The Epic Tale of Chaos vs Order - Chapter 1489

Chapter 1489: Fiery crown Chapter 1489: Fiery crown Elrick, Auron, Mera, and the Deus Behemoth Brothers all wore broad smiles as they finally stepped beyond the oppressive realm of lethal radiation.

For what felt like an eternity, the fiery aura had threatened to consume them from the inside out, forcing them to expend vast reserves of energy merely to stay alive.  Cain, on the other hand, frowned.

Though he didn’t voice it, the disappearance of the radiation interfered with his carefully laid plans.

Moreover, he felt perplexed by this sudden shift.

By all logical deductions, the deeper they ventured into the Sky Sovereign Tomb, the more intense the radiation should have become.

Indeed, that pattern had held true along every pathway up to this point.

To have it suddenly vanish ran counter to his expectations.

His mind churned with possibilities.

After a moment of silent reflection, a notion flashed through his thoughts: “A Black Hole Quantum Behavior?” According to Cain’s broad understanding of the universe’s physics, spacetime near a black hole warps immensely due to the overwhelming gravitational field.

Approaching the event horizon causes quantum effects to surge in complexity, sometimes producing phenomena akin to “vacuum states.” Simply put, if one draws close enough to a singularity, certain theoretical models predict a form of vacuum around its core.

“If that’s the case…” Cain mused, feeling his pulse quicken, “Maybe we’re extremely close to that Tier 9 Astral Supremacy Star.” Excitement and anticipation stirred within him like coiled serpents.

His thoughts spiraled into possibilities of forging an even deeper bond with the tomb’s cosmic core.

However, before he could indulge in these ambitions, his instincts flared a warning.

Cain turned sharply, noticing Elrick staring at him with renewed hostility.

It was hardly surprising.

Now that the radiation was gone, Elrick and the others were no longer forced to funnel large chunks of their energy into protective measures, which meant their full combat capacity had returned.

‘His confidence is back,’ Cain thought, lips thinning into a flat line.

‘Without the radiation weakening him, he might try something foolish.’ Even without the power of The Flow, Cain could see the boiling resentment in Elrick’s heart.

The tension between them was already long-standing.

“Truly a case of terminal stupidity,” Cain murmured under his breath, a flicker of killing intent crossing his gaze.

He had grown weary of Elrick’s arrogance and constant nuisance.

Still, now was not the time to settle scores.

His own body was riddled with injuries.

Attempting to eliminate Elrick at this very moment could complicate matters further, especially if the rest joined in.

With a grunt, Cain sat in a meditative posture, intending to focus on healing his wounds.

Just then, however, something along the path they had traversed caught his eye.

The magma veins that had guided them through the hall of darkness earlier were pulsing, carrying rivulets of spilled blood from the fallen along their glowing channels.

Under everyone’s watchful gaze, the blood and magma seemed to converge into one spot, their hues melding into a molten concoction.

Slowly, as though sculpted by an invisible hand, they forged a fiery crown.

The artifact radiated a striking Star Power signature and bristled with the Law of Fire.

Immediately, greed flashed in Elrick’s eyes.

He could sense at once that the crown might bolster his cultivation.

Just as he began stepping forward, however, Cain’s figure blurred, and his hand closed around the crown.

“You!” Elrick roared, his face twisting with indignation.

“Do you really think you can take every treasure in this place for yourself?” The anger in his voice was genuine, but there was also a calculated tactic behind it: by raising the notion of Cain “hoarding” all the treasures, Elrick hoped to stoke similar resentments in Auron, Mera, and the Deus Behemoth Brothers.

The tactic worked.

After all, it was true that Cain had claimed every treasure they had found in their path.  In response, Cain merely smiled.

He could see Elrick’s attempt to forge a unified opposition.

Now that the environment no longer favored Cain’s resilience to radiation, some might believe their chances of overpowering him had improved.

Even so, Cain’ remained calm.

“First of all, I’m only keeping this treasure for Lady Azure,” Cain’s words worked like a bucket of cold water poured over the flickering embers of their greed.  Before they could fully process that, Cain’s eyes turned razor-sharp.

“And second, you’d be wise to tend to your wounds before making any threats.

Some of you are in such bad shape that a single well-placed strike could end you.” Those words grounded the group in an unpleasant reality.

Their bodies still throbbed with the wounds left by the Demonic Hounds-wounds that seared and oozed toxic energy.

While the disappearance of the radiation freed some of their power, it did nothing to heal the cuts and burns that hampered their mobility and battle strength.

Engaging Cain now would be extremely risky.

Besides, the crown itself might only be truly beneficial to someone with a strong alignment to Fire Laws-like Elrick-so not everyone felt the same level of desire for it.

Seeing that his little gambit had failed, Elrick’s expression darkened further.

Feeling the sting of humiliation, he dropped onto the ground, rummaging through his belongings for healing drugs.

He swallowed a few, cursing internally all the while.

Cain, noticing Elrick’s capitulation, almost snorted.

“So he isn’t quite as stupid as he looks,” he thought.

Though the hostility between them remained, they would apparently not reach an immediate showdown.

Cain stepped away from the group, settling himself against a smooth section of the wall.

Once more, he adopted a meditative posture.

The Concept of Life trickled through his veins, working to close the worst of his wounds.  Yet before delving into a more focused healing trance, Cain allowed himself a moment to sift through the space rings he had confiscated from the Eclipse School duo-Leorio, the Atrox, and Amara, the Hell Clan woman.

A quick preliminary scan some time ago had not revealed anything particularly noteworthy.

Now that he had a brief respite, he could examine each ring’s contents more thoroughly.

The first thing he retrieved was a series of healing treasures, mostly mid-grade pills and medicinal flasks.

He consumed the ones best suited to neutralizing fiery poisons.

A pleasant warmth spread through his abdomen, and he felt a cool wave of relief surge into his bloodstream.

Though still in pain, he noted with satisfaction that it was already diminishing.

Setting the empty flasks aside, he turned his attention to the rest of the items in the rings.

There were minor resources, nothing that truly caught his interest.

However, that changed when he came upon a small black box tucked away in a corner of one ring’s subdimension.

CREATORS’ THOUGHTS Redsunworld Special shoutout to Jayscribe.

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