Ian stood still under the broken tower. The wind blew past, but he didn’t move. He looked down at the city lights below. Small. Quiet. Far away.
Neither of them spoke.
Damon just stared, not sure what to say. Ian had dropped a heavy truth. And now silence filled the space between them.
Ian looked up at the sky. His red eyes glowed faintly.
Suddenly, space shook.
It wasn’t loud. It was more like something far away had just moved. but the air itself felt strange. Something had arrived.
Ian frowned. ’He’s here? Hmmm... No, this is a different presence.’
Damon blinked. "Who?"
Ian didn’t answer right away.
His mind went back. Flashes of battle, pain, fear, the sky cracking apart, and his body nearly destroyed. That thing... Just a piece of the Dark God had almost killed him.
And now? It was happening again.
"The Dark God sent something," Ian said.
Damon tensed. "What do you mean? What Dark God?"
He was really confused about who the hell is Dark God. More importantly, Gods? What a joke.
"A watcher. To check if I’m still alive. To test this world’s defenses. Maybe that bastard can’t descend to this world himself."
"You’re saying he’s watching from the other side?"
Ian nodded. "And the wall between our worlds, the Veil, is breaking."
Damon’s face turned serious. "So you’re leaving. Back to the Curtained Imperium."
Ian looked at him. "That’s why I came. To say goodbye."
Damon stepped forward and asked with a frown on his face. "And if you die?"
Ian smiled, but it wasn’t a happy smile. "Nah, I’d win."
He opened his hand slowly.
The air around him twisted, like it was scared to stay still. A banging sound filled the space. The power in his palm wasn’t loud, but it was heavy.
"Super Asura Physique... Ultimate Paths 2... All of it," Ian said. "This time, I’m confident about this."
Suddenly, a loud rumble came from the north. The sky flashed red, and a hole tore open above the mountains.
A massive vortex appeared, space bending like water.
Ian turned. "That’s the Watcher. Well, it doesn’t look as powerful as the Dark God I’ve fought though."
Damon stepped beside him. "Want help?"
Ian chuckled. "You’d be dead before you could blink."
Ian looked at him one last time. "But thanks anyway. You’re still the strongest human I’ve met."
Ian stepped forward, and the ground cracked where his foot landed.
"The Human World gave me time to grow. But now, I have to at least protect it."
In the next second, he vanished, no sound, no flash. Just gone.
High above the clouds, Ian stopped and looked at the thing coming out of the vortex.
It didn’t have a face. Or a body. Just floating black tendrils and a glowing red core. It gave off the same energy as the Dark God. "This is Divine Ki?"
Even without eyes, Ian felt it staring at him.
"So they sent this freak to test me," Ian muttered.
His veins lit up. At this time, several tattoos appeared on his body, his robe cracked open, revealing his muscular physique comparable to a Classic Physique World Champion. Ian’s hair grew longer and reached his shoulders, with every strand turning white.
Ian’s brow ridge swelled a little, his purple eyebrows and pupils also turned deep white, along with his aura.
The space shattered like glass due to Ian’s immense aura. Hundreds of tsunamis simultaneously appeared all around the world. Every continent experienced a massive Earthquake that began to destroy skyscrapers.
He cracked his neck. His fists tightened.
"Alright then, let’s finish this."
"I am sent by the Dark God. Call me Herald." The monster spoke, its voice aloof.
Ian floated in space, staring at the Herald.
The creature didn’t move. Its tendrils swayed, glowing with a dark red aura. Its core began to pulse like a beating heart. The air around it twisted like it was melting.
Ian clenched his fist.
"Let’s see if you can survive this."
In the next instant, he vanished.
He appeared right in front of the Herald and punched.
The hit landed straight on the core. The shockwave tore through space. The Herald didn’t even scream. It just flew back at breathtaking speed. The force of Ian’s punch sent it flying through the stars, past moons, planets, and entire systems.
Ian didn’t stop there.
After a few seconds, the Herald crashed into a nearby galaxy. The stars in that galaxy shook. Some exploded on impact. But it wasn’t dead yet. It floated, body broken, tendrils torn, core cracked, but still alive.
Ian appeared above it, looking down.
"You’re tougher than I thought."
The Herald slowly turned. Dark red energy gathered at its center. It shot a beam at Ian.
The beam hit him, but didn’t do anything.
Ian’s body stayed still, not even a scratch on him.
He sighed. "That’s it?"
Then, he raised his leg.
He gathered his power. The air around his foot began to spin. His leg glowed purely white, same as his aura, even time seemed to slow.
The kick didn’t just hit the Herald, it hit everything behind it.
A star bigger than the sun was split in half.
Stars shattered. Planets broke apart like sand. The whole place was gone in seconds, dust in the wind.
Ian floated there with a grin. ’I can now destroy stars?’
There was nothing left of the Herald.
Then a voice came from the system in his head.
[Ultimate Paths 2 had reached Stellar power level, congratulations, the host!]
Ian blinked. "Stellar-level, huh... I guess that’s about right."
He looked down at his hands. They felt warm. His body felt light. His strength had reached a level he never imagined before.
"It seems that Herald is just that," he said with a smirk.
But just then, he felt something.
From deep inside the Veil.
He looked toward the Curtained Imperium.
A red crack formed in the sky.
Something much bigger was watching now. Black aura began to seep.
Ian narrowed his eyes.
"That wasn’t the end."
He turned around and flew back toward Earth.
"That bastard God seems to be really angry with the death of his minion," he said. "However, it seems he had no idea what exactly happened either."