The Epic Tale of Chaos vs Order

Chapter 2140: Surpassing the Fifth Ring

Cain’s eyes were steady, his heartbeat calm as he moved forward. He had no idea how long he had been walking. In this void, time did not exist—the emptiness devoured all sense of measure or direction. Ahead, there was only darkness.

But the Neo-Demon refused to think about how long the journey had taken, or how much farther he had to go. He could feel the three hands pressed against his back—Meylin’s, Tiramisu’s, and the Enlightened One’s—and he took another step forward.

The Neo-Demon had silenced his mind. He knew that if he began to think, to analyze, the emptiness would pierce his thoughts, unraveling his sanity and swallowing them all into a nameless dark. This was not just a test of his domain over Unity, but also a test of his willpower and focus.

"One step after another. That’s all that matters. One step after another. Nothing else. One step after another..."

The words echoed endlessly within his mind, a mantra against despair. It was the only thing keeping him anchored. He needed those words; he needed them to keep all other thoughts away.

Behind him, the Enlightened One, Meylin, and Tiramisu continued to channel the Light of the Flow through his body. Their eyes were shut, for even a single glance into the abyss of the emptiness threatened to consume their perception of reality. With their vision sealed, they relied entirely on the Scarlet King to lead them onward.

As he advanced, Cian’s body could not help but tremble. Even his mantra could not completely block out the terror. The emptiness was patient. It seeped into his instincts, whispering through the cracks of his consciousness, seeking to erode his will.

The Neo-Demon knew that at the slightest hint of hesitation or doubt, he would lose his anchor on The Flow, and the golden bridge beneath his feet would vanish. If that happened, they would fall into nothingness, into a place from where they would never be able to escape, and from where the only way out would be death.

The dread tightened around his heart, exerting more and more pressure every second, seeking to break him, but Cain kept moving, unflinching, unyielding.

Then, finally, it happened.

Light.

He almost couldn’t believe it—but it was there. In the distance, a golden arc shimmered, faint at first, then brightening like dawn.

A gate.

Hope surged through him so violently that for a moment, he almost lost control. His breathing quickened, his focus threatened to break, but his eyes flared with scarlet light, and he wrestled his thoughts back under control.

Joy was as dangerous as fear. Excitement could shatter focus just as easily as despair. He couldn’t afford either.

Step by step, he moved closer. The urge to run clawed at him with every heartbeat, but Cain’s mind remained steady, razor-sharp, disciplined. Even beings with the will of an Alpha–Omega Overgod might have faltered here, but not him.

In truth, his endurance came from the Samsara Arsenal Module’s Trial of Will, a torment that had refined his mind beyond divine limits. That trial had forged his resolve into something unbreakable.

And so, even as the last drop of his strength drained away, Cain’s golden path reached its end.

The gate stood before him—a vast archway of pure, blinding radiance, so bright it seemed to fill the void itself with divine power. Unlike the previous rings, this gate was already open. There was no trial, no challenge to break through.

Cain exhaled softly, feeling the weight of the three hands still resting on his back. Together, they stepped forward.

A surge of light engulfed them.

For a moment, there was nothing, no sound, no heat, only brilliance. Then, Cain’s vision cleared.

He stood in a vast realm unlike any he had seen before. There was nothing around him—no ground, no mountains. Only a horizon of endless violet, the sky itself like a giant pane of amethyst glass.

"Where am I?" he thought. "Where are the others?"

Before he could take a step, a sound cracked through the silence, a sharp, echoing fracture.

Cain froze.

The violet sky began to split. Thin fissures of light spread outward, webbing across the firmament like a shattered mirror. Then, the sky broke open, revealing what lay beyond.

A dark red plane emerged—a world alive with pulsing shadows and blood-colored light. It seemed to breathe, as though the sky itself were a living creature. The air was thick, saturated with crimson haze and coiling black mist.

Where stars should have been, there were eyes—thousands upon thousands of them—floating amid swirling clouds, each different in size and hue, all watching.

The entire firmament stared back.

Cain had faced gods, devils, and horrors beyond imagination. He had endured the gaze of entities whose presence could freeze suns and crush worlds. But never—never—had he felt terror like this.

Not even the red eyes from the Tenth Empyrean World could match this horror.

Then, as if the universe itself blinked, the eyes closed.

The ground trembled.

Before Cain could react, the surface beneath him shifted—and he realized, in a shock of dread, that he was standing not on ground, but on flesh.

He was in the palm of a being vast enough to cradle worlds.

The air convulsed. The void groaned. Slowly, he rose upward, the colossal hand lifting him toward the sky.

The heavens quivered as a face began to form.

It had no features at first—only shape and shadow, its flesh a living mantle of red. The sky itself seemed to become its body. Then, two eyes appeared—different from the others that had filled the heavens.

They were vast, ancient, and impossibly deep.

Wisdom radiated from them—an understanding so absolute it froze Cain’s blood. The air thickened, every molecule shuddering in its presence.

He couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. His pulse stopped cold.

The horror and awe that filled him were beyond measure, so immense that his heart literally stopped beating blood through his body.

For the first time in his long, tumultuous life, Cain felt utterly powerless.