CHAPTER 39: CHAPTER 36: THE FORGOTTEN ONE VS THE GOLDEN MADNESS

The Forgotten One rose slowly from his throne.

He lifted his hand, his voice rumbling like thunder across the void:

"To those who know nothing of the absence of chaos,

raise your eyes to the heavens and behold the shattered dreams.

A sky no one has ever reached, nor ever will.

For I am the silence colder than death,

the darkness that devours all light,

and the chaos that mocks all order.

I am the absolute command."

Then his gaze pierced the void, and his decree followed:

“Open... Gate of Non-Existence.

Obey, your son calls for your aid.”

And a trembling sound rose within the infinite void that surrounded the Forgotten, a sign that the gate had opened.

“Now, I shall meet him. The gate has opened. Thanks to Jin, his plan succeeded. He added physics to his final strike, clever. Yet still, my plan was superior. He merely chose the path of lesser pain. A gamble, but a worthy one.”

Above the battlefield, the sky split apart. Countless broken corpses, suspended like puppets, were drawn into the colossal black orb that pulsed in the heavens. Sparks of dark light crackled violently as the orb devoured everything, its glow swelling, its hunger unending.

The orb encasing Lin quivered, resonating with the one above. Then, the main sphere in the sky began to descend, growing heavier, darker, more suffocating with each passing breath.

Isphyriela’s instincts screamed. She soared higher, scales igniting with divine frost, and conjured a full barrier of ice around herself. Yet even that shield trembled against the rising tide of darkness.

Elinius, meanwhile, clutched Oriliana close. The curse etched inside Lin’s flesh was unraveling, shadows gnawing at it mercilessly. The backlash surged through the bond, transferring the pain to Oriliana. Her screams echoed as if the shadows were devouring her soul.

Panicked, she tore the mark from Lin’s body. Better to sever the link than be dragged into death.

But the danger only deepened. Elinius and Oriliana felt it, the oppressive pressure, the dreadful presence pressing upon the very sky.

Then, the black orb convulsed... and exploded.

“A blinding wave of dark radiance burst outward, sweeping across the heavens. Every being in Nivara, and even those beyond its borders, felt the rupture of reality itself.”

The sky cracked.

A gaping hole tore itself open, bleeding darkness into existence. From within, a vast black gate took shape, towering, eternal, and wrong.

Slowly, something began to emerge.

A monster.

Its skin was pitch-black, crawling with shifting veins of shadow. Four red eyes pierced the gloom, unblinking, merciless. Its limbs were bent and jagged, like the twisted branches of a dead forest, each finger ending in long, glistening claws.

Above its head hovered a writhing black sigil, alive, pulsating with alien intent. From its back, a long tail uncoiled, spiraling endlessly like a snail’s shell, dragging an aura of infinite dread behind it.

The air collapsed as something unnatural forced its way in, bringing with it the pressure of a new disaster.

But as the battlefield trembled under the abomination’s power, far away, something else was stirring...

In the Sacred Continent of Dragons, buried deep within a cavern of molten magma, a colossal infernal dragon stirred. His body was a living furnace with scales blackened and split by glowing seams of fire, wings vast as flame-scorched banners, and eyes burning like twin suns trapped within a skull of stone.

His pupils narrowed.

The stench of corruption.

Far away, the Mh’ul gate was stirring.

A Mh’ul gate.

“Who dares disturb my rest?” His voice rumbled like shifting mountains. He closed his eyes, feeling the tremor in the air and the sickly pulse of foreign energy. When he focused, he sensed it clearly: a creature forcing its way through the gate.

“How could one open here?” The cavern shuddered at his growl. “If I don’t crush it and kill this monster now, a disaster will happen.”

A roar of rage erupted from his throat, shaking mountains, splitting clouds, and rattling the spines of every dragon below. It was pure, unrestrained anger, and even the Dragon King heard it.

With a brutal sweep of his wings, hurricanes tore through the skies, flinging lesser dragons aside like leaves in a storm. His body blurred, a streak of violet-black lightning ripping across the sky toward the source of the taint.

At the Eternal The black monster revealed its grotesque form. With a single strike, the entire battlefield trembled.

In the blink of an eye, it vanished and reappeared, slamming Isphyriela into an ice wall. She never saw its true shape. But All she felt at this moment was fury and rage.

Then the beast’s head snapped toward Elinius and Oriliana.

“At that moment, Elinius felt fear greater than when he faced the monster before. But within a heartbeat he regained control as his instincts surged. He knew this being was far more dangerous than anything he had ever seen.

He had no other choice.

At once, Elinius ignited his blessing. His skin darkened to an ashen gray, veins glowing faintly beneath the surface. His height surged, muscles twisting with raw power, and his frame broadened with unnatural strength. The air crackled around him as the transformation took hold. He seized Oriliana and bolted, racing in the direction the blue elf queen had shown them.

Isphyriela’s voice thundered across the frozen land, pride blazing in her tone:

“Now I am truly enraged... A lowly creature dares to defy me? On what grounds?! I am Isphyriela, the White Queen Dragon!”

Before the monster could descend upon Elinius and Oriliana, she streaked forward like a silver bullet. Her shoulder crashed into its abdomen, sending the abomination hurtling through wall after wall of ancient ice.

She soared upward, her wings unfurling in a blizzard of frost. From above, sparks of crystalline light rained as she conjured a hundred glowing circles in the sky. Each one birthed a massive arrow of snow and mana, all aimed at the beast below.

The monster turned slowly, unfazed. With a sweep of its jagged black claws, every circle shattered. The sky went dark again.

Then came the growl.

It wasn’t a roar, but a guttural, earth-shaking growl that made the entire frozen land quake as if reality itself recoiled.

In an instant, the monster vanished, reappearing before Isphyriela with terrifying speed. Its claws slashed downward, ripping through her scales and garments. Blood splattered across the frozen wind, streaking her face.

Before she could recover, both of its massive hands clamped together. With monstrous force, it struck her down, smashing her from the sky and sending her crashing violently into the ground.

Using the gate that opened the Mh’ul he used his spiritual realm to connect it with someone, then he opened it.

“You finally came... the Forgotten One—or should I say, Xuán Yǐ.”

The darkness around him stirred, unveiling a man with long black hair and abyssal eyes. His robe was plain black, flowing loosely, tied at the waist with a simple sash.

His gaze lifted toward the figure on the throne. Only half of him was visible in the shadows, white hair cascading down his shoulders, golden eyes burning with steady fire. He wore a pale gold robe, its edges faintly lined with crimson, held by a narrow clasped belt.

Jin Kuang, the Golden Madness.

“Is everything going as planned?”

“You’d better hurry,” Jin Kuang replied, sharp and mocking. “I’ve grown tired of that prison. That’s the only reason I agreed to your plan.”

“Did you find the others, Yì?”

“No,” Xuán Yǐ answered calmly. “I couldn’t sense if they exist or if they ever did.”

Jin Kuang chuckled, low and dark. “We were partners once. But when this plan is over, everyone will scatter. I only accepted his condition because I needed my freedom.

And once I am free... I’ll carve my revenge into every single one of them.”

“Very well, Jin Kuang,” Xuán Yǐ said, his tone steady. “I came only to ensure everything proceeds as it should. Don’t forget your promise, otherwise, I may change the way I deal with you.”

At that instant, two streams of power erupted, black and white, colliding violently in midair. The clash shook the realm, their energies swelling and twisting, each one straining to devour the other.

The Forgotten One leaned forward, his abyssal eyes gleaming. “As if you could ever touch me.”

Jin Kuang smirked, golden madness flickering in his gaze. “Perhaps. I may be stronger, but facing a schemer like you... there is no pleasure in it. Still, it doesn’t mean I would lose.

Our ways differ, you strike at the mind, make them wish they had never lived. I, on the other hand, go straight for the kill, wiping out them and all connected to them.

And in truth... to defeat you is to lose more than life itself. Even I don’t know your real plan.

You are, and always have been, the worst kind of enemy, since the very beginning.”

Xuán Yǐ’s figure shimmered, his voice fading back into the void. “Then I’ll be leaving now.”

Inside Lin’s body, he gazed around himself, but found nothing.

“Where... is the forgotten one?” he whispered.

Then, facing him, a dark body appeared and smiled.

Lin asked, “Who are you?”

The figure clapped his hands. The dark shadow surrounding him dissolved, revealing a clone of Lin’s body: same long black hair streaked with white, same black eyes, same pale face, even the same clothes. But there was one difference: this version lacked the snake-like black tattoo.

“I am you,” the figure said. “To be precise, I am the old Lin, born from a fragment of your soul, a shard of Jin’s memories, and the opposite pain that tore your identity apart. I was shaped from the awakened Noctarine instinct within you.”

He paused, a thin smile curling. “And since I won’t use either of their names, you may call me Nullin.”

Lin’s eyes narrowed. “Wasn’t the old Lin supposed to be dead?”

“No. He never truly existed. He was nothing more than a soul’s illusion.”

“This body never had an original owner to begin with,” the figure continued. “I am the consciousness of that illusion. I don’t know who placed him here, but thanks to your Noctarine instinct, you awakened me, alongside the other Noctarine instinct.”

He smirked. “Your body uses one of the two instincts. It lets you match another’s strength for some time. I, on the other hand, embody the other instinct, the one meant to be the Devourer.”

Lin clenched his fists. “So... what do you want from me?”

“It’s simple,” the figure said coldly. “I want to take control of this body. A loser like you doesn’t deserve it.”

And what if I refused?

The figure’s smile widened, revealing sharp teeth.

“Do you know what I do best?”

“What is it?”

“Hunt.”