Chapter 543: Let Me Out, Brother Part Two
The chains pulsed again.
Then—one by one—they began to unwind.
Alister raised both hands now, golden light bleeding from his fingertips as the seals glowed and loosened, the magic unraveling like a divine thread pulled from the weave of fate itself.
Alameck didn’t move.
Not yet.
But his eyes burned—not with fury, but something far older.
Something closer to grief.
"...If you’re wrong," he murmured, "I’ll make the fall of your little empire look like a playground tantrum."
Alister nodded once. "If I’m wrong... then I’ll be the first to fall by your hand."
The soul sea held its breath.
And then—
the last chain broke.
Alister extended his hand once more, his voice calm but resolute.
"Are you willing to shake on it?"
Alameck eyed him for a long, quiet moment—his expression unreadable beneath the flickering shadows of the soul sea. Then, with a reluctant scoff, he reached out and clasped Alister’s hand.
"Fine," he muttered. "But once I regain full control of my powers, I’ll show you how battle is really done. And besides that—"
He smirked.
"—we’re going to fight. That part’s inevitable."
Alister chuckled, the sound soft but sincere.
"For some reason... I expected that."
Alameck grinned, a flicker of that old pride dancing in his eyes.
"Prepare to finally lose, brother."
"Keep dreaming," Alister replied with a smirk.
But then—he paused.
A shimmer caught the corner of his eye. Just beyond Alameck’s shoulder, a golden figure stood watching—a familiar silhouette, cloaked in light, smiling faintly.
The figure turned slowly... and walked away, vanishing into the glow of the soul sea.
Alister’s breath hitched. His eyes widened, but then a quiet chuckle escaped him—touched by wonder, disbelief, and something gentler.
"So..." he whispered to the fading light,
"I guess you really were here... all along."
...
Helexor turned his head slightly, awaiting Eli’Erel’s command.
"My mistress," he said with reverence, his grin twisting unnaturally wide, "shall I end the Overlord?"
Eli’Erel’s gaze remained fixed on Alister, unblinking. "Do it."
"Of course..." Helexor’s grin split into something disturbingly joyous. "With pleasure."
As he stepped forward, the ground beneath him warped with every stride. Shadows rippled outward like liquid, and with each step, black flames licked at his boots.
In his grasp, a weapon began to form: a long, pitch-black scythe that bled wisps of red light from its jagged edge. Its shaft was etched with crawling abyssal runes, writhing like living veins. The crescent blade shimmered as though forged from condensed night itself, its surface reflecting nothing.
Alister’s golden eyes narrowed as he watched the weapon take shape, yet he said nothing, his expression eerily calm despite the overwhelming darkness pressing in.
Helexor’s grin widened as he drew closer, his voice taking on a softer, more reflective tone.
"I’m sure you must be curious how my precious Yanzi still draws breath," he murmured, his tone almost reverent. "Indeed, she never woke up after that day. Even after her body made a perfect recovery, her eyes never opened."
He stepped closer, the scythe now fully formed, its jagged blade humming with malicious power.
"But," Helexor continued, his grin sharpening, "thanks to a certain opportunity, I was given a chance to prove my worth. A chance to bring her back to me. And so, I did everything. I gave everything. I destroyed everything I had to. I proved myself."
He stopped just a few feet from Alister. His hands reached up to his hood, pulling it back in a slow, deliberate motion.
Beneath it, his face was gaunt but sharp, his eyes an unnatural shade of crimson streaked with faint gold veins, as if twisted by some forbidden power. He wore an armored combat suit of blackened scales, its plates interwoven with pulsating crimson lines that glowed like veins of molten lava. The armor’s edges were jagged, wickedly spiked at the shoulders and forearms, and a tattered black cape draped loosely from his back.
"And as you can see..." Helexor spread his arms slightly, his scythe still held in his right hand. "My new form, and my beloved, are proof of my efforts."
Behind him, Yanzi tilted her head, a cruel smile curling on her lips.
"And with this, we bid you farewell, Alister."
The scythe’s jagged blade ignited with black and crimson fire as Helexor brought it down in a single, merciless swing.
Alister’s lips curled into a faint smirk as Helexor’s scythe descended.
"Your sense of storytelling is as detestable as your taste in women."
A ripple of golden light sparked across his body, faint at first, like cracks of sunlight breaking through dark clouds.
Then—
CRACK!
Golden fractures spiderwebbed outward in all directions, running along the black chains that bound him. Each link trembled violently as if in panic, the runes flaring erratically.
And then—
SHATTER.
The chains exploded outward in a storm of golden shards. A deafening shockwave erupted from Alister’s body, sending a blast of force rippling through the battlefield.
He had used the power of fortune he’d extracted from Alameck to momentarily negate the effects of the Mythos of Oboros.
The hooded figures were flung back as if struck by an invisible hammer, their chanting silenced mid-verse. Even Helexor, standing at the rear, stumbled as his eyes widened in disbelief.
"What?!" Helexor hissed, his claws tightening. "How... how did he break free?!"
"He shouldn’t be able to..." one of the Apostles of the Abyss muttered. "His heart was completely destroyed. He shouldn’t even be capable of standing right now, much less using magic."
Alister straightened slowly, golden flames flaring to life around him once more, brighter and steadier than before. His ghostly white hair billowed in the radiant storm as he fixed his gaze on Helexor and Yanzi.
"Destroying my heart? Please. If that was all it took to kill me, I’d have died a thousand lifetimes ago... But as I’m sure you can see, Eli’Erel, I always come back. Besides—it’s just one heart. I can always grow another."
Just then, the wound began to heat up, emitting steam as it slowly closed.
Soon, the hole in his chest was completely healed.
"Now, where were we?"
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