Dancing on the golden ashes

Chapter 229 229: The one who rules eternity... rules everything

No matter how I looked at this situation, something was terribly off here. It was a memory, yet somehow, I could feel everything as though I had been thrust into that moment. The air itself seemed to pulse with unnatural energy, cold and suffocating. The oppressive force coiled around me like iron chains, sinking into my chest and forcing my breath to turn shallow. It felt like my ribs were being squeezed from the inside, a sickening pressure that clung to my body as if their power refused to let me go.

I could sense the auras of those people clearly, so vividly that it unsettled me. Their presence weighed down on my senses like an unseen storm rolling across the sky. The space around me seemed to warp, distorting as if reality itself recoiled in their presence. A distant hum vibrated through the air, low and eerie, like something ancient stirring beneath the fabric of this twisted memory.

I knew this was merely a recollection, just a glimpse of something that had already happened, yet it felt disturbingly real. The pressure, the suffocating tension... it clung to me like a second skin.

Was this some sort of warning? A glimpse of the vast difference in power between myself and him? Was this the universe's twisted way of showing me just how far I stood from truly challenging him?

Perhaps... perhaps that was the point, to remind me that no matter how far I had come, the distance between us remained immeasurable. But even that wasn't what troubled me most.

No, what truly left me cold wasn't the overwhelming strength they possessed, it was the sight of myself, actually seeing myself, standing beside the creator... and... kissing him.

That image lingered like a bitter taste on my tongue. It poisoned my thoughts, making my mind spiral further into chaos.

Was that truly me? Could that be my past life... or worse, was it my future?

That question terrified me more than anything else.

If this was something that had already happened, then how had I forgotten it? Why were those memories absent, locked away like a forbidden secret buried deep within my soul? But if it was my future... if this was destined to happen... then what choice did I have? Could I change it? Or was this fate already carved into stone?

My heart pounded harder against my ribs, each beat rattling like a war drum inside my chest.

Was this my destiny? Was I doomed to become that person? To stand beside him... to trust him... to let him—

AHHHH! My thoughts exploded into a scream, though only in my mind, hehe. And the pressure building inside my head twisted like a drill boring through my skull. My vision swam, and for a moment, I swore my surroundings flickered like a distorted image. Unstable and fragile.

I clenched my fists tightly, nails digging into my palms until they pierced the skin. Warm blood dripped between my fingers, yet the sharp sting barely registered. I needed that pain. It was the only thing anchoring me to reality, reminding me that this twisted vision wasn't who I was. Not yet.

Then suddenly, like a hammer striking metal, a voice erupted and shattered my spiraling thoughts.

"Humans! Your time to choose has come!"

The elephant woman's voice erupted like a thunderclap, shaking the very fabric of space itself. The cosmos rippled in response, distorted like water disturbed by a stone. I swore I could see the universe tremble before her as if existence itself recoiled in fear of her power. Her presence was suffocating, her towering frame adorned with fifty twitching arms, each one ready to strike. Her tusks gleamed like scimitars, and every breath she took seemed to rattle the void.

Her presence wasn't just powerful, some would say, it was absolute. The sheer pressure of her existence weighed down on the world, pressing into my chest like a mountain. My lungs felt tight, and despite knowing this was a vision, my body trembled instinctively.

"We..." My own voice — no, her voice — quivered in the air. But it wasn't from fear. "We choose to remain human... and to pave our own path in this boundless universe, starting from here." I watched my other self, the one who looked exactly like me, speak those words with a fire that seemed to rage behind her gaze. Even in the face of those monstrous beings, she stood unwavering — bold and defiant, like a flame flickering against an endless void.

"Gaon!" The creator's face twisted, pain flickering across his features. I recognized that look — that hurt expression. But there was something else beneath it, something twisted. Desperation... or maybe rage masked beneath his charming exterior. "We agreed we wouldn't go against them! We agreed to follow the holy path!" He grabbed my other self's shoulders, shaking her like a desperate man clinging to a sinking ship. "What are you doing?"

The Gaon in my vision, my other self, met his gaze with sorrowful, almost apologetic eyes. Yet... there was no regret in them. Only determination.

But it was too late.

The air itself turned heavy. Power swirled like a hurricane in the void as the observers began to stir. They radiated killing intent so potent that the stars dimmed behind them.

"Do you take us for fools? Humans!" The lion's roar erupted like a meteor strike, the sheer force rattling the space around me. Had I been physically present, I had no doubt my eardrums would have burst — or worse, my skull would have caved in.

"No! Sir! No!" The creator's voice broke into a panicked shout. "She's crazy! Yes! She betrayed me!" There it was... The coward's true nature, laid bare for everyone to see. The man who once stood beside her discarded the other me the moment things turned against him.

I watched as the other me's eyes glistened with a spark of pain flickering across her face. She had trusted him... believed in him... loved him, perhaps. But now, he was selling her out like a pawn to save himself.

The creator's hand shifted behind his back, darkness swirling like ink on his palm. I wanted to scream, to warn her about his plot, but I couldn't... After all, I was merely an observer, powerless to intervene.

The bastard pulled her close, cradling her like a lover... before pressing his palm, that swirling black vortex, against her ear. The dark energy slithered into her like tendrils of poison, and I watched as her eyes lost their fire. The pupils widened, black bleeding into them until her irises became twin voids. I knew that look all too well. It was the look of someone betrayed. Of someone who knew that trust, that fragile fleeting hope had just been crushed beneath a boot.

Her hand twitched and moved with unnatural stillness. A small, dark orb swirled into existence on her palm. Tears streamed down her corrupted face as she stared down at the planet below.

"We pledge our loyalty by destroying the place that binds us! So please, Holy Lord, accept us as your children, and let us stand by your side as we conquer the worlds." The creator's voice rang out, twisted with triumph.

That smile was smug and so disgusting to watch...

But the angelic man with flawless features and golden wings smiled warmly in response. Meanwhile, the lion and elephant's faces twisted in displeasure as if the situation stung.

"Of course, I will welcome you... my child," the angelic figure said with saccharine sweetness. "But only you..."

I barely heard his words. My eyes were locked on the planet, my home, as the black orb fell.

Time slowed and the tiny sphere, no bigger than a pebble, struck the Earth's surface. And then...

BOOM!

The planet was consumed in a flash of black flame. The shockwave rippled through the cosmos — a violent, swirling supernova that painted the void in hues of crimson and violet. Earth was gone... swallowed by oblivion in the blink of an eye.

My chest clenched as I stared at the lingering glow, the memory of my home now nothing more than fading embers. Gone... just like that...

The angelic figure's voice pierced the silence. "Now... kill her." His voice was cold, void of empathy. "Prove your loyalty. I don't trust her... but you... you will make a good dog."

I watched as the crowd's expressions twisted into smug grins, their faces eager for bloodshed.

"The one who rules eternity... rules everything," the creator muttered. His voice was low, yet sharp like a dagger's edge. "Is that true?"

"Yes," the angelic figure chuckled darkly. "And if you become the next ruler of eternity... you'll shape the universe however you wish. Interested... human?" The crowd erupted in mocking laughter — derisive chuckles from beings who saw him as nothing more than a pretender.

"Who knows..." The creator's smile widened. "At least I know one person who's interested in that..."

My soul froze. His gaze turned, locking directly onto me, the real me.

His hand blurred, in a streak of black, piercing the chest of the other me. Her breath hitched and her darkened eyes widened in shock. Blood gushed from her chest as the creator's hand gripped her still-beating heart tightly. I could see her face twist in agony... yet she didn't scream, like a true warrior. She didn't beg... She simply stared at him with pain, disbelief, and betrayal swirling in her vacant gaze.

And then... he crushed her heart in his palm, squeezing until it burst, blood dripping between his fingers like wine spilling from a shattered glass. Her body crumpled like a broken doll... lifelessly falling like a leaf to the void...