"Live? What do you mean by letting them live… Trul?" Raizen raised an eyebrow as he asked, his chuckle fading. The smile on his face disappeared as he turned and looked at Trul straight in the eyes.

"Raizen, you heard me the first time." Trul shrugged.

"Oh? You do know you have to report back to Jake?" Raizen asked.

"Yes. I will. Just… let's go." Trul already sounded tired.

During the month he had spent gazing upon this planet, he had seen a lot. Children playing around. Lovers becoming life partners. He had also witnessed the wicked side of the world death, betrayal, greed.

It was a roller coaster of emotions. But more than that, it did something to him.

It awakened him. He felt what it meant to be human again.

Over the years, he had gone cold, killing, carrying out missions, obeying the Dreadborne. He had forgotten a lot. Lost a lot.

Even his humanity.

But now… he had awakened.

"Sure," Raizen's raspy voice sounded behind him.

"I'll clean up your mess," Raizen said indifferently as he stretched out his arm.

"No," Trul replied as he felt a huge sense of dread.

A terrifying orb of destruction swelled in Raizen's open palm just as Trul appeared in front of him.

Boom—

An explosion echoed as the city below them vaporized.

The people who had been walking to work, struggling just to eat and survive. Those working overtime. The lies, the deceit, the friendships.

Everything fragile.

Everything gone in the aftermath.

In front of Raizen, a cloud of smoke filled the air, blocking visibility.

As it turned out, Trul had tanked the attack and saved the planet but the aftermath still destroyed the city.

"Trul… what was that?" Raizen asked coldly as the smoke cleared, revealing a slightly bruised Trul.

"You," Trul gritted through his teeth, his voice filled with anger.

Raizen's expression shifted to confusion.

"What do you mean, me? Man, wash up," Raizen said casually, stretching out his palm and pushing Trul's face back. Trul's head tilted from the force.

"I said I'm letting them live. What do you think I mean by that?" Trul's head snapped back forward, his eyes changing.

"Heheh…" Raizen chuckled.

"Don't tell me you actually feel something for these ants. Do you even know anything about the Dreadborne organization? Even if we don't destroy them, someone else will. So why should I give that pleasure to another person?"

He sneered.

"And if you're not a fool, haven't you noticed? The more people we kill, the stronger we grow. Or do you think you're Darius, able to reach the Universal Realm on your own? Idiot. Trillions of lives have special physiques like yours or even better, and most of them end at the Planetary Realm. Look at you. In less than seven hundred years, you're already at the Galaxy Realm. And now you're getting sentimental?"

Raizen grinned widely, like a teacher lecturing a foolish student.

"Do I look like I care?" Trul shot back. "About this? About Dreadborne? Are you that desperate for power? Can't you see this is senseless killing? You just erased hundreds of thousands of lives and for what?"

"It seems you're deaf, lad. Let me help you."

Raizen laughed as he grabbed Trul's head.

Caught off guard, Trul's vision blurred. The next moment, his face was smashed into the ground.

"You dare defy Dreadborne? What are you really, boy? Are you that stupid?" Raizen asked, as if hearing the funniest joke in ages.

Is this idiot serious? Pitying ants?

"Don't you see? It's this easy to erase them. What does saving them accomplish? A Galaxy Realm being fighting nearby could wipe them out accidentally. At least their deaths strengthen us. Even if we don't know why the planet cores are needed, we both know killing makes us stronger. Isn't that enough? What does their existence do for us?, or even more...Tell me, Trul... when this planet

collapses in

a war of some sort..., do you think anyone will remember their names?"

Raizen pressed Trul's head deeper into the ground.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing."

"You live in a world where power decides everything. Are you still childish enough to believe good things always happen, Trul? Without power, without strength, you'll be just like them. And a higher power will wipe you out just as easily."

Raizen sneered, enjoying the feeling of standing above him.

Trul wasn't struggling physically. If anything, his battle was mental. After all, he was still stronger than Raizen.

"But…" Trul muttered.

Those kids. Their laughter. Their cries.

Was it all wiped away?

His memories flickered, back to when he was just a young boy walking to school alone. He remembered how blissful childhood had felt. He had cherished every moment.

And now, because of Raizen…

Those children would never have a future.

"If they aren't strong," Trul said through clenched teeth, "then I will be strong enough to defend them. Strong enough to protect them. They are the future. We can't exist forever."

"Hahaha! Trul, have you gone mad?" Raizen burst out laughing.

"Trul, you might not know—"

Boom

An explosion erupted before he could finish.

Dust rose as Raizen's expression changed instantly.

"Raizen… who do you think you are?" A voice echoed from all around.

Raizen stood up slowly, his expression turning serious as time itself seemed to slow.

Dust particles drifted lazily through the air.

Trul appeared a few meters away, the dust avoiding him entirely, leaving his white robe spotless.

"As far as I recall…" Trul said calmly, fury blazing in his eyes as he walked toward Raizen.

"I'm still stronger than you."

The moment his shoe touched a grain of sand..

He disappeared.

Raizen's eyes widened as he pulled out his axe.

Clack

Boom

Metal rang as the handle of his axe was raised diagonally between his outstretched arms, blocking the attack.

A single finger.

That was all Trul used.

Yet a bead of sweat rolled down Raizen's face.

Boom

The dust was blown away instantly. The sky cleared in a single shockwave.

A sound beyond the speed of sound exploded outward, forcing the already-destroyed city to sink several more inches into the earth.

In the distance, mountains trembled. Portions collapsed, crushing the creatures that lived among them.

Forests disintegrated.

A vast, barren stretch of land spanning hundreds of kilometers was carved into existence in an instant.