In the end, even till the very end of the long-drawn war, the Alliance weren't able to figure out a single clue about the Tree of Darkness. Its layout, its defences… nothing. Though, even if they did manage to do a full investigation, it would all be futile.

Deep within the Tree of Darkness, there laid a secret room. A secluded and protected area that was far from the apex of the tree. It was buried under all of the thick branches, stump and roots, hidden from plain sight and an unknown ent.i.ty, even to the highest-ranking members of the Black Masks. In fact, there were only two beings in existence that knew of the secret chambers. The Allfather's most trusted lieutenant, Kuro and the Allfather himself.

Why was it the most secluded area in the whole Tree of Darkness?

"s.h.i.+t! s.h.i.+t! s.h.i.+T!!!" Wails of pain echoed through the chambers.

It was a rather simple room. There was no furniture, no paintings, no decorations. Just plain old walls with cold ceilings and still air. However, there was one distinct feature, one that made it hard for anyone to miss. Centred at the middle of the room, there laid a huge blackened chunk of wood. It was rotting from the inside with dark mist rising up from its central organ. From the offset, there wasn't much life left within the broken wood. And the same went for the person that was stuck within that dying bark.

Skin dried up like a prune, the white skeletal man that was stuck to the tree bark was looking death straight at the eye. He lacked any sort of hair, no eyebrows, chest hair or even facial hair. Hollow eyed with black roots escaping out of his torso and chest… All four of his limbs were sealed by the tree bark behind him, and the man lacked any muscles to resist or escape from his uncomfortable position. In truth, the man looked closer to a dying treant than a living human being.

"Why did I fail?! Why did you reject me?!" The man continued to curse with his eyes bloodshot and voice hoa.r.s.e. He lacked the physical strength to move his body, so all he could do was eye up the ceiling. "I HAD EVERYTHING PREPARED!!! EVERYTHING!!! WHY DID YOU REJECT ME?!"

"Your thinking is flawed, Allfather." As if hearing his question, a voice replied to the man.

Only two people knew of this chamber's existence and most of it had been hidden with numerous traps lacing the pathway. For someone to infiltrate here this quickly… That was almost impossible. But… The facts spoke for itself.

The Allfather watched in horror as a man formed himself out from the water droplets in the room. His vibrant black hair and beautiful azure eyes that seemed to contain the entire ocean within, flashed inside of the Allfather's vision, mesmerising the man to the ninth degree. The Allfather had seen many mystical things in his day, but never could he have antic.i.p.ated that his greatest rival would make little of his tightest defence system in such an effortless manner.

s.h.i.+n didn't continue to speak once he reformed himself. For a good ten seconds, s.h.i.+n observed the Allfather with his own two eyes. He had imagined this day for so long. How would the final fight with the Allfather's main body look like? Would he be faced with an unyielding beast of a Spirit Saint, with powers that defied all common sense? Would the Allfather be a ten-metre giant with the muscles of an apex predator? Would the Allfather have the mana reserves that tower over all living beings, including that of himself?

Alas, reality was often disappointing.

"So this is the true face of the mighty Allfather. A man that can't even move his face." s.h.i.+n spat.

Where was the powerful ent.i.ty that brought the world to its knees? Where was the man that dominated all who stood in his way, even a legion of Spirit Saints? Where was the man that forced Junius' death and the ma.s.sacres of millions? Where was the man that split the entire Terre Continent all on his own?

Was it this bag of bones?

"The face of the devil… is quite disappointing."

"s.h.i.+n Iofiel..." The dying man cursed, his eyes still carrying the hate of a million burning suns.

"Allfather," s.h.i.+n gave the man a humble bow in response to his name. "We finally meet face-to-face."

"... How did you get in?"

"My tenth spiritual ability, the one that gave me the power to resist you… Is called One with Water. As long as Water exists, I will exist. I can feel all Water, see all Water and more importantly… I can teleport to anywhere that has Water. Entering your protected chambers is nothing more than child's play."

The Allfather was rendered speechless. The war was lost, the Allfather knew that clearly. Heaven had rejected him, the forces of nature had eroded his Spirit and were attacking his soul. The Tree of Darkness was withering away, and light returned back to the desolate Neutral Lands. In time, the Alliance would apprehend the remaining Black Masks to either execute or torture. And without the road to eternity… The Allfather was doomed to perish.

The Allfather's days were numbered in the first place. Pa.s.sing over six centuries, the Allfather had long surpa.s.sed the natural age limit for all Spirit Saints. It was only through the Tree of Darkness' unique properties that the Allfather was able to prolong his withering life. However, with the Tree of Darkness eroding away, nothing was holding his ageing body from crossing through River Styx anymore.

"One with Water… What a broken ability."

"I'd only attained this ability thanks to your meddling, Allfather." s.h.i.+n snorted. "As you said, people need conflict to grow. It was a good strategy, trying to get us all to become strong enough to feed Heaven's Gate. But you simply miscalculated."

"Miscalculated what?"

s.h.i.+n sneered as he moved in closer towards the Allfather. In his current state, the Allfather was basically as weak as a newborn infant. There was nothing that could protect him against s.h.i.+n's overwhelming power. So even when s.h.i.+n was just inches away from the Allfather's dying body, there was nothing that he could do to resist.

"You've underestimated how much we could grow. Not just me, the other Alliance members had become more powerful and unified thanks to your actions. That's why you've lost, Allfather."

"..."

"Gaining eternity… To achieve your dream, you actually brought the world to a grinding halt. Killing innocents and destroying families meant nothing to you. Your selfishness had brought upon you too many enemies, enemies that had become powerful enough to ignore their own differences just to see you fall."

"..."

"Alas, you were too lost in chasing your dream." s.h.i.+n sighed. "You gained your Rank 99 powers not through talent, but through leaching the powers of your subordinates. Instead of self-betterment, you tried to cheese the system. You tried to become Immortal when your fate was to die a mortal."

"What's wrong about that?" After a brief moment of silence, the Allfather finally found the strength to shout a reb.u.t.tal. "What's wrong with fighting against fate? Isn't that what everyone wants to do? Defy their own incompetence to become the man or woman that they want to be? I did everything right! I just wanted to see her again… WHY DID YOU REJECT ME?!"

The Allfather screamed out at the top of his lungs, exhausting what little oxygen remains in his broken body. In the end, without the proper spiritual energies to hold him back, the Allfather coughed out several mouthfuls of blood while his body convulsed in agony.

"Hah… hah..."

It quickly became apparent that the Allfather was no longer able to form words. His body was deteriorating at an extraordinary rate, and even if s.h.i.+n didn't do anything, the man would die within the next few hours. However, s.h.i.+n didn't have the patience to wait those G.o.dly hours. Tapping his fingers in the air twice, the man called out a ray of light filled with the s.p.a.ce-Element. When the light dissipated, in its place, a hitless sword rested on s.h.i.+n's palms. It held the sharpness befitting that of a Legendary-Grade Spirit Armament. Each time an element pa.s.sed through its blade, the sword would s.h.i.+ne with its correspondent colour, bringing a sense of wonder to the simple weapon.

It was a sword that the Allfather was quite familiar with. After all, that sword was his present to Junius those many years back. It was the sword that laid the foundations of s.h.i.+n's organisation, Guardian Sword. It was the representative of all the evils that the Allfather had given the world and the hope that Guardian Sword aimed to bring. It was… the Legendary-Grade Spirit Armament… The Hof.u.ku.

"Allfather, the sins that you've carried out against humanity… There are too many to count." s.h.i.+n said his verse just as any executioner would. "I would love to give you one lash for each person that died in the war, each mother who lost their child in battle, each family that lost their regular lives to the destruction you've caused, each soul you reaped for your selfish desire. I would love to lock you up in the catacombs and torture you for the rest of eternity. I would love to do all that… but I can't."

s.h.i.+n injected his pure mana into the Hof.u.ku, enhancing its sharpness a million fold. On this planet, there won't be anything that the Hof.u.ku can't cut or anything that it can't pierce. Be it illusions or diamond, s.p.a.ce or time… The Hof.u.ku was now able to reap them all.

"Allfather… On behalf of the entire world. I sentence you to death."