Devouring World Dragon

Chapter 243 You lost to yourself
"Oh!"

As the divine blood was lost and the power weakened, the previously stagnant spacetime began to move again. Accompanied by the spilled golden blood, the body flew out and crashed heavily to the ground.

His brain was spinning, his slender fingers gripped the rocky ground tightly, and he couldn't help but vomit more blood.

"How could this be... It can't be like this..."

He was panting heavily, and the radiance that had been emanating from his body had dimmed. His ferocious face was contorted with rage, and his eyes were bloodshot. He was completely unrecognizable from his previous composure and arrogance.

This universe places too many restrictions on supernatural powers; ordinary bodies simply cannot bear the power of gods and demons. Only this body, possessing divine blood, can. The divine blood allowed it to control its power, but the loss of the divine blood also meant that it began to lose control of its power.

The fingers gripping the ground trembled uncontrollably, and an immense power surged within him, struggling to break free of his body.

"I can't believe it... I can't believe it..."

But just then, a low, slow voice sounded from beside it.

"It seems you're not in a good state right now, Satan... no, should I call you Meng?"

That voice is...

He was panting heavily, but his eyes were still looking behind him at a strange angle... There was a man covered in blood, with many wounds, a man who was about to collapse.

Multiple fractures, one arm hanging limply at his sides, seemingly due to internal shattering trauma.

After losing the curse of immortality, it's a miracle that a human could still stand after suffering such trauma. But more striking than his mangled flesh were his eyes.

The stars in the sky.

His pupils opened slightly, and his gaze was as bright and dazzling as the stars in the sky.

As if it had broken free from the initial pain, joy, anger, sorrow, resentment... all the emotions of humanity were once again deeply hidden within this cold, lifeless star. But the star is not ultimately cold; every star in the sky is a sun.

Only those who get close to this star can feel the seemingly cold star and the raging anger within its heart.

The heart is the only thing beyond the control of Orochi's power.

The gods once took Cain's heart, and without it, Cain could not break free from the serpent's control. But now, the serpent has returned his heart to him. Is it precisely because of this that Cain has the opportunity to break free from the immense will that governs all things?
The giant snake did not understand.

"How did it feel to kill Lily?"

Looking down at the dark figure below, Cain unexpectedly asked another seemingly unrelated question.

Gasping for breath, the dark figure crawling on the ground looked up at Cain before him. The man who once looked down on others was now being looked down upon.

"Cain...actually...I already know I was wrong..."

Its lips trembled a few times, but it still spoke. Unexpectedly, this arrogant and haughty black shadow became unusually humble, and its tone even carried a hint of pleading.

"I will atone for my mistakes..."

The once arrogant shadow now appeared so humble. And before him, Cain, looking down at the shadow, remained silent, merely watching coldly.

"I will definitely wash away my mistakes... with your blood!!!"

Halfway through the sentence, the seemingly bowing and pleading shadow suddenly sprang up, its limbs exerting strange force, and it raised its head, revealing greedy and violent pupils. Everything froze once more, and time and space bowed before that immense will.

This time, Cain was not spared either. The miracle of breaking through the control of that immense will only happen once and will not be repeated.

Dignity? Humiliation? The shame of a sneak attack? These are things only insects care about, they don't matter at all! Only victory is the only reality in this world, and as long as you can win, none of these things matter!
The victor stands at the peak, the loser falls into the abyss.

Compared to this decisive victory, what are these little things if we can win?
"go to hell!"

Let your death wash away the mistake I made out of carelessness.

But what appeared in the monster's ferocious pupils was a completely unexpected scene.

Cain was unable to move; his body was indeed frozen under the immense will. However, his hand, which had been behind his back, had somehow risen up, and in that hand... was a head.

I've seen that head-shaped shadow before.

It was a very beautiful face, a handsome face that could put any woman in the world to shame. Those eyes, which had been closed, were now open, and a divine light shone from their pupils, shooting straight at the dark figure before them.

……

One day ago, in the remnants of the old world.

The weary angel knelt, supported only by the sword in its hand, while opposite it stood a human burdened with the curse of immortality.

"Son of Adam, what do you intend to do?"

"Use your head as a gift, so that it will not destroy the world."

"What if it disagrees?"

"Then kill it."

"...Heh, as expected of the human who defeated me. Take my head. Perhaps it can be of some small help to you."

……

In the beginning of creation, the omniscient and omnipotent God transformed into the King of Angels with a radiance emanating from himself. This radiance was identical to that of the Creator, making him the only deity in the world besides the Creator.

Metatron will die, but this divine light will not dissipate; it remains hidden within Metatron's eyes.

But before anyone knew it, Cain had the head in his hand, and before everything could stop, he aimed it at the dark figure in front of him.

"Actually, it doesn't matter what you answer, because none of your words are credible. Everything you say is just a lie to achieve your goal."

"impossible!"

Despite the immense shock and anger within, the divine light shooting from those eyes disregarded the stagnant space and time, striking directly at the chest of the dark figure before them…

In an instant, his heart was pierced.

In an instant, the balance of divine and demonic power, which was originally maintained by divine blood and the heart, was broken. The powerful force surging within the body instantly went berserk, and the body, having lost vital parts, could no longer be sustained.

Under the impact of this powerful force, every inch of skin and every muscle was no longer able to hold the body together with the remaining divine blood, and the body began to irreversibly disintegrate.

"It can't be like that..."

Despite all the resentment, the stagnant spacetime began to turn again.

Just as time and space resumed their rotation, Cain's arm, which had been hanging limply due to its shattered wound, suddenly clenched into a fist and swung at the dark figure in front of him.

Under the shadowy figure's unwilling gaze, the fist, which seemed already overwhelmed and weak, still swung violently toward its face.

"Oh!"

The immense force nearly shattered the shadowy figure's head, but compared to the collapse of its body, this injury was insignificant. In fact, the moment the divine light shot out, everything was already decided; this punch was more like a humiliation.

Before the shadowy figure were furious eyes blazing with flames.

"Even though it's pointless to punch you again, I'll still give you a good beating... a beating for you, the scum who killed your own daughter! Die!!!"

A dizzy mind, shattered skin, a broken body—all of this came so suddenly, as if one were in a dream.

His vertical pupils were like needles, filled with resentment.

"impossible……"

We must find a way to stop the loss of divine blood, otherwise… My fingers trembled slightly, and the spacetime that had been flowing again slowly froze once more. Whether it was the pair of angry pupils in front of me or the divine blood flowing out from the wound in my heart, everything was slowing down.

However, too much divine blood has been lost, making it increasingly difficult to solidify space and time. Even though they desperately try to stop all things from moving, all things will submit to the powerful force, but not to the monster that is now on the verge of extinction.

Time reluctantly slowed its pace, but it still flowed slowly, and the divine blood continued to flow irreversibly.

"It can't be like that..."

His eyes were bloodshot as he watched helplessly as divine blood drained from his body, his power spiraled out of control, and his physical form crumbled. This sense of powerlessness was something the shadow had never experienced before.

Just a little bit more, just a tiny bit more...

If I hadn't underestimated Cain and hadn't returned my heart to him, he would never have been able to escape my control; if I had noticed the remnants of Lilith within me sooner, I wouldn't have been blinded by her; if that damned fish hadn't interfered, I could have crushed Cain on the spot; if Cain hadn't possessed Metatron's head, his weakened body wouldn't have been able to fight me at all…

If, if, if...

If that were the case, if there were even one difference, I would never have ended up like this, and I would definitely be the winner.

How could this be? How could this be? This is simply impossible.

As the body crumbled and the constraints of the physical form were lifted, the shadowy figure was able to see more images... a previously sealed past.

In a distant age, in the Crystal Heaven, God sat high on His throne. In His palm He held the ashen soul, and gazing upon it, the soul manifested as two halves.

"I am the Creator."

Thus spoke the demigod.

"I am the savior."

Thus spoke the demigod.

The Creator remained in the Crystal Heaven, while the Savior came into the body of the mortal descendant of that gloomy soul. Generation after generation, the blood of the gods flowed across the earth, and the loyal Grail Knights guarded the "Holy Grail" that carried divine blood, while the slumbering Savior remained asleep.

The blood of the gods was like a delicious lure, tempting that greedy, violent, and arrogant monster, while the Messiah, the savior, waited patiently.

Finally, the monster took the bait...

Within that crystal sky, the god looked at the chessboard before him and silently placed a piece. On the board, the black king, who had originally held a great advantage, was suddenly turned around by the white king, and the seemingly clear situation became confusing again.

Then, its gaze suddenly turned to the dark shadow of the future.

"Do you like the gift?"

God asked calmly.

"It can't be like that..."

His upright, snake-like eyes were filled with resentment.

It had doubts about the origin of the divine blood, but after many investigations, it was confirmed that the divine blood was indeed harmless. It then thought that the god had left it behind due to some accident. But it never expected that it would be the god's deliberate design.

Divine blood is indeed harmless, but who says that poison is the only thing that can kill?
The shadowy figure entered this body because of the divine blood, but is now trapped within it because of the loss of that blood. The divine blood, being the savior, did not destroy the demon that was about to destroy the world; it merely silently removed the ladder from the demon's feet at the last moment.

"No! I haven't lost yet! I haven't lost yet!!!"

With bloodshot eyes, amidst intense anger, resentment, and violence, the shadowy figure did not slow down the power within him; on the contrary, it further amplified his power.

Since it is this power that is causing the body to crumble, then we should discard this power.

Strength doesn't matter; as long as I can survive, there's still a chance, and I can still awaken my dormant self.

"You are free now!"

Both divine blood and primal power were released from the nearly collapsed body. The roaring, invisible power spread throughout the entire old world space, giving this once withered old world a new opportunity.

Perhaps thousands of years from now, countless monsters will be born again in this old world, but that will have nothing to do with the Shadow.

The overflowing power tore at the basic spatial structure, creating countless gaps through which the already dying shadows seized the opportunity to escape. Cain's face was filled with shock and rage. He was about to take a step forward, but he couldn't help but fall to the ground.

The shadowy figure was already at his wit's end, and so was Cain.

Gasping for breath, Cain realized that he probably couldn't deal with the shadow anymore, because its time was running out.

But as he watched the shadow flee in the direction it had fled, Cain felt an unexpected calm in his heart. He felt no worry about humanity, only peace.

"Perhaps you are indeed very strong, perhaps you are the strongest, but the strongest is not invincible. Defeating others is easy, but defeating yourself is difficult. You did not lose to me, but to yourself, to your arrogance and conceit. Only by knowing fear will one try to change in order to overcome one's fear. But you, a heartless beast, without fear, will you really change yourself?"

"Your arrogance, your conceit, your hubris... For someone like you who has no fear, can you overcome yourself and eliminate your weaknesses? If not, then no matter how strong you are, you will always have weaknesses..."

“Snake, though you may escape for now, my descendants will surely defeat you.”

With these thoughts in mind, Cain no longer worried about his descendants. He smiled, and his already overburdened body collapsed weakly. His vision gradually blurred, and he vaguely saw a beautiful figure.

"Lily..."

As the power of time surged forth, the human body, which had lived for tens of thousands of years, turned into smoke and vanished.

Cain, death.

……

A beach in California, USA.

"Crash..."

As the sun sets, the beach is covered with tiny golden specks, and the waves crash against the shore, creating a layer of white foam.

On the shimmering beach, a body covered in blood was slowly crawling towards the sand.

Each time, she would dig deep into the sand with her slender fingers, dragging her body forward with her bare hands. The sharp edges of the sand would cut her fingers, and blood would seep from the wounds. Then she would use her other hand to struggle forward, crawling little by little like this.

The waves would constantly crash against the body of the stranded creature, shaking it and making its crawling even more difficult.

"I can't believe I've been pushed to this point..."

With gritted teeth, the rage in his heart grew with each step he took.

Right now, it has given up almost all of its power, and the little power it has left is used to cross the space-time rift and repair this body. Right now, it is no different from an ordinary human, and any wild dog could kill it.

But in any case, it has finally survived by sheer luck.

Although it looks pathetic now, given just a few days, it will become powerful enough to surpass any individual on this planet; and in just one month, it can begin preparing for the resurrection of its original form. At that time, without Cain, without Metatron, and without a group of people hindering it, who in this world could stop it?
"Cain... how dare a mere hunting dog act like this? One day, one day I will..."

"I've finally found you."

Suddenly, a pair of feet in leather shoes appeared on the gravel in front of the stranded man who was struggling to crawl, followed by a suppressed voice.

The stranded person paused, then looked up...

Black trousers, a black jacket, and that cold face with eyes that suppressed anger.

His vertical pupils contracted slightly.

It vaguely remembered this person; his name seemed to be Roberts, and he was the father of the body it had possessed.

(End of this chapter)