Chapter 345: Answering Prayers

For the first time in his life, Rylan, the Ascendant tier alien, found himself robbed of his senses. To make matters worse, he felt a pressure like that of several stars unloaded onto his back, keeping him in place.

“W—What happened?” Rylan spoke, or at least tried to. His lips refused to obey his command, barely trembling.

The Ascendant’s mind raced, numerous questions resurfacing in his mind. The last thing he remembered was the human woman uttering some chant before he lost control over his own body.

“It’s okay to breathe. I am permitted to live.” Reassuring himself seemed to do the trick, his vision gradually returning.

Rylan realized that he was lying perpendicular to the hard ground. His eyes settled down.

Attempting to rise to his feet, he lifted his gaze.

His vision needed a few moments to adjust. Once his eyes began to make out the silhouette that was seemingly blending with the abysmal darkness of the cosmos, his heart froze, blood seeping from his eyes.

“What am I looking at?!”

Fortunately, the unfathomable terror he felt in that moment was so intense that he managed to stumble onto his feet. Though sadly, that meant he could get a better look at the source of his unease.

A looming, muscular figure belonging to a man. Medieval armor clung to him like a second skin, darker than a starless void. Its surface was jagged and uneven, as though it had erupted from some hellish nightmare with no sense of harmony. Every obsidian plate overlapped like the scales of a bestial dragon. Its protruding edges were sharper than any sword in existence.

But the most horrifying part… was the head.

An unsettling aura of terror radiated from the helmet, its upper part twisted and reshaped, altered to such an extent it bore the appearance of a crown unnaturally fused within it. The boundless armor left almost no openings, save for a pair of narrow vertical slits, serving as gaps for breath, yet there were no signs of respiratory function. From its bottomless depths, twin crimson eyes blazed past the unperceivable darkness, observing everything before them with inhuman clarity.

A crowned warrior enveloped in pure darkness, devoid of all light save for his eyes… Michael’s Echo.

’Retaliate… I have to…’ Rylan’s feet betrayed him, slowly staggering backwards. A pressure hit him like a tidal wave, restraining him severely.

Ugh!

At that moment, Rylan noticed that his two companions were barely clinging to reality. Russell struggled, using anger to combat fear, biting his lower lip and drawing blood.

“Fight… back!”

Russell barely took a step forward, earning the attention of Michael’s Echo. His eyes shifted to the alien.

The next moment, Russell was nowhere to be seen. The Ascendant was instantly obliterated, erased from existence with such pressure that not even a speck of blood remained.

Fright etched into Estelle’s eyes. Not daring to glance at Michael’s Echo, she turned her gaze toward Queen Seer, who lay on the ground, unresponsive.

“W—Woman… what have you unleashed?!”

The alien was about to attack Seer until Michael’s Echo fixed his gaze on her.

Estelle’s bones, blood, muscles, organs, and skin were ripped apart, exposing the inner form of the Ascendant. She was dissected instantly, her life long extinguished.

Allowing the alien’s remains to drop to the ground, Michael’s Echo redirected his gaze toward Rylan. Taking a steady step forward.

Rylan’s face drained of all color, his ability to mimic human appearance slowly unraveling.

“Oh, Great One… Ancient Ones, I beg you. Aid your unworthy servant. Show me mercy and guide me away from this tyrannical monster.” Left with no other choice, Rylan’s lips whispered a desperate plea to the Primordial ruler and the Eternals of the Etrox race.

Michael’s Echo took another step.

The Ascendant Rylan began to melt. Eyes, skin, teeth, and even bones started to sizzle under the crushing pressure of the Echo.

As if hypnotized, Rylan’s eyes remained fixed on the armor Michael’s Echo wore. The closer it came, the more details the alien could discern. An instinct deep within him warned that there was something far more to the protective cover, sending a chill down his spine that he couldn’t fully comprehend.

Michael’s Echo stopped just an arm’s distance from Rylan, who by now was more liquid than solid in form.

Coming so close, Rylan finally understood what was truly terrifying about the attire the Echo wore.

It wasn’t armor made of metal.

The immense presence it radiated made it unmistakable up close…

These were the remains of Gods. Impenetrable armor forged from the corpses of Primordials… the very Gods Rylan had been pleading to.

No sooner after the realization struck the alien did Michael’s Echo speak for the first time. His voice carried the intensity of stars, ringing like bells of impending doom.

“Pray to your Gods.” He commanded. “It makes it easier to track them.”

“Godkiller…” Rylan’s last words hung in the air, his solid form reducing to nothing more than a liquid state.

“…”

With the demise of the three Ascendants, silence spread throughout the dwarf planet.

Subtly, Michael’s Echo noticed Queen Seer, defenselessly lying on the ground.

Nearing her, he concluded she wasn’t an illusion.

“A human… But I am meant to be the last one…”

Raising his gaze, the Echo looked across the planets of the solar system.

Billions of humans were going about their daily lives. Some suffered hardships, while others enjoyed comfort. Yet all of them were alive.

“Am I… Back in time?”

Michael’s Echo’s rational functioning was impaired, but there was no other conclusion to be had.

“In that case…”

Gently, the Echo scooped up the unconscious woman. The once-formidable Queen Seer now seemed like nothing more than a helpless girl compared to the terrifying presence of Michael’s Echo.

His blazing eyes settled on planet Earth before blinking out of existence.

Back at the underwater cave, Michael was diligently absorbing the spiritual energy in the air, while Devil was growing increasingly bored.

“I never realized until now, since I was always stored in his soul…” Devil muttered. “But cultivation is so goddamn boring. Oh, how I wish for something exciting to happen.”

As it turned out, sitting in one place for an extended period of time wasn’t for everyone. Especially since Devil couldn’t cultivate even if he wanted to.

Essentially, he was stuck staring at Michael’s handsome face as it gradually became even more striking, which only irritated Devil further, while he had to stay alert for potential danger.

“!!!”

Suddenly, chills ran down their spines. Michael halted his cultivation, and Devil moved closer to him. Out of nowhere, a sense of self-preservation stirred within them, an unmistakable sign that an entity was approaching.

“Me and my big mouth.” Devil cursed, his claws flexing for a fight.

Before Michael could utter a word, their gazes locked onto a figure that appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Since the black armor he wore blended with the natural darkness of the cave, the only things they could make out were the two fearsome eyes glaring from within.

“Who the fuck is that?!” Devil bellowed. Never in his life had he felt such a terrifying presence.

Michael cautiously observed the Echo, his mind searching every possible scenario. Eventually, his lips parted as he whispered a singular word.

“Me.”

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