Reincarnated with a lucky draw system

Chapter 530: OTHER ME

"Just one reason why I should spare your life," the man said, voice soft, almost bored.

X went deathly still.

His mind raced, scrambling for anything, any scrap, that might buy him another breath.

He knew his next words would decide everything.

"I... I can help you track the one who forced me and Baal to flee our universes into yours," X blurted, head bowed so low his forehead nearly touched the stone floor.

"Oh?"

The young cultivator raised an elegant brow.

"That guy. Quite the peculiar young man, with some talent."

"That’s all?"

The veiled man looked down at X with open disappointment.

"I expected much more."

"Wait—"

X’s plea died in his throat.

In the next instant, he simply... ceased.

No explosion.

No scream.

No trace of ash or blood.

He disintegrated into perfect nothingness, erased so cleanly that even memory of his final expression felt like it had been scrubbed from reality.

"As brutal as ever with the destruction element, Father," the young cultivator said, awe coloring his voice and lighting up his handsome features.

Baal trembled beneath the weight of what he had just witnessed.

His knees threatened to buckle.

In that single, effortless moment, he swore an oath to himself: never, under any circumstance, would he cross the being standing before him.

Compliance.

Instant, absolute obedience.

That was the only path to survival.

The veiled man turned his head slightly, gaze drifting toward the far wall where shadows clung unnaturally thick against the stone.

"You two can show yourselves now," he said calmly.

"Don’t make me do it myself."

Baal blinked in confusion.

The young cultivator frowned, equally puzzled, scanning the wall with narrowed eyes.

Nothing moved.

No sound.

No ripple of power.

Yet the man’s words hung in the air like an unspoken command, one that brooked no delay and accepted no denial.

If not for the overwhelming knowledge of just how strong he truly was, anyone watching might have thought the veiled man had finally lost his mind, speaking to empty shadows as though they held living secrets.

"I won’t say it again," he repeated, voice still calm but edged now with quiet finality.

No answer came.

"Then I will have it my way," he said softly.

With a casual upward swipe of his hand, like unlocking an invisible screen, he gestured toward the long shadow stretched across the far wall.

In that instant, Shadow and Ego exploded out of the darkness, tearing free from their hiding place a mere heartbeat before total annihilation could claim them.

They weren’t unscathed.

Ego had thrown himself forward to shield the escape, and both his arms were sheared clean off at the shoulders, severed by an invisible force that left perfect, cauterized wounds smoking faintly.

If Aaron hadn’t recently upgraded his bloodline with the Nightflame essence, the cut would have bisected him entirely instead of stopping at his limbs.

"Hmm. You were able to withstand that attack," the man murmured, tilting his head slightly in mild surprise.

"Impressive."

Shadow and Ego stood motionless for a breath, eyes locked on the figure reclining on his throne of dark majesty.

They sized him up in silence, every muscle coiled, every sense straining.

Ego’s severed arms twitched once, then began to regenerate in rapid, wet pulses of shadow-laced flame.

Flesh knitted, bone regrew, skin sealed over.

Within seconds, both limbs were whole again, good as new, the dark fire in his veins already erasing the pain.

"How dare you attack me without my permission?" Ego demanded, voice cold and laced with raw irritation.

His werewolf fangs glinted as he spoke.

The veiled man regarded him with faint amusement.

"That is not the way to speak to me. But then again... I only need one of you."

His gaze settled fully on Ego.

Ego’s instincts erupted in warning, screaming danger from every direction at once.

He focused harder, trying to pinpoint the source, mapping the safest path to dodge or counter.

But shock slammed through him like ice water.

The danger came from everywhere.

Every possible escape route, every angle, every shadow and flicker of light pulsed with lethal intent.

And the worst part?

He couldn’t see a single incoming attack.

No blade, no energy wave, no ripple in the air, nothing.

Then it happened.

Ego was shredded apart in an instant, torn into countless bloody fragments without the slightest resistance.

His body simply came undone, pieces scattering across the obsidian floor before dissolving into wisps of dark flame and shadow.

Life extinguished in a blink.

Shadow stared at the spot where Ego had stood, genuine surprise flickering across his usually impassive features.

He hadn’t seen it.

Hadn’t sensed the mechanism.

One moment Ego lived; the next, he was gone.

"Now, clone," the man said, leaning back on his throne as though he had just discovered a new form of entertainment.

"Speak to me. Who are you, or rather, who is your main body? And why do I feel the imprint of my attack lingering in your soul?"

Shadow froze for a single heartbeat.

How had he known?

Aaron’s cloning technique was flawless, near impossible to distinguish from the original, even to gods and ancient beings.

The shadows woven into every cell, the perfect mimicry of aura and soul signature... yet this man had pierced it effortlessly.

"Imprint?" Shadow repeated inwardly, the word echoing through his mind.

He replayed the veiled man’s earlier attack in his thoughts, the invisible swipe, the severing force, and suddenly pieces clicked into place.

"You are Chen Mo," Shadow said aloud, voice steady despite the realization crashing through him.

Only one being in all existence had ever managed to damage Aaron’s clones so cleanly, so utterly.

And that being was none other than Chen Mo.

"Hmm." The man’s veiled face tilted slightly.

"It seems you have knowledge of me. But seeing how I have failed to recognize you... you must have met the other me."

His tone remained calm, almost conversational, yet the confirmation sent a chill through the air.

"So tell me," Chen Mo continued, pressure beginning to leak from him like slow-rolling thunder.

"How did we cross paths? And how are you still alive despite crossing paths with me?"

He locked his gaze fully onto Shadow now.

The weight of it pressed down, subtle at first, then heavier, heavier, crushing intent that made the very air thicken and the shadows on the walls writhe in discomfort.

It wasn’t rage.

It was curiosity laced with the promise of effortless destruction.