CHAPTER 372: WHAT IS RIGHT AND WRONG?

It was slowly approaching dusk in the land of Aetheris after experiencing countless seasons in one day

And with that, the world trembled, not with thunder, but with a silence so suffocating it gnawed at the bones of existence.

Above the sundered roots of the Divine Tree, surrounded by the scorched remains of magical aftermath and broken sky, Endless has finally arrived as he extended his obsidian hand. The Divine Seed, pulsating with celestial life, hovered toward him as though drawn to an old master.

Its surface was veined in liquid gold and encased in a shell of translucent mana crystal, glowing like the first breath of dawn.

Kael Dragonyx stood still, bloodied and winded. Aron and Selene—formerly Kael’s underlings but are now following Endless along with their head—looked on with an awe rarely seen in them. Even they understood what this moment meant: Divinity was being bent to the will of something... unnatural.

Endless, black-cloaked and crowned in shadows, curled his fingers around the seed.

And for a moment, nothing.

Then—a crack.

The Divine Seed began to unfurl like an ancient flower. Glimmering roots shot into Endless’s palm, wrapping around his arm, burrowing into his flesh. Light and shadow clashed violently as the aura of the Seed and the essence of Endless collided.

His expression faltered. Just slightly.

Then, his body jerked.

Without warning, the entire sky darkened as if night had been pulled violently across the world like a veil. Lightning—golden, silver, void-colored—flashed in every direction.

Kael stepped back.

Selene gritted her teeth.

Aron whispered, "What’s going on...?"

A pulse from Endless erupted.

Not mana.

Not Qi.

Not arcane.

Something older. Hungrier.

And then—

Roots.

Roots exploded from the ground and sky, spectral yet solid, glowing green with primal life. They pierced the clouds, shattered magical constructs, and wound their way around Endless, encasing him in a spiraling cocoon of bark, light, and silence.

He didn’t resist.

He didn’t speak.

His form slumped forward slightly, eyes rolled up, mouth parting for a single exhale—

And then... stillness.

The cocoon floated midair, humming.

Like a seed preparing to sprout.

Kael’s voice cracked as he shouted, "ENDLESS!"

Selene teleported beside the cocoon and tried to tear at the roots—but they didn’t budge. The moment her hand made contact, a wave of ancient magic seared through her, burning her palm with images of worlds long perished.

"No, no, no—what is this?!" Aron hissed, pacing restlessly.

Then—a voice.

It wasn’t spoken.

It was in them.

A voice older than lifetimes.

A voice like velvet soaked in dread.

"Fear not. I have touched the marrow of the Divine... and it is reshaping me."

"I am evolving. Becoming something closer... to my true taste."

"Guard my throne, my domain, and my silence. None must disturb this becoming. Until the roots recoil, I shall dream."

"Do not fail me."

Then... silence again.

No heartbeat.

No aura.

No movement.

Just the cocoon, hanging like a second sun—a terrible, slow-beating heart in the sky.

Selene looked pale.

Aron didn’t speak.

Kael stared with clenched fists, then muttered, "He’s changing. Into what... I don’t even think he knows."

Far below, the land had already begun to react. Flowers wilted. Trees wept golden sap. The Divine Tree itself stood... bowed. As if mourning.

And within the cocoon, somewhere deep within, Endless dreamed—of stars breaking, gods screaming, and a hunger that even the Divine Seed feared.

------

"Time to reach the path to Godhood" Endless muttered in his cacoon as he slowly began to lose his consciousness. But the moment he lost it, what he experienced startled him immensely.

Silence.

A cruel and choking silence.

The whiteness was blinding. It extended infinitely in every direction, without depth or shade. Endless stood alone in it—unmoving, breathless, frozen in the single moment between mortality and godhood.

His body—his real body—lay entombed in the roots of the World Tree, outside time, outside reality, encased in a cocoon spun by fate itself. But within, within his mind, a different battle had begun.

"This color," he spat, his voice echoing into the endless stretch of white. "I loathe this color."

His dark figure, clad in an abyssal cloak that writhed like living shadows, looked disgusted. The void mocked him. It was pure. It was clean. It was everything he was not.

"Why the hell is this color in my head?" he growled in suspicion.

A voice suddenly replied after—serene, calm, melodic like the wind brushing through a peaceful glade.

"Because it is the only color that reveals all others."

Endless turned sharply.

From within the light, a figure emerged. Draped in flowing robes woven from golden thread and starlight, the being approached with a radiant smile. Long silver hair shimmered as he walked, and his eyes... they were not eyes of judgment, but of patience.

"Brother," the figure said.

Endless’s expression darkened. "Brother?" he sneered. "I no longer acknowledge that title. You surrendered your fangs long ago."

"And you lost your heart," the white-robed being replied without malice. "But here we are... still bound."

Endless’s fists clenched. The space trembled for a moment with a pulse of darkness, but the void remained unchanged. That annoyed him more.

"Why are you in my mind? Is this your doing?" he asked, scanning the white.

"No," his brother said gently. "This is your doing. Your soul... it isn’t as lost as you believe."

"Don’t patronize me."

"I’m not. But as you morph into something else... the seed is awakening what little remains untouched in you. So I came. Or rather... you brought me."

There was a long pause. Endless finally turned to face him directly.

"You’re here to try to stop me," Endless said flatly.

"Yes."

"And you think a conversation is all it takes?"

His brother gave a sad smile. "It is all I have left to offer."

Endless chuckled—a low, hollow sound. "You’re still the fool you were when you left our realm behind to chase fleeting ideals. ’Peace,’ ’balance,’ ’mercy’... What have they earned you, I wonder?"

"They’ve earned me clarity."

"And they’ve earned me power," Endless snapped. "Enough to bend the world to my image. To remake this flawed reality."

"Is it flawed... or is it simply free?"

"Free?" Endless’s voice turned sharp. "Freedom is a lie. Chaos runs unchecked in freedom. Weakness breeds in freedom. People deceive, betray, and rot under the illusion of choice. I only do what the world demands—order. I will give it that. Through me, the cycle ends."

"You mean through domination."

"I mean through correction."

His brother stepped closer, not with hostility, but sorrow. "And yet... in all this, you’ve become what you once vowed to destroy. A tyrant."

"You mistake vision for tyranny."

"I mistake control for fear."

That struck something. Endless’s gaze narrowed.

"You think I fear the world?" he growled.

"I think you fear the truth—that the world might flourish without you."

Endless flared with dark light. The void cracked slightly beneath his feet.

"Don’t test me," he warned.

"I’m not here to test you," his brother said. "I’m here to mourn you."

There was a long, bitter silence between them.

Then Endless scoffed. "Enough of this poetry. Say what you came to say."

His brother took a breath.

"You still have a choice, Endless. The Divine Seed doesn’t just transform your body—it reveals what’s inside you. If you continue down this path... there may be no coming back. Not even for you."

"And if I turn back? What then?"

"You stop. You abandon your quest. You let the world breathe again. You allow hope, not fear, to guide its course."

Endless was silent.

Then: "...And what if I refuse?"

His brother’s eyes dimmed just slightly. "Then I’ll be forced to equip someone to fight you, not in your mind, but in the living world. And I won’t be alone in doing so."

Endless looked up at the vast white sky above them. Something unreadable passed through his expression.

"You’re too late," he said softly. "I’ve already chosen."

The void trembled.

Darkness began to spread beneath Endless’s feet—inky tendrils clawing at the edges of the white. The shadows began to reclaim him.

His brother didn’t move. He simply watched, his expression unreadable.

As Endless’s form began to vanish into the growing darkness, he met his brother’s gaze one last time.

"You say I brought you here," he murmured. "That somewhere... a part of me still wants to be saved."

"Yes."

He turned fully away.

"Then that part is dead."

And with that, the white void cracked—shattered—as darkness consumed it like a starving flame.

Meanwhile....

Far away from the land of the Elves....

Maeralyn and Velyrian along with a few other Elves could be seen going towards the last human stronghold which is Eldoria. But before they could reach the place where they will be detected, Maeralyn turned back and looked towards the direction of her homeland as she vowed in her heart while she clenched her right fist on her chest.

’No matter the cost, I will gladly pay it for your downfall’