Chapter 388: Warm Up
Zane retracted the Reaper's Scythe, his entire body transforming into a golden beam of light that shot straight through the palm hovering above the planet.
He then reverted to his human form, floating in the void of space. In the next moment, a long beam-like spear appeared in his hand, its shaft surrounded by spiraling rings of glowing light.
The spear aimed directly at the sinister hand resting on the planet.
"Son of Light: Luminous Spiral Lance!"
The enormous hand, as long as five fingers stretched, began to tremble in shock, but in the blink of an eye, it and the planet beneath it were pulverized into dust.
Zane's ethereal figure, drifting in the void, was illuminated faintly by the gathering black stars around him, making him seem like a speck of dust accidentally drifting from the River Styx.
He stood in the center of the void, letting every attack strike his body.
Even as the planet beneath his feet was reduced to debris, he remained unscathed.
At this moment, his eyes returned to their normal appearance.
Suddenly, his seemingly ordinary pupils emitted an otherworldly, mysterious light.
"Heavenly Descent of the Divine Real.!"
An ethereal, otherworldly voice descended, reverberating across the chaotic Ghost Domain of the Styx.
In an instant, all sound vanished.
A strange stillness filled the void.
Boom, boom, boom!
A series of faint rumblings erupted.
Then, the remaining black stars attacking Zane suddenly underwent a peculiar transformation.
Like butterflies emerging from cocoons, the black shells silently shattered, their fragments scattering into the quiet Styx River below.
The phantoms clinging to the stars dissipated at the same time, oblivious to their demise as they crumbled into scattered shards, vanishing completely.
The once-dark stars, now stripped of their black shells, re-emerged as radiant new celestial bodies.
Zane extended his hands, hovering in midair, watching as all the previously darkened stars now radiated light, as if reborn.
Every shadowy phantom on their surface had disappeared.
Zane's gaze slowly turned upward, toward the one unchanged star shrouded in white mist.
Upon it stood a towering figure, with two curved horns on its head, massive fleshy wings on its back, and wielding a flaming trident in its hands.
It pointed the weapon at Zane, its eyes emitting two streaks of eerie purple light.
Zane noticed another figure among them. Like him, this being also wielded a black scythe. Imitating Zane's earlier move, it enlarged the scythe and swung it down at Zane's head.
Surveying the scene around him, Zane remained unfazed. He did not tap into the quantum field to enlarge himself. Instead, he casually stood atop a barren black star, unperturbed.
His slender frame faced the oppressive, otherworldly storm descending from the sky.
Finally, he finished the last bite of his hot dog.
"I guess I wasn't that hungry. Otherwise, why would it have taken so long to finish?"
Clearing his throat, Zane glanced nonchalantly upward.
At that moment, a blood-red, thin hand descended upon the star, like it was wrapping a dumpling, aiming to crush Zane and the star beneath him into mincemeat.
"Heh, you've warmed up long enough. Too bad, now it's my turn."
"What comes next is my personal undefeated showtime."
Boom!
"Warm-up's over. Time to start the real fight!"
The Domain of the Styx.
The vast Styx River began to surge, its currents forming towering waves that crested higher and higher, crashing into the void above. As they shattered, the spray scattered into droplets resembling black pearls, falling silently into the abyss below.
Zane stood tall and unwavering, high above the tumultuous waves that could never reach him. He lifted his head slightly, gazing at the mist-shrouded white star floating above him.
Beside him, radiant stars glowed brilliantly, illuminating the surrounding void.
"Zane Sy," came a voice from above, "I didn't expect you to ascend to my dimensional level so quickly."
"Is this the Eight-Dimensional Truth you've comprehended?"
"Planning to take over my painstakingly constructed Ghost Domain of the Styx?"
The entity on the white star, known as Death, remained hidden from sight. The once seductive, melodious female voice had transformed into a coarse, masculine tone.
Hearing this rugged voice, especially when it used the words "this old lady" in its speech, Zane felt a surge of unease. His thoughts wandered briefly to the voluptuous female form he had previously encountered as Death's manifestation.
"But now," the voice continued, "I can sense it—your luck isn't as good as it was before."
Zane was surprised. Death had somehow detected, simply through intuition, that his 100% Luck had worn off.
At that moment, Zane activated his Sharingan, piercing through the layers of white mist to see the star above.
On its desolate surface stood Death. She wore only a black chestplate and a thin thong, her alluring figure on full display. Her eyes were tightly shut, yet the coarse masculine voice still emanated from her lips:
"Do you know why my star is the only one that's white?"
"It's because this star is the culmination of every soul I've collected since the last reset of this cosmic era."
"I take souls tainted by the filth of the mortal world, toss them into my furnace, and cleanse them of impurities. Over time, they accumulate, becoming this star."
"Sometimes, I'm even benevolent enough to pick one or two from the lot and cast them back into the mortal world, reborn as humans."
"Because I am the Grim Reaper of the Omniversal Cosmos, the origin of all souls, and the personification of the form in which all life in the universe meets its end."
"These souls are a part of me, inseparable from my being."
As the words ended, Zane watched as Death's feminine form melted like wax, her body liquefying and merging with the ground beneath her.
In an instant, the white mist surrounding the star was absorbed entirely into its surface, leaving behind a starkly exposed, pure-white celestial body.
Suddenly, the star extended four limbs and grew rapidly, transforming into a towering giant hundreds of meters tall.
The giant, entirely white from head to toe, was faceless, its smooth surface resembling a humanoid figure sculpted from pure milk.
Moments later, the giant's head issued a voice that shifted between male and female tones, as it raised a massive, slender arm to point at the Styx River below:
"Legions of Styx Dragons!"
In an instant, the endless black river that filled the entire Ghost Domain of the Styx erupted into thousands upon thousands of enormous winged dragon-like lizards.
Each one was the size of a small asteroid.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The sound of planets shattering echoed across the cosmic expanse. Amid this cacophony was the distinct sound of food being swallowed, as if someone had finished a hearty meal.
The overwhelming swarm of Styx Dragons beat their massive, shadow-casting wings, their razor-sharp talons glinting coldly beneath their thick plumage.
In their flight, they carved lasting white streaks through the void.
With gaping maws, they surged from the depths of the Styx River, roaring as they rose to devour everything in their path.
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