pjbooks Chapter 162 The Shattered Seal
Chapter 162 The Shattered Seal
He took a step forward.
"These names are the embers of life left behind by humanity in despair over the past three hundred years. They sank to the bottom of the abyss, absorbed, transformed, and reshaped by the source of chaos. They are not my power, but the power of humanity itself."
The second step.
"Jiang Chen, if you want to kill me, you must first deny these names. If you want to deny these names, you must first deny all the sacrifices humanity has made in despair over the past three hundred years."
third step.
He stopped and stood in front of Jiang Chen, less than three zhang away. Golden armor flowed over his body, and the names on it gleamed with a warm golden luster under the six-colored light.
"Jiang Chen, can you do it?"
Jiang Chen looked at him, at each name engraved on the golden armor. He recognized some of the names—Zhao Lei, twenty-six years old, a B-rank fire-type awakener, who sacrificed himself in the Imperial Capital Apostle Descent incident. Lin Xiaoyu, twenty-three years old, an intern reporter for Imperial Capital Television, who sacrificed herself during the live broadcast of the Apostle Hall challenge. Zhou Minglang, eighteen years old, a student in Class One of Jiangzhou Academy, who sacrificed himself in the C-rank monster incident at the training ground.
He stared at it for a long time.
Then he spoke, his voice very soft, as soft as the wind blowing across a dry riverbed.
"Nesario, you say these names are the embers of human life, the sacrifices left behind by humanity in despair over the past three hundred years. You say that if I want to kill you, I must first deny these names."
He raised the Primordial Sword, its tip aimed at Neltharion's brow.
"But do you know what? These names are not your power. They are the power of humanity. You simply dug them out from the depths of the abyss, wore them on your body, and used them as a shield."
He took a step forward.
"But the people whose names belonged never fought for the demons while they were alive. They fought to protect humanity."
The second step.
Their sacrifice wasn't meant to be a shield for you. It was so that the living could one day stand before you and say—
third step.
He stopped, and six stars simultaneously lit up on the blade of the Primordial Sword. But this time, the six-colored light did not blast towards Neltharion. Instead, it surged from the blade, coalescing in the void into a six-colored light curtain that stretched across the heavens and earth. Countless intricate runes flowed across the surface of the light curtain, each rune a fragment of a law etched into the very essence of the void.
"These names do not belong to you. They belong to humanity."
The six-colored light curtain exploded.
Golden light peeled away from the armor, condensing into countless golden specks in the void. These specks multiplied and grew denser, eventually coalescing into a golden sea of light. Within this sea of light, countless figures were coalescing.
Those were the human awakeners, defenders, civilians, and explorers who had sacrificed themselves over the past three hundred years, caught between the apostles and the demons. Their faces were blurred, but their eyes were clear. Their bodies were transparent, but their wills were unwavering. They stood within the six-colored light curtain, looking at Neltharion, at the dark red sky of the seventh layer of the abyss, and at the chaotic origins that had slumbered in darkness for three hundred years.
"Nesario." The figure in the front row spoke, his face blurred, but his voice clear, "Three hundred years ago, you crawled out from the depths of the abyss. You thought humanity's despair was your source of power. You thought humanity's sacrifice was your shield."
He took a step forward.
"But you are wrong. Humanity's despair has never nourished the abyss. It is the abyss that feeds on humanity's despair, not humanity that nourishes the abyss. Humanity's sacrifice has never belonged to you. You are stealing humanity's sacrifice, not humanity that is giving you power."
The second step.
"Today, we have taken back these powers."
The golden sea of light exploded in an instant. Not an explosion, but a burst of light. Golden rays surged forth from the sea of light, peeling away, absorbing, and transforming every scale of Neltharion's golden armor. Golden specks of light emerged from the armor, converging in the void to form a golden pillar of light that stretched across the heavens and earth.
The beam of light blasted towards Nesario.
He didn't dodge. He spread his arms and tilted his head back. Dark red light surged from his body, condensing into a dark red light shield in front of him. But this time, the light shield shattered in less than half a breath under the impact of the golden pillar of light. Dark red fragments drifted in the void, each fragment carrying the chaotic essence of the abyss for three million years, rapidly evaporating, dissipating, and returning to nothingness under the golden light.
A golden beam of light pierced through Neltharion's chest.
He lowered his head, looking at the gaping wound in his chest. There was no blood at the wound, only a constantly dissipating dark red light. The light surged from the wound, forming a thin, dark red halo on his body. Under the illumination of the golden light, the halo gradually dimmed, contracted, and extinguished.
"Jiang Chen." He raised his head and looked at Jiang Chen, his dark red eyes reflecting six-colored light and a golden sea of light. "Your six-colored light pillar is indeed powerful. Powerful enough to shatter the sky of the seventh layer of the abyss, powerful enough to collapse seven demon god thrones, powerful enough to severely injure three pillar demon gods, powerful enough to awaken the sacrifices of humanity over the past three hundred years."
He took a step forward, but his foot didn't land on solid ground—his body swayed in mid-air, like a mountain about to collapse.
"But do you know why there are seven pillars of the Abyss demons?"
Jiang Chen remained silent.
"Because the primordial chaos at the bottom of the abyss split into seven parts at the moment the apostles descended three hundred years ago. Each part condensed into a pillar of demonic power. Balthazaron is corruption, Frost is freezing, Shadow Fiend is devouring, Emberbone is burning. And then there is me—the Darkness of Eternity."
He opened his arms and tilted his head back.
"But there are two demon gods who have never appeared in the human world. Because from the moment they were born, they were sealed in the deepest part of the abyss. Their power is too strong, so strong that even the origin of chaos cannot fully contain it. So strong that even the abyss itself rejects them."
His body began to glow.
"Jiang Chen, do you think that by defeating me you've ended the Abyss? Do you think that by awakening the sacrifices of humanity over the past three hundred years you've denied the origin of chaos? Do you think your six-colored pillar of light can shatter the seals of the two demon gods at the deepest level of the Abyss?"
His voice trailed off.
You're wrong.
A dark red light surged from his body, not towards Jiang Chen, but towards the deepest part of the abyss. The light pierced through the seventh layer of the sky, through the sixth, fifth, fourth, third, second, and first layers—piercing through all levels of the abyss, reaching the deepest part of the primordial chaos.
There are two seals there.
The seal has shattered.
At the very bottom of the abyss, the two demon gods that had been sealed for three million years opened their eyes.