Beyond the Apocalypse-Chapter 1033: Final exchange

Explosion after explosion echoed across what had once been the capital of Valhalla. By now, the city no longer existed. There was not a single structure left standing—only shattered earth and molten ruin. Waves of wrathful energy fused with lightning, fire, and searing light collided violently against a dark, corrupted rainbow force, tearing reality apart with every impact.

A detonation dwarfed all others as the True Depravita of Wrath was blasted into the ground with such overwhelming force that an entire canyon was carved into the earth. The land cracked and split open, stone folding inward as if crushed by an invisible god.

Vlad lay at the center of the devastation.

A deep gash tore across his chest—so severe that one of his lungs collapsed instantly. Blood flooded from the wound, dark and thick, but before it could claim him, his Depravita Constitution surged into action. The alien darkness that had invaded his body was devoured by the Power of Gluttony, cleansed and converted into raw vitality. Flesh knitted together, bone reformed, and breath returned as the wound sealed itself.

The Xaos King rose into the air immediately, yet a solemn expression crossed his face.

Even with the Eye of Gluttony consuming energy at a shocking rate and flooding his body with immense vitality, he was being pushed to the brink. The Alien Lord was relentless, precise, and monstrously powerful.

Worse still—Vlad had yet to land a single decisive blow.

"In my Ultimate Form, I reach the threshold of the Paragon Lord Rank..." Vlad thought grimly. "But he stands far above that."

The danger of this battle was absolute. Yet surrender never crossed his mind.

Cold determination filled Vlad’s eyes as he tightened his grip around the black blade and flashed forward, space folding beneath his will. He appeared instantly before Eternal Puppeteer, slashing with devastating force.

The Alien Lord merely smiled.

Every strike from Vlad’s blade was met with Eternal Puppeteer’s axe, their weapons clashing again and again. Eternal Puppeteer’s martial skill far surpassed anything Vlad had faced before—each movement efficient, deliberate, overwhelming.

At one point, Eternal Puppeteer twisted his wrist mid-clash, sending the axe spinning with immense torque. The black blade was deflected aside, and the axe swept straight toward Vlad’s neck.

The strike cut cleanly through.

Yet there was no blood.

At the last possible instant, Vlad triggered his Quantum Expanse, phasing his body between layers of existence. The axe passed harmlessly through him, striking nothing but empty space.

But the reprieve was fleeting.

The moment Vlad phased back toward reality, Eternal Puppeteer unleashed a relentless barrage of strikes, forcing Vlad to remain in quantum form just to survive. The pressure mounted with every second.

Finally, Vlad’s control faltered.

A downward kick crashed into his chest, shattering his collarbone and blasting him into the ground below. The impact sent shockwaves through the earth, pulverizing stone and throwing debris into the sky.

Eternal Puppeteer descended, smiling coldly as he prepared to continue the assault.

Then—he froze.

For the briefest moment, his body stiffened.

A thin trail of blood slipped from the corner of his mouth.

"...Finally."

The voice came from the depths of the crater.

Vlad rose slowly into the air, his entire body drenched in blood, his breathing heavy—but his eyes were alight with triumph. The moment he saw that single trail of blood, a wide, feral smile spread across his face.

"I knew an hour wouldn’t be enough for you to fully recover from such a horrific backlash," Vlad said coldly. "After all, you attempted to take control over the domain of a Primordial God."

Eternal Puppeteer remained silent for a moment.

Then he smiled faintly.

"You are correct," he admitted. "But even with that backlash raging within me, I still possess more than enough power to kill you."

Vlad nodded slowly, unfazed. His smile did not fade.

"That might have been true a moment ago," he replied calmly. "But unlike you... I grow stronger the longer I fight."

With those words, the Eyes of Lust, Greed, and Envy erupted with power.

The Seals of Sin of Ouroboros and Fafnir activated in unison. Yellow and purple blood vessels manifested across Vlad’s body, pulsing violently as his endurance and speed surged to horrifying levels.

And that was only the beginning.

The Seal of Sin of Freya ignited, releasing a dark force that coated Vlad’s blade. It fused seamlessly with the Laws of space, lightning, fire, and light—evolving into something far more dangerous.

Something transcendent.

Eternal Puppeteer’s eyes narrowed as he sensed it.

The Xaos King was not merely copying his power—he was refining it, adapting it, making it his own.

There was no time to react.

Vlad vanished.

He reappeared before Eternal Puppeteer at a speed several times greater than before, his blade descending with a force that felt capable of sundering moons.

The Alien Lord raised his axe instinctively.

The collision sent violent tremors through his arms, and before he could stabilize, he was blasted backward, tearing through the ruins. Vlad pursued mercilessly, striking again and again, smashing Eternal Puppeteer from one location to the next until he was finally driven into the ground.

Eternal Puppeteer rose swiftly, tightening his grip on the axe as Vlad burst through the dust, blade already accelerating toward its peak momentum.

He struck down, aiming to intercept the attack before it could fully manifest.

Then his eyes widened.

The blade passed through the axe.

In the final instant, Vlad triggered Quantum Expanse—phasing through the obstruction—then deactivated it immediately after.

"ZNNNNNNNN—!"

The sound of flesh, muscle, and bone tearing echoed across the battlefield as the black blade cleaved through Eternal Puppeteer’s chest. Blood erupted from the wound, and a heartbeat later, the residual energy detonated violently.

The explosion sent Eternal Puppeteer hurtling into the distance, trailing blood and fractured power through the shattered remains of Valhalla’s capital.

A wide smile appeared on Vlad’s face as the impact landed. He could feel it—feel the immense damage he had inflicted upon the Alien Lord. The strike had not been superficial. It had reached deep, tearing into something vital, something that mattered.

But the smile did not last.

In the very next second, a burst of dark, nefarious power erupted outward, surging into the sky like a colossal pillar of shadow. Instinct screamed. Vlad triggered Quantum Expanse immediately, just as a massive arc of dark energy slammed into his previous position.

The detonation was apocalyptic.

Everything below was annihilated. The remains of Valhalla’s capital were blasted into the air, reduced to pulverized stone and molten debris. Shockwaves rippled outward endlessly, devouring the land and warping the sky itself.

From within the fractured layers of existence, Vlad watched in stunned silence.

Even with all his power, the scale of destruction left him momentarily awed. Had he been even a fraction of a second slower, even his Ultimate Form would have been erased.

As the storm of destruction subsided, Vlad emerged from Quantum Form and rose above the devastation. His gaze locked onto the figure of the Alien Lord.

There was a massive hole torn through Eternal Puppeteer’s chest, the wound left behind by Vlad’s previous strike still bleeding corrupted energy. Yet the injury seemed to mean nothing to him. His eyes had turned completely black—empty, bottomless—and dark plasma wings erupted from his back, stretching wide as his aura burned without restraint.

The power consuming Antorus’s flesh and soul was no longer subtle.

"His vessel won’t last much longer," Vlad realized coldly. "But he doesn’t care."

The thought lingered only briefly before being cast aside.

"He’s wounded. The backlash has destabilized his soul. I can destroy him—and if I do, all his plans end here."

Determination ignited in Vlad’s eyes.

He set his life force and soul ablaze, pushing them beyond their limits. Power exploded outward as he vanished in a blur, flashing toward the Alien Lord with killing intent.

What followed was the most ferocious exchange yet.

Vlad’s overwhelming speed and the destructive force of his blade tore into Eternal Puppeteer again and again, carving fresh wounds into his already failing vessel. In response, the Alien Lord countered with devastating precision, his axe sweeping through space with overwhelming power and ancient technique.

Each clash shook the world.

Thanks to Fafnir’s Seal of Sin, Vlad’s body had become monstrously resilient, capable of enduring forces that would have obliterated a Lord-tier artifact. Even so, deep gashes began appearing across his body, blood spraying with every near-miss. The damage made one truth painfully clear.

This enemy was a monster beyond reason.

Eternal Puppeteer pressed harder, his strikes growing heavier, faster, more merciless. Step by step, he forced an opening. Dark, corrupted rainbow energy ignited around his axe, burning violently as he raised it high.

Then he swung.

The blade descended toward Vlad’s head with absolute finality.

For a single heartbeat, the world seemed to hold its breath.

Then blood—and fragments of brain matter—sprayed through the air.

The sound of impact echoed across the ruined battlefield, marking the moment when everything changed.