CHAPTER 205: “YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE COME FOR ME”

The world vanished in light.

For a split second, there was no sound, no motion — just a blinding, pure explosion of energy that tore through everything around the fallen cave.

The fog evaporated.

The ground split open.

Air itself bent under the force.

Then came the shockwave.

It ripped outward like a divine hammer, shattering stone, uprooting trees, and throwing every living thing backward. Bob barely had time to react before the force slammed into him, launching him several meters through the air. He crashed against the ground with a grunt, carving a trail through the dirt.

Julian was faster; he materialized behind a boulder mid-flight, forming a defensive sigil with a snap of his fingers. The barrier cracked instantly but saved him from being torn apart.

Boma wasn’t so lucky — the blast sent him tumbling, rolling through broken rock before he finally slammed to a stop, coughing blood.

Even Everlyn felt the impact of the shockwave despite already putting up strong defences of her own.

The masked fighters, disciplined and coordinated, were thrown into disarray. Their formation shattered. Several hit the ground hard, while others struggled to rise, their spiritual armor flickering from the strain.

At the center of it all — the young man stood motionless, his coat fluttering violently, his eyes wide in disbelief.

The air sizzled. Energy currents danced across the shattered ground, blue and gold intertwining like fire and lightning.

And from within that swirling storm of light... a silhouette began to form.

Slowly, steadily, the figure stepped forward — one foot sinking slightly into the fractured stone.

It was Hutton Maxwell.

But he was no longer the same man they’d known.

His eyes, once deep brown, now glowed with a faint, golden luminance — as though entire galaxies spun behind them. His veins pulsed faintly under his skin, radiant lines of white light that moved like molten energy. His aura wasn’t just powerful — it was alive, pulsing with the rhythm of the World Vein itself.

The world around him breathed when he did.

Every time his chest rose, the shattered rocks hovered briefly in midair before falling again. The fog had retreated completely, drawn away as if bowing to his very existence.

Bob struggled to his feet, his vision still blurred from the blast. "Hutton...?" he croaked.

Everlyn’s eyes widened in disbelief. She had seen countless cultivators ascend through realms in her life — but this... this wasn’t ascension. This was manifestation.

The young man — the so-called heir of a World Class Family — took a slow step forward, eyes narrowing. His composed mask cracked ever so slightly.

"Impossible..." he muttered. "No human can stabilize the God Crystal this quickly."

Hutton turned his gaze toward him — calm, unreadable, his expression neither wrathful nor gentle.

When he finally spoke, his voice carried with it an echo, a resonance that seemed to vibrate in the bones of everyone present.

"You talk too much."

The air trembled.

Before anyone could react, Hutton vanished.

A blink later, a deafening shockwave erupted behind the young master — a sonic burst that flattened the surrounding terrain. The young man barely managed to twist his arm backward, catching Hutton’s incoming strike with his forearm.

The impact cracked the air itself.

The masked fighters stumbled back as invisible waves rippled through the ground. Sparks of raw energy danced between them, setting the grass ablaze.

The young master gritted his teeth, his eyes glowing with faint silver light. "So you’ve fused with it completely," he hissed.

Hutton’s expression didn’t change. He pushed forward, forcing the young man back several steps before their locked arms exploded apart in a burst of light and sound.

Bob and the others shielded their faces, the shockwave nearly knocking them off their feet again.

Julian’s voice trembled. "That... that’s not the same man. That’s not even the same realm of existence!"

The young man skidded backward, sliding across the cracked ground before planting his feet. His smile returned — tight, dangerous.

"So this is what happens when mortals steal divinity."

He raised his hand, snapping his fingers. A pulse of silver light spread out like ripples across the battlefield. Instantly, several of his masked fighters recovered and leapt forward, blades drawn, their weapons glowing with synchronized runes.

They rushed Hutton from all directions.

For a heartbeat, the air went still again.

Then — boom!

The world exploded in motion.

Hutton’s palm sliced through the air — and the first wave of attackers was simply gone. Not struck down, not thrown back — erased. The space they occupied folded in on itself, leaving only collapsing air.

The others hesitated, terror flashing in their eyes behind their masks.

Hutton turned slowly, his gaze cold and distant. "You shouldn’t have come here."

Bob, still recovering, shouted, "Hutton, stop! If you kill them all, you’ll—"

But the ground itself answered instead. The residual energy from Hutton’s aura burst outward, fracturing the earth in perfect symmetry — as though reality was bending to his will.

The young man raised both hands now, his composure finally cracking.

Silver energy flared around him in a blinding halo. "Enough!" he roared. "I’ll show you the difference between borrowed power and divine inheritance!"

The two forces collided.

Hutton’s gold against the young man’s silver — light and void intertwining in a maelstrom that swallowed the entire clearing. The blast illuminated the night sky for miles, a storm of power so violent it split the clouds above Blinding Town in two.

Boma and Julian barely managed to protect themselves while Everlyn was incredibly lucky in the position she finds herself in as the shockwave tore across the ground like a tidal wave.

At the heart of it all, the two stood locked in deadlock — one hand gripping the other’s wrist, energy surging, the very air vibrating with the sound of clashing power.

Then — slowly, terrifyingly — Hutton began to push him back.

The young man’s eyes widened in disbelief. His aura flickered. "No... this— this is impossible!"

Hutton’s voice was low, calm, and cold as winter steel.

"You shouldn’t have come for me."

He twisted his arm, and the world detonated in light once more.

The entire hillside erupted — an explosion of gold and silver that swallowed everything in sight.

From miles away, the people of Blinding Town looked up to see a pillar of light stabbing through the fog, splitting the sky.

Dust, light, and deafening silence consumed the air where gold and silver had just collided. For a moment, even the wind seemed too afraid to move.

Then— crash!

A figure burst out of the collapsing cloud of energy, tumbling through the air before smashing into the ground with bone-cracking force. It was the young master. His pristine robes were scorched and torn, his aura flickering violently like a dying flame. He coughed blood, his hands trembling as he tried to rise.

Across from him, Hutton Maxwell stood tall amidst the ruin — motionless, yet radiating an aura that pressed down on everything like a mountain. The air shimmered around him, bending light, warping sound.

Each step he took forward left molten cracks on the ground.

His eyes, now glowing faint gold, locked onto the young master — cold, silent, and utterly unyielding.

"You’re finished," Hutton said, voice low but heavy enough to make the air vibrate.

The young master’s lips curled into a faint, bitter smile. "No... not yet."

He slammed his palm against the ground. A wave of silver energy burst outward, not to attack — but to signal.

From the shadows, several masked subordinates appeared, badly injured but still able to move. They immediately grabbed their master, forming a defensive circle.

Bob, who had just regained his footing, clenched his fists and took a step forward, but Hutton raised a hand — stopping him. His gaze never left the retreating enemy.

"Run," Hutton murmured coldly, "before I change my mind."

The young master spat blood but gave no retort. His pride wouldn’t let him, but the tremor in his arms told the truth — he couldn’t withstand another exchange.

"Fall back!" he barked to his men.

In an instant, the silver light surged again, wrapping around them like a collapsing vortex. And then— fwoosh! —they vanished into the mist, retreating through a spatial shift formation.

As the light faded, silence returned. Only the slow crackle of broken earth and the distant hiss of settling fog remained.

Bob exhaled shakily, disbelief etched across his face. "They actually... ran away..."

Julian wiped the sweat from his brow, his breathing ragged. "That wasn’t a fight," he muttered. "That was domination."

Everlyn, still wide-eyed, stared at Hutton. Her voice trembled. "What... what did you do? That power—it’s not human."

Hutton didn’t answer. He just stood there, staring into the distance where his enemies had vanished. The golden glow in his eyes flickered — and then dimmed.

A sharp pain struck him.

His knees buckled.

Without warning, his body convulsed violently, his hand clutching his chest as a choked gasp escaped his lips.

"Hutton!" Bob’s voice broke as he rushed forward, catching him just before he hit the ground.

The moment Bob touched him, his arm jolted from the sheer heat radiating off Hutton’s body. His veins glowed beneath his skin, writhing like molten streams of light struggling to contain themselves.

"His core—!" Everlyn gasped. "It’s collapsing!"

Hutton’s teeth clenched, his body shaking uncontrollably. "Tch... damn it... the God Crystal... its energy’s... tearing through me..."

Blood trickled down his lip as his aura flared uncontrollably, scorching the ground beneath him. The golden veins along his neck pulsed brighter, and a faint hum of instability rippled through the air — the same hum that preceded explosions.

Julian swore. "If we don’t suppress that energy now, it’s going to rip him apart from the inside!"

Bob tightened his grip, panic flashing across his normally calm features. "What do we do?!"

Everlyn moved fast. "We get him out of here! Now!"

Without hesitation, she retrieved a series of talismans from her pouch, slapping them across Hutton’s body one by one. Each one flickered weakly, doing little to contain the violent surges of golden light.

Julian and Bob worked together, forming a makeshift seal circle around them while Boma — still bruised and pale — used his remaining strength to activate a teleport glyph he’d been saving for emergencies.

The ground beneath them began to glow faint blue.

"Hurry!" Everlyn shouted as the air around Hutton began to distort again.

Bob hoisted him over his shoulder. "Hang in there, brother. You’ve done enough for today."

Hutton tried to speak, but another wave of pain hit him, sending another trail of blood down his chin. His vision blurred.

Through the haze, he saw Everlyn’s anxious face, Julian’s strained focus, and Bob’s unyielding determination.

He smiled faintly. "Heh... looks like... I overdid it... again."

The teleportation circle flared.

In an instant, the group vanished — swallowed by blue light just as the ground behind them exploded from the lingering aftermath of divine power.

The battlefield was silent once more, only the scorched marks and floating dust left as witnesses to what had transpired.

Far away, in a hidden cavern deep beneath Blinding Town, the blue light flared again — and the group reappeared.

Bob gently laid Hutton down on a stone slab as Everlyn immediately began forming a containment barrier.

"Hutton, stay with me!" she said, her voice trembling. "You need to stabilize your core, or the God Crystal’s backlash will destroy your meridians!"

Hutton’s breath came in short, ragged bursts. The glow beneath his skin slowly dimmed as he gritted his teeth, forcing his spiritual energy into order.

Bob sat beside him, his large hands tightening into fists. "I’ve seen you survive hell, kid," he muttered. "Don’t let this beat you."

The barrier flared, the light softened, and gradually — very gradually — the violent energy subsided.

Hutton lay still, sweat dripping down his temples, his chest rising and falling heavily.

Silence filled the cavern.

Then Everlyn spoke softly, her voice heavy with awe and worry.

"Whatever that thing inside you is... it’s not meant for mortals to wield."

Bob’s gaze darkened. "Yeah," he said quietly. "But he’s not just a mortal anymore."

They all looked at Hutton — unconscious, but still emanating faint ripples of golden light that pulsed in time with his heartbeat.

And outside the cavern, the fog of Blinding Town thickened again — as if the world itself was holding its breath for what would come next.