The Epic Tale of Chaos vs Order

Chapter 2024: Betrayal

A shiver ran through Cain’s soul. The power needed to halt the collapse of that spatial thread—the same thread he had tried to shatter—was beyond anything even he could muster. Yet the interference did not stop with simply freezing its destruction. In the next instant, the tear began to enlarge.

It was as if two invisible hands, immense and malevolent, gripped the thread of space and used it to rip open the fabric of reality, carving their way out of the dimension.

Azazel, who moments before had been suffocated by despair as his mission seemed lost, clenched his claws. His frown turned into a trembling smile. He felt it—the presence he had labored for so long to awaken, his hidden trump card. The weapon forged to tip the scales against the Scarlet King was finally breaking free.

Before Cain or any other could react, the entity shattered the boundary of reality beneath the ocean. A massive void tore open, sending the waters into a paroxysm. Waves rose like mountains, thunder roared, and the ocean floor cracked as something vast and unnatural emerged.

The battlefield froze.

Both the Scarlet Kingdom and the Imperium of Time halted their war cries as they witnessed what clawed its way into existence.

It was not a member of the Sacred Races. It was not even a Depravita.

The only word for it was an eldritch horror beyond reason, a force not meant for mortal comprehension.

Its form was humanoid yet grotesque, a body woven of bark-like flesh, bone, and sinew twisted together. Its limbs stretched too long, each ending in clawed fingers large enough to pluck warships from the sea. From its back and torso spilled writhing tendrils, serpentine appendages that lashed in rhythm with the storm itself, fusing sea, sky, and body into one writhing nightmare. Around it orbited crimson spheres—anchors of malignant power that pulsed like diseased suns.

Its head was faceless, swallowed in shadow, yet its silhouette radiated dominance and intelligence both alien and terrible. Many of its limbs were torn and bleeding, wounds dripping strands of gore that writhed like living worms. The ocean convulsed beneath it, waves recoiling as though the waters themselves feared its presence. Chunks of the seafloor the size of islands tore upward, suspended in the air by the entity’s chaotic energy.

This was no mere monster. This was a herald of despair, a being of chaos and nightmare, whose arrival warped both sea and sky into its dominion.

Cain’s eyes widened, his heart gripped by dread. He was not alone. Amon and Bael stiffened, recognizing what had risen. It was no longer an ocean of psychic power; it had gained a body, but there was no doubt in their minds.

That aura—this Overgod—was none other than Legion!

The Ouroboros Cult’s gate had been sealed, trapping Legion beyond reach. But Azazel, cunning as ever, had found another path. Using First Era’s knowledge, he managed to connect the Starfall Heaven to the Ouroboros Cult’s Sacred Realm and now dragged Legion into the Empyrean World.

Azazel’s smile gleamed with triumph. He had lost Starfall Heaven, yes, but its most precious weapon had already escaped into the world. That was all that mattered.

"I AM FREE!" Legion’s voice thundered across the battlefield. It was no longer a cacophony of countless tones. It had consolidated, sharpened into one terrible singularity.

Its body quaked with newfound cohesion. The fractured consciousnesses that once composed it had been consumed. The core darkness now reigned supreme.

And its gaze turned upon Cain.

The hatred within that faceless visage was absolute. Its loathing was so raw it suffocated the very air, bending reality with its weight.

In the next instant, Legion’s power surged. The orbs around it pulsed and the ocean’s reflection revealed what mortal eyes could not: colossal chains of black psychic energy, forged from evil itself, wrapping around Cain’s titanic form.

The battlefield went silent.

If Legion could bind the Scarlet King, the Scarlet Kingdom’s campaign was finished.

But Cain roared.

"ROOOOOOOOAAAAARRRR!"

The Scarlet Intercontinental Formation flared brighter than ever before. Its runic lines cracked under the strain, going into overload, but the torrent of energy it poured into Cain lifted his power another stage higher. His body burned with strength enough to challenge the chains.

With a convulsive surge, Cain shattered the chains. The backlash drove Legion back a few staggering steps, its limbs flailing as though struck.

The shock and panic in Cain’s eyes evaporated, replaced by the cold gleam of killing intent.

"It seems," Cain growled, "forcing your way into this realm did not come cheap."

Legion was indeed an Alpha-Omega Overgod, yet even its terrifying might was diminished. The scars it carried from the battle within the Ouroboros Sect had not fully healed, and forcing its way into this world by tearing the Starfall gateway had cost it dearly.

The Scarlet King’s resilience allowed his army a breath of relief. The odds had turned against them, yes, but all was not lost.

For a heartbeat, the battlefield froze again. Then motion returned with explosive fury.

Cain roared for retreat. The Scarlet ArchDeities formed a defensive wall, protecting the Prima Deities as they were swept into spatial treasures to hasten withdrawal. Their goal was clear: reach the Scarlet Formation’s core node on the continent’s shore and escape through the teleportation webway.

The Imperium of Time pursued, driven by bloodlust and the chance to cripple their foe. Legion surged forward, its tendrils devouring the sea. Azazel’s serpentine form whipped across the waves, claws rending the air.

Battle erupted once more.

Cain held the rear, fending off both Jörmungandr and Legion, his body alight with Samsara Seal’s power. Wounds carved themselves across his flesh, each one spraying radiant blood, for even with the combined might of the Formation and the Seal, the pressure of two such monsters was overwhelming.

Yet the Scarlet Kingdom endured. Step by step, they pulled away, their formation unbroken, their retreat controlled. Relief spread among their soldiers. If they could just reach Everlife Continent, they could regroup. There, with Ao’s aid, Cain might even trigger Resurrecion.

But then—

A scream cut through the chaos.

It was not a cry of rage, nor the roar of a warrior, but a scream of betrayal.

Even in the storm of battle, every soldier felt it. Their heads turned instinctively.

What they saw froze their blood.

Amon, one of the Scarlet Kingdom’s fiercest ArchDeities, had been struck. His titanic form shuddered, shock wide in his eyes. And the hand that pierced him was not an enemy’s.

It was a member of the Scarlet Kingdom.