Chương 363: Chapter 354 - The Will That Broke the Dark

The world answered his will. The will to burn. The will to manifest. The will to shine against the darkness and force reality itself to kneel—to accept his truth as law. And that answer came, not as sound or flame, but as stars. They flared into being across the torn sky, each a cry of defiance, each fueled by something beyond nature—beyond reason—anchored deep in the recess of a soul that refused to remain silent. The astral lattice awakened.

Its brilliance roared into existence, spreading through the black like veins of molten gold. A map of infinity unfolded before him, a living cosmos trembling beneath his call. And within that stellar weave, he moved. Every step sent ripples across constellations. Every breath gave birth to suns. Stars bloomed beneath his feet, leaving behind trails of incandescent dust, a wake of galaxies forged by sheer will.

He flowed through light that wept and patterns that died and reformed within the same heartbeat, each star a path, and each path a star. His swords ignited. They sang with a rhythm older than creation, a hymn of existence bound in steel and fire. Each strike crossed distance and dimension alike, a blade that had travelled light-years to find its mark. They were countless, infinite—each one an extension of his soul. Blades of meaning. Blades of memory.

Blades born from every version of himself that had ever reached for light. Within that storm of brilliance, amid the chaos of what could be and what already was, he shaped a truth no void could deny. A path of creation and collapse, where every star represented a possibility once unseen—and yet, now, real. Every light became matter. Every possibility became presence. Every dream became cut. A path of infinite edges. A path of shards. And through that impossible radiance, he struck.

The abomination's cataclysm—the seven-tailed monstrosity's final act of ruin—shattered beneath the weight of his will. The bomb of annihilation tore apart before it could be born, split open by blades of every outcome that could ever exist. The sky fractured, light screamed, and all that could be became one with all that was. Reality itself shuddered, folding upon the brightness that consumed it. The stars sang in resonance as the creature's form broke apart, unravelled, and vanished into silence.

From that sundered world of shadow and brilliance, only a faint shimmer lingered—a fading light, a final cry—before it too dissolved into nothingness. And then all went still. The stars dimmed, the world fell silent—and for a moment, there was nothing. Then came a sudden stroke of awareness, sharp and jarring, as if something had awakened him from a trance. Sensation returned. The weight of his body, the pull of gravity, the beating of his heart. And then— light.

Not the inner blaze of his will, not the unreal stars that burned from within, but light from the world above, sunlight breaking through the haze and striking his eyes. He felt his body falling, weightless for a heartbeat before gravity pulled him back to himself. The entire fight flashed through his mind—the seven-tail, the thunder, the deaths, the endless roar. His hand brushed his face on instinct. His eyes were intact. The skin smooth, whole, healed. He reached out with his senses. No movement.

No distortion in the field. Only stillness. It was over. And as he focused his gaze, several prompts materialised before him. In that instant, the truth settled in, heavy and unreal. He had defeated the seven-tail Xok'al. He had won.

— Moments earlier Chiara was unsure what she was watching. The EM field was so distorted from the fight that even light itself fractured and twisted, making her eyes or waves useless for reading the scene. And yet, what little she could interpret… made no sense at all. The seven-tail was reacting to movements Alonso hadn't made—and worse, it was being cut by them. Perhaps her senses were deceiving her, but she could have sworn there was more than one of him. What was happening?

Then she felt it—something different, something that didn't belong. A force of a nature she couldn't quantify. Spectral apparitions flickered across her perception. Illusions? No… not quite. They weren't electromagnetic in origin. Yet, whatever they were, they existed. Their effects were real. Those blurred manifestations were interacting with the world in the same way EM waves bent light—tangible, measurable, yet utterly alien.

For a moment, she recalled her talk with Ayu—about Primal Flow, that strange, body-based phenomenon tied to will. Back then, Chiara had sensed something unusual, but she'd assumed it was a biological response, or perhaps The Tower interfering through some hidden mechanism to help her with the skill. But this… Alonso had never followed the Body Path. He'd never trained under Makoh. And whatever he was doing—was definitely not Primal Flow. Then what was it?

What kind of force could let him stand against something so unfathomable? Was this too… will? The tempo of the battle rose, each pulse of energy threatening to tear the world apart. The seven-tail fought with a force that should have annihilated everything with each blow—and yet, somehow, it was being driven back. Then it came—a spike in the EM field so immense she felt it like thunder inside her skull. The distortion converged around the creature's core.

Its tails coiled inward, its body shrieking in frequencies beyond hearing as space itself crackled. Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. It was charging something—a catastrophic release of energy, a fusion of EMP and kinetic annihilation that would wipe the entire range from existence. She braced for the worst, covering her head with Dark Stars, shielding Lukas as best she could. There was nothing more she could do for the others.

And yet— There was nothing she needed to do. Because what she witnessed next… transcended comprehension. Awe so deep it bordered on paralysis—like standing before transcendence itself. For in the heart of that impending explosion, she saw it manifest. A glimpse of the cosmos—a stellar map unfolding where none should exist. Stars shimmered within an unseen lattice, galaxies flickered in spectral haze. It was blurry, fragmented, and yet… so real.

As if she were gazing into the heart of the void itself—a void alive and burning, a void that demanded to be seen. Then the stars flared. Every one of them ignited, their paths trailing like veins of light through the dark. And their brilliance struck—the creature's body torn apart by countless slashes of radiant force, pierced from every conceivable direction, until its entire form disintegrated into fragments of luminous dust. And then… it vanished.

Its body dissolved into streams of light, scattering into the field like threads of thought. And in the next instant—one of those threads pierced into her mind. And everything changed.

Alonso looked around and noticed the others recovering. The flickers of light—he wasn't sure whether they were orbs or something else—merged with their bodies. He saw Wang flinch as he slowly rose, the armour that had pierced his body mending itself. He saw Chiara's flesh knit together in an instant, her whole body restoring to perfect form. He saw Imani twitch as the torn and burnt skin patched over. He saw Lukas stare at him with a heavy smile and give him a nod that said more than words ever could.

And he saw Ayu already standing, her eyes flicking toward him. She didn't say a word, but her waves carried her emotions to him, and the warmth of them reached deep inside. He answered her in kind. He looked around the devastated valley. Mei and the others… were gone. Perhaps no one else in this entire world remained but the six of them. So many had died today—lost forever. It hit him hard, pride and grief tangled together in his chest, the weight of survival pressing down on him like stone.

His gaze drifted back toward the prompts before him, steady now, as the silence of a hard-earned victory settled in. Stage 1 – 26. 912% ➤ 30. 000% Grade 01 - Title Earned:"Bearer of the Broken Prophecy" Effect: +5% effect of Fusion States Grade 04 - Title Earned:"Willborne" Effect: +10% Power of Will As he tried to make sense of the completely unexpected, yet deeply consequential messages, another prompt flickered before his eyes.

Your existence has been acknowledged Rank 0 - [UNREGISTERED] ➤ Rank 1 - [OBSERVER] What the… Acknowledged? Ranks? He focused on his body, trying to sense any changes. While he certainly felt much stronger, his mind clearer, it seemed more like the result of the sudden jump in Stage Progress—and the first of his new titles. Also… Titles? Since when… He glanced at the others and caught narrowed eyes, unfocused gazes, and— Native Name: Chiara Lin Stage 1 – 30. 000% The hell… Why were…

He turned his focus toward Ayu, and it was the same. Lukas, Wang, Imani—all of them bore the same Tower-managed identifiers. He frowned. Observer … was this connected to that? To his new rank? And why did it feel like he was the only one seeing it?

"A title?" He turned toward Ayu as she broke the silence, still staring at the prompt before her.

"It seems the Tower has introduced a new mechanic," Chiara said, her tone analytical but tinged with something almost like awe.

"And judging by the wording:"Bearer of the Broken Prophecy", it's clearly tied to our feats—or achievements. In this case, to slaying what I can only describe as an existence we shouldn't have been able to. And yet…" Her gaze lingered on Alonso.

"You did." All eyes turned to him. Ayu tilted her head, the tension rolling off her in an instant.

"By the way, Chiara—mind sharing the visuals of the fight?" A flicker crossed Chiara's eyes as she sent the request. In less than an instant, hundreds of thousands of frames streamed into Ayu's mind. She processed them all in silence, then—"Holy… shit…" Her voice broke through the stillness as she turned toward Alonso.

"That was—you can use will!? I mean, scratch that—damn… how? When?" Alonso sighed.

"I… don't really know," he said after a moment. The moment flashed through his mind—the light, the stars, the void.

"Maybe I just started believing."

"Believing?" Chiara frowned.

"Believing in what?" Alonso looked up, and when Chiara met his eyes, she froze. There was depth there—something vast and distant, like the void itself.

"Believing in myself." The silence that followed was heavy, spreading between them like the ripples after a falling drop of water. The words hit Chiara harder than she expected. They sounded absurd—almost childish to someone who had built her world on equations, proofs, and data. And yet… somehow, they felt true. It made no sense, and still, it did. Ayu smiled—genuinely this time, soft and proud. She sent a private transmission, her tone half-teasing but tender." You really are… amazing."

Alonso replied with a faint pulse through the waves, his blink carrying more meaning than words ever could." We both are."" You'll have to show me later… the weight you carry. The strength of that belief." Alonso nodded, a faint smile passing his lips before fading into thought. He turned toward Chiara and the others. Their eyes were still on him, silent and searching, the air thick with something unspoken. Especially Lukas.

He was trying—forcing a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes—but Alonso could feel the heaviness beneath it. The same heaviness that lingered in all of them.

The cost of this battle had been immense. Grief pressed against his chest, mixing with the raw pulse of triumph. He wanted them all to have survived, to stand beside him now, breathing, laughing, cursing, ready to keep moving forward together. But fate had taken its share. The Tower had demanded its toll. And yet… as cruel as it was, as merciless as it had always been, he knew the truth.

If he were to go back—to face that same choice again, to climb or fight, knowing what awaited—he would still have chosen to fight. Because this strength, this growth carved from struggle and loss, wasn't meaningless. He had gained something real. Something vast enough to matter. And he would use it. He would use it to keep climbing until the very top was within reach. Until every moment of pain, of grief, of sorrow—until every drop of blood spilled and every life that faded along the ascent—found its meaning.