CHAPTER 185: A SHOWDOWN PART 2

[: Daniel’s POV :]

The sky hadn’t healed from the last shockwave.

Reality still trembled, like the world itself held its breath, afraid to speak, afraid to move, afraid to even exist near me.

The Apostles felt it too, as earlier on, I had summoned my forces of void and destruction.

Their formation wavered.

Their wings flickered.

Their divine sigils sputtered like dying candles.

For the first time...they realised they weren’t hunters.

They were the prey.

I raised my hand casually, almost lazily.

And all of them panicked.

"W–WAIT—!!" an Apostle from the Radiant Dawn screamed, layers of sunfire authority igniting around him like a miniature star.

Another from the Iron Colossus Legion slammed its fists together, manifesting a massive mechanical fortress around his body.

Others activated divine relics, shields, blessings, weapons forged from cosmic laws, everything they had.

Hundreds of them lit up at once.

It was like a galaxy of authorities and a storm of divine might.

A symphony of power usually enough to level worlds, perhaps something beyond that.

But all of them, every single Apostle, wore the same expression, and that was fear.

A deep, animalistic fear, something they weren’t familiar with for thousands of years.

The kind you only feel when you finally understand the thing in front of you is not supposed to exist.

I curled my fingers.

Just slightly.

CRACK.

And all of a sudden, dozens of Apostles exploded.

Not burned, not crushed, not sliced, they detonated like overinflated balloons, bursting into red mist that the void swallowed instantly.

There was only silence.

Even sound was afraid of me.

Xerath dropped whatever bravado he had and simply stared.

"...Holy shit." He cursed for the 2nd time.

Lilith put a hand over her mouth.

"That wasn’t... that wasn’t even a spell..."

Kiel let out a slow whistle, voice trembling.

"Bro... you didn’t even swing your hand. You just... clenched it."

Rika blinked repeatedly.

"He killed them like mosquitoes..."

’’Well, that’s Daniel for you’’ Caelira whispered while Aeriwen grabbed her arm for support.

Kaelgor’s beast aura accidentally burst out before he suppressed it.

"The boy is no longer a being. He’s a calamity wearing skin."

Melira didn’t speak.

She simply watched me with quiet, terrifying pride.

My mother always knew I was different...But I think this was the first time she truly realised how different I am.

I exhaled.

The void trembled, hungry, eager.

Only about fifty Apostles remained.

Fifty... out of the hundreds that arrived.

All of them were trembling.

Some were on their knees.

Some were unable to speak.

One from the Seraphic Order managed to whisper, voice cracking:

"H–He... he erased them. No resistance. No remains. No soul spill. No echo!"

Another from the Nova Galactic Empire stumbled back, his mechanical limbs shaking uncontrollably.

"E–Entropy readings... off charts... recalculating... recalculating... ERR0R... ERR0R..."

An Apostle from the Sovereign of Black Dragon pointed a shaking claw at me.

"Th–This is not possible...!! No mortal, no BEING has such annihilation..."

A Radiant Dawn Apostle screamed,

"Y–You violate fundamental existence! What ARE you!?"

I tilted my head.

"What am I?"

I clenched my fist again.

Space folded like paper.

The remaining Apostles screamed, activating every defence they had.

"CELESTIAL DAWN SHIELD!"

"IRON GOD ARMAMENT: TITAN WALL!"

"COSMIC SKIN OF THE ETERNAL STAR!"

"DIVINE APOCALYPTIC WRATH ARMOR—!!"

Blessings ignited.

Authorities layered.

Deific armours materialised.

Weapons forged from laws hummed.

But it didn’t matter.

Not one bit.

Because every protection they activated shattered instantly.

PING—!

CRACK—!

SHATTER—!!

Their shields broke like glass.

Their divine treasures broke like cheap toys.

Their armour crumbled into dust.

One Apostle stared down in horror as his blessed sword melted into smoke.

"M–my divine arm... it... dissolved...?"

Another slapped his chest as the armour he had forged from reality itself evaporated.

"Th–this armour was blessed by the Sovereign of Stars... HOW... HOW DID IT—?!"

A third screamed as his body began to rupture.

"NO—STOP—MY LAWS— MY LAWS ARE COLLAPSING—!!"

And then...

BOOM.

A wave of blood mist erupted again.

This time, not dozens.

Half of the half of the remaining Apostles burst at once.

The survivors froze.

Some cried.

Some hyperventilated.

Some trembled so violently they couldn’t hold their weapons.

One fell to his knees, hands shaking uncontrollably.

"This is wrong... this is all wrong... He is not a mortal... he is not a Sovereign... HE IS AN ABERRATION!"

Another screamed wildly:

"No world... NO WORLD should have someone like this—!!"

"Yes..."

The trembling Apostle of the Apocalypse whispered, voice breaking.

"This... this is why... the Sovereigns forbade approaching this world... This is why... this world was marked as forbidden..."

His eyes widened in horror, realisation striking him like lightning.

"He is not meant to exist...! He is an anomaly! A paradox!! A being who should have died at birth!!"

Kiel barked a sharp laugh.

"Wow. Even the Apostles admit it now. My brother is officially a walking bug in the universe."

Xerath nudged him.

"Correction. He’s a bug that deletes every system that tries to kill him."

Caelira muttered under her breath,

"An existence without definition... terrifying..."

Rika pumped her fist.

"Ayyy, go little brother! Scare them more!"

Melira finally stepped forward, her voice quiet and gentle, too gentle for how disastrous the scene was.

"My son."

I paused.

She smiled softly.

"Don’t drag it out. Just end it."

The Apostles flinched.

The remaining Apostles froze, every fibre of their existence trembling.

For a moment, I almost did it.

Clenching my fist and deleting the remaining 25 in a single breath would’ve been easy, clean, satisfying, effortless.

But I lowered my hand instead.

"No," I said quietly.

Every head snapped toward me.

Even the world seemed to hesitate.

Lilith blinked. "No...?"

Xerath frowned. "Uh, son, did you not see what you just did to them?"

Kiel gaped. "Brother. THESE ARE STILL APOSTLES. OF TEN FORCES. You want them alive?!"

Rika poked my arm. "You’re not... feeling merciful, right? I don’t do well with merciful Daniel."

Melira studied me, calm but firm. "Son. Why?"

I looked at the remaining trembling Apostles.

They were terrified, broken, shivering, desperate.

But they were still Apostles.

Still monsters capable of wiping out worlds.

And that was exactly why I shook my head.

"It’s not pity," I said quietly. "Don’t misunderstand."

The Apostles stiffened.

My mother raised an eyebrow, waiting.

I took a breath and spoke clearly.

"I want all of you..."

I pointed behind me, to my family, friends, sworn siblings, rulers, everyone...to fight the remaining Apostles."

Silence.

Then....

"WHAT?!"

"ARE YOU INSANE?"

"BROTHER, ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL US OR TRAIN US?!"

"THE BOY HAS FINALLY LOST IT!"

"DANIEL, THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR SPARRING SESSIONS!!"

Even the Apostles stared, confused, insulted, terrified, and offended at the same time.

The Radiant Dawn Apostle stuttered.

"Y–You want... them... to fight us?"

A Whispering Stars Apostle sputtered.

"That’s... that’s a joke, right?! No, it must be, this must be psychological warfare—"

I ignored them.

I faced my people.

"Listen," I said calmly. "What did I just now? Killing them instantly? That’s not a strength for all of you."

Caelira swallowed, slowly understanding.

"...You want us to grow."

"Not want," I corrected. "I need you to."

Kaelgor’s eyes narrowed. "Because you think something worse is coming?"

I shrugged lightly.

"Something worse always comes."

The air grew still.

Even the wind stopped moving.

But I continued.

"Today, I’m here. I can protect everyone. I can erase anything that threatens us."

I turned slightly, staring up at the shaking Apostles like they were already corpses waiting for a burial.

"But what if one day I’m not here?"

That sentence shattered everyone’s composure.

Kiel’s face went stiff.

Rika’s smile vanished instantly.

My mother’s breath hitched, subtle, but I still heard it.

I faced them all, voice steady but quiet.

"I don’t know what the future will bring. I don’t know if I’ll be pulled away. Taken. Sealed. Or forced into a place none of you can reach."

Melira whispered, "Daniel..."

I looked at her, my mother, who endured everything to find me.

"I’m not saying it will happen. But it might."

Kaelgor growled. "If anyone tries to take you—"

I raised a hand.

"That’s exactly my point. I don’t want any of you to rely on me alone."

Rika clenched her fists. "But...

Kiel stepped forward, jaw tight.

"Brother, we’re not weak. But Apostles...this is different."

I met his eyes.

"And that’s why you need to face them. These 25? They’re already broken. Their morale is shattered. Their power is unstable. Their laws are cracked. They’re the perfect enemies to fight."

’’Besides, they won’t be able to use all of their divine abilities, I can assure you that’’

A beat of silence passed.

Thrain muttered under his breath, "The lad wants us to get XP before fighting the boss"

Brynja elbowed him hard. "NOT. THE. TIME."

I continued anyway.

"I want you to get used to fighting beings on their level. Apostles. Chosen warriors of Sovereigns. You need to feel the pressure of enemies who don’t fear death. You need to overcome it."

Kaelgor cracked his knuckles, a slow grin spreading.

"He’s right. We rely on him too much."

Selena nodded. "Too much comfort leads to rotten instincts."

Caelira inhaled sharply. "If this is training... then it is training forged in the fire of extinction."

Xerath turned toward me. "Boy... are you sure?"

I held his gaze.

"Yes."

Then I smiled, cold, confident, absolute.

"You have me here. I won’t let any of you die. So this is the safest battlefield you’ll ever get."

Every ruler, every friend, every sworn sibling...looked at me with something new in their eyes.

Finally, Kiel cracked his neck and grinned fiercely.

"Alright then, brother. If you want us to fight..."

Rika summoned her beast aura.

"Apostles, line up. I wanna see how tough you are."

Sylthara unleashed her draconic flames.

"Let us test our strength."

Lilith summoned dark serpents.

"Oh, this is going to be fun."

Xerath cracked his fingers.

"I’ll take five."

Aeriwen whispered, bow gleaming, "I won’t fall behind..."

Melira stepped beside me, pride shining in her eyes.

"You grow stronger... so we must grow stronger too."

The Apostles stared, horrified.

"You... you want to fight us?!"

"You can’t be serious—!"

"This is suicide!!"

I raised my hand slightly.

Void hummed.

Their screams died instantly.

"No running," I said with a smile.

"You wanted this world?"

My aura wrapped around the Apostles like chains; every single blessing, law and authority was sealed.

"Now die for it’’

And my allies stepped forward.

A war, no, a massacre disguised as a showdown, was about to begin.