Chapter 888: Usefulness even in chaos |
Kyle screamed as the dark, chaotic energy surged in from every direction, tearing into his body and soul without a hint of mercy.
The last thing he remembered was being thrown into Hells Layera dark wormhole.
After that, there was only agonypain so overwhelming that it drowned out all else, until he lost all sense of time and self.
Unlike him, Cassian didnt scream.
He simply coughed as his body was torn apart, glancing at Kyle through his fading consciousness with a bloodied smile.
"Still... so young... Youll get used to this... eventually. Really. Youll. Just like I did..."
Kyle didnt hear his wordshe was too far gone. He had endured many forms of pain before, but this... this was beyond them all.
And he hated pain. Why? Why did it always have to be this way? Wasnt there some law, some power that could dull itsimply erase it completely, as if it had never existed?
Just how stronghow powerfuldid he need to become to finally stop feeling it?
"What... what are you doing...?"
He screamed at him, his voice raw with panic as he saw the impossible unfold.
"Theres no natural law in this place! Ive spent countless years here in the past! Youll make us both cease to exist!"
He struggled against the falling pressure, trying to reach the cold glow coalescing into a cocoon around Kyles golden soul.
Kyles soul was seeking a new bodyhis current one far too broken to hold it. But with his mind blank, it wanted to use the surrounding chaos to forge a new one.
The glow pulsed erratically, a desperate attempt to preserve something hidden.
Cassian coughed up more blood.
"Stop! What are you trying to grasp?"
"Thats suicide!"
He gritted his teeth, dread clawing at his gut. After Nathaniel had betrayed him, he had spent countless years trapped in this cursed, dark placehe knew better than anyone that no one could survive this!
He had always known Kyle was different.
That icy, piercing energy surrounding him... It was something unmistakably Celestial. A Celestial essence Kyle had been born with.
But never, not even once, had he imagined that Kyles essence possessed a will of its own, bold and unhinged enough to defy the very laws that governed existence itself!
Kyles soul craved something dangerousand his icy essence was attempting to fuse with the surrounding dark, chaotic energy to forge a new body for him, as it desired.
Instead of relying on its own power, it was greedily absorbing morestriving to grow stronger, even though it knew what it was taking in was chaos and nothing else!
If the process succeeded, it could trigger a catastrophic explosion that would entirely erase everything from existence. Cassian knewbecause he had tried it before!
This place was called Hells Layer for a reasonit harbored a unique dark power that, upon contact with any type of energy, would erupt into a devastating explosion, obliterating everything in its path before returning to its original dormant state!
And yet...
Cassian froze when the icy lightKyles essencebegan to fracture like glass.
It simply wasnt strong enough to contain the power it sought to absorb. But just as he thought they would both die before he could even take his revenge on Nathaniel, another color emerged from Kyles form.
Then another.
And anothereach one reinforcing the icy glow, aiding it in achieving the impossible.
"Insane... All the natural laws nature has granted him permission to rule are leaving his Celestial Lake on their ownaligning with his icy essence to match its power."
Cassians mind spun in disbelief.
How is this even possible?
How can Kyles natural laws be this strong when hes only a second-stage Celestial?
No... more importantly, how does he even have so many colors in his Celestial Lake?
Cassian had seen it once before.
Back when they first met. But seeing so many colors of nature again now sent a fresh wave of shock through him. After all, understanding a natural law isnt enough to add a new color to ones Celestial Lakeone only gains it when nature itself grants them the absolute right to govern that law.
Even he didnt have that many!
And this was his second damn life!
Yet this young mannot even fifty years into his lifehad gained so many colors that Cassian could hardly count them.
Among the numerous colors, he suddenly noticed the hue of the law Kyle had stolen from himnow merging with the others to strengthen the cocoon around his soul.
Cassian let out a strained, bitter laugh.
"Crazy... crazy! Just what are you?"
His voice trembled with emotion.
"The natural law of assimilationmy... my Celestial Lake doesnt even carry the color of that law. And yet you, who stole it just by watching me use it only once, wield it as if it always belonged to you alone."
He wanted to ask Kylewasnt he the real thief? Then why did it feel like that natural law had never been Cassians to begin with?
His crimson eyes locked onto the vibrant cocoon around Kyle, whose essence had already begun successfully absorbing the chaotic energy. With the power of so many natural laws converging around him, Kyle no longer felt like a mere Celestialhe felt like something vast... something ethereal.
Should I even be watching this...? Dont people who see something forbidden end up dying? Should I use the law of rebirth?
The sudden thought flickered through his mind as his consciousness began to fade.
Unlike Kyle, he didnt possess an essence mad enough to defy all reason for his sakenor were his natural laws strong enough to give him the power to forge a new body.
If he even tried to mix his energy with the surrounding chaos to gain its power and grow stronger, he was sure he would likely trigger an explosion and die on the spot.
Kyle... was truly one damn lucky bastard. How could he manage to find usefulness even in chaosa place everyone dreaded?
On the other hand, all Cassian could do now was endureand wait for a chance to escape this hell, just like he had in his first life. It was truly, really so unfair. Sigh.
Nature favored Kyle far too much.