Cosmic Ruler - Chapter 553

Chapter 553: Outer Gods V

Aiden’s feet barely touched the flesh-ground before he launched upward, his Death Dragon Martial Spirit flaring.

Dark energy of infinite nothingness roared around him, devouring the tendrils.

The Outer God laughed.

“Death? There is no death here.”

The tendrils regenerated instantly.

They changed.

No longer mere appendages, but cursed concepts given form.

“Devour.

Erase.

Unmake.

Silence.

Fear.”

Each one was a law of reality made into a weapon.

Aiden grimaced.

He couldn’t block those.

If even one touched him, he would be stripped of existence itself.

But that didn’t mean he was defenseless.

“Then I’ll just cut through everything.”

His Destiny Thread of Million Miracles Martial Spirit erupted.

Countless golden threads surrounded him, weaving an endless web.

The tendrils struck.

The threads intercepted.

Reality shook.

An unmovable force against an unstoppable will.

The tendrils failed.

For the first time, the Outer God hesitated.

Aiden smirked.

“You adapt?” The voice was no longer amused.

“I always have,” Aiden replied.

He launched forward.

A single slash.

Reality split.

Aiden’s sword cut through the very existence of the Outer God.

The creature reeled back.

Its form flickered.

For the first time—

It felt pain.

The eyes in the sky blinked in unison.

The world collapsed.

Aiden fell.

“What—?”

There was no ground.

No sky.

No anything.

He was falling into the Abyss.

And below him—

The Outer God’s real form waited.

Aiden’s breath caught.

He had been fighting a projection.

The true Outer God was massive beyond imagination.

A hundred billion eyes.

A thousand shifting mouths.

Limbs that were never meant to exist.

A consciousness that did not belong in this universe.

“You cut me.”

The words echoed from every direction.

“You have defied me.”

The Abyss rippled.

Aiden gritted his teeth.

There was no escape.

“Then I’ll fight to the end.”

His entire existence burned.

His Martial Spirits fused.

Golden Sword.

Reaper Scythe.

Death Dragon.

Destiny Thread.

They became one.

Aiden’s form was engulfed in golden flames.

The Outer God roared.

Tendrils of absolute erasure shot toward him.

Aiden swung.

And the world tore apart.

Silence.

Aiden gasped.

He was alive.

But where?

The Outer God was… gone?

No.

It had withdrawn.

It was watching.

Waiting.

Aiden’s entire body ached.

His power was drained.

But he had won.

For now.

As he took a slow breath, he heard the whisper again.

“You are worthy.”

Aiden’s eyes hardened.

This was only the beginning.

Aiden’s eyes fluttered open.

The world around him was… wrong.

He wasn’t in reality. Not entirely.

The sky above was a shifting void, filled with countless watching eyes.

The ground beneath him wasn’t solid, yet it held his weight.

It was as if he stood on the border of existence itself.

The Outer Gods had retreated.

But he could still feel their presence.

Watching.

Waiting.

Aiden slowly pushed himself up. His body ached. Every fiber of his being screamed in exhaustion.

His Martial Spirits had returned to him, but they felt… weaker.

“That battle… took too much.”

He looked down at his hands.

Faint golden cracks ran along his skin.

His very existence had been damaged.

The Outer Gods’ attacks weren’t normal wounds.

They had tried to unmake him.

If not for his Destiny Thread Martial Spirit, which had rewritten fate itself in the moment of impact, he would have been erased from existence.

Aiden clenched his fist.

He had survived.

But this wasn’t over.

The air shifted.

Aiden’s sharp gaze darted around.

He wasn’t alone.

A presence—faint but powerful—loomed just beyond the edges of his perception.

Then, it spoke.

“You have seen beyond the veil.”

The voice was not a sound.

It was a thought, injected straight into his mind.

Aiden’s muscles tensed.

“You have touched the power that lies beyond creation.”

The whispers grew louder.

Aiden felt something pressing into his mind, like unseen fingers trying to pry open his thoughts.

He gritted his teeth, forcing his will to resist.

“No. You don’t control me.”

The pressure stopped.

A moment of silence.

Then, laughter.

A deep, echoing laugh that resonated through the void.

“Interesting. You resist, even now.”

Aiden’s eyes narrowed.

“Who are you?”

The void rippled.

A shadowy form began to take shape before him.

It wasn’t like the previous Outer God.

This one was… smaller.

More humanoid.

A cloak of ever-shifting darkness wrapped around its form.

Countless golden symbols floated in the air around it, forming words Aiden couldn’t understand.

But he recognized the power they held.

“An Outer God… in human form?”

The being smiled.

“I am merely an emissary.”

It took a step forward.

“You have fought my kind. You have wounded us. That makes you…”

It paused.

“…worthy of an offer.”

Aiden’s gaze sharpened.

“An offer?”

The Emissary raised a hand.

A single golden sigil appeared, floating between them.

“Power, beyond what you can imagine.”

“Knowledge, beyond what your universe can comprehend.”

“A place among us.”

Aiden exhaled slowly.

This was a test.

A trick.

The Outer Gods never offered anything for free.

“What’s the price?” he asked, his voice steady.

The Emissary’s smile widened.

“Nothing much.”

It stepped closer, lowering its voice to a whisper.

“Just… surrender your humanity.”

Aiden’s heart pounded.

He had expected deception.

He had expected a cost.

But this?

“They want me to give up being human?”

His Lucifer Authority flared.

His very existence rebelled against the idea.

Aiden stepped back.

“No deal.”

The Emissary’s expression didn’t change.

It simply tilted its head.

“Ah. Expected.”

The void shuddered.

The Emissary’s form began dissolving.

“Then we will meet again, Aiden.”

It smiled one last time.

“And next time… you will have no choice but to accept.”

Then, it was gone.

And Aiden was alone.

Aiden stood in the silent void.

His body still ached. His mind was still reeling from the encounter.

But his resolve was clearer than ever.

The Outer Gods were not just invaders.

They were trying to change reality itself.

And now, they had set their eyes on him.

“They think I’ll break.”

Aiden’s gaze burned with determination.

“Let them watch. Let them scheme.”

“I will never submit.”

A pulse of power surged from within him.

His Martial Spirits reignited.

The void around him shattered—

And Aiden returned to reality.