Chapter 59: The end of an era
Aucuses advanced, raising his finger and pointing to the illusory ground. A blinding golden light condensed and shot out of the tip.
The light was illusory; it passed through the divine kingdom's ground, heading towards the continent below.
Then he looked ahead, at the chaos that was enveloping everything in his path like a black ocean.
'Really...' Aucuses grumbled as he saw the endless chaos in the path, rushing towards him like a raging tsunami.
From the chaos, he can sense bone-chilling hatred and seething anger. He can see that this was just another pathetic attempt by Solomon.
With his prying eyes, he had already seen through Solomon's condition. Solomon is on the verge of losing control, due to his information polluting him and twilight injuring him.
The twilight ensured that Solomon's desperate situation remained unchanged, no matter how Solomon tried to stabilise himself with his authority. He was going insane at the moment, trying and failing every single time.
'Let's switch things up!' Aucuses had previously decided to go and slay Solomon with Amanises in the depths of the twisted kingdom.
But he decided to dismissed it. As, the northern continent is bustling with action! His presence is also needed in many places. Despite being a god, he now feels somewhat helpless.
What about the northern continent, you might ask? Previously, when he swept his gaze across the continent, he noticed Cheek and Bethel together. In the sea of ruins, there was also another war of gods going on with Sasrir. More importantly, Adam is right directly beneath him. So, there is really a lot going on down there.
Finally, Aucuses decided. He turned to look at Amanises, who was following close behind him, his eyes began to glow purple as he relayed information about his new plan to her.
Amanises paused in her path and made a grapping motion in the air with one of her empty hands. She then turned gaze at Aucuses and nodded, before fading into the darkness.
Now, Aucuses faced the oncoming chaos and raised the purple book in his hand.
The purple book in his hand became illusory, before turning into a stream of light. Then, it shot into his body.
Aucuses' purple eyes gleamed, and a divine halo dawned behind his head.
An outline of a balance scale began to condense in his empty hand.
He intended to use his "Knowledge" authority. But, he had no intention of visualising anything with knowledge.
Yes, Hermit's true power was far more than just visualisation of knowledge.
The authority of "knowledge" in the hermit pathway can be summed up in a single sentence:
"With knowledge as the fulcrum, I shall move the entire world."
The knowledge authority enables the manipulation of the laws of the world. This, however, is far from easy to achieve. One must have sufficient knowledge and have thoroughly analysed all available information about that law before being able to manipulate it.
This was also why he had never used this aspect of authority in any of his previous battles. He didn't have the time or patience to sit and analyse a law, which could take many years. It's is never easy to analyse a law, especially in the world of mysteries, and it also takes an enormous amount of time.
However, Aucuses is now using the authority of knowledge to manipulate the law of order. He will have no trouble manipulating the order because he himself holds and represents the authority of order.
He was planning on a ultimate move, combining his authority of "Knowledge" and "Order." If he didn't miscalculate, the next move is on par with the supernova attack he used to deal with Mother Goddess of Depravity.
As he began, his heart was filled with anticipation and excitement. He didn't come up with this plan right away; he already had such an idea when he first got his hands on the hermit uniqueness.
Aucuses floated up in the light, holding an illusory balance scale in one hand and a sword in the other.
He closed his eyes, as a white cloth materialised and covered his eyes.
His perception of the world changed in that instant.
He saw the order that made reality itself. It was like shimmering brass lines on the fabric of reality, coursing through it like veins. They support reality and hold everything together.
Even though he had sensed its presence before, this was his first time seeing it so clearly.
He intuitively knew that all he needed was a thought to command and control it.
At the moment, he was very close to becoming a representation of "Order" on earth. He didn't know whether, in this state, he would be above or equal to justiciar. But, it doesn't really matter much to him.
How powerful is he now?
Aucuses smiled as he looked around at the raging chaos. The illusory scale in his hand sparkled with light.
A vast divine aura erupted from him, breaking through the restraints of the divine kingdom to cover the entire world.
Deep within the chaos, Solomon, who was using the last of his power to attack Aucuses and Amanises, felt all of his instincts scream in danger.
However, before he could do anything, a crimson moon rose above him.
Amanises emerged in front of the crimson moon. The crimson moonlight merged with the darkness around her with a wave of her hand, further saturating it.
The crimson-darkness then swept over Solomon, melting everything in its path.
The figure of Solomon on his ruined throne froze entirely under the illumination of the crimson-darkness, as if time itself had stopped for him. The reality around him was slowly eroding; it looked as though everything had been drawn into a mosaic painting.
Aucuses looked at this, then raised his balance scale as chaos trembled around him. His figure began to emit an endless stream of pure light.
"No more chaos."
He declared, as his voice revebarted around the world.
The balance scale radiated a terrifying shimmer of light that illuminated it all.
The "Chaos" of Solomon was erased from reality wherever the light passed. The light also swept the entire world in that moment, as everything and everyone below gods and kings of angels came to a halt for a brief moment. The very order of reality itself also became visible before dissipating.
In the sky of no man's land, the twisted divine kingdom that floated disappeared, leaving only a floating figure.
The figure was Solomon, and his body was illusory and ethereal, it looked as if he would disappear at any moment.
His anchors had collapsed, as had the last remnants of his empire that supported him.
In the end, he was alone, just as that bastard implied.
He laughed at the realization, releasing suppressed emotions, as he also felt his sanity crumble.
To top it all off, a massive curved blade pierced his back, while Amanises and Aucuses floated above and before him.
Aucuses smirked. Then, he thrust his red sword through Solomon's chest, piercing into his heart, and draining his remaining life.
"Yo-ou ba-satrd..." Solomon whimpered painfully between fits of laughter. His mad eyes were fixed on Aucuses.
But, his laughter suddenly froze.
Aucuses' indifferent voice echoed in his mind.
"Do you think you got away with it, Solomon? How pathetic. I'm already aware of your so-called resurrection plans. Don't worry, I'm not going to stop your resurrection though, because you're still a valuable chess piece in my plans."
"Do you finally understand, Solomon?"
"As I previously said, you are nothing more than a poor worm that never escaped my grasp."
As the words echoed in Solomon's mind, his eyes widened in horror and fear. His mind racing and his thoughts sluggish.
In the next second, Solomon's horrified eyes finally dimmed, his face frozen in terror. His body collapsed and crumbled. Then, it fell into the world below.
Some landed in no man's land, interfering with the mythical battle below. Some crushed on the Solomon Empire's capital, drowning countless people. Some merged with lucky creatures, transforming them into insane and powerful monsters...
The flags of the Solomon Empire began to fall from their poles and onto the dusty ground.
Finally, twilight erupted from the sword of Aucuses and shone on the collapsed empire, signifying the end of an era.