Caine left the council members to stew in their own cowardice and stupidity as he teleported away, appearing within a landscape of endless destruction.
The skies were tainted red, filled with grey clouds crackling with amethyst lightning, while harsh gusts of wind swept over the dried and cracked lands below, revealing rivers of magma through countless fissures.
Giant beasts of all kinds roamed the desolate terrain, their auras madly threatening and their presences divine. In this space, as a cripple, Caine truly had no place.
And yet, he stood unbothered, unaffected by it all, his body intact despite its innate weakness.
"I do not have much time. Hurry and manifest yourself," he calmly uttered to the wind.
A few seconds passed before the chaotic world around him began to warp and coalesce into a mighty figure adorned with a crown of golden flames.
The figure's eyes opened, revealing obsidian depths as Caine's gaze locked with theirs.
Seeing the clear lack of regard and respect in Caine's gaze, the figure frowned and suddenly swung its arm toward him, a trail of chaotic energy following its quake as it instantly slammed into Caine.
BANG!
He was only pushed back a few meters before coughing up a mouthful of blood, which he wiped away with an apathetic expression.
"Are you done?" he asked, his face scrunched in discomfort as he coughed out more blood and dusted off his clothes.
The entity shook its head and slowly floated down, reaching eye level with Caine.
"Boy, you truly have a knack for angering people. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you weren't doing it on purpose."
After finally straightening his changpao, Caine ran a hand through his hair, slicking it back to perfection.
"It's brought me more problems than you can imagine. The number of times I could have died probably counts in the millions."
"It saddens me that none have succeeded," the entity whispered, genuine sadness and melancholy in its voice.
"I'm happy to see you too, Nova," Caine sighed. "Alright, I've fulfilled my end of the deal. Now it's your turn."
Caine flipped his palm over, revealing four keys—one golden, one scarlet, one blue, and the last a verdant green.
"These are the Four World Keys. With them, you'll be able to control the Three Realms and countless worlds in between. They'll also help you seal all the ancient lords of the council if push comes to shove and as a last resort, you'll be able to use them to control the World Will."
He waved his hand, and the keys floated toward Nova.
"I don't care what you do with them. Whether you kill everything that exists, enslave the world, or save it—I don't care. Now give me my dues."
Nova ignored Caine's words, his greed and joy palpable as he trembled with jubilation at the sight of the four keys.
With these four keys, he'd finally become a…
Without hesitation, Nova reached up and grabbed his own crown of fire, forcing it to solidify into a beautiful golden crown fitted with nine purple jewels.
Carelessly, he threw it to Caine, but the moment he did, a loud BOOM! echoed across the chaotic landscape.
Caine calmly caught the crown and began to watch as a plan he'd been brewing for centuries played out.
***
As mentioned before, Existence was divided into the Infernal Realm, Heavenly Realm, Earthen Realm, and countless minor realms, respectively led by the Demons, Celestials, Immortals, and Rulers.
Above these Three Realms and countless minor realms, however, existed a palace of infinite majesty. Within this palace resided four entities, acting as the last barrier for Existence against the threat of abominations—entities born solely to consume and destroy.
These four entities were the strongest that had ever existed:
The Jade Emperor, Lord of all Celestials.
The Fallen One, Lord of all Demons.
The Everlasting Sire, Lord of all Immortals.
And finally, The Ascendant, Lord of all Rulers.
These four entities were lofty and untouchable, representing the heavens themselves. And yet now, akin to mere peasants, they stood just a few miles away from Caine and Nova, their bodies disheveled as they looked at the First Blight with eyes full of madness.
"TRAITOR!"
The four beings glared at Caine as they rushed toward him, but soon their gazes locked onto the four keys in Nova's hands. Their hearts sank as they realized the depths of Caine's betrayal were far more profound than they had ever expected.
'How did he acquire the Divine Keys…'
Nova snapped out of his stupor and turned to Caine, his sense of foreboding growing as his heart began to violently slam against his chest.
Something was wrong. Very wrong.
This feeling only intensified as, for the first time since meeting Caine as a boy, Nova saw him smile.
"What's wrong, Nova?"
Nova's danger sense peaked, and on instinct, he attacked.
"DIE!" they all screamed in unison.
Caine remained calm as five of the strongest beings to ever exist attacked him all at once.
He took a deep breath, and time seemed to slow to a crawl as he brought his hands together. Suddenly, thousands upon thousands of spell circles appeared, branded all over the cracked earth beneath them.
Caine's gaze burst with fiendish light, and with a low shout, he cast his spell.
[Heaven Deceiving Array: Terminus.]
In one moment, he stood in a chaotic world, on the brink of death, surrounded by five divine entities. In the next, everything had disappeared.
All that was left was an endless expanse of white.
Slowly, within this expanse, a platform manifested. Upon this platform, six entities slowly took shape.
Of those six entities, five were chained and impaled, positioned in a circular manner around the sixth entity.
Caine slowly opened his eyes.
'Success.'