Beyond the Apocalypse-Chapter 1038: Vlad vs Amaterasu (I)

The final battle unfolded on the one hundredth layer of the Abyss.

This was no ordinary realm. The very fabric of existence here felt stretched thin, as if reality itself had been forced to bear the weight of countless wars and irreconcilable laws.

The sky was a fractured expanse of dark void and pale distortion. Every step carried an unnatural resistance, as though gravity was arguing with itself over which direction to fall.

And at the heart of this distorted domain stood the True Depravita of Wrath.

Vlad felt the weight of Valhalla more deeply than any of the others.

He had been the one to lead them there. The one who believed—wrongly—that they were ready. Though the enemy’s schemes had reached far beyond reason, that crushing failure remained his burden to bear.

Vlad did not let those thoughts cloud his battle awareness, and his eyes were devoid of hesitation as he stared at the Demon Lord standing in the distance.

With each passing second, the space around him warped subtly. Time itself seemed to hesitate, stretching and twisting as gravity bent inward toward his presence, drawn by an overwhelming pressure.

The Demon Lord before him was unlike any Vlad had faced before.

Multiple arms unfurled slowly from a thin, almost fragile frame, emerging as if space itself had fractured to allow them passage. His ashen skin was carved with deep, sinewy lines, resembling tectonic plates strained beneath impossible pressure. Dark horns rose from his head, framing a cold, expressionless face illuminated only by glowing, merciless eyes that showed neither rage nor pride—only certainty.

His name was Amaterasu.

Despite his title as a Demon Lord, there was no primal aura of brute strength clinging to him. His physical presence seemed deceptively weak, almost frail when compared to monstrosities like Karkazo or Arkanz. And yet, he was the Devil Lord who had dominated the first one hundred layers of the Abyss.

That fact alone made him an anomaly.

The reason Vlad had chosen him was simple—and terrifying.

Amaterasu wielded the Law of Gravity.

When combined with Vlad’s dominion over the Law of Space, the potential synergy was absolute. Not only would it grant unprecedented destructive power, but it would vastly expand Vlad’s authority over the battlefield itself.

In future wars—wars where battlefields would no longer be confined to worlds, but spill into the void—such control would be indispensable.

Amaterasu’s voice echoed calmly through the twisted air.

"You have devil blood running through your body, but I—"

He never finished the sentence.

Vlad vanished.

In an instant, space folded, and the True Depravita of Wrath appeared directly in front of the Demon Lord, blade already descending with overwhelming killing intent. In the past, Vlad would have observed, probed, and dissected his enemy’s mind before committing to an attack.

But he could not do it anymore.

Whether he wished to admit it or not, his confidence in his mental superiority had been shaken. Valhalla had taught him a brutal lesson: intellect alone was not enough when facing entities willing to sacrifice everything.

Now, he trusted only his strength.

The blade descended—but did not land.

Amaterasu raised his hands and clasped them.

For a fraction of a second, the world froze.

Then gravity exploded outward.

A repulsive force erupted from the Demon Lord’s palms, slamming into Vlad’s body and launching him across the battlefield with overwhelming violence. Space shattered in his wake as he was hurled into the distance, tumbling uncontrollably.

Vlad grunted, stabilizing himself midair, his expression darkening.

That power had taken him by surprise.

Before he could retaliate, Amaterasu moved again.

With a subtle gesture, a massive grey palm forged entirely from condensed gravity manifested above Vlad. The construct distorted light and crushed space beneath its presence, descending with inescapable force.

Vlad’s eyes widened as gravity itself pinned him in place, pressing against his body before the attack even made contact. Movement became agonizingly slow, every muscle screaming under impossible weight.

Yet his focus did not waver.

At the final moment, Vlad swung his sword upward.

"ZNNNNNN!"

The sound of space tearing apart echoed across the battlefield as the blade carved a deep wound into the descending gray hand just as it crashed down.

"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!"

The impact obliterated the ground.

Waves of compressed gravity slammed into the terrain repeatedly, crushing matter at an atomic level. Reality buckled, folded, and collapsed beneath the force.

And yet—

At the very center of the gray palm, there was a single untouched point.

A hole. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Vlad stood within it.

He did not pause.

Space bent again, and he flashed forward, blade erupting with power as he surged toward Amaterasu. The Demon Lord adopted a solemn stance, recognizing the threat posed by Vlad’s mastery of the Law of Space.

Without hesitation, Amaterasu raised his hands.

Massive gray constructs formed instantly—countless hands of gravity manifesting around him, each radiating crushing force. They surged forward with lethal precision.

But space trembled.

Vlad multiplied.

Dozens—no, hundreds—of figures appeared, each one identical, each carrying the same presence, the same killing intent. The distortions were so perfect that even Amaterasu hesitated.

For a brief moment, he wondered if they were true clones.

"Damn it!" the Demon Lord roared.

Without a reliable way to identify the real enemy, Amaterasu struck them all.

Gray hands surged forward in a relentless barrage.

"BOOM!"

"BOOM!"

"BOOM!"

One by one, the figures shattered like glass under the crushing gravitational force. Yet more continued to advance, undeterred, their existence reinforcing the undeniable truth—

The real Vlad was still alive.

Amaterasu burned through his energy reserves, summoning more and more gravitational constructs, filling the battlefield with crushing force. Finally, one figure did not shatter.

It was struck—hard.

Blood sprayed into the air as the figure was hurled backward, slamming into the ground.

Amaterasu’s eyes widened.

A wide smile spread across his face.

"There you are."

More gray hands formed instantly, crashing down upon the bleeding figure in a merciless barrage. The ground caved inward, forming a massive crater as gravitational pressure stacked endlessly upon itself.

The remaining clones shattered simultaneously.

"DIE!" Amaterasu roared.

A gargantuan hand manifested above the crater and descended with power capable of shaking a moon, leaving a massive crater behind.

"I won!" The Demon Lord smiled as a sense of success flooded his soul.

"CRACK!"

The Demon Lord paused.

A cracking sound echoed from within the crater.

His smile vanished.

With mounting horror, Amaterasu watched as the bleeding figure shattered into crystalline fragments.

"A decoy—!"

The realization came too late.

A blade tore through his back.