DC: Chapter 451/457

Chapter 451: Toward Heaven

Hell.

Things have calmed here. The volcanic flames and lava have stopped erupting. The blood-red sky no longer weeps. There is no matter or life left to mourn Lucifer's death.

A new Lord of Hell has been born.

Trigon.

This god, once a relatively insignificant figure in Hell, self-destructed in the battle to open the sealed core of Hell where Bardi was imprisoned. He received the former Lord of Hell's blessing from Bardi, Lucifer's divine favor, and the statue chocolate from the Endless family. His demonic hope surged to its peak.

With help from the gods of Heaven, he managed to sever Hell from the divine realm.

This stunned the gods of Heaven.

A god whose power was unremarkable in Hell became the new Lord of Hell after receiving Lucifer's blessing, the Endless family's statue chocolate, and separating Hell from the divine realm.

Becoming the Lord of Hell was understandable, considering he received Lucifer's blessing.

But managing to separate Hell from the divine realm was utterly absurd.

It defied logic.

It made no sense.

When the separation succeeded, the gods of Heaven were left speechless and deeply shaken.

It was simply irrational.

But if they knew that Trigon was actually Morpheus, the Lord of Nightmares, in disguise, they wouldn't have been so shocked.

"Hm?"

Bardi tore open the void and returned to Hell with the gods he had liberated from the Wall of Origin.

After absorbing the Wall of Origin, Bardi's True God form no longer appeared brutal and terrifying. Now, he looked completely human.

Behind his head floated the gods freed from the Wall of Origin.

They blanketed the sky over Hell, densely packed, radiating divine energy that poured down in torrents. Hell trembled violently. Countless evil spirits, demons, devils, goblins, wizards, skeletons, and other souls were crushed under the divine pressure, annihilated completely.

In an instant, nearly 90% of the living souls in Hell were wiped out.

They were destroyed under the gods' aura. It was tragic and complete.

Hell had truly become Hell.

Bardi raised his arm and created a microcosm with ease, enclosing all the gods within it.

All the gods seemed to shrink in an instant, standing in tight clusters upon Bardi's shoulders.

The gods were terrified.

They had never witnessed such overwhelming power before.

To gather all the gods once fused with the Wall of Origin and carry them on his shoulders—what kind of power was that?

The Creator God and many ancient deities looked at one another. To be honest, they had seen power like this before.

They had witnessed God manifest before the divine realm had even come into being.

This was no longer merely god-level.

In truth, for the gods, there were only three levels of power. Beneath the One True God, no divine being possesses immortality. No matter how great the power, if it's not the One God, it's ultimately meaningless.

Below the One God.

The One God.

And then there is that which transcends even the concept of godhood, beyond the One God—what they call the God Level.

It is legend, a concept, invisible and incomprehensible. It can vanish from the mind at any moment. It exists and does not exist.

Even space-time and matter are mere illusions before true existence.

Bardi understood his strength very well. He had not yet reached the god level imagined by the gods. He was still short of it.

But he was preparing.

"I thought the separation of Hell would fail," Bardi said lightly, his divine body towering like a pillar within Hell.

His gaze shifted from Trigon, pausing briefly. Strangely enough, everything appeared normal. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

It was as if Trigon, having absorbed Lucifer's blessing and consumed the statue chocolate from the Endless family, was exactly who he claimed to be.

But the very fact that he was able to sever Hell from the divine realm with the help of the gods in Heaven was the most abnormal thing of all.

Bardi didn't believe that Trigon and the gods of Heaven alone could strip Hell away.

To be frank, the gods of Heaven were just weaklings. In Bardi's view, even before he absorbed the Wall of Origin, they were ordinary, unremarkable—hardly worth noting.

Yet it was these same gods and Trigon who managed to separate Hell from the divine realm.

That, more than anything, left the gods of Heaven shaken.

So, he was capable of this?

Ignoring the increasingly shocked expressions of the heavenly gods as they stared at his body, Bardi casually pulled them all into the microcosm as well.

Immediately, the gods of Heaven were like huskies that had wandered into a pack of wolves. Under the cold and disdainful gazes of the ancient gods, they stiffened, forcing awkward smiles.

Then Bardi pointed a finger within Hell. All describable rules and laws, rooted in Hell's foundation, instantly transformed.

The space within Hell was frozen and locked.

Trigon was immediately bound within Hell. Bardi's illusory hand, the one that controlled the very laws of Hell, reached through Trigon's demon god form.

"Urgh…"

It was the sound of ancient, rotting wood being pried apart. The whole of Hell seemed to be wrenching apart as Trigon howled in agony.

"Trigon, you're interesting. I can't strip Hell from you all at once," Bardi laughed.

He knew Trigon couldn't possibly resist his power.

Not even one blow.

This enormous fish had finally taken the bait.

Trigon roared in pain. An illusory nightmare emerged from his demonic face. He struggled and screamed, "Why are you so powerful?!"

It was Nightmare. He could no longer maintain Trigon's appearance or posture.

"No!!!"

As Nightmare resisted, Bardi smiled. His illusory hand reached out again, like fishing for the moon in a well, and with one scoop, he pulled Hell out.

Once Hell's authority was extracted, Bardi crushed it in his hand. Then, with a flick of his phantom finger—

Nightmare's entire essence, the painful expression within the illusory black fog, was frozen midair.

Even his thoughts were locked in place.

Boom… Boom…

With a flick of Bardi's finger, all of Nightmare's power and the Nightmare Domain collapsed like bubbles, bursting and vanishing completely.

Immediately, a reversing will spread across the frozen Nightmare.

In a moment, Nightmare turned into chocolate.

Bardi opened his mouth and inhaled, completely absorbing the essence of the great beast's dream and nightmare.

Bardi believed this was a dessert offered by the great beast. However, this dessert had tried to escape the beast's control and scheme against him.

Unfortunately, it was unworthy to insert itself between Bardi and the great beast.

Bardi was certain that after this war—which he was destined to win—the great beast would appear and provide him with all the answers.

Nightmare, eliminated.

His gaze swept across the now lifeless Hell.

Then, in a blink, he vanished.

He instantly appeared in the void of the divine realm. His divine body expanded within the void. Even from distant Heaven, one could see Bardi slowly lifting his face in the dark depths of the universe.

Then, Bardi's left hand thrust upward, lifting Hell itself.

He held Hell in his left hand, the gods on his right shoulder, and walked toward Heaven.

(To be continued.)

Chapter 452: Hell to Heaven

In the divine realm, the void was silent. All gods and mortals stood with mouths agape, eyes wide with horror as they stared into the sky.

Bardi's colossal figure, like a living epic, stood tall in the divine realm. Every planet, every universe, every stretch of void—anywhere there were beings, eyes, or souls—they could all perceive his presence from different perspectives.

He existed within all things.

All things began with him.

He walked through the void. His head seemed to loom above the boundless divine realm, reaching its apex. His face was expressionless, and his gaze carried a faint indifference.

The stars were unworthy of orbiting him.

The universe had no strength to serve him.

Time had no power to record him.

The divine realm trembled and cracked under the weight of his presence.

The gods of Heaven sensed that a great calamity was upon them. They raised their heads and stared in terror. No matter which direction they looked, even if they closed their eyes or shut their minds in fear, they could still see the beginning of all things—Bardi's indifferent face.

"Impossible! This is absolutely impossible!"

"How could it be him?!"

"Father… Lord…"

"I don't believe it… I don't believe it!!!"

"No!!!!!"

The angels saw in Bardi the radiance of the past, the glory of yesteryears, the shadow of the former Lord, and the figure of the Father.

Many angels screamed and wailed. Some could not bear the heartbreak. It was not possible that someone could resemble the Father and the Lord so closely. They refused to believe it. Heaven itself resounded with defiant cries, trying to preserve in death their loyalty to the one true Lord, the Father they cherished in their hearts.

The old image branded in their hearts could not be replaced. They refused to accept this new symbol. They didn't want to look upon Bardi again, but each glance etched more of his likeness into their hearts, slowly erasing the memory of their former Lord.

"Take up arms and defend the glory of the Lord!"

Michael wept bitterly. He watched as Bardi walked through the void, hands at his sides, his vast face filling Michael's vision. The forgotten Lord pierced his heart. Tears streamed down as he cried out.

He wept profusely, yet still raised his cross-shaped sword with courage, shouting his vow to protect the faith within his heart unto death.

The higher angels wept tears of blood. One by one, they lifted their weapons, rallying their resolve.

The end had come. They could not wait for it.

To die defending the faith in their hearts was their destiny as angels.

But to be stripped of that destiny, to have their faith in the Lord and the Father ripped away, was too cruel a fate.

Too many angels lost control. Too many collapsed to the ground and sobbed. Too many were driven to madness, caught between crying and laughter.

This was the end.

When everything is forgotten, this is the end.

"Who else remembers my family? Raven, Pamela, Faora, Diana, Jenny, Hera…"

"I sacrificed all my subordinates on Krypton, gave up Faora, and failed to save Krypton."

"I traveled into the past, risking the collapse of all order, just to save Jenny, who loved me and became a monster for me."

"I fell into endless inner demons, consumed by nightmares I couldn't escape from my past life. But it was my wife Raven who pulled me through the haze and saved me from that nightmare."

"I will never forget Hera, the artificial intelligence who always stood by me, who accompanied me through 1,723,821 reincarnations in August, through over 140,000 years of loneliness."

"Does anyone remember them?"

"No!"

"Only I do!"

"I am the end, the beginning, the progress, and the conclusion."

"I am the Trinity."

"I have everything!"

A faint smile appeared on Bardi's once-indifferent face. His wives were still here, and so was he.

His eyes moistened. The memories flooded his heart like a stream of light, warming him with the presence of his loved ones.

A single tear from a god slid from the corner of his eye into the void.

"How could I allow them to suffer injustice?"

The smile on Bardi's calm face turned ruthless, a terrifying sight to the gods.

With his left hand, he raised Hell, then hurled it forward. The massive realm of Hell crashed down toward Heaven.

The bright skies of Heaven were immediately cast into shadow. The terrifying silhouette of Hell enveloped the heavens. The descent of Hell brought with it an immense, suffocating pressure, threatening to strike down upon Heaven.

Some angels screamed in madness, unable to withstand the crushing pressure from Bardi and the choking force of Hell. They believed Heaven was about to be destroyed, and were the first to return to the Lord's embrace.

Some angels looked directly at Bardi's face, only for their divine bodies to twist in madness, transforming into unrecognizable masses of flesh.

Some gods could no longer control the wrath of the angels and began to flee in terror.

Boom…

The base of Hell was stained crimson with rage. It was as though a tiny human were standing beneath a meteorite large enough to wipe out the dinosaurs.

A sense of insignificance and helplessness spread through the heart of every angel.

Suddenly, a pair of massive blue hands stretched out from the highest level of Heaven.

The Architect had emerged.

The supreme builder under God's command, who once used the Source to create all things in the divine realm.

Those massive blue hands, gentle as a mother, cradled Hell like a clear spring.

Hell halted abruptly.

The Architect held it in place, supporting it.

The terrified expressions of the angels turned to hope. The sound of war echoed in the distance.

Seeing those blue hands, Bardi lightly flicked his right hand through the void, opening the particle universe and releasing all the gods.

The sky was filled. The void became dense with figures. Generation after generation of gods, once imprisoned by the angels and fused to the Wall of Origin, now stood grim-faced, eyes red, staring toward Heaven.

"Kill them!"

Bardi gave the ruthless command. The gods surged forward in the void like a swarm of bees, blotting out the sky.

Light and savage darkness clashed on both sides.

From time to time, giant godly bodies fell. Angel wings were torn apart. Divine bodies exploded in the heavens.

In the chaos, the many gods who had once been imprisoned by angels unleashed their hatred upon this so-called paradise.

Blood soaked the heavens. The once-white light became tainted with crimson and evil.

Some of the gods once sealed to the Wall of Origin looked up and laughed, pleased to have trapped others of equal power, laughing in joy at their own liberation.

Bardi's eyes remained indifferent. From time to time, gods bearing angel-level seals approached him, only to be purified and slain in an instant. The freed gods left the battlefield singing.

Realizing they were truly free, the gods became even more frenzied and unrestrained. No place in all of Heaven was untouched by war. The killing reached new heights, and blood filled the void.

Bardi moved.

His immense hand reached for the Architect.

To the shock of all gods, that great hand, like one reaching from beyond the heavens, touched the Architect. Under the stunned expression in the Architect's eyes, his body shattered into fragments. The resulting shockwave spread across Heaven, sending angels tumbling apart.

Not even the supreme builder under God's command could withstand a single finger from Bardi.

Bardi had no intention of questioning this fool about why he killed his wife.

No god could stop Hell. And now, Hell resumed its descent.

The angels' mental states completely collapsed. Many abandoned resistance altogether, crying out, begging for the Lord to appear and save them.

Boom…

At the moment Hell was about to strike Heaven.

The Divine Well of Waves in Heaven erupted violently, spewing divine waves that surged toward Hell, crashing upward to meet it.

(To be continued.)

Chapter 453: God!

"What is that?"

"What in Heaven can stop Hell?"

"In the realm of gods, shouldn't Heaven and Hell belong to the same being?"

"That is…"

"That's something even filthier and more twisted than evil itself. Something more terrifying than Hell, something that even the gods fear. The source of all evil across several epochs—Shenbo!"

"The poison of the gods. The very evil Heaven uses to control the divine realm!"

Some gods gasped in shock. None of them had expected that the Source could actually stop Hell. Even more unbelievable was the fact that the Source would push Hell toward Heaven.

What shocked them the most was that, theoretically, Hell and Heaven belonged to the same entity in the divine realm—order and chaos, unity and division. Yet when they collided, there was an energy capable of keeping them apart.

And that energy was the infamous Shenbo, long labeled as the greatest cancer and poison across several eras.

Boom!!

The Well of Divine Waves erupted from the depths of Heaven. The formless and invisible divine wave struck the underside of Hell. Ripples of divine energy surged through the void, continuously impacting Bardi. The divine waves reshaped their surroundings, violating the foundational structure of the divine realm.

"Ahhh!!"

Some gods came into contact with Shenbo and screamed in agony.

This time, Shenbo seemed… different.

In the past, Shenbo was like the oxygen of the divine realm. Gods could choose to breathe it or not.

To breathe it meant enlightenment, constant revelation, rapid ascension.

But very few gods willingly chose the path of the Source. Because Shenbo was poisonous. It would corrupt their uniqueness. Therefore, the only gods who walked that path were those closely tied to Heaven or harboring other motives.

Still, Shenbo had always offered freedom of choice.

But now, this surge of divine waves pounding against Hell felt entirely different.

A god made contact with the wave and let out a bone-chilling scream. Shenbo passed straight through his body. The god trembled, his face pale, his eyes refusing to meet Bardi's.

"Save… save… save me…"

He reached out to Bardi, desperate for salvation. But before Bardi could respond, the god's eyes glowed white, his divinity vanished, and his uniqueness was locked within his body.

Without hesitation, the god turned around and leapt into the Well of Divine Waves.

It looked noble and radiant, like a righteous act of sacrifice.

"What are you doing?!"

A nearby god shouted in horror. It was too unnatural. A deity who had just escaped imprisonment was now throwing himself back into what they all knew to be the gods' poison.

This couldn't be voluntary.

He didn't believe it.

They had been trapped on the Wall of Origin for countless ages, longing for freedom. How could someone willingly throw themselves into the Well of Divine Waves?

"Ahhhhh…"

"Poison… it's poison…"

"Run!"

"Don't touch the divine wave…"

"Run!!!"

The divine wave spread rapidly. Gods on the front lines, once mercilessly slaughtering angels, now screamed as the wave washed over them. Their eyes began to glow white. Without hesitation, they hurled themselves into the Well of Divine Waves and vanished.

The gods behind them recoiled in terror, retreating frantically to Bardi's side, eyes wide in disbelief at the nightmare unfolding before them.

"It's the Lord!"

"It's our Father doing this!"

"Father is showing pity to His children!"

"The Lord is helping us!"

"Devote yourself to the Father, and make Heaven whole again!"

"This once-glorious, sacred paradise has now fallen to corruption."

"Father has come to save us!"

The angels, overwhelmed with emotion, fell to their knees and cried. Their faith had not been forgotten after all.

Most of the angels were swept up by Shenbo. Filled with fervor and devotion, they surged toward the Well of Divine Waves, leaping in like pouring beans.

Bardi and the gods around him watched in stunned silence, their scalps tingling.

Something was deeply wrong with Heaven.

"No!!"

An archangel screamed.

It was Michael.

He tried to absorb the new Shenbo wave to fend off attacks from five gods of equal rank.

But after only a moment of absorption, his brave and fearless face twisted in terror. His usually radiant expression contorted.

"Father!!!"

"I've never betrayed You. I've conquered countless trials for You over the years. I've earned endless merit. Why are You doing this to me?"

"No!! Father!!"

"I'm not guilty!"

Gripping his cross-shaped sword, Michael cried in despair. His divine body radiated waves of divine energy.

Then, his screaming suddenly stopped. He turned, spread his golden wings, and hurled himself into the Well of Divine Waves, disappearing.

It was horrifying.

"What's happening?!"

"Lord, have we been wrong?"

"No, I refuse to believe it!"

"I don't believe it!"

Gabriel was terrified. He fled the range of the Poison. The remaining archangels tried to test the wave themselves, unwilling to believe the Lord had abandoned them.

In the end, Gabriel watched in disbelief as his fellow archangels one by one dove into the Well of Divine Waves.

The battlefield fell silent. Only the divine wave remained, pounding against Hell, echoing through the void like shattering glass.

The poison had spread through all of Heaven. Over 90% of the angels and gods were drawn into the Well like pouring beans, infected by the divine wave.

Gabriel and a handful of angels, seeing the truth, escaped from Heaven, bearing witness to this catastrophe, this destruction of the angels.

"Impossible… it's impossible…"

Gabriel and the remaining angels still refused to accept the truth.

Even if they died in battle, they would never retreat.

But why was it the Lord's divine wave?

Why was this happening?

They were not just confused. They were terrified.

Bardi watched silently as all of this unfolded.

Then suddenly, he stretched out his massive hand. The entire sky of the divine realm seemed to be covered by Bardi's palm.

Boom…

All of Heaven's structures, no matter how firm the pillars, how grand the palaces, how towering the sacred mountains, were instantly crushed into quarks. All was reduced to chaotic dust.

Only after the dust began to settle did Bardi slowly withdraw his hand.

As the chaos dissipated, the truth of the Well of Divine Waves was revealed.

They saw something unbelievable.

The dust cleared, and it became obvious that the Well of Divine Waves was a mouth—constantly inhaling and exhaling. The divine waves were merely its breath. A massive face began to emerge.

All beings seemed to exist within that face. It was enormous, vague, and in a deep sleep.

"God!"

(To be continued.)

Chapter 454: Act of God

"That… was just His breath…"

The gods' faces were filled with shock, twisting with disbelief and dread.

This breath spread across the entire divine realm.

Long before Bardi altered the foundations of the realm, he had already permeated every corner, submerging all things within it.

Huff… huff…

God was simply asleep, yet His breathing alone shook heaven and earth.

Countless universes, worlds, civilizations, and lives were born and destroyed with each breath. Chaotic and boundless.

"Ahhh!!!"

Suddenly, the gods began to scream. Some froze, wide-eyed, then burst into flames from within. Heartfire erupted from their divine bodies, and in seconds they were reduced to ash, leaving behind only their purest uniqueness, which drifted toward God's mouth and was absorbed.

More and more gods self-immolated. Others twisted uncontrollably, devolving into piles of formless mud.

Just looking at God caused changes beyond description.

Beside Bardi, gods were burning, convulsing, screaming. The sight was horrifying.

"He cannot be looked upon directly," Bardi warned cautiously. Staring at God's face, he waved his hand and summoned his origin power, constructing a wall of informational defense to shield the gods and block this wave of informational aggression emanating from God.

Bardi, having reached the level of origin, had mastered the use of energy and particles to the utmost. He could create universes with a thought, manipulating particles to their limits.

Once particle mastery is complete, the next stage is information—high-dimensional data birthed from one's essence, capable of altering matter, space, time, and soul. All things are distilled into that data.

With the information wall erected, Bardi isolated the mutated gods. The others quickly retreated behind him, almost to the very edge of the divine realm.

They were terrified.

A single glance nearly meant death.

This was no longer a battlefield for gods beneath the One Above All.

They could only watch from afar, fortunate to be protected by Bardi's wall, able to witness the culmination of countless epochs—the emergence of the legendary God.

Rumble…

As if dissatisfied with the uniqueness He had absorbed, the indifferent face of God began to solidify. Slowly, He opened His eyes.

Within His gaze were chaos and void.

All things—life, time, struggle—meant nothing before Him.

He seemed to be awake, to possess awareness. At that moment, the entire divine realm froze. The base structure of the divine realm, once altered by Bardi, shattered instantly as God stirred.

The whole divine realm trembled, then stabilized once more.

He was its center. Supreme.

And yet, so ordinary.

The realm did not shake from His pressure, but rather responded naturally. It froze not from His will, but because it was part of the divine system—a natural environment, like water flowing downhill.

With God's emergence, this "natural order" manifested.

Bardi felt a heavy, crushing pressure fall upon him as God turned His gaze.

"…Origin…"

God spoke. Plainly. Not with awe, nor anger. No earth-shattering force accompanied His words.

Your presence, your absence—it made no difference to Him.

He was so ordinary… yet the entire realm orbited Him.

"…God…" Bardi whispered softly.

With a single glance, Bardi felt as though the full weight of Hell rested on his shoulders.

God was more powerful, more unknowable than Bardi had ever imagined.

At that moment, Bardi finally understood why Origin became the Wall of Origin, sealing away so many gods.

Because Origin… simply cannot withstand God.

Such supremacy is not something even the source of all things can face.

Bardi was stronger than the old Origin.

He had realized his Trinity—beginning, progress, and end.

He had also evolved, constantly growing stronger. Even in the face of God, he instinctively began analyzing, adapting, evolving countermeasures and higher forms of data in real time.

He had once faced the voice of God and the thoughts of the great beast, devouring both.

Yet even with that, God's presence was supreme. Irreplaceable.

For a long time, Bardi had not understood what God or the beast were aiming for.

The two seemed like mortal enemies, both circling him, scheming against each other.

Now, Bardi began to understand the shape of God's plans.

God's eyes drifted from Bardi and He sighed.

"Three eras… and only this much?"

His words sent chills through the entire divine realm.

"Run!!!"

Gabriel's expression changed in an instant. His golden wings flared, and in a flash, he soared toward the edge of the realm.

But strangely…

He turned back.

His eyes glowed with divine reverence as he flew straight into God's mouth and vanished.

All the remaining angels, all the lower gods loyal to Heaven, everyone who had absorbed without exception were drawn toward God's mouth and disappeared.

The gods behind Bardi trembled in horror. In that moment, they finally understood the reason so many gods had been sealed to the Wall of Origin since ancient times.

They were not guardians.

They were rations.

Instantly, the gods scattered in all directions, fleeing in terror.

God's gaze remained emotionless. He opened His mouth and spoke the sound of creation—the first sound that separated matter, energy, and space.

That sound carried a divine wave that surged across the divine realm in an instant.

Bardi's expression changed. His body vibrated as waves of raw data crashed into him. He shattered the sound of creation, then absorbed, analyzed, and evolved it into the sound of the end.

Beginning and end, birth and death—two opposing forces clashed throughout the divine realm.

It was absurd.

The newborn voice, symbolizing dawn and birth, chased the gods, pushing them toward God's mouth to be digested.

Meanwhile, the voice of ending, of destruction and cessation, resisted desperately, trying to protect the gods.

"It is over."

God spoke again.

Bardi could no longer hold the line. God's body cracked apart, but it could not infect Bardi's origin, his evolved form, or the end-state of his divine self. God could not consume him.

However, their power was not equal. In moments, the voice of ending was silenced by God's words.

The gods had no more hope of escape. With anguished screams, their eyes lit with reverent light, and they began to fly toward God's mouth.

Boom…

Suddenly, Hell awakened.

It stirred like a massive sleeping beast. That awakening shattered the poison of Shenbo, snapping the gods out of its influence.

God's face shifted slightly. His eyelids rose as He turned to look toward Hell.

"…Great Beast."

(To be continued.)

Chapter 455: God and Beast

Hell unfolded.

It revealed itself to be an unimaginably vast beast. It bore features of a living creature, as though lazily stirring from slumber after being disturbed.

This monstrous, black beast carried the traits of every known lifeform. No god could clearly count how many limbs, eyes, or forms it possessed. No one could even tell if it had a physical body or if it was a pure energy entity—a conceptual form beyond recognition.

But the suffocating darkness and the aura that directly opposed God revealed one undeniable truth.

He was a beast.

The opposite of God.

The other side of God… was this monstrous beast.

"The Beast!"

The gods snapped out of their daze. Upon seeing the beast emerge, many were overwhelmed with joy.

The monstrous beast stretched its body. No god could discern its structure, nor confirm whether it even had a tangible form.

Across its dark body, two eyes lit up like cosmic torches, instantly illuminating the entire divine realm.

It was ironic. The black beast had brought light to the divine realm. Although the Supreme God did not symbolize light, He had come to consume the gods and all life.

"It's time to end this."

The beast's voice rumbled like thunder, echoing across the divine realm.

The gods responded. Their divine bodies trembled, and they flew to the beast's back, one after another, standing atop its spine.

Watching this, Bardi couldn't help but find it ironic.

At that moment, God's massive face remained calm. His indifferent gaze turned toward the beast.

"You know it is useless," God said plainly, without emotion.

In contrast, the beast's voice brimmed with passion.

"Useless? I don't think so."

"This era will be the end of it."

The beast roared, its tone laced with mockery.

"Three eras… You've devoured every unique one the gods managed to birth. And for what? The pitiful tragedies of past ages prove that you cannot save anything. Another crisis is coming. The divine realm should face it together, not be imprisoned under your control."

"You and I exist to protect the divine realm. Perhaps we were fated to be here from the beginning. But the divine realm is real, more real than either of us. I've protected it for countless ages. That alone proves I'm right."

"Uniqueness exists to be unique, not to serve you. You hoard it, consuming all life. You are no longer the Supreme God of the past."

The beast exposed the ultimate truth.

It was nothing like what Bardi had expected.

He had always thought the beast was the one devouring the gods and stealing their power. But in truth, it was God—the Supreme God—who needed the unique existences.

He consumed them to grow stronger, to protect the divine realm.

That realization caught Bardi off guard.

Beyond God and the beast, there were other invaders. Forces neither of them could ignore.

"God, you are wrong."

"I am right."

God and the beast spoke simultaneously. They were polar opposites. They could never coexist.

"This third generation beast will perish," God declared, devoid of compassion.

The beast had survived into its third generation. God had tolerated enough. The uniqueness He had gathered was already vast.

If He could absorb the rest of the divine realm, He would finally be able to protect it… and keep it from annihilation.

To God, living beings were expendable.

"Life is everything," the beast responded, its stance unchanged across all three eras.

"The divine realm is everything," God replied coldly. "As long as it exists, we can create more life. The realm is the center of all. It birthed us and all particles. It must be preserved."

And then they fought.

Not in a way any being in the divine realm could comprehend.

Only Bardi could perceive their battle.

God and the beast did not move. They simply were—existing in place, throughout past, present, and future. Time, concepts, logic… all collapsed as they clashed.

Everything was reduced to nothing.

Only the beast and God remained, locked in a gaze.

Their fight was not physical. It was pure information—concepts and data.

A single digit, like "1," expanded into infinite implications. One begat two, two begat three, and from that came all things. Life, civilization, the expansion of the universe, and its final destruction, vanished like bubbles.

And that was only a skirmish of thought.

Even that yielded immense benefits for Bardi.

Silently, he absorbed the information, the knowledge, the power. Slowly, he evolved toward their level.

The battle became infinite. The void of the divine realm was annihilated, turning into pure nothingness. Even the idea of nothing vanished. Color, space, time, past, future, and the present—all dissolved into absence.

In this duel, there was no time paradox, no temporal manipulation. Time did not apply to them.

They were too supreme to be remembered.

To witness them was a blessing beyond comprehension.

Even as God absorbed gods and beings, His thoughts radiated a strange joy. All who were absorbed felt grateful, as if blessed by Him.

There were no shockwaves, no explosions.

Gods atop the beast's back vanished in silence, lost in nirvana. They faced God's supremacy, failed to resist, and were absorbed—erased completely.

The beast had no choice but to cooperate with the gods. Once he appeared, they united with him to resist God.

But even so, with all their unique power combined, they still couldn't match God's supreme uniqueness.

One by one, gods were annihilated. Their deaths passed in solemn silence, forever lost.

"It is finished."

"The divine realm births all things, and all things will be reborn again."

God spoke flatly.

"This endless cycle is despair for all life… for every unique being," the beast replied.

This struggle, inherited from the first generation of beasts, had become an instinct. The beast represented the desires of every living being in the realm. Every longing to survive. Every hope. Every refusal to be consumed.

No one wants to be a vessel.

God chose for them.

All life was to become His sustenance. In exchange, He would guard the realm.

"God, you are wrong."

The beast sneered.

Then, suddenly, he turned his head.

In Bardi's vision, everything went black.

The beast devoured Bardi in one bite.

(To be continued.)

Chapter 456: The Former Forerunner, the Beast at the End

It's dark here. There is never daylight.

Even Bardi's immense power couldn't pierce through the darkness.

He was already inside the beast's body.

In an instant, the darkness surged.

Bardi grew wary, his eyes flickering slightly.

The dense darkness gathered before Bardi, forming a figure with a cold expression.

"You should recognize this face."

The figure formed by the beast spoke.

"?"

Bardi was puzzled. He studied the figure carefully, but didn't recognize the person it resembled.

"What are you trying to do, beast? You know you can't devour me."

Bardi glanced at the figure warily.

He wasn't lying.

Whether it was a beast or a god, once Bardi had devoured the Wall of Origin, they became fully self-aware, realizing their own trinity and recognizing their uniqueness. With that uniqueness came the impossibility of devouring each other.

Without hesitation, Bardi even had a deep conviction that they were all false, and only he was real.

Still, he believed that both the gods and the beasts must feel the same way. That's why the gods ignored the creatures in the Divine Realm.

As for the beast, Bardi genuinely didn't know what it was planning at this moment.

"You don't know?"

"He exists in the same reality as you. Both you and he possess true uniqueness."

The beast spoke in a conceptual tone.

He had once thought that encountering someone with such uniqueness was already the limit, but he never imagined that there could be another being with true uniqueness.

When he discovered Bardi's existence, the beast nearly collapsed.

It was something that contradicted everything he knew.

Sometimes, he even suspected that he himself was false.

Bardi was shocked.

The same reality?

That memory stretched far back, so far that Bardi thought of it as merely a different world of the same place.

Maybe there was something there that wasn't here.

Maybe the events there were just projections from another world.

At Bardi's level, he had already realized that countless universes and worlds were intricately connected.

He had truly sensed someone using him as a model to write a novel.

They claimed to have created it—but how could they know it was actually Bardi's own influence that inspired them to write the story?

Everything was a novel, a passage of text, an image, a fleeting thought, a splash from another world…

You could say it was a projection from another world, or a mere reflection, or a trace of leaked information.

It didn't matter, because the world did not exist in isolation. Everything was deeply interconnected. In reality, energy, spirit, soul, and true spirit were all endlessly entangled.

There was no such thing as a completely independent, sovereign entity.

So, they all pursued true oneness.

It was not surprising.

But now, the "same reality" mentioned by the beast triggered memories of a long time ago, of when Bardi first arrived on Krypton, and even the reality before he came to Krypton.

That reality… might as well be called the DC Universe.

"Looks like you've remembered something."

The beast seemed hopeful, as if sensing a new path forward.

Bardi's expression turned grim.

The beast didn't say much, but it still left Bardi with a heavy and irritable feeling that was hard to shake.

"Who is he?"

Bardi asked. Perhaps this was another traveler from the same place, someone who had arrived even earlier.

"The Pillar of Time."

The beast spoke the name with caution, doing its best to shield all associated cause and effect.

The thick black screen rolled, and it felt as if a gaze passed over, paused for a moment, then departed. The black screen rolled again and again.

"He once said that a mutation in reality led to his arrival, or the arrival of others, to this place."

"He's making some long-term plans and waiting for you."

"All of this… was told by him."

The beast's eyes were filled with deep regret, remorse, and resentment—rich emotions surged within.

The beast hadn't forgotten. When it encountered The Pillar of Time and tried to devour him, it was nearly beaten to death and then used for research. What made it angriest was that The Pillar of Time even used its skin tissue to make a cloak for his wife.

It was humiliating.

Completely outrageous, that bastard.

All of it left the beast with a terrible impression of the Pillar of Time. Yet, it had to admit the man's capabilities.

"The Pillar of Time... a figure among figures…"

Bardi muttered to himself thoughtfully.

He had no recollection of the name, but he knew the beast wasn't lying.

This must be a forerunner.

Or someone who came with him due to a rupture in reality.

He was working to resolve the issue and needed Bardi as well.

Whether to help or not—he'd decide that later.

At this moment, Bardi was helpless, even in danger of being swallowed by the beast.

"You'll definitely meet him in the future. But for now, let's get to business."

The beast spoke impatiently.

"I devour you, or you devour me."

"I don't believe what The Pillar of Time said. I don't believe that you'll be the one to win."

Bardi's eyes narrowed, a fierce light shining in them. His body erupted with overwhelming power, enough to tear the universe apart. Various concepts—fate, cause and effect, life and death, beginning, evolution, endings—all surged forth and were pushed to their extremes by him.

He knew he was about to face the most powerful battle in history.

The timing might be uncertain, but the result was clear: He would win.

Because he was truly unique, surpassing the uniqueness of both the beast and the gods.

Possibly—

"I am the real one!"

Bardi roared fiercely. Surrounded by chaos, his divine evolutionary body began to clash against the surrounding darkness, growing taller and stronger. The thick darkness was absorbed by him like ink, then turned into antibodies.

The traits of countless creatures began to appear in the surrounding darkness. Throughout the history of the Divine Realm, all kinds of magical biological traits were reflected in the beast's body, and all kinds of information were pushed to their limits and swarmed toward Bardi.

"Very good, use all your power to devour me."

The monstrous beast was pleased. The overwhelming black mist poured into Bardi's divine body, to the point of bursting. For a moment, it seemed like even Bardi's divine form couldn't contain it all.

It had never felt so full—so thoroughly devoured.

At the critical moment, Bardi evolved an even stronger adaptive devouring mechanism for the beast's information, then slowly began to recover and continued to consume the beast.

"What are you doing?"

Suddenly, Bardi was shocked.

The beast wasn't resisting at all.

"Devour me, then devour God, and you will become the only one in the Divine Realm."

"With everything I have, become the last, ultimate beast."

"Hahaha…"

Bardi suddenly understood.

The beast was destined to die at the hands of God.

God had allowed the beast to grow for three eras, letting it be reborn in the Divine Realm again and again, nurturing it for three generations, then harvesting it.

But unfortunately for the god, the beast met The Pillar of Time and saw The Pillar of Time's true uniqueness.

So it understood its final solution.

That was to make Bardi into the beast.

Bardi andThe Pillar of Time shared the same true uniqueness.

Only Bardi could defeat God—only he could destroy God.

The beast had no way out.

For him, for one who was bound to disappear, helping Bardi—who inherited everything from the beast, who became the new beast—was his victory.

And also Bardi's victory.

(To be continued.)

Chapter 457: Bardi

The Realm of God.

God's expression was cold and indifferent. Though seemingly devoid of emotion, it harbored emotions far more profound and powerful than any living being.

No version of becoming Him could truly be emotionless.

Emotionlessness was merely an indifferent operational program.

The stronger one was, the richer their emotions should be.

However, unlike ordinary mortals with emotions that can be understood and explained, His emotions transcended dimensions. His higher emotional dimension could contain all emotions—completely and entirely.

Therefore, no matter how violent the beast's emotions or words were, God showed no reaction. He embraced everything.

He also embraced all living beings within the Realm of God.

But living beings were just one small part of the Realm. As long as the Realm of God existed, life would always arise.

He guarded the Realm of God and the root of all life.

"This is..."

But at this moment, God's indifferent expression shifted to one of surprise. His eyes seemed stunned as they fell upon the massive face before Him.

The beast in the chaos and darkness suddenly began to twist.

"Stop!"

God was furious. His enormous face swelled with anger, and His voice boomed, a command powerful enough to reject all things. A message connected to the beast, attempting to prevent it from committing suicide.

The beast's cosmic pupils, black holes glowing with light, looked at God with pity.

God's command initially managed to stall the beast for a moment. But in the next instant, Bardi, who had already devoured most of the beast, evolved a rejection mechanism using the beast's information. It instantly blocked God's rejection.

God was powerless.

The beast's pitiful gaze gradually disappeared.

The gods that had been carried on its back were gently flung to the outer edge of the Realm of God.

Then, the vast dark body of the beast surged and transformed into a massive egg.

Everything began anew.

Beginning. Process. End.

The old origin was the beginning.

Bardi was the process.

The beast was the end.

This was the new Trinity.

The egg began to tremble, rustling through the Realm of God. The entire realm rejoiced, cheering from its deepest essence, moved by His arrival.

A hand extended from the egg. He reached out and clenched a fist. Then, all four limbs burst forth from the shell. Bardi stood complete. He was the ideal of all beings, and all could witness the perfect Bardi appearing in the Realm of God.

The call of the Realm of God reached its peak. Bardi's appearance moved it deeply. The tides surged, birthing worlds, joyfully creating universes, life, and endless beginnings.

The frequent births of universes were like delicate blossoms swaying through the Realm of God, celebrating the arrival of their beloved.

"Dad..."

"Mother..."

"Father..."

"Mother..."

At that moment, the Realm of God was like a child—clinging to and proud of its father.

God momentarily lost His mind.

The former Realm of God had not been like this. It had once shaken in God's presence, freezing time and space, solidifying every inch of its fabric in awe of His arrival.

But never had it displayed such vitality.

I... have protected you too.

Was I wrong?

God was dazed. His immense face was lost in confusion.

Bardi's face, formed from the appearances of all beings, finally returned to its original look. He no longer needed the forms of others—only his own true self.

As long as He existed, all else followed.

Bardi's expression was gentle. He smiled softly, then extended his hand and stroked the void, just like a father affectionately ruffling his child's hair.

Boom...

The Realm of God trembled. Joy became overwhelming. All foundational information and every aspect of existence became linked to Bardi.

Even at the lowest levels, the authenticity and uniqueness that formed the Realm of God began to emerge.

This authenticity and uniqueness had not revealed themselves earlier, even when Bardi altered the underlying structure. At that time, he could have gradually destroyed the Realm of God, yet it had remained silent.

He never knew that the Realm of God was unique.

Not just Bardi—even God, the beast, gods, demons, and entities within the Void who had yet to emerge—none of them had realized the Realm of God was so real and singular.

The Realm of God had borne everything in silence.

God's massive eyes widened in shock. He could no longer endure it. Tears poured from his eyes, and with each tear, a universe was born.

He had never known the Realm of God was truly unique.

He had never known the joy it would feel upon His appearance.

He had never known what the Realm of God had silently endured.

He was revered as the all-knowing, all-powerful God, but in the end, that was only a title.

Everything carried by the Realm of God… was life.

But what had He done before?

He had delighted in praise and glory, becoming the supreme being of the Realm. Yet He had consumed countless creatures, gods, and unique existences.

The Realm of God carried Him, but He devoured its children.

They were His children too. They should have flourished and displayed their brilliance within the Realm of God, but they had all perished.

And now, the Realm of God rejoiced, celebrated, and exulted in Bardi's arrival. In the appearance of another Him.

One unlike Himself.

God suddenly laughed. His whole face twisted.

His thoughts, his purpose, his existence—

All of it was proven wrong.

He was confirmed to be wrong.

For a moment, God felt meaningless.

God broke.

Sin began to consume Him.

The instant He acknowledged His own error, guilt erupted from deep within, twisting His expression.

He began to dissolve into darkness. Limbs emerged, twisted curses followed. Utter darkness. Deep pain. Intense, unrelenting sorrow from a love too vast to endure. This pain could not be extinguished. It was enough to destroy Him, to distort Him.

He was blackening… about to become a dark beast.

But—

Bardi gently brushed the top of God's face with his hand, smiling as he absorbed all of God's negative emotions. He absorbed God's uniqueness, God's power.

Bardi bore the burden of God's mistakes.

God, weak and disoriented, saw a great hand lovingly stroking his head—a warmth he had never experienced before.

Like... a father.

(To be continued.)