Chapter 19: Shadows of Power and the Legacy That Awakens
The air in the inner region of the World Space was dense and oppressive. It clung to the skin like ash from a long-dead war. Every step forward was a battle against the sheer weight of ambient spiritual pressure. The earth groaned beneath the presence of King-realm beasts that stalked the deeper folds of this forgotten land. To walk here was to flirt with death.
Yet two figures moved boldly.
Jim, newly ascended to the Overlord realm, radiated a destructive pressure that warped the heat lines around his body. Lightning crackled silently through his hair. Flames coiled around his arms like serpents. The very air parted around his steps.
And beside him, Tory. Cloaked in space distortion and time veil, he was less a presence and more a ripple in the fabric of existence. His eyes shimmered with ancient light, and around his neck, the ash-black necklace pulsed ever so subtly, resonating with something deeper inside this ruined realm.
---
The Convergence
They hadn't gone far before the ground quaked.
From the east, a procession of cultivators descended into the canyon. Twenty strong, bearing the emblems of the Dalas, Verenth, Aeloria, and Stormfire clans—four of the top twenty ruling powers on the continent.
In the front walked a youth in silver armor. Farel Verenth. A Grand Master at the peak of the realm, rumored to be the next Lord of the Verenth family.
Jim and Tory paused on a high ridge as the group approached.
Farel spotted them and smiled coldly. "The rat who swallowed a Saint-grade pill."
Jim's eyes narrowed. "And the worm who couldn't win it in battle."
Behind Farel, a woman with silver-gray hair stepped forward. Selia Aeloria. Her pupils were silver slits—mutation from a rare inheritance. A spatial user, like Tory.
"Why not hand the pill over now?" she said. "We'll be generous enough to give you a swift death."
Tory's gaze flicked to Jim.
"Let them come."
---
Flames of the Overlord
They did.
Farel launched forward, sword blazing with wind and metal. Behind him, five elite cultivators surged toward Jim.
But they weren't prepared.
Jim didn't dodge. He stepped through their attacks, his movement bending with flame and lightning as he spun his ash spear upward.
"Five-Element Domain: Overlord Vortex!"
A typhoon of multi-colored destruction engulfed the attackers. Wind screamed. Lightning cracked. Earth burst upward, binding ankles and detonating. Fire exploded in controlled bursts at each pressure point.
Two of the elites fell instantly. Another had his shoulder ripped apart. Even Farel stumbled backward, eyes wide.
"Overlord...?! You broke through?"
Jim didn't answer. His spear roared, and he plunged forward.
---
Tory's Fated Step
Tory moved differently. While Jim drew their fire, he moved behind enemy lines—toward something else. He wasn't sure how he sensed it.
It was calling him.
He found it inside the spine of a shattered mountain—an ancient circular gateway half-buried in roots and crystal.
> [System Notification: Unknown Inheritance Structure Detected — Classification: Fragmented Reality Vault. Warning: Owner Projection Active. Suppression Barrier Enabled.]
The gate pulsed.
He stepped through.
Darkness. A projection lit the interior—a cloaked figure with no face, only swirling stars where eyes should be.
"Another candidate for the truth of creation?" the voice boomed.
> [Reality Access Limited: 2.0% Permitted for Duration of Trial. Begin Suppression Sequence. All External Elements Sealed.]
Power crashed down.
Tory collapsed.
---
Trial of the Forgotten
In this fragmented realm, Tory fought not with weapons but will. The projection had locked all his elemental powers. Only his thoughts, instincts, and partial access to gravity, space, and time remained.
He faced illusions of Saint-level beasts, each tailored to shatter him psychologically.
He survived each wave, learning. Creating new techniques on the fly.
And then came the final trial.
A memory of his past—weak, humiliated, beaten.
The system pulsed.
> [System Command: Reshape Self. Core Evolution: In Progress. Law Infusion Detected. Reality Tier: Ascending. Power Output Limited to Peak King-Realm Equivalent.]
Tory roared as the ash-black energy burst out in a spiral. It didn't explode. It erased. Space collapsed, and time halted in a narrow cone around him.
The projection stilled.
"...So you are the heir."
Then it bowed—and vanished.
Outside: The Fang Arrive
As Jim began overpowering Farel's group, new presences crashed into the valley.
Ten figures clad in shadowy robes, each bearing the fang-shaped crest of the Celestial Fang family.
Tory emerged from the cracked mountain at the same time.
Jim noticed immediately. "You're different."
Tory's aura was refined, terrifying. Suppressed—but any with sensing ability would know: this boy was not to be provoked.
One of the new arrivals, a black-haired youth with a cruel smile, stepped forward.
"Fang Zeryn. Overlord realm. You're the ant who got lucky, huh?"
Jim turned. "You want to try?"
Another, Fang Lila, stepped in. "Enough, Zeryn. Not here."
Of the ten, three wore arrogance like armor. Zeryn, Lila, and a cold-eyed boy named Fang Xehan. The other seven simply nodded to Tory and said nothing.
Jim raised a brow.
Tory smirked. "Let them come."
Zeryn stepped forward.
And the mountain behind Tory shattered without him moving.
The message was clear.