Immortal Paladin

523 Nine Seconds

[POV: Hei Mao]

Hei Mao remained seated in the Bone Palace of the Greater Universe’s Third Layer, his figure unmoving at the center of a ritual that felt older than time itself. Around him, the Death Daughters formed perfect circles, their pale bodies swaying in unison as they held hands, their eyes rolled back until only whites remained. Their nudity was not born of indecency, but of purpose, allowing their qi to flow unimpeded into the ritual space while avoiding interference from the natural order that governed lesser rites. The air itself had grown thick with deathly essence, a suffocating pressure that pressed inward from all directions.

Their voices rose together, layered and harmonious, yet filled with venom that seemed to stain reality itself. “We curse the devourers of balance, we damn the harbingers of famine and war. Let their blades turn hollow, let their hunger consume themselves, let their dominion fracture beneath the weight of death’s inheritance.”

The words carried power.

The Death Daughters shared their origin with the Four Horsemen, and that connection gave their ritual a rare and terrifying efficacy. If anything in existence could wound a Horseman beyond superficial means, it was this. The blessings they offered were not gentle gifts, but sharpened curses wrapped in the authority of death itself.

At the center, Hei Mao remained in a lotus position, his breathing slow and controlled despite the overwhelming force being poured into him. Yin, the black cat, rested on one shoulder, her tail flicking irritably as she monitored the flow of energy. Yang, the white cat, mirrored her on the other side, his expression calm and focused as he guided the process with careful precision. Behind Hei Mao, skeletal arms encircled him in a silent embrace, belonging to Ezekiel, the Holy Spirit whose hollow gaze burned with quiet purpose.

“This is taking far too long,” Yin complained, her voice sharp as she watched the ritual drag on.

Yang did not look away from Hei Mao, his tone steady and reassuring. “Patience. The convergence is nearly complete. Prepare yourself, Hei Mao. It is almost time.”

Hei Mao inhaled deeply, drawing in the torrent of power that flooded his body. His red scarf writhed like a living entity, reacting to the dense concentration of laws being forced into him. Though diluted, they were still fragments of the authority once held by the Supreme Death, inherited and refined through the Death Daughters. Even weakened, they were potent enough to tear apart an unprepared vessel.

Controlling them was another matter entirely.

The strain showed in the tightening of his muscles, in the subtle tremor that ran through his form. Yet with Yin stabilizing the darker currents and Yang harmonizing the flow, the chaos gradually bent into something usable. It was not perfect, but it was enough.

A black blob formed in his palm, shifting and writhing with unnatural life. It was a fragment of the Dark Veil, inscribed with a planar spell left behind by Alice and reinforced with a warp array. It pulsed faintly, resonating with the ritual as if awaiting activation.

Ezekiel’s hollow voice broke the tension. “It is time.”

Divine power surged as Ezekiel declared.

“Divine Possession.”

The words echoed through the chamber as the ritual reached its peak. Hei Mao felt something align deep within him, as if a distant presence had finally found its path. For a fleeting moment, he thought he heard it clearly.

His master’s voice, calling him.

…

..

.

[POV: Da Wei]

“Castling,” I declared, my voice cutting cleanly through the chaos of the battlefield.

Before me, Ezekiel manifested in an instant, his skeletal form anchoring itself within the blood-soaked domain. War’s blade descended at the same time, its trajectory precise and absolute, yet just as it was about to strike, the technique completed itself. Ezekiel vanished, replaced by Hei Mao.

The transition was seamless.

War’s sword barely missed its intended target as he reacted too late, his frustration erupting into a curse that shook the surrounding space. I had succeeded. Hei Mao stood where Ezekiel once was, drawn directly into the heart of the battlefield.

The next moment, War’s hand closed around my throat.

He had reached me.

Through Ophanim, the future fractured into countless paths. In the span of nine seconds, I watched myself die over and over again, each variation different, each failure absolute. Yet none of it stirred panic within me. These were not endings. They were lessons.

I moved.

“Castling,” I uttered once more, triggering the exchange without hesitation.

Space twisted.

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

A full second passed.

Now it was Hei Mao in War’s grasp.

War tightened his hold, but before he could act, Hei Mao’s red scarf lashed out with blinding speed, slicing through his hand. Flesh parted cleanly, though it regenerated almost instantly. War did not falter. His sword drove forward, aimed directly at Hei Mao’s core, yet the scarf moved again, intercepting the strike and deflecting it despite the oppressive force of the Dao Domain.

Two seconds had passed.

It was enough.

“Divine Possession,” I declared.

The boundary between us vanished.

Mind, body, and spirit aligned as I merged with Hei Mao completely, our consciousnesses overlapping without conflict. His senses became mine, his strength an extension of my will, and together, we stood as one.

“Let’s do this, master!” Hei Mao’s voice rang out within and without, filled with fierce determination.

We moved as one.

“Ghost Path: Mark of the Hollow!”

The red scarf transformed instantly, its color draining into a pure, deathly white. Around us, wraiths manifested, their forms composed of pale skulls that drifted and howled with silent malice. The sound of a zither echoed through the bleeding domain, sharp and mournful, cutting through even the anguished cries of trapped souls.

A black diamond formed upon Hei Mao’s forehead, pulsing with condensed authority.

…

..

.

[POV: Hei Mao]

Hei Mao moved as one with Da Wei, their merged consciousness flowing seamlessly through every action as the battlefield descended further into chaos. A monstrous tide of blood wraiths surged toward them, each one shrieking with violent intent as they tore through the bleeding air of the Dao Domain. In response, the white scarf rippled and unfurled, releasing an army of Ezekiels that manifested in perfect formation. Each skeletal figure burned with divine authority, meeting the blood wraiths head-on with equal ferocity, their clashes shaking the surrounding space with relentless force.

Three seconds had already passed.

War’s towering form began to distort grotesquely. His massive body split apart, flesh tearing and reforming as fragments peeled away from him, crawling outward from wounds and ruptured muscle. The process was unnatural and horrifying, reducing the colossal figure into countless smaller versions of himself, each one carrying the same murderous intent. The clones moved in unison, forming a deadly formation that collapsed inward on Hei Mao from all directions.

They attacked.

The speed and precision of their assault exceeded anything prior. Each strike was layered, each movement synchronized to overwhelm through sheer inevitability. Hei Mao endured, his body shifting through Divine Step while Divine Protection and Divine Favor reinforced his defenses. At the same time, the Mark of the Hollow manifested its innate evasiveness, allowing him to phase through attacks that would otherwise have been impossible to avoid. Even so, every movement was razor-thin, each evasion barely succeeding as the storm of blades and fists tore past him.

Four seconds had passed.

“Divine Word: Radiance!”

Hei Mao’s voice rang out, empowered by his Immortal Art: Nether Gate Summoning Chant. Within his eyes, the image of a torii gate shimmered into existence, accompanied by the increasingly furious sound of a zither that seemed to slice through reality itself. A blinding light erupted outward, consuming everything within its radius. Yet within that overwhelming brilliance, Hei Mao and Da Wei saw clearly, their perception anchored by the fusion of Ophanim and Hei Mao’s altered vision.

The Law of Death embedded within Hei Mao surged.

It purged indiscriminately through the Divine Word: Radiance.

Blood wraiths disintegrated. Ezekiels collapsed into dust. Everything caught within the radiance was erased, leaving behind a momentary void within the battlefield.

Five seconds had passed.

Hei Mao descended sharply, flying low as he fled toward the Dark Veil below. At the same time, Da Wei reinforced an existing spell, layering authority and intent into its structure.

“Divine Forge.”

The declaration elevated the already existing Divine Mandate of the Executor to an entirely new level, amplifying its effects far beyond its original limits. Though it could only empower a single ability at a time, the enhancement was absolute within its scope.

Six seconds had passed.

The chain engraved upon War’s neck pulsed with force, asserting its binding authority and compelling the battle forward. It denied escape, forcing both sides into continued confrontation. War gave chase without hesitation, his clones collapsing back into a singular form as he surged forward with renewed aggression.

Below them, the Dark Veil responded.

Under Hei Mao’s control, it rose upward, forming enormous swords that lashed toward War in coordinated arcs. Each blade carried the weight of the underworld itself, yet War weaved between them with terrifying agility. He leapt, twisted, and accelerated, utilizing spatial leaps to close the distance in bursts that defied conventional movement.

Hei Mao reacted instantly.

Judgment Severance manifested as enormous cross-shaped rifts, each one devouring supernatural power within its vicinity. They appeared directly in War’s path, disrupting his spatial transitions and forcing him back into the physical layer of the battlefield.

Seven seconds had passed.

War still reached them.

At point-blank range, Hei Mao deployed another Judgment Severance, the rift opening just as War closed in. In that same instant, Divine Step activated, amplified by Da Wei’s authority over the Hollowed World. Space folded, and Hei Mao reappeared on an entirely different continent.

Eight seconds had passed.

War followed.

His spatial leap forced its way through the interference, his Dao Domain blooming once more as he arrived, his sword already in motion. Hei Mao answered by summoning Silver Steel into his grasp, the blade gleaming with restrained power.

Yin and Yang cried out together, their voices perfectly synchronized. “Divine Possession.”

They dissolved into streams of energy and entered the sword, infusing it with the Law of Death they had been stabilizing. The weapon transformed, its presence deepening as it carried a fragment of that authority.

War’s blade collided with it.

Hei Mao parried.

The impact shattered the ground beneath them and sent shockwaves through the air. The force traveled through Hei Mao’s body, cracking bone and tearing muscle, yet he held his ground. Through the shared consciousness, he felt War’s desperation, his fury pushing him beyond restraint.

Hei Mao smiled.

Nine seconds had passed.

The Dao Domain collapsed.

Golden clouds blossomed into existence around them, swirling with quiet majesty. This was the Divine Myriad Nebula, an evolved Mana Soul that manifested as a cloud of Divine Qi. Each mote shimmered with contained power, each one capable of unleashing an Ultimate Skill.

Hei Mao did not hesitate.

He used them all.

“True Divine Smite.”

The declaration carried finality. The technique combined the essence of Divine Smite, Divine Might, Blessed Weapon, Radiant Dawn, and Holy Sword into a singular, overwhelming strike. As the power gathered, the continent beneath them split open like a wound, revealing the Dark Veil below.

Hei Mao struck.

War raised his blade to block, and though he succeeded in intercepting the attack, the force drove him downward, pushing him into the abyss beneath the broken land.

At that moment, Da Wei’s will asserted itself fully.

“By my authority as the master of the Hollowed World,” his voice resounded, layered with absolute command, “with the Hollow Star as my crown and the Dark Veil as my domain, the existence known as War shall be sealed.”

The world obeyed.

The ground closed.