The Epic Tale of Chaos vs Order

Chapter 2388: The death of the Scarlet King (I)

Cain clenched his teeth and raised his fists, preparing himself for another battle. He was exhausted and baldly wounded, but it did not matter. This was not the first time he had to fight after burning all his energy, and just like those battles, he would win no matter what!

"There is no need for that. There will be no more fighting."

The voice did not come from the towering phantom above, but from the soul of Sozing itself.

The translucent figure of the Immortal Knight hovered above the ruined city, a faint smile on his face as he gazed across the shattered streets before turning his attention to the Scarlet King.

"This place was meant to be our stronghold," Sozing said calmly. "A foothold for a future campaign across the Nine Empyrean Suns Universe. No one at the Third Realm should have been able to break it... but we came prety damm close."

There was genuine amusement in his voice, almost pride, as he surveyed the devastation. Cain, however, did not relax for even a moment. His stance remained firm, his senses stretched to their limits as he used every second to recover whatever power he could.

Sozing noticed—and simply shrugged.

"Do as you wish. The battle is over," he continued. "I came here prepared to die, but also prepared to defeat you. I could have done that either by destroying you outright... or by being defeated and activating my final card."

As he reached that point, Sozing turned his gaze toward the massive Reaper-like figure looming above, his gaze cold and merciless, ready fulfill its goal.

"I truly wanted to defeat you in a head-on battle," he admitted, a trace of regret in his voice. "But I suppose I’ll have to leave the rest to Kazo."

A sense of resolution and success shone in the Immortal Knight’s spectral eyes as he looked back at Cain and smiled radiantly.

"If there is an afterlife," Sozing said softly, "I hope we meet again. This was the most fun I’ve had in a billion years."

Cain’s instincts screamed danger like never before.

It was not the sharp warning of combat, but a deep, primal alarm—one that told him he was standing before something truly catastrophic. Every fiber of his being urged him to flee.

The Scarlet King took a step back.

But before he could take the second, Sozing spoke again—this time roaring with every shred of strength left in his fading soul, his final words echoing across the dark city.

"Kazo, King of Death! Take our souls as sacrifice—and ensure the end of the enemy of the Tenth Empyrean World!"

"BOOOOM!"

Less than a second later, the King of Death crushed the three souls—Sozing, Bako, and Hako—between his massive palm. Their essence shattered without resistance.

When Kazo opened his hand again, a dark knife rested between his fingers.

Without taking a single step, without any visible movement, the King of Death buried the blade forward.

At that moment, time inside the dark city froze.

The knife appeared directly before Cain’s chest.

His eyes widened. His soul roared in defiance.

But he could not dodge.

He could only watch as the tip of the blade pierced into his chest.

Agony beyond description exploded through his existence.

It was not pain of the flesh—it was as if his very soul were being twisted, folded, and crushed from within.

"DING!"

A bell-like ring echoed as the knife sank deeper.

Cain opened his mouth, but no sound appeared.

"DING!"

Another ring echoed. The blade was halfway in.

The Scarlet King’s eyes turned bloodshot. He clenched his fists with such force that blood seeped from his palms.

"DING!"

The final ring echoed.

The entire knife vanished into Cain’s body. A heartbeat later, the handle shattered into fragments, and the blade faded from inside the body of the Scarlet King.

The King of Death released his grip, closed his eyes, and vanished—marking the end of the Curse Eaters.

"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Sound returned to the dark city as Cain screamed at the top of his lungs.

His body twisted violently on the ground like a fish thrown onto land, writhing uncontrollably as unimaginable pain ravaged every part of him. The agony dwarfed anything he had endured before—pain so absolute it threatened to shatter his will entirely.

Cain had suffered horrors that defied description countless times, but this was different.

This pain attacked the core of his being.

If not for his recent evolution—and the immense anchoring power of his True Name—his ego and soul would have unraveled completely, erased by the torment.

Minutes passed.

Slowly, mercifully, the pain began to subside.

When it finally faded, Cain lay motionless on the shattered ground, drenched in cold sweat. His body spasmed intermittently, aftershocks of agony rippling through him.

Several minutes passed before he managed to rise.

The moment he did, Cain realized something was very wrong.

The first sign was obvious.

He raised his hand—and froze.

It was wrinkled.

Frowning, Cain conjured a small mirror. The moment he saw his reflection, his eyes widened in shock.

He looked to be in his forties.

He was a True Primordial. His lifespan was endless. His form should have remained eternally youthful.

Yet now, he could feel it—his lifespan wavering, bleeding away in a way that was fundamentally different from normal life force.

And unlike his vitality, this loss did not feel recoverable.

"What did he do to me...?"

Cain turned his gaze toward Sozing’s corpse in the distance.

Taking a slow breath, he focused inward and examined his soul.

His eyes widened in horror.

The knife of the King of Death had pierced the very core of his soul—the deepest, purest essence of his existence—and tainted it in a way Cain could not even begin to understand.

"THUMP!"

A sudden pulse of light echoed above the dome.

Cain’s head snapped upward as realization struck him like lightning.

The thunder beyond the dome was no longer targeting the Immortal Knight of the Tenth Empyrean World.

It was targeting him.