Silence dropped on the scene with none able to use their vocal cords. To say nothing of Celestial Slaughter, from the Dukes to Yvonne, there wasn’t a single person that understood what was going on. They could only stare slack-jawed with eyes wide open.
Konrad’s body no longer released any dreadful presence. Instead, it was a mild aura of contradiction that rippled from his form, as if the very root of his existence went against all rationality, transcending logic!
A result of Konrad’s final realm: Paradox.
And with that realm, Konrad gained a single ability, the right to control all that was illogical. The illogic stood beyond logic and therefore, Konrad could control all things. An Almighty such as Celestial Slaughter was now no better than a powerless infant awaiting his abuse.
"I don’t understand...I can’t understand...why? How?"
Celestial Slaughter asked in a mental message, with his entire soul screaming for enlightenment even as blood gurgled in his throat!
"Simple, Plan C: making you believe that my last option was to combine the three artifacts into an Almighty tool when in reality...I took a page from your book."
Konrad began, causing more confusion to spread within Celestial Slaughter’s mind. But with his towering intellect, how could he not understand the meaning behind the words? His eyes widened in disbelief, and he quivered within Konrad’s hand.
"You...used me as a template!"
He stammered in a mental message, pulling an approving nod from Konrad.
"Clever boy. Indeed, from the moment you proved yourself to be such a pain in the neck, I chose to imitate you. Just like you used Regretless as a template, I’d help you reach the peak, take a Mirror Image of you, combine it with a Firmament Fruit and my own abilities to create a realm that would only be stronger than you."
Konrad replied with his lips curved in a fiendish grin!
"You mean to say..."
Celestial Slaughter quivered as his eyes went bloodshot, and again, Konrad nodded in approval.
"Right. I knew that for the longest time, thanks to the crown you could see my moves through two of my consorts even without their knowledge. One broke free of the shackles, but the other one didn’t have the means to.
Using your sight, I convinced you of what I wanted you to believe while planning to help you in fulfilling every single one of your plans. So I did exactly what I should have not, sought and awoke Shadow, turned a blind eye to Regretless’ Evil and Neutral Body’s schemes, let you destroy Shadow and the Firmament through the sacrifice of Regretless, and finally become Almighty.
You wanted Shadow gone, but who told you that I did not? With Shadow gone, my shackles naturally vanished, giving me utter freedom in pursuing my final step. I just needed the best template imaginable, the Almighty Template to become the True Supreme - you - my clever boy."
Konrad snickered while giving Celestial Slaughter’s cheeks a few taps.
"Insane! Insane! You are utterly insane! What if anything went wrong? What if the mirroring failed? What if the step failed? What if the result wasn’t as you expected? How could you be so reckless? Insane! Such insanity ought to be damned!"
Celestial Slaughter rambled in mental messages, unable to accept the reality of Konrad’s words. Too much. It just was too much to bear! Alas, bearing it was all he could do.
"If you are not willing to gamble all you got, if you can only take a step with 100% of certainty, how dare you claim the title of Supreme Conqueror? Nonsensical. Eons of nothingness made you forget a simple truth: To win, you must first be prepared to lose!"
Konrad declared as his hand tightened around Celestial Slaughter’s wretched neck.
"If you cannot fathom defeat, if you cannot bear the weight of its consequences, how can you drive yourself to the acme of your abilities? How can you wrestle as if your very life and the fate of that which you cherish the most was on the line? How can you and how dare you set foot on the road to Supremacy?!
I don’t fear death! I don’t fear defeat! I only fear not having tried!
Celestial Slaughter, you are not qualified because without certainty you dare not try! Behind the veil of nothingness, you cower in fear. Driven by the Conqueror’s Will, you can’t afford the tiniest thought of loss; you quiver and flounder before the specter of defeat so you think, think, think and think, only then you do you dare make a move!"
Konrad spat with absolute disdain.
"But how could things work that way? I am flawed, you are flawed, the sand is flawed the sun is flawed, Life and Death, Truth and Fate, infiniteness and nothingness, all are flawed! To seek perfection at every step is the true meaning of delusion!
I dare make my life the gambling price while you put nothing of worth on the table. Hence, I win! Hence, you lose! Henceforth and throughout eternity, only one man can say the three words I Am Supreme.
That man is I!"
Konrad’s words tore through Celestial Slaughter’s mind, rebuilding his emotional spectrum, and filling him with dread! Yes, for the first time in his existence, he felt the pressure of fear! All men experience it at least once, but he never did, never had the need to, and therefore knew not how to handle it!
Worse, he faced the most dreadful existence of the past, present, and future!
As if shaken by an epilepsy crisis, Celestial Slaughter spasmed in Konrad’s hand, but undisturbed, Konrad hoisted him up, intensifying the squeezing of his neck, and forcing him to experience that base fear of a man feeling life being squeezed out of him!
"I don’t need to bar the cultivation paths!
I don’t need to forbid Supremacy!
Almighties may rise, I shall crush them still. Chaos may unfurl, my will shall guide its course!
That is what it means to be Supreme!"
Konrad waved his hand, and instantly, the chaos following the Firmament and Shadow’s collapse ended. A finger snap followed, and the destroyed worlds flew back in time, restored as pristine as they used to be! Feeling those outrageous changes, Celestial Slaughter’s already chaotic mind surrendered to disarray and he neared all-out madness!
"Impossible! Impossible! This can’t be! It is illogical! Irrational! Where is the basis? I can’t understand! I can’t understand!"
His mind screamed the words as his gurgling throat failed to carry them out. Blood overflowed from his lips, yet not the tiniest bit stained Konrad! His lips flashed that roguish smile all existences throughout the omniverse would never forget.
For indeed, Konrad made this scene appear in the skies of every single world of the Omniverse, displayed before all its sentient beings.
"With the Omniverse at my feet, 16,000 Valkyries by my side, my loyal followers and all sentient lives as the witnesses, I, the Profane Prince, announce my reign of eternal domination!
Henceforth, let the name of Konrad be the only synonym of sovereignty!
The only echo of Supremacy!
To whoever wishes to challenge my rule, I welcome you try! Let your carcass join the pile of the corpses I trod on to call myself supreme!"
*SNAP*
With one brutal move, Konrad wrenched off Celestial Slaughter’s gored head, making his blood erupt like a broken dam and incessantly tumble down! Celestial Slaughter’s lips froze in an "O" shape, and his trembling eyes remained still.
His life remained, but his strength had just vanished!
Cultivation? Gone!
Nothingness? Gone!
Infiniteness? Gone!
All-Transcendence? Gone!
Only the might of his bloodline kept him breathing! Yet, he knew that without a word, Konrad could also erase it!
"I don’t want to die! I can’t die! This is not fair! I won! Cheating! You’re cheating! I won! You are supposed to be dead! I won! Stop cheating and give me back my crown!"
Erratic rambles burst from Celestial Slaughter’s demented mind as his head wiggled in Konrad’s hand, and his body burned into black ashes.
"Very well. You will not die. You will remain a head, a powerless, immortal head planted on a pike throughout the rest of eternity. Don’t worry, Dragon Dark will keep you company.
Entertain me and I shall maintain your insignificant breath, irritate me, and I shall end it as simply as this."
*PAH*
Konrad smashed Celestial Slaughter’s head within his two hands, making it burst into blood and bone debris! But shockingly, right afterward, he snapped his fingers, and the debris gathered to reform the destroyed head!
Celestial Slaughter went mad with fright. If he had pants, he would soil them. Alas, he only had that head! Dragon Dark, however, utterly collapsed! And as he quivered in bottomless fright, his heart spiraled out of control, and he spurted blood!
"Noooo! Kill me! Kill me!"
Celestial Slaughter begged, but in the Profane Prince’s vocabulary, mercy was always in short supply!
Konrad hurled the head, and it turned into a meteor to cross the omniverse and rush back into the Jade Capital! There, it landed on a pike!
With a spin, Konrad turned toward his consorts and forces, sweeping them with his icy blue glance, and lifting their minds with his fiendish grin!
In tandem, all bowed to give their congratulations. However, a formless force prevented them from completing that move.
"This is no time to kneel and pay homage. We have an eternity for such trifles. Rise and enjoy the fruit of your labor.
The Omniverse is ours!"
Konrad’s words roused the devils’ spirits, and they rose back to their feet!
Right, this wasn’t the time, this wasn’t the moment! They could kneel anywhere, from the imperial palace to the dirtiest town, from the Ancient Crystal World to the most remote corner of the omniverse for indeed, they had won!
The domination of the Profane Prince, the domination of the Chthonian Jade Dynasty, all was finally a reality!
The era of devils finally took flight!
Orderlies looked at the monarch with veneration, while consorts eyed him with loving adoration! In tandem, all raised their Firmament Fruits and brought them to their lips for an impromptu banquet!
*CRUNCH*
The first bite of the new and final world order thus echoed, singing the grumbling joy of the 376,000 Devils! And before this magnificent scene, Konrad couldn’t restrain a radiant smile. With a step, he landed before his consorts and stretched out his arms toward them all.
"I promised each and every one of you an eternity of bliss. Now, I deliver."
THE END!
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