Chapter 10
The storm had ended.
Silence filled the void, yet it was not a peace one could rest in—it was the silence that followed annihilation. The kind that carried no breath, no echo, no memory.
Nyxen stood alone at the center of that nothingness. The sword pulsed faintly on her back, every beat of its light syncing with her pulse, her thoughts, her will. It was no longer merely a weapon. It had become a second soul—one that devoured and reflected her essence.
Her form still bore the shape of her disguise: tall, black-haired, pale as dawnlight. But her eyes had changed. The red glow had deepened into a void so absolute that it seemed to consume starlight itself.
The destruction of the Infinite Ruin had awakened something inside her. The Heaven-Sealing Sword, once an artifact of the gods, had no master now—it had merged with the very idea of defiance.
She whispered its name, though even the sound seemed too fragile.
"The Heaven-Sealer…"
And the sword responded—not in words, but in meaning.
Every memory within the blade, every god it had slain, every dimension it had cut through—flowed into her mind.
She saw ages long forgotten.
Worlds that once sang beneath divine suns.
Empires that rose on the breath of immortals and fell under their own shadows.
She saw the first wielder, a being wrapped in gold flame, splitting the heavens open in rebellion.
Then she saw their end—cut down by the same blade that once served them.
The sword had no loyalty. It only obeyed the will that stood higher than Heaven.
Nyxen breathed slowly, the universe reforming around her feet. Broken fragments of galaxies stitched themselves into rivers of dark light, forming an endless horizon where night and day no longer existed.
Then, a voice echoed. Not divine this time—but human.
"You… survived that?"
Selara emerged from the mist, her once-scarred body now glowing faintly from the divine flame that refused to die. Her spear was gone, but her eyes still burned.
Nyxen turned to her. "You lived."
"Barely," Selara replied, panting. "You destroyed a realm. You killed its laws. Do you even know what you've done?"
Nyxen glanced down at her hand. The skin shimmered faintly between mortal flesh and cosmic radiance. "I erased a cage."
Selara's laugh was hollow. "A cage? That was a world."
"A world built by gods who feared their creations," Nyxen said quietly. "They sealed this sword to keep mortals beneath them. Now that seal is gone."
Selara stepped closer, the faint wind scattering fragments of her burning aura. "And what are you now? Mortal? God? Or something worse?"
Nyxen's silence was the only answer. The void behind her shifted, showing glimpses of countless realities—each trembling as though aware of her presence.
The sword pulsed once, and those images shattered.
Selara's breath caught. "You're… pulling existence into yourself."
The blade whispered in Nyxen's mind. It was not speech, but the weight of infinite will pressing upon her thoughts.
Devour to ascend. Consume to become the path.
She closed her eyes, trying to suppress the hunger that came with it. For every breath she took, she felt time unravel. She could feel worlds ending in her heartbeat.
Then, another voice came. A calm, ancient one.
It came from the very air around her—no body, no soul, just intent.
"So… you are the successor."
The void rippled. From the darkness emerged a shape—an armored silhouette forged of moonlight and shattered prayers. It had no face, only a crown of broken halos and a voice that made reality bend.
"The Keeper of the Heavenly Chains," Selara whispered, stepping back in fear.
The figure nodded slightly toward Nyxen. "The sword has chosen you, though your path is forbidden. You walk without domain, without law. Do you think you can bear the weight of Heaven's death?"
Nyxen gripped the sword's hilt, drawing it slowly from her back. The blade sang as it left the sheath of her aura, a sound that split eternity. "I already have."
The Keeper raised his hand. "Then prove it."
His presence warped space, summoning a thousand radiant chains made of divine law. Each one held the power to bind entire universes, to seal deities, to rewrite truth.
They came for her.
Nyxen raised the Heaven-Sealing Sword. The moment the first chain touched the blade, the void itself screamed.
It wasn't a clash—it was annihilation meeting defiance.
Each swing tore holes through existence. Fragments of stars rained down like molten tears. Selara was thrown back, clutching her chest as her divine blood flared in pain.
But Nyxen didn't stop. Her movements were fluid—each motion a verse of the Golden Scripture of the Unorthodox Path.
The sword art unfolded like a hymn of destruction.
Step one: Inversion of the Heavens.
Step two: Collapse of the Infinite Light.
Step three: Return to the Empty Path.
The Keeper staggered. Cracks formed across his armor, leaking white radiance. He tried to reform his chains, but each link shattered as Nyxen advanced.
"You are not meant to exist!" the Keeper roared, voice like thunder made of law. "You carry the sin of the void—"
Nyxen cut him down before he could finish.
The sword cleaved through both light and law.
The Keeper dissolved into a thousand rays, his final scream echoing across creation.
When it was over, the void was calm again.
Selara stared at Nyxen in horror. "You just killed… a guardian of Heaven."
Nyxen sheathed the sword. The glow in her eyes softened, though the power in her aura only deepened. "Then Heaven should choose its guardians more carefully."
The ground trembled faintly. The destruction of the Keeper sent ripples through the cosmic order—laws were breaking, collapsing like brittle glass.
Selara looked up. "You've started something that can't be undone."
"I know," Nyxen said, voice low. "And I'll finish it."
For the first time since the fall of the Infinite Ruin, she turned her gaze outward. In the far distance, she saw a horizon forming—a massive gate of starlight rising from the void, guarded by hundreds of celestial beings kneeling in silent prayer.
The Gate of Origin.
Beyond it lay the realm where gods were born and judged.
The sword on her back pulsed again. The whisper returned:
To open the Gate, devour the light.
Nyxen breathed deeply. Her disguise shimmered, fragments of divine shadow flowing around her body. "Then let Heaven watch me break its heart."
As she walked forward, the void began to burn. Every step she took redefined existence itself—turning absence into will, silence into command.
Selara followed from afar, hesitant but unable to turn away. "Where are you going?"
Nyxen looked back once. "To end what began when the first god raised a sword."
The heavens trembled as she vanished into the starlight.