Anark clenched his fists as a wide smile slowly spread across his face, a surge of triumph unlike anything he had ever known coursing through his heart and soul. Victory—true, undeniable victory—stood before him.

It was not without cost. He had sacrificed far more than most beings could even comprehend to reach this point, and he was fully aware that the consequences of his transformation were already closing in.

The nature of a Lord of the Emptiness would not remain dormant forever. Soon it would begin to erode his mind and will, drawing him into the endless expanse between universes, where his individuality would blur, and his purpose would dissolve into instinct.

Yet that did not mean death.

Perhaps he would endure. Perhaps, against all odds, he might even find a way back. And even if he did not, it was fine. What he had accomplished here, what he had secured with his own hands, was worth any price—even the loss of himself.

Without Adam, the Tenth Empyrean World was no longer a true threat. The Curse Eaters, still gestating within the traitorous Empyrean Worlds, might one day rise, but they lacked the power to crush the Nine Empyrean Suns Universe.

"Even if I am not there," Anark murmured to himself, nodding slowly, "once my brother returns, he will deal with the rest without difficulty."

For a fleeting moment, there was peace.

Then everything changed.

Anark’s eyes widened as his instincts erupted into a deafening scream. The sense of danger was so overwhelming that it shattered the calm of victory in an instant. The Lord of the Emptiness barely managed to turn his head before he saw it—a single arrow flashing toward him with terrifying speed.

Victory had made him relax, if only slightly, but even then, to catch him off guard like this required power on the level of a Fourth Realm life form.

There was no time to think.

Anark roared, channeling all his strength into his arms as he thrust both hands forward, intending to overpower the attack with sheer force.

The moment the arrow struck, his expression changed.

It was not just fast.

It was impossibly heavy.

The force behind it was so immense that it drove him straight into the ground, shattering the surface and sending him plunging into the depths beneath. Stone and soil exploded around him as the arrow continued to push him downward, deeper and deeper into the subterranean layers of Earth.

For several long seconds, the pressure did not relent.

Only when the energy behind the arrow began to weaken did Anark finally manage to resist. With a surge of power, he shattered the weapon, violet energy erupting outward as the fragments dissolved into nothingness.

Silence followed. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Deep beneath the surface, Anark frowned.

Reaching the Fourth Realm was not something that happened by chance. It required not only unimaginable talent but also resources and inheritance that would take a universe billions of years to accumulate. The idea that another being of such a level existed within the Tenth Empyrean World—beyond Adam—was, by all logic, impossible.

Yet the attack he had just endured proved otherwise.

There was no time to dwell on it.

With cold, focused eyes, Anark surged upward, breaking through the ground as he returned to the surface.

What awaited him made his breath halt.

There were not one, but three new figures standing in the distance.

And worse...

Devil Child Adam, Pyromancer Adam, and Mythical Beast Adam—the very trio he had just slain, whose brains and hearts he had destroyed—stood among them, whole and alive.

For a moment, countless thoughts flooded Anark’s mind, each one more unsettling than the last. Possibilities, explanations, doubts—they all surged forward at once.

Then, in an instant, they were silenced.

"Fine!"

Anark’s roar shook the air, his voice carrying a force that made all six Curse Eaters tense.

"I don’t care if there are three, six, or a hundred of you," he declared, his eyes blazing with unyielding resolve. "I will kill you all. And if you come back from death... then I will kill you again."

A solemn expression appeared on every Curse Eater’s face.

They had traveled through the Emptiness, faced horrors beyond imagination, and battled entities that had ruled for eons—cosmic monsters capable of making entire universes tremble. Yet when confronted by the combined might of Adam’s Aspects, even those nightmares had faltered.

But Anark was different.

They could feel it.

He meant every word he spoke.

His battle will burn like an endless sun, unyielding, unbreakable. No matter how many times he was forced to fight, no matter how many times they returned, he would continue until one side ceased to exist.

The six Curse Eaters exchanged glances.

Then they nodded.

Power surged through their bodies as they prepared to push themselves beyond their limits, ready to end this existence that now stood as their greatest threat.

The air grew heavy.

The battle was about to begin again.

"Enough."

The single word descended from above, carrying a weight that felt as though countless galaxies pressed down upon the battlefield.

Both Anark and the six Curse Eaters froze.

Slowly, they looked up.

A figure descended from the sky.

He was a young man with a lean yet muscular build, his presence calm yet overwhelming. His short, spiky dark hair framed a face that held no arrogance, only quiet authority. His eyes glowed with an intense red light, and behind him spread radiant wings of molten red energy, as if his very existence was intertwined with the fabric of the universe itself.

The moment Anark saw him, his expression changed.

His eyes widened.

Then, instantly, his fists clenched with such force that blood began to drip from his palms. A burning killing intent surged from his core, so intense that it distorted the space around him.

At that moment, he understood.

Before, he had believed that Adam’s appearance had changed over time. But now he realized the truth.

That had only been an Aspect.

The man descending from the sky...

This was the original.

This was the one he remembered.

The one who had once stood at the pinnacle of the universe billions of years ago. The one who had led the Six Sacred Races, defeated the forces of Paradise, and brought an end to the most catastrophic war in the history of the Nine Empyrean Suns Universe.

And the one who had, in the end...

Killed him and his brothers.

"You have not changed at all," Anark said, his voice cold and heavy with restrained fury. "Hero of Humanity."

Adam landed softly upon the ground.

He looked at Anark, his gaze steady, and gave a small nod.

"This was the appearance she fell in love with," he replied calmly. "So I kept it."

For a moment, he remained silent.

Then he let out a quiet sigh, a faint, almost nostalgic smile appearing on his face.

"You, on the other hand, have changed a great deal," Adam continued. "Not just in appearance, but in power."

His red eyes sharpened slightly as he studied Anark.

"If you had possessed this strength back then... you could have led us," he said. "And I would not have been forced to choose between my family... and the universe."