Chapter 566 – The Night That Walks
The woman's violet eyes swept slowly across the chamber.
For a moment, no one moved, as if her presence had pulled the weight out of the air itself.
Then she smiled—small, unhurried—and spoke.
To Zeus:
"Thunderer. Always loud, always restless. You have not changed."
To Odin:
"Watcher. Still trying to predict everything, still failing to predict the things that matter."
To Freyja:
"Golden one. The same pride as ever. You shine like the dawn, but forget that the night can swallow even that."
And finally, her gaze stopped on the ember-filled void that was Surtr.
Her lips curved just slightly higher.
"Little Surtr. You've grown. I still remember the first time you roared in the dark, trying to match the stars. You're still burning."
The flames around Surtr pulsed, but he said nothing. It was the first time in centuries that his presence dimmed.
Her gaze turned at last to the one who had not spoken since she arrived.
The Void Knight.
She studied him for a long moment, then stepped closer.
"And you," she said softly, "are the one they now call the Void Knight."
The gods tensed, ready for anything.
But the woman did not attack. She simply stood before him, eyes level with the smooth visor that reflected her face.
"You asked for someone who remembers. Someone older than them."
Her smile widened, faint but genuine.
"Then allow me to introduce myself."
She inclined her head slightly.
"I am Nyx."
The chamber erupted in a wave of shocked whispers.
The hall erupted in whispers and sudden movement.
Some of the gods half-rose from their seats; angels gripped their weapons; the dragons' eyes narrowed. Even Odin's hand clenched around Gungnir.
Nyx, unbothered, let their voices fade away until only silence remained.
Her violet gaze swept the chamber once more before returning to Alex.
"You want to know why I disappeared," she said softly. "They have told you pieces of the truth, but they do not know the whole."
The hall stilled again. Even Surtr's flames dimmed, listening.
"Long ago, after the first war, I sought to create something new," Nyx began. "A Law of my own, born from the darkness I carry. Something beyond shadow. The Law of Darkness."
Her voice was calm, but each word settled like a weight on the room.
"I thought I could shape it as the Primordials shaped the sky and the earth. But the moment I began—barely a breath, barely a fraction of its form—I felt it."
The glow in her eyes deepened.
"That Law was already claimed."
A ripple of unease passed through the gods.
"It was not a god who held it," she said. "Not a titan. Not even Chaos or Gaia. The owner was something else. A Great Old One."
"Even with less than one percent formed, the Law recognized me. It recognized me—and in that instant, I realized it could find me."
Her voice lowered, cold and quiet.
"If I continued, my existence would have been a beacon, a thread leading straight to me. So I folded myself into a place where even that thing could not see. I erased myself from every vision, every prophecy, every thread of fate."
Her gaze swept the room again.
"That is why I disappeared. Not because I was defeated. Not because I ran. But because there are things older than your gods… and one of them owns the Law of Darkness."
The chamber remained silent as Nyx's words settled over everyone. Even the sound of breathing seemed to stop, as if the entire council had been turned to stone.
Alex's visor tilted slightly. His voice came calm, but there was an edge of certainty in it.
"When you showed yourself here," he said, "you already knew it would draw attention."
Nyx's violet eyes shifted toward him, unreadable.
"You're expecting it to come," Alex continued. "The Great Old One who owns the Law of Darkness. It isn't bound to Earth. It's from beyond, and now that you've revealed yourself, it's moving. Coming here."
Whispers rippled through the hall at his words.
Nyx neither confirmed nor denied. Her lips curved faintly, and for a moment her gaze looked as deep as the void.
"I know the risk," she said. "But I also know what happens if I say nothing. That is why I am here now."
Her voice softened, but there was an unmistakable tension beneath it.
"I can feel its gaze turning toward this planet, further and further each time I appear. The more I speak, the closer it comes."
The council went quiet again, every being realizing that her very presence might already be a beacon.
Nyx's gaze did not waver as she studied Alex.
There was a faint glimmer in her violet eyes, something that looked like recognition.
"You've been fighting them without pause," she said softly. "I can see it in your stance. The weight you carry from one battle to the next. You struggle, but you do not stop."
Alex didn't answer. He simply stood there, silent as always.
Her expression softened, the faintest curve of a smile touching her lips.
"But you can win," she said. "I know you can. This one… it will be over in minutes."
The council listened, holding their breath.
"It is called Nyogtha," Nyx continued. "The Dweller in Darkness. The owner of the Law of Darkness. When it comes for me—and it will—you will have your chance."
Her gaze locked on him, sharp as a blade.
"If you can defeat it and kill it, I will tell you the locations of every other sealed place I know. Nothing will be hidden from you."
Alex didn't hesitate. His answer came immediately, calm and certain.
"I agree."
The words echoed across the silent chamber. There was no bargaining, no conditions—only a simple, absolute acceptance.
For a moment, Nyx just stared at him. Then her lips curved again, but this time the smile had a playful edge. The tension that had wrapped around her words earlier loosened slightly.
"You agree so easily," she said softly, tilting her head. "I wonder… are you also interested in taking me as your wife?"
The entire council went completely still. Even the flames of Surtr seemed to pause.
Her tone was teasing, but there was a spark of curiosity behind the playful question, as if she truly wanted to know how the Void Knight would respond.
Alex's visor didn't move. He stood in the same unshaken posture, the faint blue glow of his armor reflecting in her violet eyes.
While Nyx's teasing words still hung in the air, something else drew everyone's attention.
From the very start of this conversation—ever since Nyx appeared—a sphere of light had been slowly forming at Alex's side.
At first, no one noticed. It was faint, small, almost like a star no larger than his hand. But as the discussion continued, it had grown brighter and larger, floating quietly beside him, its surface rippling like liquid sunlight.
Finally, one of the gods couldn't ignore it any longer.
"What is that?" an elf demanded, eyes narrowing. "What are you doing?"
Others began murmuring. Even Odin glanced at it, his brow furrowing.
Alex didn't look away from Nyx as he answered, his voice calm.
"You'll find out soon."
There was no further explanation, no hint of what it was for. Only a quiet certainty, as if he had already calculated what was coming.
The light sphere pulsed once, faintly—like a heartbeat.
Nyx's violet eyes shifted to look at it, and for a moment, the playful smile on her lips deepened, as though she understood exactly what he was preparing for.
Nyx's eyes lingered on the glowing sphere for a moment, then drifted back to Alex.
The faint, playful curve of her lips returned, but there was something softer behind it now, something teasing but deliberate.
"You really are interesting," she said, her tone almost like a whisper in the silence of the hall. "Even with all these eyes on you, you don't flinch. You've burned through monsters, and still, you stand there as if nothing can touch you. It makes me wonder…"
She stepped closer, closing the space between them so the reflection of her violet eyes gleamed against his visor.
"What kind of man are you really, Void Knight? Do you know how rare it is for someone to look at me without fear? It makes me think you might be fun to keep."
Her voice was like silk, but there was a clear challenge in it, a test to see if she could stir anything in him.
"You didn't even answer my question earlier," she added with a faint laugh. "I asked if you were interested in taking me as your wife. Or…" her head tilted just slightly, "…am I not your type?"
The council could only watch, frozen, as the sphere of light beside Alex grew steadily brighter, casting long, sharp shadows across the hall while Nyx stood within arm's reach of him, smiling like someone who had found something worth playing with.
The entire council was stunned into silence.
Gods who had seen entire pantheons rise and fall were frozen in place. Zeus's mouth opened as if to say something, then shut again. Odin's single eye narrowed in disbelief. Freyja blinked once, almost as if she thought she had misheard.
Even Surtr's endless flames seemed to flicker in surprise.
Never in living memory had anyone seen Nyx—Nyx of all beings—stand before someone and flirt so openly.
She ignored them all, her focus entirely on Alex.
"Do you really not care about me at all?" she asked softly, her voice like velvet. Her expression, still smiling, had something just a little sharper beneath it. "You stand there so calm, as if I'm nothing but another shadow."
She stepped just a little closer, her violet eyes locking onto his, her tone lowering enough that the room had to strain to hear her next words.
"Should I tell you a secret, Void Knight? Even after all these eons…"
She leaned in slightly.
"…I am still a virgin."
The room erupted in whispers again, a mixture of disbelief and absolute confusion.
Nyx didn't so much as glance at them. She was watching only him, as if there was no one else in existence.
Chapter 567 – The Dweller in Darkness
Nyx's teasing smile faded in an instant.
Her violet eyes shifted—not toward Alex, but upward, as if looking through the ceiling, past the stone and the sky itself.
"It's coming," she said quietly.
The council froze.
Outside, the light of the world began to vanish.
First the sun dimmed, then the sky itself seemed to bleed into black. In a matter of seconds, darkness covered the whole world, so thick and heavy that even divine sight struggled to see through it.
The ice cavern trembled.
From the endless shadow, something vast unfolded.
It was not a shape. It was absence.
A formless, shifting mass of pure darkness filled the hall as if the concept of light itself was being eaten.
When it spoke, the sound was not a voice.
It was a whisper of countless tones at once, coming from every direction.
"I am Nyogtha."
"I have come for the one who dares to interfere with my Law."
The weight of those words pressed against every living thing in the room. The weaker envoys and guards collapsed, some unable to breathe.
The Dweller in Darkness spread across the chamber like an ocean of night, vast, silent, suffocating.
The darkness spread until it swallowed the edges of the hall. Even the gods' divine flames and lightning dimmed against it. In that suffocating void, Nyogtha's voice did not stop.
It rambled, if such a being could ramble.
"Mortals. Gods. Primordials. All who reach into what is mine… I have seen you all. You weave your little threads, your bright sparks, thinking you can shape the dark. You call it night, you call it shadow, but you do not know what you touch. Every step you take leads to me. Every light you make is nothing but a frame around my truth. There is no end to me. There never will be."
The words spilled like an endless tide, folding over themselves, overlapping, each syllable pressing down on the world until the walls themselves began to groan.
The council stood frozen, breaths caught in their throats. Even Nyx remained silent, her expression calm but watchful.
None of them noticed the sphere of light at Alex's side.
It hung there, unmoving, its glow soft and steady, as if the darkness pouring into the hall had no effect on it. Each time the shadows pressed closer, the light pulsed—subtle, quiet, unnoticed.
Alex didn't say a word. He didn't move. He didn't even glance at Nyogtha as the creature continued its endless monologue.
He simply stood there, waiting.
As Nyogtha's endless voice poured over them, pressing down like the weight of a collapsing sky, a faint thread of thought slipped quietly into the minds of everyone in the hall. It was calm, steady, and unmistakably Alex.
"Don't interrupt. Keep it talking. Let it waste time."
The words echoed directly in their minds, not aloud.
For a moment, many of them almost glanced at him in surprise, but they forced themselves to remain silent, pretending to be completely consumed by Nyogtha's overwhelming presence.
The being continued to speak, drowning the room in a ceaseless flow of arrogance and menace.
"Every seal you forge, every world you build, it is all a shadow. I am the shadow of your shadow. Even those who name themselves night—"
Nyx's lips twitched, just barely, as she caught Alex's meaning. She let her eyes drift half-closed, her face perfectly calm as if she were simply listening, giving nothing away.
All the while, that small, steady sphere of light at Alex's side pulsed brighter, feeding quietly on every passing second.
Alex stood silent, motionless, not a single sound leaving his lips. Only the silent telepathic words lingered in their minds:
"Let it keep talking. The longer it talks, the easier it will be to strike."
And the darkness rambled on, unaware.
Nyogtha's long monologue finally slowed, its vast, echoing voice folding back into the suffocating silence.
The weight of its words still pressed against the chamber like a heavy fog.
For a long moment, no one dared to speak.
Then, one of the braver envoys—an elder from the Magic Association—forced himself to step forward. His voice trembled slightly, but he managed to speak.
"If you've come this far," he said, "then… what is your purpose? What do the Great Old Ones truly want?"
For a few seconds, there was nothing but the sound of the darkness shifting.
Then Nyogtha's voice returned, layered and cold.
"Purpose?"
"Do not confuse us with your pantheons. We are not one mind, not one family. Each of us has our own purpose. Some hunger, some dream, some desire nothing at all."
"We are not allies. Many of us are enemies. Some of us are neutral and will remain that way until the end of everything. To find an ally among us is to search for a shadow in a void. It is… very difficult."
Its presence swelled as it spoke again, the tone deepening.
"But we are old. When there is a disagreement, when the smallest vision collides with another, it does not fade. It becomes war. And in war, we become enemies. Almost all of us."
The room trembled faintly with the final word.
Even the gods who stood at the council table felt the weight of what it meant—that the Great Old Ones were not a unified force, but an endless web of isolated, conflicting powers.
And through it all, Alex stood silent, waiting, while the sphere of light at his side continued to grow brighter, unnoticed by the Dweller in Darkness.
The elder who had spoken stepped back quickly, relieved that the Dweller in Darkness had answered instead of crushing him.
Another voice rose, this time steadier—a senior elf with silver hair, his expression strained but curious.
"If you are not allies," he said carefully, "then why do you come here? Why do you interfere with the world of gods and mortals at all? If you all act alone, then what does Earth mean to you?"
The darkness shifted. For a moment, there was no sound except for the slow, heavy creaking of stone as the shadows pressed against the hall. Then Nyogtha's voice answered, cold and flat.
"Not all of us care for this world. Many do not even look at it."
"But some see this place as a convenient stage. A place of laws and life that they can shape, that they can bend. It is not about the world itself. It is about what can be made from it."
It paused, the tone flattening even further.
"For me, I come only because one of your own touched my Law. I am not here for you. I am not here for gods or mortals. I am here for the one who dares to interfere."
Its voice deepened, rolling through the air like a tidal wave.
"I will erase that arrogance from existence."
The silence that followed its words was broken once again by a trembling but determined voice from the far side of the hall.
"If… if you all act alone," the speaker said, "then what about Cthulhu? Why does he have two Laws?"
The darkness that was Nyogtha paused.
For the first time since it appeared, its form rippled with something other than suffocating calm.
"Cthulhu… is here?"
Its voice deepened, the words slow and heavy, as if even it needed a moment to confirm what it had just heard.
"On this planet?"
When no one denied it, Nyogtha's tone shifted, and there was something colder in its voice now.
"Cthulhu is one of the strongest of us. Along with Hastur, he stands near the peak. Do you know why he possesses two Laws?"
It let the question hang for a moment before continuing.
"Long ago, another Great Old One held the Law of Dreams. But Cthulhu killed that one. And when it died, the Law became his. Space and Dream, united in his hands."
The words dropped into the room like thunder.
For a long moment, no one spoke. Then the shock began to spread—gods, immortals, dragons, angels—all staring at each other with dawning realization.
Even Nyx's eyes widened slightly, her violet gaze flicking toward Alex for just an instant, then back to Nyogtha.
"So," she whispered, "killing a Law holder allows you to claim their Law…"
The hall erupted with quiet murmurs. It was a truth none of them had known.
None of them—except for Alex.
He stood unmoving, his visor hiding his expression, but there was no sign of surprise, no flicker of reaction.
Nyx noticed. Her lips curved just slightly as if she understood something that no one else did.
Nyogtha's voice cut through the whispers.
"You have learned something you were not meant to know. But it changes nothing. Whoever dares interfere with my Law will not live long enough to try."
Chapter 568 – The Weight of a Law
Nyogtha's voice rolled through the suffocating dark, deeper than before, as if it had grown tired of their questions.
"Do not misunderstand," it said. "Even though you stand here as the strongest on this planet, you cannot possess a Law."
The hall fell silent again.
"If by chance—by sheer luck—you manage to kill a Great Old One who possesses a Law, it will only be because that one was weakened or injured beyond recovery. And yes," the voice continued, "in that moment, the Law will be forced to choose a new bearer. It will flow to the killer."
The shadows thickened, pressing against the chamber like liquid night.
"But do not mistake that as a gift. It is a curse. Your soul cannot support a Law. It will burn you from within. It will drive you insane, and you will die."
The whisper grew sharper, filling the hall like knives scraping across glass.
"Even Cthulhu, for all his strength, can hold only two. Were he to take another, the madness would consume him, and he would die screaming."
The words struck the gathered gods and immortals like a hammer.
They had known Laws were dangerous, but none of them—not even Nyx—had understood the price.
Nyx's violet eyes flickered, the faintest trace of shock crossing her face before she hid it again.
The darkness pulsed faintly as Nyogtha continued speaking, its voice spreading like a heavy mist across every corner of the hall.
"This is why there is no universe-wide war among us," it said, slow and deliberate. "You think we hunger for each other's Laws? You think we fight endlessly to take them? That is a fool's dream."
Its voice deepened, like an endless cavern.
"Only a fool among us would try to kill another Great Old One just to take their Law. That path is suicide. To kill without knowing if your own soul can endure it is to destroy yourself."
The shadows grew darker, thicker, as though even the idea offended it.
"Killing one of us may bring you their Law, but that Law is no gift. It will crush you. It will twist your mind, devour your being, and leave nothing. That is why there is no endless war for them. Only the arrogant and the mad take such risks."
The chamber was silent again.
Every word it spoke weighed on the minds of the council like a thousand tons.
The truth was clear: even the Great Old Ones feared the Laws as much as they coveted them.
For the first time since Nyogtha had appeared, Alex finally spoke.
His voice was calm, steady, and carried effortlessly through the oppressive darkness.
"What about the Law of Mana?" he asked. "Has anyone ever possessed it?"
The hall froze. Even the council turned toward him, startled by his sudden question.
Nyogtha fell silent for a moment. Then, a low sound began to spread through the chamber. It grew into a strange, cold laugh, rolling like thunder across the walls, until the very shadows seemed to shudder with it.
"The Law of Mana?"
Its laughter deepened.
"No Great Old One was ever born with such a thing. Mana is… inferior."
Its voice filled the chamber, layered with contempt.
"When you use mana to cast a fire spell, and you stand in front of one who bears the Law of Fire, do you know what happens? The result is obvious."
The pressure of its presence swelled.
"The one who bears the Law of Fire does nothing. And the one who casts the spell… dies just from being close to it. Mana is a shadow, an imitation, of a true Law."
Its words echoed, harsh and merciless.
The sound of Nyogtha's laughter deepened, rolling through the hall like a thousand waves colliding, shaking the air itself.
"Mana is a tool for the weak. It is the crutch of mortals, of gods, of anything that cannot shape a Law. You polish it, refine it, pretend it can reach the same heights—but at the moment of truth, it fails you."
The shadows crawled across the walls, the floor, the ceiling, stretching long fingers around the council.
"The difference is absolute. A Law is origin. Mana is a shadow of a shadow. It will always be second-hand."
It moved closer now, its vast formless body folding toward Alex, though it still spoke to everyone.
"Have you ever wondered why no Great Old One uses mana? We do not need it. We are born with what you try to imitate. Fire that no fire spell can reach. Ice that no blizzard can touch. Space that no teleportation can grasp. Mana is what you cling to when you are too small to be anything else."
Its voice sharpened.
"Mana will never defeat a Law. It will break before it reaches it."
The oppressive words hung over the chamber like a final verdict, and the shadows pressed tighter, thicker, leaving only that one small, growing sphere of light beside Alex untouched.
Nyogtha's endless shadows inched closer, folding and stretching like a living ocean. In the middle of its mocking laughter, it suddenly stopped.
Something in the room had shifted.
The vast darkness tilted, focusing entirely on Alex.
"...What is this?"
It lowered itself, the crushing weight of its presence bearing down on him.
"I sense something in you," it whispered. "Something that tastes of Mana… yet is not Mana. A thread, thin and new. An unknown Law."
The laugh that followed was sharper, louder, echoing from every direction.
"Ahh… so that is why you asked!"
The darkness pulsed, circling him like a predator.
"You are trying to forge a Law, aren't you? A Law of Mana. And you feared that someone else—another of my kind—might already hold it."
Its many-layered voice turned mocking, almost amused.
"You worry that your little work will be stolen before it even begins. That is why you dared to speak, isn't it, Void Knight?"
The entire council turned toward Alex, stunned by what they were hearing. Even Nyx's calm expression shifted slightly, her violet eyes narrowing in interest.
The shadows tightened, like a giant net being drawn close around him.
"Do you truly think you can create such a thing?"
It laughed again, deeper.
"Then show me."
Nyogtha's shadow twisted slightly, like an endless tide hesitating, then curling inward.
The laughter stopped.
For the first time since its arrival, its countless voices merged into one, low and slow.
"...Interesting."
Its presence pressed harder on the hall.
The shadows around Alex seemed to coil, tasting something beyond what anyone else could sense.
"There is something in you," it whispered. "Something faint. Something… unknown."
The sound rose again, building like a storm until the walls of the chamber vibrated with it.
"Ah! Now I see. It feels like mana—something weak, inferior—yet not quite the same. That must be why you asked."
The laughter turned sharper.
"You think you can shape the Law of Mana, don't you? Is that why you stand so calmly, little knight? Are you afraid that there is already another Great Old One who owns it? That I might have called them here?"
It leaned closer, massive and shapeless, its voice so near it felt like cold wind.
"You need not worry. No one wants the Law of Mana. No Great Old One has ever been born with it. To us, it is filth. An imitation.**"
It pulled back slightly, laughing again.
"If this is the path you have chosen, then you will never reach beyond shadows. Mana is nothing, Void Knight. And so is any Law born from it."
The words echoed in the hall, thick with arrogance.
The hall, already tense, fell into a deeper silence at Nyogtha's words.
And then, slowly, every eye in the chamber turned toward Alex.
The realization spread like wildfire.
The strange unknown thing Nyogtha sensed… it wasn't a mistake.
Alex had begun to create a Law.
For a moment, no one dared to breathe. Even Nyx, who had stood beside him with unshaken calm, widened her violet eyes in open surprise.
"You…" she whispered, her usually smooth voice catching for the first time. "You're forging a Law?"
The gods, immortals, and angels around her stared, unable to process what they were hearing.
Alex finally spoke, his voice flat, calm, as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world.
"I've only completed about three percent."
The hall erupted in murmurs.
Even Nyx's eyes stayed on him, studying him as if seeing him for the first time.
Three percent.
And yet, the presence of it was enough for Nyogtha to notice.
Nyogtha laughed again, a sound like a hundred storms breaking all at once.
"Three percent? Then you are even more foolish than I thought! Do you not understand? At that pace, you will spend eternities chasing something that will never equal a true Law. A Law born from mana is weakness itself."
It loomed closer, still laughing, but the sphere of light next to Alex pulsed sharply now, almost like a heartbeat that was ready to strike.
The sound of Nyogtha's laughter rolled endlessly through the hall, but Nyx barely heard it. Her eyes were fixed on Alex, her expression unreadable for several seconds.
Then she spoke, her voice quieter than before, but carrying clearly across the chamber.
"You're creating a Law," she said, as if confirming it to herself. "Not borrowing it. Not taking one. Forging it."
Her violet eyes narrowed slightly, a mixture of astonishment and something else that even the oldest gods couldn't place.
"Do you even understand," she asked softly, "what that means? Mortals and gods have tried for ages. Even we Primordials failed to make new Laws from nothing. And you—"
She stopped herself. Her voice dropped even lower.
"Three percent…"
Her gaze held his, unwavering.
"No wonder you stand so calm," she whispered. "No wonder you didn't flinch when you heard about the Great Old Ones' Laws."
There was something like a faint, reluctant smile tugging at her lips, though her tone was serious.
"I didn't think anyone could make me curious again."
Around them, the council remained silent, unable to decide which was more shocking: that Alex was actually forging a Law, or that Nyx—Nyx, who vanished from the world rather than risk the Law of Darkness—was looking at him like this.
Chapter 569 – The Strike That Split the Darkness
Nyogtha's laughter grew louder and louder, shaking the ice cavern until cracks ran across the walls. Its voice rumbled like a sea of thunder.
"Three percent! You dare stand before me with that? Do you know how many creatures have tried to create their own Laws? How many I've devoured? You are nothing but—"
It never finished.
While Nyogtha's attention was consumed by its own arrogance, Alex finally moved.
The sphere of light, which had been pulsing beside him from the moment the Dweller in Darkness appeared, flared in an instant. Time itself slowed around him as he poured every fragment of his control into the strike. Time magic compressed seconds into microseconds, forcing the charged spell to reach its peak in an instant.
The orb expanded in a flash of blinding light as Alex directed it forward.
Inside that sphere, the combined forces of fire, lightning, and light magic erupted—woven together and held in perfect harmony by the Law of Mana.
The Law of Fire amplified the flames, pushing them to the level of a Law rather than a spell. Space magic compressed the entire explosion to a sphere only a kilometer wide, sealing its full destructive force until the moment of impact.
Nyogtha's massive body barely had time to react. It sensed the danger only at the last second.
The orb smashed into the shadow mass and carried it straight up, blasting it through the roof of the cavern, ripping a path through ice and sky. The attack drove Nyogtha upward, pushing it nearly 500 kilometers above the earth, to the very edge of the sky.
And then—
Detonation.
The compressed sphere of fire, lightning, and light exploded.
For a single instant, the world became white.
A column of brilliance, only one kilometer across but impossibly dense, detonated in the upper atmosphere. The contained force unleashed a shockwave strong enough to spread for 3,000 kilometers, ripping apart clouds and boiling the air.
Light brighter than the sun burned away the shadow. Firestorms erupted, laced with lightning, tearing through every trace of darkness. The blast hit with such concentrated force that the earth below shook.
It wasn't just power.
It was precision, honed to obliterate the Dweller in Darkness in one strike.
The combination of light and fire—its greatest weaknesses—burned through Nyogtha's body, while the lightning tore through its structure, leaving no safe refuge for the darkness to hide.
The sky was still blazing with the afterimage of the explosion when Alex moved again. Without the slightest pause, he teleported directly into the heart of the detonation point. Space folded around him, and in less than a blink he stood where Nyogtha's shredded mass was still thrashing against the fire and light that clung to it.
There was no warning. No words. The moment his boots touched the air, he attacked. The remnants of the burning sphere had torn open a path through Nyogtha's darkness, leaving parts of its true form exposed. Wounds glowed like molten scars, and from those wounds it leaked shadows like ink into the sky.
Alex's blade cut through the wounded mass without hesitation. Every strike was faster than sound, each blow reinforced with lightning, flame, and the Laws of Mana and Fire. Nyogtha's voice, which had been roaring in fury, turned to a broken, screeching sound that reverberated across the atmosphere. The creature that had descended so arrogantly was now seriously injured, its form torn open by the combined onslaught.
Even as its vast body writhed, trying to pull itself together, the burning power of light and fire clung to it, making regeneration slow and painful. Alex pressed forward, refusing to let it recover.
Before Nyogtha could gather itself to retaliate, Alex was already preparing another attack. He wove together layers of magic with flawless speed, compressing power until the air itself distorted. Fire and lightning mixed with searing light, shaped into a second sphere, smaller but denser, bound tightly by space magic. Every thread of mana was sharpened with the precision of the Law of Mana, and the heat of the spell roared with the Law of Fire.
And this time, there was more. Every strike he had unleashed before, and this new one forming in his hands, carried an added venom: the Law of Poison. Each cut, each fragment of damage was laced with poison that did not fade, a corruption designed to burn and decay even the essence of the Great Old One.
Nyogtha's enormous body twisted violently, trying to scatter its darkness before the next blow landed, but Alex moved first. He teleported directly in front of one of its largest wounds and slammed the compressed sphere into it. The sphere detonated point-blank, a sun exploding within the exposed flesh of the Dweller in Darkness.
The blast shredded everything it touched. Poison seeped deeper into Nyogtha's being, crawling through every rent and fracture left by light, fire, and lightning. The creature's form writhed, shrieking in agony as huge sections of its body began to collapse in on themselves. Each time it tried to pull its shadows together to escape, the poison disrupted its concentration, tearing it apart from within.
The Dweller in Darkness twisted violently, its body collapsing into itself as a surge of power suddenly erupted from deep within. For the first time since it had appeared, Nyogtha abandoned its endless words. The very concept of light was devoured, and the sky for hundreds of kilometers turned completely black. The shadows converged into a single, enormous wave that surged toward Alex like an ocean crashing down. This was the Law of Darkness, raw and unfiltered, a strike meant to erase everything it touched.
But Alex did not flinch. He pivoted through the blast, folding space around himself to move above the wave as Nyogtha used the attack not just as a weapon but as cover to begin escaping. Its fragmented body thinned, spreading out into streaks of pure shadow, trying to flee into the upper layers of the atmosphere where it could vanish from sight and recover.
It didn't make it far.
From above, a vast lattice of glowing threads unfolded. It wasn't natural webbing—it was something Alex had prepared even as he was fighting. The threads shimmered like frozen glass, each strand thick with mana and layered with power. The net fell, and the moment Nyogtha touched it, the creature slowed as if the air had turned to stone.
The web tightened. Every strand carried time magic, forcing the creature's movements into a crawl. Ice magic and the Law of Ice turned its fleeing shadows brittle, freezing them solid. The Law of Web bound the fragments of its body together, preventing it from splitting apart. And at the core of this creation was the same perfect control that came from his mastery of mana.
The net wrapped itself around Nyogtha's huge, half-broken body, anchoring it in the upper atmosphere. Its form twitched and thrashed, but the harder it struggled, the thicker and stronger the web became. Even the Law of Darkness couldn't erode the threads fast enough. The net clamped shut like a trap, dragging Nyogtha to a halt, leaving it completely exposed.
Alex raised his hand again, looking down at the immobilized mass of writhing darkness. He didn't rush. Every motion was precise, as if the trap and the strikes had been prepared from the very start.
Chapter 570 – The End of Darkness
The web tightened with a sound like cracking ice. Each strand, already woven with time magic, ice magic, the Law of Ice, and the Law of Web, now glimmered faintly with a greenish shimmer. It wasn't just binding Nyogtha anymore—it was eating into it. The poison Alex had mastered from the Law of Poison had seeped into the web, turning every strand into a venomous blade.
Wherever the strands touched, the formless mass of darkness hissed, bubbles of shadow rising like boiling tar. The poison worked deeper than wounds; it was eroding Nyogtha's essence, crawling into the fractures made by fire and light.
The Dweller in Darkness struggled violently, its Law surging in desperation, but every attempt to free itself only sank it further into the net. It was completely caught. Its vast body shook as it tried to twist free, but the combined Laws froze every motion and the poison weakened it more with every passing second.
Above it, Alex hovered, silent and motionless, his visor reflecting the vast writhing shape beneath him. Power gathered around him as he raised one hand, preparing a finishing strike. The air folded and cracked around his palm as if the sky itself couldn't handle what he was building.
Those watching from below—the gods, the immortals, even Nyx—were silent. They could feel what he was doing, but none of them could understand how he could hold so much. Time, Ice, Fire, Poison, Web, Mana—all active at once, harmonized with flawless control. It wasn't just technique. It was something beyond them.
Whispers spread in the hall far below, their voices tight with disbelief.
"How can he support so many Laws at once?"
"Even Cthulhu can't hold more than two."
"His soul should have collapsed long ago."
Even Nyx narrowed her eyes, her voice just a faint murmur to herself.
"He is not supposed to be able to do this."
Alex did not respond. All of his focus was on the sphere that was taking shape in his hand, a smaller, denser spell than the others. Fire and lightning spiraled with compressed light, wrapped in time and locked in place by space. This wasn't an explosion to scatter Nyogtha. It was a single point, a strike designed to erase it completely.
The poison-wrapped web constricted tighter around Nyogtha, each strand glowing faintly as it sank deeper, holding it motionless. The Dweller in Darkness, once a tide of endless arrogance, was reduced to something trembling. Its shadowy form pulsed, trying to reshape itself, but every time it moved, the venom spread further through its body.
For the first time since it had descended, it spoke without confidence.
"Wait. Void Knight. You do not understand what you are destroying."
Its voice cracked like old glass.
"I can give you knowledge. Secrets of Laws, worlds, powers you cannot imagine. If you release me now, we will never meet again."
Alex said nothing. He kept his hand raised, the energy in his palm twisting into something so dense the very air seemed to shatter around it.
The Dweller tried again, more desperate.
"You cannot fight all of us. There are thousands like me. Do you think you can survive them all? Take my offer. You will never find another like it."
One minute passed.
He still didn't answer. The sphere in his hand had become something terrible and small, compressed to the size of a fist, but every god, immortal, and spirit watching felt its weight as if a second sun were being born in the sky.
Nyogtha screamed one final time.
"Do you know what you are doing? The others will smell this death! You are choosing war!"
Alex closed his fingers around the sphere, locking it into shape, and finally moved.
The world went silent for an instant.
Then he threw it.
The impact was silent at first, just a small flash, but then it blossomed into something vast, a light so blinding that it turned the entire upper atmosphere into a sea of white. For a fraction of a second, the sky around the entire world lit up with a ghostly white glow. From every land and sea below, mortals and gods alike looked up and saw the flash racing across the heavens.
The explosion didn't scatter; it collapsed inward, crushing Nyogtha's form with a pinpoint of light and fire and lightning, then exploded outward, washing the darkness away completely.
The white light faded slowly, leaving only torn, clear skies where moments before there had been nothing but suffocating darkness. Nothing remained of Nyogtha. Not even a fragment of its essence had survived. The web had been burned to dust by the blast, and the air was still trembling from the force of the impact.
Alex hovered alone in the quiet, the glow around him fading as he lowered his hand. A familiar sound echoed in his mind, calm and absolute.
Level Up!
Gained Levels: 74,942
Unused Stat Points Acquired: 374,710
New Law Acquired: Law of Darkness
The notifications blinked in his vision, then vanished as he dismissed them with a thought. The world was silent now, broken only by the whisper of the wind sweeping through the high atmosphere.
Far below, the gods and immortals stared upward in stunned silence. The flash that had crossed the entire sky had been visible from every corner of the world. Even from the farthest edges of the earth, people had stopped what they were doing to watch the strange white streak, never realizing that a Great Old One had been destroyed.
In the council chamber, no one spoke. Nyx, Surtr, Odin, Zeus—none of them moved. They simply watched the lone figure far above, realizing that the Dweller in Darkness, one of the oldest, had been wiped out as if it had been nothing.
High above the earth, Alex opened his status screen. The transparent window appeared before him, reflecting faintly against the visor of his armor.
Name: Alex Elwood
Level: 395,882
HP: 3,145,920
MP: 1,572,640
STR: 314,602
END: 314,592
AGI: 314,582
INT: 314,628
WILL: 314,476
Unused Stat Points: 374,710
Laws: Mana (3%), Ice, Fire, Web, Poison, Darkness
With a simple thought, he selected Distribute Evenly. The moment the command was confirmed, the points surged into him like a storm. The air rippled around his body, and for a moment the pressure of his presence pressed down on the sky itself.
New Stats:
HP: 3,895,340
MP: 1,947,850
STR: 389,544
END: 389,534
AGI: 389,524
INT: 389,570
WILL: 389,418
Unused Stat Points: 0
The surge of strength settled as quickly as it came. Alex dismissed the window, and the calm returned. Only then did he slowly descend through the sky.
From below, the council, gods, and immortals all watched him silently, their faces pale. They had just witnessed him gain a new Law, erase a being of ancient terror, and grow even more incomprehensibly powerful.
Alex stepped out of the sky without a ripple of sound. The blue light around him folded inward, and in the next instant, he was back in the great ice cavern. The room, which had been silent even before he appeared, somehow became even quieter.
He walked forward without hesitation until he stood once more at the center of the council chamber, his visor facing directly toward Nyx.
Her violet eyes followed him. There was no trace of surprise in her gaze anymore—only something sharp, focused, and thoughtful.
"I kept my part," Alex said simply. "It's gone."
The words echoed in the chamber, and not a single god or immortal dared to speak over them.
Nyx held his gaze for a long moment before answering.
"You did," she said quietly. "Faster than even I expected. I felt the moment its presence vanished."
She took a single step forward, the shadows of the hall bending slightly with her movement.
"I promised you something," she continued. "So I will keep my word. I will tell you the locations of the remaining sealed places. Not all of them are on this planet. Some are in the deep void between worlds."
Her tone sharpened, though her voice never rose.
"But listen carefully: by going to them, you will be seen by the rest. They will know. Just like Nyogtha came for me, others will come for you."
Alex's response was calm, as always. "I know. That was always the plan."
Nyx's lips curved faintly, almost imperceptibly.
"Then I'll tell you," she said. "And after that, Void Knight, this world will no longer know peace."