The shockwave created by Ryzel’s Impact Break sent an unconscious boy rolling across the ground, awakening him.

“I… was defeated?” the boy barely managed to murmur in disbelief.

The word and mere thought of “defeat” never once crossed his mind upon coming to this continent. Others from the school revered him as a genius, and as such, he had grown arrogant, cocky, and complacent. It was only now that he remembered what his clan referred to him as. Trash.

He was the black sheep within the clan, always overlooked by his genius elder sister. He recalled what others whispered behind his back within the clan, nearly a year ago prior to arriving at Galvane, “He’s already fifteen, but still isn’t an immortal? Haha, how’s trash like him possibly related to his mother and sister?”

Then he was exiled to some nameless mortal continent, recalling the very words his father said, “You are no son of mine. Come back as an immortal, or don’t bother coming back at all!”

“Shit!” he pounded his fist on the marble floor.

He had acquired a legendary artifact through sheer luck. Legendary artifacts would cause uproars wherever they appeared, and with it he thought he could gain the acknowledgement of his clan.

Perhaps he even had misconceptions of being a main character. He planned on returning to his clan in the upcoming clan gathering held next year with Aegis. With Aegis’ help and prestige, he planned on defeating all the members of his clan that previously scorned him, including his sister. Never would he had thought that before he could even return, he would be defeated so easily with the combined efforts of Hope and Ryzel.

With lifeless eyes, Cain slammed his forehead directly into the marble, and asked in a muffled voice, “Shit, shit, shit! Tell me… what do I do now, mother?” fully aware that he would never receive a reply from the renowned figure that their insignificant planet couldn’t contain.

…

A wave of exhaustion washed over Ryzel’s body. He threw up a mouthful of blood, but even then still had a victorious smile plastered across his face. An incredible sense of weakness enveloped him. He had overdrawn his body, and was suffering from the backlash.

Mana is a form of energy that was constantly cycling across the world, and the body could be considered a conductor, or container of this energy. Naturally, all bodies had limitations to how much mana they could absorb, which could slowly be increased by breakthroughs and meditation, before automatically being released into the atmosphere via aura when people reach their mana capacity. When people forcefully absorb mana into their bodies despite reaching their capacity, they overdraw on mana and suffer backlash corresponding to the degree of it.

Ryzel, with his broken left arm, could barely remain standing while enduring the backlash when he noticed the completely maimed body of Zieg twitch ever so slightly.

“Impossible…” he said in disbelief.

Gathering his remaining mana into his right arm, Ryzel used what little strength he had left to punch downwards towards the prone Zieg.

“Impact…”

…

Immediately after opening the divine door, Zieg felt a domineering aura take hold of him. He was suffocating from its mere presence. It felt like the aura was invading his consciousness, trying to erase his very existence.

He instantly regretted opening the door.

The pressure the god fragment gave off was unbearable. Zieg felt like his head was splitting open while trying to fend the fragment off from erasing his consciousness with his willpower.

“I won’t let you absorb my soul!” Zieg screamed in defiance to the invader.

(You won’t let me? You do not have a choice! Without my power you wouldn’t have been given a second life. Everything I desire, be it power, this world, your soul, belongs to me!)

Zieg’s consciousness was being overwhelmed by the god fragment, slowly being crushed by its pressure. Just as he was about to be completely consumed by the soul fragment, he felt the burden of the pressure lessen by half.

The god fragment split its consciousness in half. One half was used to contend with Zieg’s consciousness in deciding the dominant soul, while the other was used to control Zieg’s body to deal with the immediate threat happening outside the realm of consciousness.

…

“Break!”

Ryzel’s right fist came crashing down towards the already defeated Zieg. Moments before his fist made contact, Zieg’s wounds healed instantaneously while his body rolled across the ground to avoid it.

Ryzel’s blow formed another miniature crater within the crater, creating a cloud of dust that concealed their visions. His right arm directly broke from the recoil.

“How… are you still alive?!” Ryzel yelled in his astonishment. He couldn’t fathom how Zieg would still be able to move after all the damage he inflicted onto him. Ryzel barely managed to stay standing, with two broken arms hanging uselessly to his sides.

When the dust cloud cleared, what entered Ryzel’s view was a Zieg that was no longer himself. Zieg’s eyes shined a bright-red, his body continuously increasing in mana, causing a red aura to form around him.

Ryzel felt like what he was facing wasn’t a demon, nor a human, but a beast. A beast that acted on instinct, just craving destruction.

Ryzel was panting heavily, he was still suffering from his backlash while glaring at the beast across from him. His vision was growing blurry, and he felt his consciousness slowly slipping away from him.

(I gave it everything I had… And in the end I still couldn’t beat him. I couldn’t beat Zieg. Am I going to fall like Zieg did five years ago? Letting our people down like he did? How ironic. In a place like this… Was that all my resolve was worth?) Ryzel thought while having lapses in his consciousness. He was repeatedly fading in and out of consciousness.

The beast-like Zieg seemed to capitalize on Ryzel’s thoughts. Indentations were made beneath Zieg’s feet as he launched himself towards Ryzel, the speed instantly creating a sonic boom.

Zieg’s right arm reached out in a grasping motion towards Ryzel’s heart.

Zieg felt like he was a passenger within his own body. He could see everything that was happening while fighting against the half of the god fragment, but was helpless to control anything.

Zieg’s right arm directly pierced through Ryzel’s body, revealing Ryzel’s heart through the otherside. His fist clenched, completely crushing the heart within the palm of his hand.

“NO!” Ryzel forcefully yelled out.

Zieg was blown backward by an unknown force. He was sent crashing into the outskirts of the enormous crater.

A large, blue pillar of mana completely enveloped Ryzel, much like the time with Julius’ transformation into an elemental.

“MY RESOLVE ISN’T THAT WEAK! NEVER! NOT TO THE LIKES OF YOU!” it seemed like Ryzel was screaming his defiance against Zieg and the very heavens itself.

Blood was leaking out of Ryzel’s seven orifices, his arms and the hole in his chest were healing and repairing themselves. All of his wounds were gone within an instant.

Much like Zieg’s resolve to launch Collapsing Dragon at the cost of his life force in his previous life, Ryzel was using his life force, treating it as fuel and burning it away to temporarily and forcefully break into the next realm moments before his death. The realm above immortality. Transcendence. Whatever the outcome of the battle, whether he lived or died, Ryzel would suffer consequences and never be the same again.

Mana revolved around Ryzel’s body, coalescing and resting on his back and forming four pairs of decrepit wings. Wings formed from mana. At a closer look the wings were like the legs of a spider.

If Raphael’s four apostles saw this scene they’d all be left speechless. Even if it were only the early stages of it, an immortal from some random backwater planet actually reached the same tier of power as them. The Transcendent Realm. The first step into divinity. Those who reached this realm of power possessed bodies that automatically regenerated themselves, and could survive as long as their souls were intact. All those within the transcendent realm were able to use the ability of soul empowerment, using the power of their souls to reinforce the strength of their physical body.

Those who reached the transcendent realm from their planet were talked of as legends among immortals. Their power could no longer be measured, and were simply labeled as Rank X for unknown. They were rumored to be among the previous victors of the Heaven Arena, entered the dimension of the Celestial Realm, or those who had long left the planet for others in search of greater heights.

Snow Witch Himea, Zura the Conqueror, Thousand-eyes Moriarty, Gideon the Paragon, and many more. Legendary figures of the transcendent realm who originated from their planet that were said to possess enough power to influence the fate of the world.

The area around Ryzel seemed to be drowned in mana, making the gravity several times heavier within his vicinity.

“I WILL DIE BEFORE LOSING TO YOU, ZIEG!” at this moment, every living being on the planet heard Ryzel’s thunderous roar.

Next arc spoilers:

Spoiler : To the immortal continent, Aegis reclamation arc

The main characters of this arc will be Cain, Daria, Zieg, and Alcantis and their trip to Cain's clan in the immortal continent