The Epic Tale of Chaos vs Order

Chapter 2097: Twin red crowns

Cracks spread faster and faster across the towering statue. Each fracture bled scarlet light into the sky until dark crimson clouds boiled above, sealing the firmament beneath a storm of chaos. The ground shuddered beneath Cain’s feet. Then, with a sound like the end of a world—

”BOOOOOOM!”

The entire statue exploded into shards of radiant stone.

Cain’s eyes widened as the pieces scattered into the storm. From the heart of the eruption, a shadowy figure emerged, framed against a crimson sky. Its presence was suffocating, divine, and monstrous all at once.

The being’s form was humanoid. Long, flowing hair whipped through the storm like liquid flame, and its arms hung low, tipped with claws that gleamed like molten talons. Four glowing orbs pulsed down the center of its chest, burning with the rhythm of living stars. Above its head floated a crown of living fire—red as blood, surrounded by a radiant halo that turned the air itself to glass.

Behind it, red spheres drifted through the void, echoing the hue of their master’s dominion. The entity’s aura spread outward, drowning the world in silent dread, yet it made no move. It merely existed, and that was enough to shake reality.

Cain stared, frozen. Then a searing pain split his forehead. He gasped and staggered, clutching his head as his vision blurred. When the agony subsided enough for him to breathe, he saw what had appeared—a faintly glowing golden lotus etched into his brow.

It had thirty-three petals.

Each petal shimmered faintly, but none yet unfolded.

He knew what it meant as the Enlightened One had already explained it to him. The golden lotus was the mark of evaluation, the mechanism by which the Sacred Realm judged every being who entered. It revealed one’s attunement to the Flow and would bloom as the challenger advanced through each of the Nine Rings. Every petal that unfolded represented success, enlightenment, and survival.

He exhaled slowly and touched the mark. ”So it begins...”

But before he could recover, another pain struck—deeper, sharper. It burned straight into his soul, resonating with his True Name. Cain’s body convulsed, and he crashed to his knees, a cry escaping his lips.

When the light faded, he looked up, trembling.

A new symbol now gleamed beside the lotus: a crimson crown, surrounded by a luminous halo—the exact image of the fiery diadem above the being in the sky.

”What... is this?” Cain muttered, stunned.

This had not happened to the Enlightened One in his account of the trial. Something was different.

The golden lotus was expected. The crown was not.

Confusion churned within him. ”Could it be that the crown appears for all challengers due to the sudden emergence of that entity?” he wondered aloud, though doubt lingered in his voice.

Shaking his head, he pushed aside the thought. Standing still would yield no answers. Whatever awaited ahead, he would face it directly.

Cain took one last glance at the colossal figure in the sky, then turned and began to walk deeper into the white stone corridors.

Elsewhere in the Sacred Realm, other ArchDeities beheld the same apocalyptic vision—the shattering statue, the being of crimson light. All of them bore golden lotuses on their foreheads, but no crown emerged in any of them.

None except for one.

Far away from Cain stood a man with white hair and crimson eyes, his expression calm but resolute. He, too, bore a red crown upon his brow. As his gaze met the entity in the burning firmament, defiance glinted within his eyes.

He lifted a hand, tracing the shape of the crown, before striding into the unknown.

Other than the Scarlet King, the only living being marked by the red crown was the Crimson Exarch.

...

Cain advanced through the endless halls until at last a massive crystal gate rose before him. The door towered high enough to scrape the clouds, etched with intricate runes that shimmered like rivers of starlight.

As his hand brushed the surface, a voice echoed within his mind—ancient and thunderous, yet distant, as though spoken across aeons.

”First of the Nine Rings... the Crystal Maze.”

The voice tone carried the gravity of eternity itself. Cain’s heart tightened. Even the Demon King’s aura did not carry such weight. Whoever—or whatever—had forged this place was far older than gods.

The gate began to open.

Beyond it stretched an impossible labyrinth, full of corridors of translucent crystal that refracted light into a thousand mirrored pathways. The reflections multiplied endlessly, turning each hallway into a kaleidoscope of shimmering deception.

Cain’s expression hardened. ”The others must be somewhere inside,” he muttered. ”If fortune favors me, I’ll find Meylin or a friend. If not...”

He didn’t finish the sentence, but killing intent glowed in his eyes.

As soon as Cain stepped through, the gate slammed shut behind him with a heavy clang, and the world shifted.

Instantly, a dull pressure settled over his mind. His perception dimmed as though shrouded by fog. Even his short-term memory began to blur around the edges. He could think clearly, but recalling exact sequences of paths or sigils became strangely difficult, as if the maze itself consumed recollection.

”This... will complicate things,” he murmured grimly. A weakened memory meant disorientation, and disorientation here could mean death.

Still, all was not lost. His eyes ignited with golden light, and the next second, threads of invisible energy—streams of cosmic current—twisted through the corridors like silent rivers. They were faint, nearly imperceptible, but they moved in a single direction.

A faint smile crossed his face. ”Found you.”

He followed the currents, gliding through the crystalline halls at incredible speed. Every intersection shimmered with illusion, but he moved unerringly, guided by the Flow’s pull.

The Maze stretched on without end, yet Cain’s confidence grew.

”This is easier than I expected,” he muttered, happy that the first trial was straightforward.

After nearly half an hour, the corridor narrowed, leading him toward another crystalline gate—this one veined with golden light. He slowed, senses sharp, scanning the energy patterns around it.

Two streams of power intertwined before the gate, spiraling in chaotic motion. Cain reached out, eyes gleaming. Using his deep understanding of the Flow, he redirected the currents until they aligned perfectly.

The gate rumbled, then parted open with a soft hiss, making a flicker of satisfaction appear on Cain’s face.

Yet the moment the gate opened, his smile froze.