Against The True Gods-Chapter 173: The Ceremony(II)—Defiant

Caine's roar echoed through the void, and as his spell finalized, in less than an instant, his hand blurred—moving at speeds too fast to comprehend—as it etched a set of runes into the very fabric of space itself.

The spell was complete.

Caine's True Will crumbled into motes of light and golden runes that sank into the formation below.

The world was silent.

The world was empty.

The world was frozen.

Caine had died. Again.

WHOOOOOOSH!

But as if it didn't matter, the formation below—sensing his death—finally activated, glowing with silver light.

Amethyst flames surged from the intricate formation, consuming Caine's skeletal remains.

His skeleton hovered in the air, suspended within a sea of flames and black and white runes that swirled around him in mesmerizing chaos.

The purpose of the formation was pitifully simple—creation.

What Caine had etched into the ground was the entirety of his knowledge of the aspects.

So after he had ground his aspects and very existence into dust, all the formation had to do was recreate them under his very specific set of orders.

He would forge and create his aspects himself—without any shackles, without any limits imposed by the heavens.

He would be his own god.

WHOOOSH!

His Bodily Aspect was first.

His skeleton dissolved into the flames, and for a moment, nothing happened. But then, the amethyst fire concentrated and—under the effect of the formation—transmuted into solid matter.

The matter moved, reforming his black skeleton.

Runes erupted across the surface of his bones as his flesh and organs rapidly filled out his frame.

His Soul, Qi, and World Aspects were reforged in an instant.

Immediately, a rush of qi flooded his body, accelerating the process at an overwhelming speed. His soul nestled itself back into his body as countless changes unfolded within him.

Qi and flesh intertwined, wrapping around his bones and forging his muscles under the lingering force of his True Will.

Runes seared into his flesh as his bones, organs, and flesh structures reformed and harmonized in an instant.

Neutral qi permeated his being, transmuting into skin of jade-white, wrapping around the refined and tempered frame of his newly reconstructed body.

His long, curly black hair erupted from his once-bald skull, cascading over his shoulders like a flowing river of darkness.

All of his aspects had been restored.

Everything—except his Mind and Dao Hearts.

WHOOOSH!

Caine's naked, lifeless, hollow body knelt at the formation's center.

The world fell into a silent lull once more.

And for a while, it remained so.

A dead man, in an empty world.

What good was any of it if his mind could not be reformed? What would it all mean if he had lost his rings and his True Wills?

But of course, Caine was no fool.

In his deep study of the aspects, he had already deduced that the Mind was the spark of defiance, the very force that allowed one to cultivate, to think, to be an individual.

Beyond that, he had come to understand that the Will was a measure of maturity—an ability granted through growth.

The Mind was the spark of defiance.

WHOOOSH!

The words Caine had etched into space itself before dying suddenly burned into his flesh.

The words were simple yet shocking.

<I am Unrivalled.>

What greater defiance was there than to defy the heavens themselves?

To defy death? To defy life, time, and Samsara?

To defy the entirety of existence itself?

What greater defiance was there than to etch into the very fabric of reality that one surpassed all that was—heaven and earth included?

Who but Caine would dare burn the very essence of their True Will and mind to humiliate the heavens and existence itself?

It would be this.

It would be from this act of heretical defiance—the highest heresy ever committed—that his mind would be born.

It would be from the affirmation of his supremacy, from his disregard of existence and the heavens, that his spark would form.

It would be from this spark of defiance that his mind would be reborn.

And in turn, it would be from the heavens' fury that his True Will would awaken.

For a fleeting moment, everything was quiet.

Not just within the fractured reality—but across all worlds, across primordial chaos and beyond.

Countless higher existences and unfathomable entities felt the shift, their towering auras stirring as they found themselves unable to speak or move.

Gods and mortals alike were frozen.

Bound.

Shackled.

They witnessed the birth of yet another True Defiant.

At the peak of this silence—this oppressive, suffocating silence—a voice echoed.

<I am Unrivalled.>

A whisper, yet a command.

A declaration, yet a law.

It burrowed into the minds of every living being.

From the depths of Hell, to the highest Heavens, to the endless Void, to Primordial Chaos—it echoed.

<I am Unrivalled.>

RUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMBLE!

The Heavens… roared.

The Heavens were angry.

***

Far away from the chaos caused by this event—unbeknownst to him—Caine experienced something entirely different.

In front of his dead body, sparks gathered—silver and amethyst sparks.

Alongside them, silver and amethyst flames manifested.

The sparks and flames dug into his chest, condensing to reform his Dao Hearts.

The twin flames burned fiercely within his Dao Hearts, their intensity escalating with each passing second as auspicious white lightning coiled around them.

DUM! DUM! DUM! DUM! DUM! DUM!

Primordial drums echoed across the void, reverberating through reality itself as the very laws of the world began to sing a hymn of glory.

After his death at the hands of Uriel, Caine had been cast into the River of Fate, where he had been saved by the Great Mother of Fate herself.

That moment was a humiliation, a scar on his heart he would never forget.

That day, he had made a promise.

A promise he would never break.

If to uphold this promise, he had to defy death and the heavens themselves—he would.

Without hesitation.

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

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Caine's Dao Hearts thumped and thundered in unison.

In an instant, his Mind Aspect was reborn.

His existence harmonized.

His entire being was reshaped, free of all shackles.

Caine's lungs expanded, his body trembling as he gasped for air—and at long last—

He defied death.

His blood surged through his veins, his aspects stabilizing as his presence returned.

But it wasn't over.

It was far from over.

Just as Caine's breathing stabilized, the formation below him glowed red—and directly, he fainted.