Chapter 2404

2404 - Curse of the Final Witnesses

"...Curse of the Final Witnesses."

*BOOOOM*

The Cursed Planet and all the planets of the first and second rings began emitting a gloomy aura, the Northern Region on every planet started flashing with a black light that covered the darkness of space.

"...." Hedrick's pupils began to dilate; he could feel the suffering of every living being on those planets, he could feel their life force and the essence of their souls being drained into giant arrays atop each planet. He could even feel the planets themselves weakening and their souls screaming.

And each terrifying array was connected to all the other planetary arrays in a massive ring with the Heart of the Galaxy at its center.

The intensity and speed of the killing and power-draining operations made him feel the effects of the Galaxy's Gift and the Soul Thunder Ability raining down above his head weakening noticeably!

"This is bad!!" Hedrick raised his voice; for the first time since the fighting began, he felt real danger.

Then *whoosh* he cast his sword aside, pressing down with both hands while gritting his teeth.

His body began to convulse with all its might, then with eyes gleaming intensely with their ruby color, Hedrick shouted: "Realm of Ruin."

*HUUUUMMM*

The soul pressure and thunder around Hedrick suddenly vanished in a visible manner, as if a bubble had emerged from Hedrick's body and begun to expand.

The more the bubble expanded, the more space collapsed, the more Soul Power collapsed, everything collapsed, everything was ruined.

"....!!" Panic was clearly visible in the eyes of the twelve sons as they watched the strange domain approaching them rapidly, yet no one moved.

Their eyes began darting quickly toward one another and then toward their Father, but their muscles refused to move—they could not move.

They could only move with permission from the Heart of the Array—their Father!!

And their Father remained silent, his furious Eye fixed on Hedrick, and Hedrick alone.

*BOOOOOOOM*

The Realm of Ruin swallowed the twelve sons instantly.

"AAAAAAAMMMM----!!"

They could not open their mouths to scream, but their muffled cries escaped from each of their throats. They did not try to flee, but their eyes were undoubtedly trying—moving rapidly and wildly as if they wanted to leap out of their sockets.

Within the first second, all the arrays of the World of Despair corroded and their skin cracked.

In the second second, their skin peeled off and began to fly away.

In the third second, they were all stripped bare.

In the fourth second—

"This won't work!!" Hedrick shouted as he watched the scene.

If the Realm of Ruin remained active, it would kill them all, but its range was far too vast and it dealt with many things at once, including the gift of the Planet Spirit itself, so its effect was weak.

The Curse of the Final Witnesses, which he could feel intensifying, would not wait for him!

*Whoosh* Hedrick gripped his sword once more and shot toward the nearest Son with the intent to kill. This time, there was no galaxy soul or chain of curses to hinder him.

Quickly, he cast a brief glance toward Darvion standing in the distance, then raised his sword and brought it down upon the Son's head: "Chain of Extinction."

"Impossible!!" Darvion's eyes trembled as he sensed real danger.

Swiftly, he extracted himself from the Mutual Wound Array.

*Slaaash*

Hedrick's sword split the Son from head to between his legs in a single strike.

Then something strange began to happen—

*Crack* *Crack*

Small luminous explosions started emerging from the wound, like children's fireworks. Those tiny fireworks destroyed the wound itself, then spread and turned the entire body into a flash before it vanished.

Afterward, the fireworks extended in a specific pattern until they reached the Sons on the right and left, beginning to blow them up as well, and then the next, and the next—!

Within fractions of a second, the circle prepared to besiege Hedrick had transformed into a ring of blazing white light... and nothing else.

Nothing remained of the Twelve Sons—no physical remnants, no spiritual traces, not even their Space Rings.

"..." Hedrick dispelled the Realm of Ruin, then stared downward, trying to keep sweat from appearing on his face and his heart from changing its rhythm.

Each one of these techniques consumed a massive amount of his energy; he had already used more than half.

And worse...

Though the Curse of Power died with their deaths, the effect of what it had done lingered...

Hundreds of thousands of invisible wasps still struck the barrier around his Soul Domain with fury. Though their numbers did not increase, nor their sizes, they refused to leave!!

Instead of trying to deal with them or showing any reaction to the pain he felt and the annoyance caused by the strikes of all those curses... he raised his head and looked confidently toward Darvion. "Only you remain."

"What did you do to my sons?" Darvion asked calmly. "How did you finish them off with a single attack?"

"Trying to buy some time? Fine, I want to see your end as well."

Hedrick raised his head with confidence. In truth, he too was resetting his physical and spiritual state and replanning, for the Curse of the Final Witnesses had indeed reached formidable power.

"The Path of Destruction is not limited to destroying physical things alone, but everything that has existence—everything visible and everything hidden... That spiritual bond between them, which I emphasized and strengthened using the blood link, was more than enough for me to use as fuel to strike at the Chain and everything connected to it."

Then he gestured toward Darvion with his head. "It was a clever move to abandon them... but I cannot call it a humane move."

"I sired them and spent my wealth and resources until they reached this power for my service, and they died for it." Darvion stared into Hedrick's face. "Their sacrifice will not be in vain."

Then he extended his hand toward Hedrick. "This battle is over." The immense, grim power swirling around him now was so dense that one could cut through it with a knife like a piece of cheese.

Then he spoke with his fixed, staring eyes: "Curse of Oblivion."