novellhall Chapter 271: Half and Half
Chapter 271: Half and Half
Grey Mana surged violently in the center of the array. The silhouette of the
solitary portal had fully solidified, and within the warped light-curtain, the
landscape of a distant Tier 5 world flickered like a mirage.
Thanatos stood at the core, his violet-gold soulfire pulsing with a terminal
weakness.
Ten seconds. He only needed ten more seconds to escape this logic-defying cage
and begin a new existence in a world he could actually understand.
Nine. Eight. Seven.
Just then.
BOOM!!!
The ossified walls of the palace detonated inward. A beam of sapphire Draconic
Fire tore through the central hall, incinerating the reinforced bone-walls and
turning the royal chamber into a wind-swept ruin.
Thanatos spun around, his joints clicking in alarm. Through the gargantuan
breach, he saw a sight that shattered his remaining sanity.
In the grey sky above his palace, hundreds of Bone Dragons—each exceeding a
hundred meters in length—were descending in a silent, predatory formation. They
were Tier 6 monstrosities, wreathed in dark ribbons of Od.
It was the Calamity Knights of the Silent Extinction Legion. One of the
Sovereign's Seven Armies.
On the back of each dragon stood a cohort of Skeleton Kings in heavy obsidian
plate armor, led by a Bone Wither whose bow was already drawn. At the absolute
front of the formation, standing atop the skull of the leading dragon, was a
silhouette that would haunt Thanatos into the Void.
The Sovereign of Evernight.
The creature that had triggered a total system override in his soul by just
standing there.
"Impossible..." Thanatos vibrated, his gauntlets shaking. "How are you here? How
did you bridge the gap to the Necrotic Realm so quickly?"
He had fled. He had burned his reserves to anchor his extraction. How had this
monster tracked a temporal shadow across the dimensions?
The Bone Dragon settled onto the palace floor, its massive weight causing the
stone to spiderweb. Kaito stepped off the dragon's skull, his boots clicking
softly against the obsidian. Clinging to his shoulder was a small, translucent
blue blob.
Bochi wobbled, its gelatinous face twisting into a mask of pure distaste as it
scanned the grey wasteland.
"Guchi! This place smells like a dead rat's laundry basket!"
Kaito reached up and gave the slime's head a firm, distracting pat. "You're the
one who insisted on the excursion. Suffer in silence; this will be concluded
shortly."
He tilted his skull toward Thanatos, his voice carrying the calm, flat
indifference of a man discussing the weather.
"I departed for your home the moment the Decoration Ceremony concluded," Kaito
said. "You should feel a measure of honor. I didn't even take off my formal
robes."
Thanatos stood frozen. Honor? The word held zero mockery. Kaito spoke as if he
were stating a statistical fact. It was infuriating.
Thanatos looked at the Imperial legions pouring into his palace—thousands of
Tier 6 powerhouses swarming his private sanctum. His Od was a vacuum. He had
drained his soul-core to survive the transit. In his current state, even a
Tier 5 Necromancer could likely process him for scrap.
But his pride refused to go quietly. He let out a desperate, echoing roar.
"WE ARE BOTH UNDEAD!"
"MUST YOU PURSUE THIS ANNIHILATION TO THE END?!"
His voice bounced off the shattered walls, a cocktail of despair and raw
confusion. "ARE YOU NOT ONE OF US?! DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?!"
"DO YOU NOT SEE HOW THE LIVING LOOK AT US? HOW THE ARROGANT RACES OF THE
MULTIVERSE VIEW OUR EXISTENCE?!"
"THEY SHUN US! THEY MARGINALIZE US! THE MOMENT A VESTIGE OF OUR POTENTIAL
MANIFESTS, THEY MOBILIZE TO CRUSH US!"
"THEY FEAR US. THEY ABHOR US. THEY SEE US AS SYMBOLS OF CALAMITY! NO MATTER OUR
ACTIONS, NO MATTER OUR LOYALTY, IN THEIR EYES, 'UNDEAD' IS BUT A SYNONYM FOR
EVIL!"
Thanatos took a heavy, clanking step toward Kaito, extending a hand in a
desperate appeal for alignment.
"JOIN ME!"
"WE CAN INVERT THE LOGIC OF THE UNIVERSE! WE CAN FORCE EVERY RACE TO GROVEL AT
THE FEET OF THE DEAD!"
"WE CAN PROVE THAT WE ARE THE SUPREME EVOLUTION! YOU POSSESS POWER THAT DEFIES
PLANAR LAW—WHY WASTE IT ON A SINGULAR WORLD?!"
"THE MULTIVERSE IS VAST! WE CAN HARVEST EVERY PLANE! WE CAN BECOME THE NEW
GODS!"
Thanatos halted ten meters from Kaito—a respectful distance for a peer. His
soulfire burned with a manic, pleading light, waiting for the recognition of a
brother.
Kaito was silent for several heartbeats, seemingly processing the proposal.
"Perhaps," Kaito murmured.
Thanatos's eyes flared with hope. He understands. He finally understands the
burden.
"If that is the case—"
"But it is irrelevant," Kaito interrupted, his voice cutting through Thanatos's
momentum like a blade.
"I am their King."
"That is the only data point that matters."
The simple sentence hit Thanatos like a physical blow. He let out an
incredulous, high-pitched screech. "WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?! YOU ARE A SKELETON!
HOW CAN YOU BE A KING TO MEAT-BAGS?!"
Kaito's tone remained flat, each syllable clinical and absolute.
"I am their King. Humans. Elves. Orcs. Succubi."
"They are my subjects."
"I do not concern myself with how other worlds perceive the Undead. I do not
care for our standing in the Multiverse."
"I care only for the safety and prosperity of my citizens." Kaito's soulfire
watched Thanatos with a terrifying stillness. "The rest is... a statistical
noise."
Thanatos felt his reality fracture. In that moment, he realized the gulf between
them wasn't just power—it was logic.
Thanatos conquered worlds to gain "Acceptance." He hungered for Godhood so he
would no longer be hated. Everything he did was a reaction to the rejection of
the living.
But the Sovereign of Evernight?
He didn't care. He didn't need proof. He didn't need a pedestal. He simply...
existed as he chose.
"You... you fool..." Thanatos waved his arms, grasping at the last shreds of his
philosophy. "You will be targeted by the powerhouses of the Multiverse! You
think you are invincible? There are races with abilities you cannot comprehend!
There are GODS!"
"WITHOUT MY INTEL! WITHOUT MY GUIDANCE! YOU WON'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO RESPOND WHEN
THE DIVINE LOOKS AT YOU!"
"YOU WILL DIE! YOUR EMPIRE WILL BE REDUCED TO ASH!"
Kaito's silhouette flickered.
In the next micro-second, he was standing directly in front of Thanatos.
A hand of bare, white bone reached out, gently cupping Thanatos's skull.
Thanatos's soulfire contracted. He tried to lunge, to bite, to retreat—but his
frame refused to move. The weight of the Sovereign's hand made his very soul
vibrate with the frequency of annihilation.
"Gods?" Kaito whispered into the silence of the palace.
"I do not subscribe to that theology. But since you mentioned them... I suppose
I shall go and look for them myself."
"If they are truly as formidable as you claim... I shall simply recruit them
into the Empire."
Thanatos's soulfire pulsed with a frantic, broken rhythm. Recruit? He's insane.
He's truly lost his logic.
"And if they prove to be... insufficient? Then I suppose it shall be a 'Twilight
of the Gods'."
CRACK.
The bony hand tightened. Thanatos felt his skull beginning to spiderweb. He
ceased his struggle, looking up into Kaito's hollow eye sockets one last time.
"What... what are you?" he rasped. "Are you even... one of us?"
Kaito didn't hesitate. He closed his fist, pulverizing the King's skull into
dust.
CRUNCH.
The violet-gold soulfire drifted into the air like glowing ash before winking
out into the grey. Thanatos, the Skeleton King of the Necrotic Realm, was
liquidated.
Kaito looked down at the pile of shattered remains and spoke to the empty air.
"Half and half, I suppose."
☆☆☆
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