Cosmic Ruler - Chapter 552

Chapter 552: Outer Gods IV

Aiden smirked.

“I get it now. You’re not attacking me. You’re waiting.”

The shadow did not reply.

“That means you’re testing me,” Aiden continued. “You want to see if I can figure it out.”

His instincts screamed at him to run, to escape—but there was nowhere to run.

The only way out was forward.

Aiden took a deep breath—

And took a step.

The moment his foot touched the ground, the world shattered.

Not like glass.

Not like an explosion.

But like a book being rewritten.

Everything changed.

The gray skies twisted.

The silent realm spoke.

And Aiden saw the truth.

The shadow was not an enemy.

It was not a guardian.

It was a gatekeeper.

Aiden had passed the test.

The whisper returned, but this time, it was clearer.

“You are the first to step beyond fate.”

The shadow moved.

Not forward, not back—but inward.

As if it had never existed in the first place.

And in its place, a door appeared.

Aiden exhaled. “Guess I’m going in.”

Without hesitation, he stepped through.

And reality shifted once more.

The moment Aiden stepped through the door, the world around him ceased to exist.

There was no light, no darkness. No air. No sound.

For a fraction of a second, his mind ceased to process reality.

He was nothing.

Not a cultivator. Not a warrior. Not Aiden.

Just an existence floating in a place that had never known definition.

Then—he was back.

His feet landed on solid ground, and the world reformed around him.

His heart pounded, his breath ragged as if he had just returned from drowning in an ocean of the void.

Aiden steadied himself and looked around.

Then… he stopped.

The sky—no, there was no sky.

Above him, an incomprehensible thing loomed.

It was not a celestial body. It was alive.

A mass of writhing eyes, blinking in unnatural rhythms, constantly shifting, watching, calculating.

Each eye reflected a different part of existence itself.

Some showed burning stars in other universes. Others displayed broken fragments of dead realms, shattered and forgotten.

And yet… they all focused on him.

Aiden exhaled slowly.

“Alright,” he muttered. “That’s new.”

He lowered his gaze to inspect where he stood.

The ground was wrong.

Not dirt. Not stone. Not even some alien material.

Flesh.

It pulsed. It breathed. It shuddered under his weight.

Aiden felt his stomach twist. He had seen many horrors in his journey. He had battled gods, demons, and entities beyond mortal comprehension.

But this… this was something else.

This was not a world.

It was a being.

And he was standing on it.

The moment he realized this, a soundless whisper crawled into his mind.

“A mortal… has stepped through the gate…?”

Aiden’s expression didn’t change, but his fingers instinctively tightened into fists.

It wasn’t the first time he had heard the whispers.

They had started long ago.

Back when he first obtained knowledge of the Outer Gods.

But this time, it wasn’t a mere echo from beyond the veil.

This was direct.

Aiden took a slow breath. “Not mortal.”

The whisper chuckled.

“All who stand beneath the gaze of the Outer are mortal.”

The ground shifted.

Something rose.

A limb? No, a tendril.

It was not flesh. It was not energy. It was concept made manifest.

Aiden knew if it touched him—if even a fraction of it grazed his soul—he would cease to exist in every timeline, every universe.

But the tendril did not strike.

It paused.

The sky of writhing eyes blinked in unison.

And then—

The sky laughed.

It was not sound.

It was existence unraveling.

Aiden staggered. His mind screamed.

Everything around him wanted to collapse into meaningless chaos.

His arms began to disintegrate.

Not burned.

Not crushed.

Just… ceasing to be.

“Curious,” the voice mused.

The laughter stopped.

Aiden panted, gritting his teeth.

His Golden Sword Martial Spirit flared to life. A golden aura surrounded him, slicing through the corruption, forcing his existence to remain intact.

The world stabilized.

A pause.

Then—

The tendril descended.

It wasn’t an attack.

It was a greeting.

Aiden’s eyes narrowed.

The Outer Gods… were testing him.

“Show me,” the voice whispered.

The tendril twisted.

And struck.

Aiden’s body reacted before his mind could process it.

His Golden Sword slashed out, colliding with the tendril.

A soundless shockwave erupted.

Reality shuddered.

The moment his sword clashed with the entity, Aiden felt something claw into his soul.

Visions.

Worlds devoured.

Gods kneeling before incomprehensible beings.

Stars being turned into screaming entities, fused together in madness.

Aiden roared.

His Reaper Scythe Martial Spirit emerged next.

A single swipe—

And the tendril was severed.

The sky of eyes blinked rapidly.

For the first time, the voice hesitated.

“You… are not as fragile as the others.”

Aiden smirked, though his body trembled from the sheer exhaustion of just surviving a single exchange.

“You have no idea what I’ve been through.”

The world rumbled.

Then, for the first time—

It moved.

A pillar of existence itself rose from the ground.

Not flesh.

Not energy.

Something in between.

It twisted, shifted, and in the blink of an eye—it had a face.

A featureless, impossibly smooth face.

Except for one thing.

A mouth.

It opened.

And spoke without sound.

“Then let us see… how long you last.”

Aiden’s instincts screamed.

Something beyond attack, beyond comprehension, beyond power itself was about to strike.

Without hesitation—

Aiden moved.

Golden energy surged around him, his Scythe and Sword Martial Spirits intertwining.

The first true battle against an Outer God…

Had begun.

The world shuddered.

Aiden’s body moved on instinct.

His Golden Sword and Reaper Scythe flared as he dashed forward, cutting through the pulsating, living ground.

The Outer God’s form twisted.

That faceless head tilted slightly.

Then—

It spoke.

“Ah, movement. A mortal’s defiance.”

The words weren’t heard. They were felt.

Aiden’s soul quivered.

The very concept of defiance was being rewritten.

No.

Aiden forced his will to resist.

His Lucifer Authority, Lord of Pride, ignited.

“Defiance is my nature!”

The pressure shattered.

He swung.

The Golden Sword severed through the Outer God’s face.

A perfect cut.

A single, smooth line divided the creature’s featureless head.

For a moment, there was silence.

Then—

The cut healed instantly.

“Interesting.”

The air twisted.

Aiden jumped back—

Just as tendrils of non-existence shot toward him.