Chapter 2588: One last clash before returning home

"Ancestor Domain: Eternum Sun."

Cain’s roar shook the battlefield as the power within his Ancestor Drop erupted violently. Streams of darkness burst outward from his body, spreading in all directions and forming a massive domain that engulfed everything in its vicinity.

The world itself seemed to dim as the domain took shape, swallowing the remnants of the shattered battlefield and dragging both warriors into its oppressive embrace.

The Nightmare Sacred King clenched his teeth as he attempted to retreat. Ancestor Domains were very powerful, but the one flaw they had was that the opponent could escape before it closed if he was fast and powerful enough.

Unfortunately for the Sacred King, the damage from the previous explosion still rippled through his body, slowing his reactions by a crucial fraction of a second. That moment was all Cain needed.

Before the Sacred King could get far away, the domain closed with him inside.

The battlefield transformed completely.

At the center of this new reality hung a massive gray sun, radiating a cold and suffocating presence that pressed down on everything within the domain. From its surface extended countless dark tendrils, resembling veins that stretched across the sky, fracturing space itself and giving the entire domain an eerie, broken appearance.

Everything in its domain was frozen under the power of the Quietus Force. Even time and space were locked!

The Nightmare Sacred King’s figure turned gray just like everything else. However, his eyes burned with an increasingly intense red light.

The Eternum Sun was not merely a construct of power. It was a weapon aimed directly at the mind.

Within its influence, time became distorted. Every second stretched into what felt like an eternity, forcing the consciousness of those trapped inside to endure endless moments of stagnation. It was a torment that attacked perception itself, driving even powerful beings toward madness. This domain had once crippled the Dark Blood King and his entire army the moment it manifested.

Yet the Nightmare Sacred King was no ordinary opponent.

His Ancestor Power surged from within, adapting rapidly to the Quietus Force that permeated the domain. The gray stillness that sought to trap his mind began to crack under the pressure of his will, his body trembling as it fought against the distortion.

Cain felt it immediately.

His heart burned as he realized that it would only take seconds for the Nightmare Sacred King to break free completely. However, a prolonged clash within the domain had never been his intention. He only needed it to hold his opponent in place for a single decisive moment.

Everything that had happened before this had been part of that plan.

He had pushed himself to the brink, baiting the Sacred King into overextending, enduring devastating damage, and even sacrificing his own eyes to unleash the Supreme Redirection. All of it had been done to weaken his enemy just enough to ensure that escape would not be possible.

Now, it would end.

Cain’s soul burned with cold determination as he brought both gauntlets together. The blade and cannon fused, twisting and merging into a single massive weapon that pointed directly at the chest of the Nightmare Sacred King.

The Chaos Wings on his back flared brilliantly, drawing in power from every corner of the domain. Energy surged from the fractured sky and the shattered earth, feeding into the weapon. The massive cannon began to glow brighter and brighter, its radiance so intense that blood streamed from Cain’s ruined eye sockets.

The Nightmare Sacred King felt it.

The overwhelming danger triggered his instincts, forcing his body and mind to accelerate their adaptation to the limit. The gray stillness surrounding him began to fracture as his power surged violently.

Then—

"Crack."

The domain’s hold on him shattered like glass.

His wings lashed forward instantly, aiming to carve through Cain’s already wounded body and end the battle in a single strike.

But Cain was faster.

A smile spread across his bloodied face as he unleashed everything.

"Omnissiah’s Final Blast!"

All the accumulated energy erupted at once, forming a colossal scarlet beam that surged forward and struck the Nightmare Sacred King point-blank. The beam engulfed his figure entirely, its power so immense that it tore through the domain itself.

The Eternum Sun shattered into fragments as the beam blasted upward, sundering the firmament and carving a massive scar across the sky. The energy bored directly through the body of the Nightmare Sacred King, dragging him along its path as it annihilated everything in its wake.

The Ninth Realm trembled violently for several seconds even after the beam faded.

For a moment, silence reigned.

Cain remained suspended in the sky, frozen in the posture of his final attack. Then his body trembled violently, and the Omnissiah Sacred Treasure faded from his flesh.

Gravity claimed him.

He crashed into the ground with tremendous force, forming a deep crater upon impact. His body lay at its center, broken and bleeding, every inch of him screaming in agony.

Blood seeped from countless wounds, and his condition was beyond critical. The battle had lasted less than ten minutes, yet it had pushed him far beyond his limits again and again. His body and soul had endured a level of strain that bordered on self-destruction.

His mind urged him to surrender to unconsciousness, to let his body heal from the catastrophic damage it had suffered.

But he could not.

The battle was not over.

"Boom. Boom. Boom."

Heavy impacts echoed in the distance, growing closer with each passing second, as if something massive was walking toward him.

Clenching his teeth, Cain forced his broken body to move. With immense effort, he rose from the crater and looked ahead.

The Nightmare Sacred King was approaching.

Four of his wings had been destroyed so completely that they could no longer regenerate, leaving only two remaining. He used them like massive, spider-like limbs to drag himself forward across the shattered land.

But it was not just his injuries that drew Cain’s attention.

The bandages that had once covered the Sacred King were gone.

What lay beneath was horrifying.

There was no humanoid form, no recognizable structure. His body was nothing more than a grotesque mass of flesh, a bleeding tumor composed of writhing tissue and malformed growths. Two crimson eyes glowed from within that abomination, connected to the remaining wings that dragged the mass forward.

At the center of that horror, barely visible, was the heart—the location of the Ancestor Drop.

"You insignificant ant!"

Multiple mouths formed across the surface of the grotesque body, speaking in unison as their voices echoed with fury.

"Do you have any idea how much damage you have done to this body? How many sacrifices will I need to restore it?!"

Every word carried the crushing pressure of a Fourth Realm existence, enough to shatter the mind of most beings.

Yet Cain only smiled.

The more enraged his opponent became, the more satisfied he felt.

Still, he did not allow himself to lose focus. This was not over yet.

He steadied himself, forcing his battered body to remain upright as his scarlet eye burned with unyielding resolve.

"One last clash," he said quietly, his voice steady despite everything.

"Before I return home."