless cracks simultaneously spread across the surface of their skin.

In the following second, their cracked skin began peeling away from their bodies and scattering into the surrounding space.

By the third second, every single one of them had been completely flayed.

By the fourth second—

”This wonʼt work!!” Hedrick suddenly shouted as he watched the scene unfolding before him and immediately realized the problem.

If the Domain of Ruin remained active for long enough, it would undoubtedly kill every single one of them, but its range was simply far too vast, and it was simultaneously dealing with far too many different things, including the Planetary Soul Gift itself, which inevitably weakened its concentrated effect upon each individual target.

And the Final Curse of the Witnesses, whose terrifying power Hedrick could already feel intensifying with every passing moment, certainly would not patiently wait for him to finish them off!

Whoosh Hedrick immediately grabbed his sword again and shot toward the nearest son with the unmistakable intention of killing him outright. This time, there was neither the oppressive galaxy soul force nor the endless chain of curses remaining to obstruct his advance.

He quickly cast a fleeting glance toward Darvion standing some distance away, then raised his sword high and brought it down directly over the sonʼs head. ”Extinction Chain.”

”Impossible!!” Darvionʼs eyes violently trembled the instant he sensed the genuine danger contained within that attack.

Without wasting even a fraction of a second, he hurriedly removed himself from the Mutual Wound Array.

SLAAAAAASH

Hedrickʼs sword cleaved through the son in a single uninterrupted strike, splitting his body cleanly apart from the top of his head all the way down between his legs.

Then, immediately afterward, something strange began to happen—

Crack Crack

Small, luminous explosions began bursting out from the wound one after another like harmless childrenʼs fireworks, scattering tiny flashes of brilliant light in every direction. Yet those seemingly insignificant fireworks immediately destroyed the wound itself, consuming its edges before spreading rapidly through the surrounding flesh until the entire body was transformed into a flickering mass of light, which then vanished completely without leaving anything behind.

Afterward, those strange fireworks continued spreading according to a specific pattern, following the invisible connection until they reached the sons standing to his right and left, whereupon their bodies began exploding in the exact same manner, then the next ones were reached, and then the next—!

Within mere fractions of a second, the entire circle that had been carefully prepared to imprison Hedrick and keep him trapped at its center had transformed into nothing more than a continuous ring of blazing white light... and nothing else remained within it.

Nothing whatsoever remained of the twelve sons, neither physical remains nor spiritual remnants, not even the spatial rings they had been carrying with them.

”....” Hedrick deactivated the Domain of Ruin and slowly lowered his gaze, doing his best to prevent the sweat threatening to appear on his face from actually emerging, while simultaneously forcing his heart to maintain its normal rhythm without revealing the slightest abnormality.

Every single one of those techniques he had just used had consumed an enormous amount of his energy, far more than an ordinary attack would ever require. He had already expended more than half of his reserves during this battle.

And worse...

Although the Curse of Power itself had died together with those who maintained it, the effects of everything it had already accomplished stubbornly remained...

Hundreds of thousands of invisible wasps were still furiously and relentlessly striking the protective shell surrounding his soul domain, each impact carrying the lingering power of those curses. Although their numbers were no longer increasing and their bodies were no longer growing larger with every passing second, they stubbornly refused to disappear or leave!!

Instead of attempting to deal with those lingering curses immediately, or showing even the slightest outward reaction to the pain he was feeling and the maddening irritation caused by the continuous impacts of all those curses against his defenses... Hedrick simply raised his head and looked confidently toward Darvion as though none of it mattered. ”Youʼre the only one left.”

”What did you do to my sons?” Darvion asked in an eerily calm voice, his gaze remaining fixed upon Hedrick. ”How did you eliminate all of them with a single attack?”

”Trying to buy yourself some time? Fine, I donʼt mind. I want to see what else you have left as well.”

Hedrick raised his head confidently as he spoke, but in truth, he too was taking advantage of these few moments to readjust both his physical and spiritual condition while simultaneously planning what he should do next, for the Final Curse of the Witnesses had already accumulated an enormous amount of power and had become far too dangerous to simply ignore.

”The Path of Destruction isnʼt limited to destroying physical things alone, but rather everything that possesses existence, everything visible and everything hidden... That spiritual connection between them, the one you deliberately emphasized and reinforced even further by using their blood bond, was more than enough for me to use as fuel to reach the entire chain and everything connected to it.”

Then Hedrick gestured toward Darvion with his head while keeping his eyes fixed upon him. ”Abandoning them at the last moment was certainly a clever move... but I canʼt exactly describe it as a humane one.”

”I fathered them myself and spent my wealth and resources on them until they reached this level of strength for the sole purpose of serving me, and today they died while fulfilling that very purpose.” Darvion stared directly into Hedrickʼs face without showing any visible grief or hesitation. ”Their sacrifice will not go in vain.”

Then he slowly extended one hand toward Hedrick. ”This battle is already over.” The enormous, gloomy power now swirling densely around his body had accumulated to such an absurd degree that it almost seemed tangible, so thick and concentrated that one could imagine cutting through it with a knife like a solid piece of cheese.

Then, with his eyes staring fixedly at Hedrick and all that accumulated power gathered around him, he finally spoke: ”Curse of Oblivion.”