Chapter 420: The Beginning Of The End [LXXXII]

“DOMAIN OF CONTROL!”

CRACK!

The world folded instantly.

Space compressed like a clenched fist, directions losing meaning as up and down, left and right twisted into something unusable.

Countless invisible threads stretched across existence itself, each seemed to be directly showing Octo’s reality:

Obey.

Aestrea felt it instantly.

His movements started slowing, even getting confusing.

The ground beneath his feet tried to tilt his balance.

Even the concept of motion felt delayed, as if the world demanded permission before allowing him to act.

His eyebrows furrowed slightly.

“…Annoying.”

But before Octo’s grin could fully form…

“Domain of Silence.”

Aestrea finally used the single hidden card that could completely annihilate Octo’s authority of control.

And the moment, it appeared…

The noise faded instantly, not just the sound itself, but everything unnecessary vanished.

There were no annoying echoes, novibrations, or even an excess of concepts.

The raging machinery, the screaming space, the crushing intent, all of it was swallowed by an oppressive silence that spread outward like frost creeping across glass.

The two domains collided.

BOOOOOOM!!

Reality convulsed instantly.

Octo’s Domain of Control pushed aggressively, multiple layers of authority stacking over one another, attempting to overwrite everything inside it.

Meanwhile, Domain of Silence didn’t resist…. instead, it erased everything that came onto his way.

Control tried to command.

Silence refused to acknowledge commands at all.

Cracks formed across the overlapping domains, black fractures tearing through distorted space as sparks of white and crimson energy clashed violently at their borders.

Octo staggered half a step.

“…What?”

For the first time, his Domain didn’t feel complete.

Inside Aestrea’s Domain of Silence, all unnecessary variables were muted, meaning that there was no external manipulation beyond what already existed.

Control had nothing to grab.

“Tch!” Octo clicked his tongue and thrust his arm forward.

His authority surged again, forcefully bending space inside Silence, causing entire sections of the domain to fold inward like collapsing walls.

Aestrea took a step forward, and the space that tried to twist beneath his foot… failed.

Octo’s eyes widened.

“No, move there!!!”

He snapped his fingers.

Aestrea’s position abruptly shifted three meters to the right… at least, that’s what should’ve happened.

But instead, Aestrea appeared one meter closer to Octo than before.

Fwip!

Octo recoiled, narrowly dodging Midnight’s blade as it passed mere centimeters from his throat.

“Impossible!” Octo snarled.

“Inside my domain!”

“Your domain?” Aestrea’s lips curled up.

“Check again, loser.”

Fwoop!

Octo shot backward, space dragging him away unnaturally.

He reappeared above Aestrea, both arms sweeping down as gravitational pressure multiplied dozens of times over, aiming to pin him into the ground.

CRASH!!

The floor shattered where Aestrea stood, but before it shattered, he had already disappeared from there, brushing past the collapsing pressure field.

Octo twisted midair and punched downward, his fist wrapped in countless layers of enforced causality.

’This strike must land!!!’

Aestrea raised Midnight.

CLANG!

The punch struck the flat of the blade.

The impact sent shockwaves spiraling outward, tearing through both domains. Space screamed as the clash carved a crater into existence itself.

But Aestrea didn’t budge.

Octo’s arm trembled.

“…You blocked it?”

Aestrea didn’t answer and directly pivoted, his elbow snapped forward, not aiming for Octo’s body but for the space directly in front of it.

CRACK!

The controlled space shattered like glass.

Octo’s body jolted as his Authority momentarily lost its anchor.

Aestrea vanished.

Fwip!

He reappeared behind Octo and swung Midnight at his waist.

Octo barely reacted in time, twisting his torso unnaturally as the blade grazed his side.

SPLURT!

Blood sprayed.

The wound tried to close instantly… and seeing that, Aestrea snapped his fingers.

『 Bleed 』

“ARGGHHHHH!”

He stumbled, clutching his side as the wound widened violently, flesh splitting further apart with every attempt at healing.

“Y-YOU!” Octo snarled, backing away as blood dripped uncontrollably.

Instantly, he raised his hand again, panic flashing in his eyes as he forced his Authority outward.

“REALITY CONTROL!”

Nothing happened at those actions.

No distortion or wrapping…

Just pure silence.

Octo froze.

His arm trembled.

“…Why?” he whispered.

It was already a privilege that he was able to talk.

Aestrea tilted his head slightly.

“You’re inside my Domain,” he replied.

“You don’t get to give orders here.”

Fwip!

Before Octo could react, Aestrea was already in front of him, his fist shooting straight into the direction of his stomach.

THUD!!!

Octo’s eyes bulged as the air was knocked clean out of his lungs. His body folded forward instinctively, spit and blood spraying from his mouth as he gagged violently.

Aestrea didn’t stop.

He grabbed Octo by the collar and lifted him slightly off the ground, and then drove his knee upward.

CRACK!!!

The sound echoed grotesquely as Octo’s ribs caved inward. He screamed, the sound broken and ugly, before Aestrea casually flung him to the side.

Octo crashed across the floor, rolling helplessly before slamming into a cracked pillar.

“Cough! HACK!”

He coughed violently, blood spilling from his lips now, staining the metal and stone beneath him.

Step, step…

Aestrea slowly walked toward him.

“You spent your entire life controlling things,” he muttered, looking down at him with the look of someone looking at an ant.

“People. Space. Minds.”

He stopped right in front of Octo.

“But look at you now.”

Octo tried to push himself up.

His arm shook violently.

Aestrea raised his foot and stomped down on Octo’s wrist.

CRUNCH!!!

“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!”

The scream tore out of Octo’s throat as his bones shattered under the pressure. His fingers bent at angles they were never meant to, nerves screaming as pain flooded his entire being.

Aestrea leaned down slightly.

“A God of Control who can’t even control his own body.”

Octo’s vision blurred.

“N-no! I-iI can still!!!”

He tried to activate his Authority again, his veins bulging, and machines whining desperately as power surged…

Aestrea punched him in the face.

CRACK!!!

Octo’s head snapped sideways, teeth flying as his body slammed flat against the floor.

“A god without control is no different from a mortal.”

He stepped forward and kicked Octo square in the ribs.

BAM!!!

Octo skidded across the ruined floor, scraping blood and broken metal along his path before finally coming to a stop.

His body twitched once… twice… then stopped.

For a few seconds, there was silence.

But it didn’t last long.

“…I… won’t…” Octo croaked.

He coughed again, thick blood spilling from his mouth as his fingers dug weakly into the floor.

His body trembled as he tried to push himself up, arms shaking violently, joints screaming in protest.

Aestrea patiently watched as Octo managed to lift his torso just a few centimeters…

BAM!

And immediately, his boot came down on the back of his head, smashing him face-first into the ground.

The impact sent cracks spiderwebbing outward as Octo’s vision exploded into white.

The only reason he was doing this was to humiliate him.

So, of course, Aestrea didn’t let him recover.

“UGHHHH!”

He grabbed Octo by the back of the neck and yanked him up like dead weight.

“Stand,” he said flatly.

Octo’s legs gave out the moment Aestrea released him.

So Aestrea punched him again… straight in the jaw.

CRACK!!!

Octo’s head snapped back, his body lifting off the ground before slamming down again with a sickening thud. Several teeth clattered across the floor, rolling uselessly.

Aestrea followed.

He stepped in and drove his elbow downward into Octo’s spine.

CRUNCH!

“GURGGHHHH!” Octo screamed IN PAIN as his back arched violently. His limbs spasmed, nerves firing wildly as pain consumed everything.

“P-pleaseeee!” Octo gasped, his mechanical eye flickering uncontrollably.

Aestrea answered by kicking him in the chest.

BAM!!!

Octo flew backward, slamming into the wall hard enough to dent the metal structure. He slid down slowly, leaving a thick smear of blood behind him.

Then slowly, he walked over to his body once again.

Octo tried again.

His hands pressed to the wall as he attempted to stand, legs trembling so violently they could barely support his weight.

“CONTROL!” he screamed, desperation tearing through his voice.

No answer…

His Authority was dead silent.

“No… no, no, no…” he muttered, panic flooding his face.

“MOVE! JUST MOVE!!! PLEASE!”

Grip!

Aestrea grabbed him by the throat and lifted him clean off the ground, causing Octo’s feet to dangle uselessly.

“You hear that?” Aestrea asked calmly.

Octo clawed at Aestrea’s wrist, his nails breaking, blood smearing uselessly.

“Hah… hah…!”

“That’s what a lack of control sounds like,” Aestrea continued.

“Nothing.”

He slammed Octo onto the ground again.

BOOM!!!

Before Octo could even scream, Aestrea brought his heel down onto his chest.

CRACK!!!

His ribs shattered.

“AAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHH!” Octo’s scream turned wet, broken, bubbling with blood as his lungs struggled to function.

Aestrea didn’t stop there and continued stomping him.

BAM!

BAAAM!

BAAAAAAAAAM!

Octo’s body convulsed violently, systems sparking uselessly as his mechanical implants failed one by one.

He crouched down, grabbing Octo’s hair and forcing his face upward.

“This world is not yours to manipulate.”

Octo’s eye twitched wildly, tears streaming down his blood-soaked face.

“I-II wanted… to fix it…” he whispered weakly.

Aestrea stared at him.

“You wanted to own it.”

His knee slammed into Octo’s face.

SPLURT!!!

His head was smashed into meat.

“…Receive notifications.”

[You’ve killed a Fused 8✯ Early True God!]

[You’ve killed an 8✯ Early True God!

[You have absorbed all of their authorities!]

[The Authority of Ice has reached the peak of Mythical Grade!]

[The Domain of Silence has entered a cooldown!]

[You now have control over the entire laboratory!]

“…Sweet.”

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