Chapter 510: Chapter 510 - Judgement
"...You’re right about one thing," he said.
His voice carried easily through the fractured sky. "I am injured"
"But don’t misunderstand that"
His gaze sharpened.
"I have not fallen so far... that remnants like you can threaten me"
"And who," he added calmly, "Who told you I was alone?"
*Crack*
Space split.
Not violently.
Not chaotically.
Clean.
Precise.
A tear opened behind the Null Pantheon.
Not something breaking through.
Something... arriving.
The air shifted.
Not from pressure.
From presence.
The kind that does not announce itself... Yet makes everything else feel lesser by comparison.
The tear widened.
Light did not emerge.
Darkness did not spill out.
Instead... Something stepped closer.
---
The first to emerge from the tear in space were the rulers of Olympus themselves.
Zeus stepped through first, lightning crackling faintly around his form, followed closely by his brothers, Poseidon and Hades. Behind them came the other known gods from established pantheons, their presences stabilizing the fractured heavens simply by arriving.
Zeus glanced across the gathered Null Pantheon and let out a low breath.
"Good to see all of our old friends gathered here," he said dryly. "You finally decided to show yourselves, huh?"
"Apep..."
The voice came from another direction.
Ra stepped forward, golden radiance spreading through the broken sky like a second sunrise. His gaze settled first upon the endless serpent of chaos before slowly shifting toward the ocean far below.
"I understand what you are trying to achieve by returning to Earth," Ra said calmly.
Then his eyes narrowed slightly.
"But I see no reason for you to be here... Nun"
The moment the name was spoken, the world reacted.
The raging sea below abruptly fell silent.
Not calm.
Silent.
As though the entire ocean had stopped breathing.
Then...
*BOOOOM!!*
The stillness shattered.
The sea erupted violently, waves rising thousands of meters into the air as thunder split the heavens apart. Winds screamed across the atmosphere, twisting into spiraling currents powerful enough to distort the clouds themselves.
No human could remain anywhere near this place now because the presence of those gathered here alone was enough to crush any mortal foolish enough to draw close.
And then, at the center of the ocean, a whirlpool formed.
At first, it was small.
Then it widened.
And widened again.
Until it resembled a bottomless abyss opening directly beneath the world itself, vast enough to swallow entire islands whole.
Lightning crawled endlessly across the sky above it.
The heavens darkened.
Not because clouds blocked the sunlight.
But because the light itself was weakening.
Even Ra’s divine radiance dimmed for a brief instant.
Then... Something rose from the depths.
At first, it did not resemble a god.
It resembled absence itself.
A darkness deeper than the abyss slowly emerged from the whirlpool, dragging streams of black seawater behind it like chains forged at the beginning of creation. The ocean trembled around that presence, unable to decide whether it should worship... or flee.
Massive waves curled upward around the figure, forming walls of water that surrounded the heavens like a collapsing sea suspended in midair.
Then, beneath the surface of that darkness, two colossal eyes opened.
Ancient.
Endless.
Silent.
Eyes that carried the weight of an existence older than the planet itself.
Nun had awakened.
But this was not his true form.
The Primordial Waters did not possess a shape that mortal minds, or even most gods could fully comprehend. What stood before them now was merely a fragment of his existence, a form simplified so reality itself would not collapse trying to perceive him.
The ocean roared louder.
Currents twisted unnaturally.
The laws governing water bent around his presence as though remembering their original master.
Then the abyss spoke.
Its voice was deep.
Heavy.
As though the sea itself had learned how to speak.
"Ra..." The world trembled with every syllable. "And to you... Current Aboriginal Being of Earth"
Countless beings across the planet felt chills crawl through their souls the moment those words were spoken.
"I did not come for conflict"
The waters beneath Nun churned violently, entire oceans twisting as his mere existence disrupted the balance of nature.
Then those ancient eyes shifted toward Apep.
"But the serpent seeks to overturn the order once more"
A long silence followed.
"The moment I felt Mana return to this world... I already suspected something like this would happen again"
The massive whirlpool beneath him deepened further, as though connected to an endless abyss beyond reality itself.
"Once again... I did not come for conflict"
His gaze slowly swept across the shattered heavens, the gathered gods, and finally rested upon Earth.
"I came to protect what still remains"
A pause.
"Because despite everything..."
"This planet," Nun said quietly, "was once our home as well"
Silence followed his words.
The oceans still churned violently beneath him, yet compared to the pressure that had suffocated the heavens moments ago, the atmosphere had become strangely restrained.
Then...
"...Is that really your true motive?"
All eyes shifted toward Taufik.
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
Not accusing.
Not hostile.
But doubtful.
Because beings like Nun did not move without reason.
Ancient existences did not awaken merely out of sentimentality.
Taufik wanted to believe him.
At least... he tried to.
But experience had long taught him one truth:
The older a being became, the deeper their intentions were buried.
For the first time since appearing, Nun fell silent.
And that silence alone was enough to make Taufik’s eyes narrow slightly.
Because silence, from a primordial existence like Nun... was already an answer.
The surrounding sea darkened further.
Not violently.
Uneasily.
As though even the ocean itself understood that something hidden was about to surface.
Then, at last, Nun spoke again.
"...There is indeed another reason for my arrival"
His voice rolled across the world like distant underwater thunder.
The massive whirlpool beneath him deepened further, spiraling endlessly into darkness.
"I witnessed the reawakening of those who have long slumbered within the oldest land..."
A pause.
"The place where the other Ogdoad reside"
The moment those words were spoken, several gods visibly stiffened.
Even Ra’s expression changed slightly.
"...The other Ogdoad have awakened?" Ra asked slowly.
There was no disbelief in his voice.
Only concern.
Because the Ogdoad were not ordinary primordial beings.
They were concepts from the earliest state of existence itself, entities born before structure, before civilization, before the world had truly stabilized.
And if they were awakening... Then something fundamental was changing.
Nun continued:
"Not only them"
The skies rumbled faintly.
"The others... the oldest laws... are beginning to awaken as well"
The atmosphere became heavier.
Not from power.
From implication.
Because there were beings older than
gods.
Older than pantheons.
Existences that embodied the primitive laws upon which reality itself had once been built.
And many of them had long since fallen dormant.
Or so everyone believed.
"If their awakening fully begins..." Nun said quietly, "Then Earth will once again enter an era of chaos"
The ocean beneath him surged violently.
"... One that is far worse than the last"
Silence spread across the heavens.
Even the Outer Gods stopped moving.
Because everyone present understood what those words truly meant.
The previous Chaos Era had nearly destroyed the world.
Pantheons collapsed.
Realms shattered.
Countless races vanished from existence entirely.
And that was while many of the oldest laws had still remained asleep.
But now?
If those primordial laws truly awakened alongside the Ogdoad... Then what approach would not merely be war.
It would be a return to the beginning.
An age where the rules of reality themselves would become unstable again.
Taufik stared at Nun quietly.
His expression remained unreadable.
But beside him, Loo’tong pulsed once.
Softly.
As though the blade itself had reacted to the mention of those ancient awakenings.
"...Interesting," Taufik murmured.
There was no fear in his voice.
No concern.
Only realization.
Then his gaze slowly lifted toward the fractured heavens above.
Not the sky.
Not the broken atmosphere.
Further.
Far beyond what any god present could perceive.
His eyes focused on something invisible to everyone else.
Something that had been watching silently from behind the structure of reality itself.
"...So this is what you planned all along, huh... Fate?"
The moment those words left his mouth, the atmosphere shifted.
Not outwardly.
But conceptually.
Several gods frowned instinctively.
Even beings like Shiva narrowed their eyes slightly.
Because Taufik was not speaking metaphorically.
He was addressing something.
Directly.
Taufik took a slow breath, his gaze still piercing endlessly upward.
"So this is why you’ve been silent this whole time..." A faint smile appeared on his face. Small. Tired... Dangerous. "The one thing you could never control... was me"
Silence.
"But what surrounds me?"
His smile widened slightly.
"...That’s different, isn’t it?"
Because Fate could not bind Possibility... The Will itself.
It could not dictate Taufik’s existence.
So instead... It moved around him.
Influenced events.
Shifted awakenings.
Guided old laws back into motion.
Not to destroy him directly.
But to force the world around him into unavoidable collision.
"...Ah..." A low laugh escaped him. Then another. "...Ahaha..."
The sound was quiet at first, almost buried beneath the roaring storms.
Taufik raised one hand and covered his face.
For the first time since his return... He looked exhausted.
Not physically.
Something deeper.
"So in the end..." he murmured between faint laughter, "I still couldn’t fully leave your grasp, huh?"
The winds around him became unstable.
Not because of power.
Because his emotions themselves were beginning to affect reality.
"Is that what you were trying to show me?"
A pause.
"I see"
Then...
"Haa..."
Taufik exhaled slowly.
That single sigh carried countless meanings.
Frustration.
Understanding.
Resignation.
And something far more dangerous beneath them all.
He lowered his hand.
The faint smile was gone.
Around him, chaos continued to stir.
The Null Pantheon.
The primordial beings.
The awakened laws.
The fractured heavens.
And beyond all of them... In the shadows of the world itself... Something was already moving.
Preparing.
Waiting for disorder to spread across Earth once again.
Taufik saw all of it.
Every thread.
Every possibility.
Every future branching toward catastrophe.
And finally...
"I’ve had enough"
The words were quiet.
Absolute.
He slowly raised Loo’tong toward the heavens.
The moment the blade pointed upward, the entire world reacted.
The oceans froze mid-current.
Lightning halted in the sky.
Even the fragmented space surrounding them stopped falling.
It was as if reality itself had instinctively braced for what was coming next.
The gods felt it immediately.
So did the Outer Gods.
Even the oldest beings present shifted uneasily.
Because they recognized it.
Not the technique.
The intent behind it.
At this moment, Taufik looked more dangerous than ever before.
His voice spread across heaven and Earth alike.
"Imagination Magic..."
The world trembled.
Not from pressure.
From anticipation.
Then...
"...Myriad Blade Genesis"
*SHIIIIING!!!*
The sound that followed did not resemble metal.
It resembled reality being unsheathed.
Behind Taufik, space split apart.
Not once.
Not twice.
Thousands of fractures appeared across the heavens simultaneously.
Then tens of thousands.
Then more.
The sky became a field of openings.
And from every fracture... A blade emerged.
Swords.
Spears.
Katanas.
Halberds.
Weapons that had never existed.
Weapons that once existed and were forgotten.
Weapons born from myth.
Weapons born from imagination.
Weapons born from possibility itself.
An endless storm of armaments filled the heavens.
Each one radiated a different concept.
Flames.
Void.
Time.
Decay.
Light.
Dreams.
Death.
Creation.
Destruction.
Entire laws of reality were embodied within those countless weapons.
The world darkened beneath their shadows.
Even the gods fell silent.
Because this was no ordinary magic.
This was creation on a conceptual level.
An armory forged directly from imagination itself.
And at the center of it all stood Taufik.
One man.
Holding the blade that should not exist.
His white hair drifted softly as his gaze swept across the gathered beings below.
Calm.
Cold.
Finished tolerating them.
"...If the world insists on moving toward chaos again," he said quietly, "...then I will overwrite the outcome myself," he said quietly, "as I always do"
Above him... Millions of blades slowly turned.
Not randomly.
Deliberately.
The countless weapons hanging across the heavens shifted their edges downward, until every point aimed toward the gathered beings below.
Toward the Outer Gods.
Toward the Known Null Pantheon.
And even toward the gods themselves.
The atmosphere changed instantly.
The earlier tension had been dangerous.
This?
This was judgment.
Even the storms surrounding the shattered sky seemed to quiet under the weight of it.
Because everyone present understood one terrifying truth: Those weapons were not illusions.
Every single blade carried an actual concept within it.
A single one could devastate kingdoms.
A handful could erase pantheons.
And now... There were millions.
Floating silently above the world like a suspended apocalypse.
Taufik remained at the center of it all.
Blood still staining fragments of his torn clothing.
His injuries remained visible, yet somehow, that only made the sight more oppressive.
Because despite his condition... He was still the one controlling everything.
"...It’s time to make a decision"
His voice was low.
Calm.
But sharp with absolute finality.
"There are only two choices"
Loo’tong tilted slightly in his grasp.
The moment it moved, every blade in the sky responded with a faint metallic resonance.
Like an army awaiting command.
"Cooperate..."
A pause.
The heavens dimmed further.
"Or die here"
Silence.
Pure.
Complete.
Even beings like Tiamat remained motionless.
Not because they feared death.
But because they understood the seriousness behind his words.
Taufik was not threatening them.
He was informing them.
"Choose"
....
...
..
.
