Cosmic Ruler - Chapter 523

Chapter 523: Nihlus III
The Dawn of Civilization

As time passed, the Luminaris and Noctiris spread across the world.

They discovered, built, explored.

Aiden and Nihlus watched over them, not as gods, but as architects, letting them shape their own destinies.

The Luminaris built towers that touched the skies, harnessing energy from the very stars.

The Noctiris carved great underground cities, their wisdom stretching into the depths of the world.

And yet, despite their differences—

They did not war.

Not yet.

Instead, they were curious.

Seeking, learning, growing.

But Aiden knew—

It wouldn’t stay that way forever.

Because where there was life—there would always be conflict.

And this world had yet to see its first great challenge.

The Shadow on the Horizon

Far beyond the lands of the Luminaris and Noctiris—something stirred.

Something ancient, beyond even Aiden and Nihlus’s understanding.

A force that had been waiting since the very first moment existence was born.

Aiden felt it.

A whisper at the edge of reality.

A presence that did not belong.

His golden eyes narrowed.

We created this world… but we aren’t the only ones watching it.

Far beyond the horizon—

Something watched back.

And it was waking up.

The first civilizations of the Luminaris and Noctiris thrived, their cities reaching toward the heavens and into the depths of the world.

They discovered the secrets of energy, the laws of reality, and the wonders of creation.

But something else was stirring.

Something far older than them.

Something that had been watching since the first spark of existence.

The Whisper Beyond Reality

Aiden stood at the highest peak of the newly formed world, golden energy crackling around him.

He felt it—a shift in the very essence of reality.

Nihlus appeared beside him, his void energy pulsing in warning.

“You feel it too.”

Aiden’s grin faded.

“Yeah. And I don’t like it.”

There was something wrong.

Something out there, beyond what they had created.

It wasn’t part of this world—

It wasn’t even part of their battle.

It was something else entirely.

And it was waking up.

The Rift Opens

Far beyond the lands of the Luminaris and Noctiris, in a region neither had dared to explore—

The first Rift appeared.

A tear in reality itself, jagged and shifting, an open wound in the very fabric of creation.

From within it, shadows slithered forth, not of void, not of light—

But of something far worse.

Something that did not belong in this world.

The Luminaris felt it first.

Their towers trembled, their stars dimmed.

The Noctiris heard the whispers.

The echoes of something speaking in a language older than existence.

A single name carried through the void—

A name Aiden had never spoken.

A name Nihlus did not recognize.

“Vael’Zyr.”

The moment the name was uttered, the Rift shuddered.

And then—

Something stepped through.

The Arrival of the First Horror

A being unlike anything this world had ever seen.

Neither golden nor void.

Neither light nor shadow.

It was an anomaly.

A thing that should not exist—

And yet, it did.

Its form shifted, never staying the same for more than a breath, its presence sending waves of distortion through reality itself.

And when it spoke—

It was not with words.

It was with understanding.

With a voice that did not need to be heard to be known.

“You have built a world.”

“You have shaped existence.”

“But you are not the first.”

Aiden and Nihlus stood at the edge of the Rift, staring at the figure.

For the first time, neither of them spoke.

Because for the first time—they did not know what they were facing.

And deep inside, Aiden felt it.

Not fear.

But something far more dangerous.

Uncertainty.

The air trembled, space itself warping as the Rift pulsed with an unnatural energy.

Aiden and Nihlus stood side by side, their gazes locked on the figure that had emerged.

It wasn’t like them.

It wasn’t like anything they had ever seen before.

Its form twisted constantly, flickering between shapes—sometimes humanoid, sometimes monstrous, sometimes simply… wrong.

It wasn’t bound by reality.

Because it was never meant to exist within it.

Aiden’s golden flames flared, his instincts screaming at him.

“So, you’re Vael’Zyr?”

The being’s form flickered, its voice not spoken, but simply understood.

“I am no name. I am no being. I am what should never be.”

The sky shuddered at its words.

Nihlus narrowed his eyes, void energy coiling around his hands.

“You are not part of this world.”

The thing known as Vael’Zyr turned toward him, its presence seeping into reality like an infection.

“Neither were you.”

Nihlus tensed.

For the first time, Aiden saw it—uncertainty in his stance.

It knows something we don’t.

And I don’t like that.

Aiden grinned, stepping forward.

“Well, you’re standing in our world now.”

“And we don’t take kindly to uninvited guests.”

His golden aura exploded outward, heat distorting the air as he raised his fists.

“So, tell me—are you here to fight?”

Vael’Zyr’s flickering form paused.

Then—

It laughed.

Not a sound.

Not an echo.

But something that existed directly in their minds.

“Your world?”

“You think this is truly yours?”

Aiden’s grin faltered.

Just for a moment.

And in that moment—

Vael’Zyr moved.

The First War Begins

—𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘖𝘔—!

The Rift erupted, waves of reality-breaking energy tearing through the air.

The land shattered, mountains crumbling into dust as the first true foreign force entered this world.

Aiden barely had time to react before Vael’Zyr was upon him.

Its strike didn’t just attack.

It rewrote the moment itself.

One second, Aiden was standing, preparing to counter.

The next—he was already flying backward, his body reacting before his mind could register what had happened.

—𝘊𝘙𝘈𝘚𝘏—!

He skidded across the broken terrain, golden flames flaring to stabilize himself.

“What the hell was that?”

Nihlus stepped forward, his void energy twisting violently, responding to the presence of the intruder.

“It is not moving through time.”

“It is moving through possibility.”

Aiden wiped his mouth, golden light crackling around his form.

“Great. That makes this even more fun.”

Vael’Zyr watched them, its form shifting between what was and what could be.

“You have built a world with no gods.”

“A world free of fate.”

“But freedom invites the unknown.”

It raised its ever-shifting hand.

The Rift expanded.

And from within—

More figures began to emerge.

Not Luminaris.

Not Noctiris.

Not anything that should exist.

“Your first mistake was believing you were the first.”

Aiden and Nihlus stood their ground, their energies flaring to meet this new threat.

They had created this world.

They had built it with their own hands.

And now—

They would fight to protect it.

The first war of this world had begun.