Agatha’s breath stopped completely, her entire body going rigid.
"Did it just..."
Lily’s face had gone pale, her mind recognizing the gravity of what she’d just heard.
"The tribulation consciousness spoke directly! That’s... that’s not supposed to happen! In all the bloodline memories, the tribulation never spoke! It just tests and judges through action!"
Her hands clenched.
"Whatever path Nephew is walking, it has drawn the attention of something far beyond normal universal rules."
Neither of them spoke after that, their eyes locked on Damian’s broken form in the distance.
****
The ancient voice spoke again, emotionless and final.
"Mortal, what do you choose?"
Time seemed to slow down.
Damian knelt on scorched stone, his body broken and dying, half his skin charred black, blood pooling beneath him.
His crimson hair fell forward, obscuring his face.
Then he whispered, his voice so quiet it shouldn’t have carried.
"You?"
His shoulders began shaking.
"Want me to abandon my path?"
His voice rose, gaining strength.
"You? Want me to give up my thirst for power?"
His head lifted, revealing eyes that blazed with fury despite the blood and burns.
"And you? SHALL LET ME LIVE?!"
The words exploded across the mountain peak.
"YOU DO NOT GET TO TELL ME WHAT PATH IS MINE TO TREAD!"
His voice became a roar that shook the heavens themselves.
"I HAVE BLED FOR EVERY SCRAP OF POWER! FOUGHT FOR EVERY VICTORY!"
His body pushed upward, legs shaking from shattered bones, standing through pure Will alone.
"AND I WILL NOT SURRENDER WHAT I’VE CLAIMED JUST BECAUSE YOU DEMAND IT!"
His axe materialized in his hand, the weapon appearing from his spatial ring.
"Nephew!"
Lily’s voice carried across the distance, desperate and afraid.
"What are you doing?! I told you to just endure! Fighting back will only make it wor–"
"Lily!"
Damian’s voice cut through hers.
"Don’t you understand? It wants to destroy my path to power!"
His grip tightened on the axe, his broken body straightening despite the agony.
"That’s the same as killing me! There’s no difference! If I give up the path, I’m already dead!"
His eyes found the churning clouds above.
"And I didn’t come this far just by enduring!"
He turned to face the tribulation directly, and crimson energy exploded around him.
Slaughter Intent erupted like flames, wrapping around his body, around his axe, the conviction of Abyssal Slaughter burning brighter than the tribulation lightning.
"I choose to fight back! No one gets to decide my path but me! Not you! Not fate! Not the universe itself!"
"Very well."
The ancient voice echoed across reality itself.
And the clouds above began reshaping, lightning condensing and forming into something new.
A massive hand emerged from the churning darkness, each finger a pillar of destructive energy.
Five fingers representing five remaining tribulation strikes, all compressed into a single attack.
The hand was larger than buildings, crackling with power that made the previous strikes look like sparks.
Damian stared up at descending death, and his voice emerged steady despite everything.
"You find me unworthy? Fine."
His grip shifted on the axe, bringing it down to a low position, preparing for an upward strike.
"My grandfather proved his worth by splitting the north!"
The massive lightning hand descended faster, energy screaming through the air.
"My father proved his worth by slaughtering a demon world!"
Damian’s eyes closed, his consciousness focusing completely inward.
The knowledge his grandfather had transferred flooded his mind, seven levels of weapon intent mastery crystallizing into understanding.
"And if the heavens wish to destroy me–"
BOOM
His legs exploded with force, his Telekinesis activating to launch him upward, the will-based skill still functional despite the Aura suppression.
His eyes snapped open, blazing crimson, the axe beginning its upward arc.
"–THEN I SHALL PROVE MY WORTH BY SPLITTING THE HEAVENS!"
His voice thundered across creation as the strike began.
"HEAVEN SPLITTER: FIRST SEVER!"
In his peripheral vision, text flashed.
[New Intent Awakened]
[Axe Intent: Level 1]
The axe moved upward, trailing crimson Slaughter Intent and silver-white weapon intent.
Both arts working together, Abyssal Slaughter’s perfected conviction combined with Heaven Splitter’s accumulating force.
WHOOSH
The blade met the lightning hand’s smallest finger.
And cut straight through as the severed finger seemed hung in the air.
But the other four fingers kept descending, the massive palm following behind them.
The ancient voice resonated through the storm.
"Mortal, you possess multiple paths before you. Why be so stubborn about this one? There are easier roads to power."
’If one strike isn’t enough–’
Damian’s mind focused completely, drawing deeper into the knowledge his grandfather had gifted him.
The stacking principles, the accumulation of force, the way each level built on what came before.
[Axe Intent: Level 1 → 2]
’–then I’ll sever again!’
His axe swept again, faster now, the movement carrying stacked force.
"SECOND SEVER!"
SLASH SLASH
Two more fingers were severed, his blade carving through lightning that could kill any A rank.
But the remaining two fingers twisted mid-descent, one coming straight down while the other curved upward from below.
’Too fast!’
Damian tried to dodge, his Telekinesis pushing him sideways.
The upper finger missed by inches.
But the lower finger caught his legs directly–
CRACK
–And they turned to ash instantly, from the knees down simply ceasing to exist.
The pain was beyond description, beyond comprehension, his mind whiting out from the agony.
But even as he fell, even as consciousness threatened to flee, his grip on the axe remained.
’Not enough! Still not enough! I need–’
The massive palm was right there, filling his entire vision, about to close around him and crush what remained of his broken body.
’–MORE!’
[Axe Intent: Level 2 → 3]
"THIRD SEVER!"
SLASH
The axe came down with force that transcended mortal limits.
The blade split through the descending fingers.
Through the massive palm behind it.
Through the churning clouds overhead.
Through the sky itself.
For one heartbeat, the heavens themselves split open, a line of severed reality extending upward into infinity.
CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK
The entire sequence had taken less than a second.
Three strikes flowing together so fast they seemed like one continuous movement.
And then everything Damian had severed, all five fingers and the palm, exploded.
BOOOOOOOOOOOM
The shockwave caught Damian mid-fall, his body already broken, his legs gone, his arms shredded from channeling force they weren’t built to handle.
The blast threw him backward, tumbling through the air, half his torso turning to ash from the residual lightning.
CRASH
He hit Mount Aeon’s peak and bounced, rolled, finally coming to rest in a crater of melted snow.
His body was ruined beyond recognition.
Legs gone from the knees down, turned to ash and scattered.
Arms blown apart, bones exposed, muscles hanging in strips.
His torso half-consumed, ribs visible through charred flesh, internal organs barely protected.
And his face was a mask of blood and burns, barely recognizable as human.
’Am I... am I dying?’
His thoughts came distant, consciousness fading.
’Did I... at least win?’
His eyes tracked upward with enormous effort, finding the sky above.
The split in the heavens was still visible, a line of severed reality slowly closing.
And from that split, something was descending.
A colorful energy, swirling with rainbow hues, drifting down toward him like snow.
’Ah... so there’s more...’
A bitter laugh tried to form but came out as a wet cough, blood bubbling from his lips.
’But... at least... I tried...’
His eyes closed, his remaining consciousness preparing for the final blow.
’Sorry... Luna... Mom... Dad... I–’
Before his thoughts could finish, the colorful energy reached what remained of his ruined body.
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