Chapter 772: Shattered Fate

Hoo-la-la…

Unlike the clash between Lu Xin and the Old Man.

Although Lu Xin and the Old Man both tapped into high-level illusory powers, they still retained their human essence—a duel of skill. In contrast, the enraged Father who charged forward was like a bone-chilling tide seeping deep into one’s marrow.

With an overwhelming force, he swept right before the Old Man, colliding with his power.

Clack, clack, clack…

It was as if a pane of pure glass were being squeezed, each inch emitting brittle, overloaded cracks. Around the Old Man, the flickering candlelight refracted into a kaleidoscope of hues, while an icy wind permeated every inch of the Church.

Summoning all his strength, the Father launched his first assault, yet the Old Man remained unmoved.

But the Father had clearly prepared long in advance. With a furious roar, a torrent of abnormal power surged from within the Black Shadow.

This force, laced with fear and amplified in intensity, piled up as it surged toward the Old Man.

Clack, clack, clack…

However, the Old Man’s mental barrier deflected the onslaught. That soft yet unyielding shield stood firm against the tidal rush, impervious even as the surrounding candles remained completely unaffected.

It was a truly despairing scenario.

Still, the Father had been preparing for this moment for a long time.

His roar echoed through the narrow confines of the Church, each reverberation a piercing assault on the ears.

Layer upon layer of increasingly potent power emerged from the Black Shadow, continuously stacking and rising to new heights.

Mental entities reaped in Heichao City.

Hell Regiment devoured in Flame City.

And outside Qinggang City, enforcers transformed from fear itself…

……

……

This was the very reserve he had long been amassing—his true hidden treasure.

When countering the Sword Bearer, he hadn’t unleashed everything, since Lu Xin had resolved that matter swiftly.

Now, without hesitation, he deployed his entire arsenal, thrusting forward with unrelenting force.

Inside the tiny Church, endless phantom shadows clashed like warriors on a battlefield.

……

……

Oh, oh, oh…

Deep in the Abyss, the Undercover Units from Lu Xin’s family stood in a tight row, their eyes wide with fear.

They watched as a surge of terrifying mental pressure suddenly erupted from the dark lake ahead.

Amid the swirling black mist, an unmistakably formidable power revealed itself.

At times, pure dread spread; at others, legions of vague, human-shaped mental entities marched in unison.

Time and again they charged toward the dark core, defying oblivion as if fearless of death.

At the center of that black core, a faint candle flame burned quietly.

It wasn’t very bright.

Yet despite the relentless barrage of colossal forces, it maintained its own stability.

……

……

Sigh…

Facing the Father’s frenzied onslaught, the Old Man sighed softly.

His gaze swept discreetly over the candles behind him; he sensed that even their flickering flames were subtly disturbed by the Father’s fury. With renewed determination in his eyes, he seemed to have made a pivotal decision.

Swish!

He abruptly turned, his cold stare locking onto the Father.

Even the Father, already engulfed in a wild, frenzied aura, faltered slightly at that look.

Then, in an instant, the mental barrier before the Old Man shattered with a sharp crack.

His form blurred, as if pages in a book were flipping noisily within him.

Immediately, an overwhelming burst of blinding light exploded from within him, forming gigantic tendrils that sliced through his chest and sent rippling waves of air surging toward the Father’s shadow.

Rustle, rustle…

Every soul in the small Town fell into a brief, empty mental void.

It was as if all mental power had momentarily been paused, leaving only a fleeting blankness.

In the Abyss, every Undercover Unit clung to one another in sheer panic, trembling.

Their wide eyes fixed on the dark ahead, where a mass of white shadow unfurled massive tendrils.

Rustle, rustle…

At that moment, the Father’s power was forced to retreat inch by inch under the impact of the Old Man’s mental strength.

Yet he roared like never before; despite restraining himself against an overwhelming force, he refused to back down and instead surged forward with unprecedented courage, merging with the clash.

A brutal melee, an annihilation…

……

……

Found it…

At the same moment, Mom’s ever-shifting, expansive pupils suddenly contracted and merged into one.

As if at last she had perceived something, her body convulsed violently and multiple afterimages emerged.

In the next heartbeat, these images infiltrated every corner of the Church.

In perfect unison, a hand emerged from a small white bag.

Clutched in her grasp were a pair of Scissors, which she used to snip the tendrils extending from the Old Man.

Amid the interwoven power, she severed the logical chains underlying his strength.

But that was merely a diversion.

More crucially, in the dazzling chaos, Mom’s figure slipped behind the Old Man.

Yet she made no move to seize the Black Box; instead, she raised her Scissors toward the row of candles.

Clack, clack, clack…

As the crisp sound echoed, four or five candles suddenly extinguished.

The Church’s light dimmed noticeably, and the Old Man’s power weakened considerably.

With a booming laugh, the Father leapt forward, devouring the Old Man’s mental power.

Amid the tangled energies, the Old Man’s figure reappeared beside Mom.

Rustle, rustle…

Accompanied by the clear sound of pages turning, a thick tome materialized beside the Old Man.

Its cover, crafted from sheepskin, boasted a plush, velvety texture.

As it flipped open, its pages were filled with dense, indecipherable script.

A mere glance suggested that these words could inundate the mind, displacing every other thought.

In the next moment, the Old Man turned, a Golden Pen gripped tightly in his hand, its tip aglow with dazzling light.

It raced across the sheepskin scroll to inscribe a single line:

“Fate is not for peering into.”

“…”

Hum…

A strange surge of mental power quickly spread, causing every Mom to instinctively cover her eyes as shadows vanished one by one.

……

……

“What’s wrong?”

Outside the Church, Lu Xin was being pulled from a ‘human quagmire’ by Mom when he suddenly heard a low moan. Spinning around, he saw her clutching her eyes, with bright blood trickling from her palm.

Fear and intense anger surged in his heart as he urgently asked.

“He has altered the underlying logic—no one is allowed to glimpse into fate within his domain…”

Mom murmured, “That’s why the fragment of fate I once peered into was obliterated…”

Lu Xin, still in disbelief, asked, “Is it really that terrible?”

“Every Ultimate holds absolute dominion within their Mind Palace…”

Mom whispered, lowering her hand.

Her usually bright eyes now seemed noticeably dimmer.

Her face had grown even paler than before.

When she had led Lu Xin to the depths of the Abyss, she had already sustained severe injury that never fully healed.

It was simply her habit to conceal her wounds.

But now, there was no doubt that her injuries had worsened considerably.

Crack…

Lu Xin gritted his teeth, straining to regain control of his body.

Unexpectedly, the harder he struggled, the louder the cacophony of roars and shrieks became.

Countless black shadows engulfed most of his body.

Even though Mom had pulled a part of him clear, it felt as if he were about to be overwhelmed once again.

A hollow sadness washed over him, as if his mind had gone blank and rendered him powerless.

“Don’t fight it…”

Mom quickly restrained Lu Xin and whispered, “This is the Quagmire of Bewilderment…”

“As a Fire-Thief, his essence is truth—but truth is forever entwined with confusion, making bewilderment a facet of his power…”

“He knows you are most vulnerable, so he cloaked the Black Box in the power of bewilderment.”

“When you reached for the Black Box, you essentially embraced bewilderment itself, lured into being tainted by it.”

“…”

“How cunning…”

Lu Xin could hardly believe it—the Old Man had always appeared so steadfast.

“Truth is inherently cunning.”

Mom whispered, “Within the title of Fire-Thief lies the very notion of theft; his origin sprang from a grand deceit…”

“Just like the legendary fire-bringer who stole the flame to bestow upon humanity, yet in the eyes of the gods, he is deemed a traitor and a deceiver—deceit being an inseparable part of him.”

“…”

“So, what now?”

Lu Xin, overwhelmed by the barrage of complexities, asked haltingly.

For the first time, he felt entangled by a force so intricate that it was impossible to break free.

When he opened his eyes, visions cascaded before him in endless, shifting illusions.

At times, the scene turned to the barren, dark red of the Abyss.

At others, black, humanoid shadows formed a sea that gripped him relentlessly.

Then, the vision shifted to that cold coastal Town.

Whether it was the stone slab ground or the warped, viscous buildings, everything appeared to gulp him down like a swamp.

No matter what power he summoned in defiance, he could only feel himself sinking deeper.

Worse yet, his might—once used to recklessly charge through a corrupted world with black particles—had lost its effect. What once could not erode the Old Man’s mental barrier now failed to corrupt this bewilderment…

“He is deceiving you…”

As if reading his thoughts, Mom immediately whispered.

“One of the Fire-Thief’s abilities is to make you believe that everything he says is the absolute truth.”

“He blocked your power with his Mental Barrier, insisting that your ability could not affect truth.”

“You subconsciously accept that as truth and overextend it, believing your power is ineffective against him…”

“But in reality, you’ve already wounded him…”

“It’s just that his level surpasses yours, so the damage remains minimal…”

“…”

“…”

“Deceit…”

It was like watching a magic trick, its secret suddenly revealed, leaving it utterly mundane.

Lu Xin closed his eyes briefly, then clenched his fists hard. Suddenly, countless reflections of his own face appeared on his body—some etched with bewilderment, some with agony, others with mockery or cruelty. As soon as they emerged, their mouths opened wide, and crimson tongues lashed out at the encroaching shadows.

Creak, creak, creak…

Slurp…

…

At that moment, as the sounds of chewing and smacking echoed, everything around Lu Xin vanished without a trace.

The quagmire and the dark, monstrous silhouettes were gone—he simply stood, dazed, on the street of the Town.

“Let’s go…”

He slowly lifted his gaze toward the Church, his eyes trembling as the black particles began to convulse wildly.