Cosmic Ruler - Chapter 475

Chapter 475: War XLVIII
Aiden didn’t flinch.

He stepped forward, sword gleaming with the culmination of his power. A single, decisive slash.

Light met darkness in a silent collision—no explosion, no roar of clashing energies, only the quiet hum of absolute certainty.

Nihil froze. The abyssal force that had erupted around him… shattered.

A fine crack ran through his body, expanding as golden light filled every part of him.

His form broke apart—silently, completely—until nothing remained.

The battlefield stilled. The oppressive weight of the Abyss lifted, the lingering darkness fading into nothingness.

Aiden exhaled, lowering his sword. It was over.

Nexus approached cautiously, scanning the area for any lingering traces of Nihil’s existence. But there was nothing. No remnants, no echoes, not even a whisper.

Rick’s voice crackled through the communicator. “Is it done?”

Aiden sheathed his sword. “Yeah.”

There was silence on the other end, then a breath of relief. “We’re clear on this end too. Let’s regroup.”

As the team gathered, the battlefield now eerily calm, Nexus finally spoke. “You just forced destruction itself into self-annihilation.”

Aiden gave a small, tired smirk. “Guess that means it was never truly absolute to begin with.”

The war wasn’t over. There were still battles ahead, enemies stronger than Nihil waiting in the shadows.

As the golden light of Aiden’s victory faded, the battlefield fell into an eerie silence. The once overwhelming presence of the Abyss had vanished completely—no remnants, no lingering echoes, as if Nihil had never existed at all. Yet, the scars of the battle remained. The ground was cracked, the air still buzzing with the aftershocks of divine and abyssal energies clashing at their peak.

Rick, Myne, and Dren approached cautiously, their eyes scanning the battlefield for any surprises. Rick was the first to speak, his voice breaking the silence.

“I still can’t believe it… Nihil is actually gone.” His tone was filled with disbelief, but also relief.

Dren crossed his arms, nodding. “It was either him or us. And I prefer us.” He glanced at Aiden, his usual sharp demeanor softened slightly. “Nice work.”

Aiden gave a small nod, but his expression remained serious. “This was just one battle. The Abyss isn’t done yet.”

Myne, who had been silent until now, stepped forward, her crimson eyes flickering as she gazed at the empty space where Nihil had once stood. “You felt it too, right?” She looked directly at Aiden.

Aiden clenched his fists. “Yeah. There was something… off.”

Rick frowned. “What do you mean? Nihil’s dead, isn’t he?”

Nexus, who had remained quiet throughout the aftermath, finally spoke, his voice laced with caution. “He is. But… it wasn’t just him we were fighting.”

The words sent a chill through the group.

Aiden exhaled, his instincts screaming at him that this wasn’t the true end. “Nihil was powerful, but he was just a manifestation of something deeper. Something older.”

Dren’s eyes narrowed. “You think there’s something worse out there?”

Aiden didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he looked up at the sky, the stars above seeming dimmer than before.

“I don’t think. I know.”

The wind howled through the ruined battlefield as an unshakable feeling settled over them.

A tense silence hung over the battlefield, the victorious moment already fading into an unsettling unease. Aiden’s grip on his sword tightened as his instincts flared, warning him of something unseen.

Rick, ever the strategist, scanned the area with narrowed eyes. “If you’re saying there’s something worse, Aiden, then we need to regroup and prepare. We can’t afford to fight blind.”

Dren rolled his shoulders, his muscles still tense from battle. “Tch. Figures. The moment we think we’ve won, there’s another damn monster lurking in the shadows.”

Myne, standing at Aiden’s side, turned her gaze toward the sky. Her shadowmancy pulsed faintly, reacting to an unknown presence. “It hasn’t made a move yet… but it’s there. Watching.”

Aiden exhaled, his golden aura dimming slightly. “Then we need to move. We won’t win a fight against something we don’t understand.”

Just as he spoke, a pulse of dark energy rippled across the battlefield. It wasn’t an attack—no, it was something far more ominous. A whispering presence, barely perceptible, crawling at the edges of reality.

Nexus’s voice rang in Aiden’s mind, sharp and urgent. “We need to leave. Now.”

Rick wasted no time. He activated the teleportation rune, the magical sigils glowing beneath their feet. “Everyone, move!”

As the team stepped onto the rune, a deep, resonant voice echoed through the battlefield, sending a chill down their spines.

“You are not ready.”

Aiden’s heart pounded as the teleportation activated, the battlefield vanishing around them.

In the final moments before they disappeared, Aiden saw something—just for an instant. A towering figure, standing at the edge of the horizon, cloaked in endless darkness. Its eyes, burning with an ancient, unfathomable power, locked onto him.

Then they were gone.

——

They reappeared inside the secured walls of their stronghold, the air still crackling with residual energy from their teleportation.

Rick doubled over, panting. “What… the hell… was that?”

Myne, visibly unsettled, shook her head. “Something beyond the Abyss. Beyond what we’ve faced before.”

Aiden remained silent, his mind racing. He had fought countless battles, faced unimaginable threats—but this was different. The being they had glimpsed… it wasn’t just powerful.

The stronghold’s war room was filled with a heavy silence as the team processed what had just happened. The teleportation had been successful, but the lingering dread of that final voice—of those burning eyes in the abyss—was impossible to shake.

Aiden stood at the head of the war table, his hands resting against the cool metal surface. A holographic map of the battlefield flickered above it, but his mind was elsewhere.

“That wasn’t just another enemy,” he finally said, breaking the silence. “That thing… it wasn’t part of the Abyss as we know it.”

Rick ran a hand through his hair, still catching his breath. “Then what the hell was it? Some kind of abyssal god?”

Dren scoffed, arms crossed. “Does it even matter? It saw us. It spoke to us. That means it can be fought.”

Myne’s crimson eyes glowed faintly as she spoke, her voice quiet but firm. “You don’t understand. That presence—it didn’t feel like an enemy.”

Rick narrowed his eyes. “Then what did it feel like?”

Myne hesitated. The words she wanted to say felt foreign, even absurd, but she couldn’t ignore the instinctual certainty within her. “…It felt like a warning.”

The room fell into a tense silence.