The Epic Tale of Chaos vs Order

Chapter 2191: A supernova trapped in flesh

Emprik watched as Cain burst through the blood-drenched fog of decay, his crimson aura tearing the corrupted air apart. For an instant, genuine surprise flickered across the Champion of the Root’s monstrous face.

That streak of defiance, that refusal to yield even before the cosmic horror of The Root, was something few had ever shown. But surprise quickly gave way to cold hatred. His eyes glowed with killing intent, twin abysses radiating death. It did not matter how strong this man was. Emprik was stronger.

He was the will of the Root, a chosen champion. Every breath of the decaying essence that flowed from the Heart of the Root fed his existence. Within this realm, within his home, he was unassailable. The moment Cain stepped into the Heart’s true domain, Emprik would unleash his monstrous might and reduce him to ash.

But Cain did not charge forward. Standing at the edge of the decaying field radiating from the Heart of the Root, he halted. Slowly, he raised his right hand, gathering every iota of power, every drop of essence that burned through the battlefield.

The void trembled. Threads of golden and scarlet light twisted together, merging into a single, dark-blue sphere of plasma that pulsed in his palm like a newborn star.

The Scarlet King gripped his right arm with his left, steadying it as though bracing an enormous cannon. His voice, calm and absolute, echoed through the void.

"Sovereign Neutron Star Collapse Cannon."

What followed was not an explosion—it was annihilation. A beam of compressed energy, pure as the heart of a dying sun, erupted from Cain’s palm. It tore through space itself, vaporizing matter, energy, and spiritual essence alike. The beam carved a blinding scar through the world-flesh of the Heart of the Root, splitting layers of its cosmic tissue.

The eyes of the world-sized tumor shook, and a cry of agony emerged from its countless maws.

Emprik felt it—the pain of his god, the agony of the living planet that sustained him. The Heart of the Root, vast beyond comprehension and heavy with an incalculable reservoir of life force, trembled beneath the assault.

"Damn you!" the Champion of the Root roared, his voice shaking the corrupted heavens.

The Heart was immense, yes, but its size was also its weakness. Even he could not guard every inch of its expanse from an attack that crossed millions of kilometers in a single heartbeat.

The cannon had not killed it—but it had hurt it, wounded it deeply enough for the Matrix of the Universe to react. Across creation, the golden hand of the Matrix reached forth, pulling against the Root’s infestation, seeking to push it back from the emptiness from where it came.

Cain did not hesitate. Extending both hands, he spread his fingers wide. "Conqueror Infinity Rift!"

From each fingertip burst a web of invisible blades—vibrations of law and will that sliced through the fabric of reality itself. They teleported directly into the surface of the Heart, disintegrating everything at the quantum level.

Whole sections of the Root’s surface collapsed into dust. The strategy was clear. Cain did not need to destroy the Champion; he only needed to weaken the Heart enough for the Universe’s Will to expel it. Without their home, even if some of the abominations remained within the cosmos, they would lose cohesion and crumble over time.

Emprik understood this—and he would not allow it.

"Bastard!" he howled again, his fury now laced with desperation. A massive tendril erupted from the Heart of the Root, fusing into the back of Emprik’s skull. The connection pulsed once, and then the Champion vanished.

He moved like a falling star—a blur of muscle, decay, and cosmic rage. The instant he left the Heart’s direct influence, his body began to tremble, the Matrix’s law eroding him. But before that weakness could take hold, the tendril behind him flared, flooding his body with more energy from the Heart itself. The abomination stabilized, his monstrous might returning in full.

Cain turned to meet him. He remembered too well the crushing power of that creature’s blows, the strange frequency of its body that warped the rules of matter. During his Resurrección, his strength was monumental—but even then, Emprik’s nature was something alien, unpredictable, a cosmic force from beyond the known system of the Nine Empyrean Suns.

In the next breath, Emprik appeared before him.

A tendriled fist, black as void, punched forward with enough force to break stars. Cain twisted aside, the blow grazing his shoulder and detonating the space behind him into nothingness. A second strike came instantly—the abomination’s blade-arm flashing toward his face. He barely retreated in time, the edge slicing across his cheek and sending sparks of blood and divine light into the air.

The Champion’s body vibrated at frequencies beyond perception. Even Cain’s honed senses struggled to anticipate its motion. Divergence calculations failed; probabilities shattered. Still, he did not falter. Each breath, each movement became pure instinct. He pushed his Primordial Body to its limits, weaving through the storm of slashes and lacerations that rained around him.

Then—an opening.

After dodging a downward strike, Cain pivoted and drove his body right beneath the creature’s ribs. He clenched his fist, channeling every drop of energy into it.

"Imperium Supernova Smash!"

His fist flared like a red sun. When it struck, the entire field convulsed. The shockwave cracked reality itself, rippling through the void. The energy didn’t stop at the surface—it tunneled inward, detonating inside Emprik’s body like a supernova trapped in flesh.

The Champion convulsed. Red light burst from within him, tearing through his torso, his arms, his skull. The energy dispersed and then—impossibly—reignited, collapsing inward and exploding again. Once. Twice. A third time. Each detonation sent another burst of divine flame surging through the abomination, until the very air shimmered with the heat of his ruin.

Cain stood, chest heaving, blood dripping from his knuckles. A faint smile touched his lips. The attack had been perfect—precise, devastating. It should have been enough to shatter even the mightiest of cosmic horrors.

But Emprik only laughed.

The laughter was low and wet, the sound of rot grinding against bone. His body, though warped and twisted, began to reassemble itself. The torn muscles stitched back together, and the broken carapace sealed in pulses of red and black energy. Then, with terrifying calm, energy began to gather in his left arm.

The energy condensed until it blazed like a crimson sun!