Chapter 456 - 456: All the same

"You know what? Since I can't explain let me show you…." Derik said with a kind smile on his face.

His hands moved strangely, leaving behind afterimages. Slowly the darkness consumed the stars, the moons, and the suns in the Beyond's domain. Soon darkness enveloped the land and a new world began to form. 

A world of darkness…

A world of death…

A world that only listens to Derik's calls…

"In this world, the creation of life can be stopped, a child can be killed while in his mother's belly… people grow, live long and die…. Even those who claim to be gods flee at the sight of death… Death has no respect for anyone… Your status, your cultivation realm, your power, your friends, your background, your will… They all mean nothing, they are all the same when death comes… it is inevitable… I am inevitable!" Derik spoke slowly as his realm digested the beyond's realm.

The beyond watched this unfold in horror as his control over his realm slowly vanished! A realm his has been nurturing for thousands of years was been digested by another realm? If he were to tell this to anyone, no one would believe him.

"If we don't kill him now, we are as good as dead" Kaido said with a bitter smile.

Thinking back on how close Derik and Cyrus are, he couldn't help but envy them. Cyrus has always stood by Derik's side even in the worst situations and for some unknown reason, they have always survived. After they became the new cosmic beings, his intentions towards Derik and the new gods have always been good but the appearance of the beyond shattered everything. The fear of going against the being that created the cosmic beings overshadowed his sense of loyalty towards his friends. Since he, Diana, and Crystal were asked to remain neutral as usual and not interfere with the things going down below, they obeyed while believing it was the best they could do.

"It was a coward's way out… an excuse used to cover up our guilt and calm our conscience" Kaido muttered.

Derik fought against his creator even when his life was at stake, not because he wanted to be recognized or he wanted power. It was simply because he wanted to protect this world from Adinos who was feeding off the core of the god vein, threatening to destroy it! There was no excuse for their actions and as far as they were concerned they were as good as dead.

"Don't give me that look now… its too late for that… The least you three can do is fight for what you believe is right… fight to the very end… at least it's interesting that way!" Derik's voice snapped them out of their train of thought.

Bam!

"Enough! Of this nonsense! This is why I chose to wipe out the new gods… You all are failures, abominations, and abnormalities that shouldn't exist… Your existence almost led to the end of this world and if I didn't step in, everyone would have been dead…I simply maintain the balance as the realm protector! I only exterminate what I feel is not necessary! Don't you understand that? Even if you succeed in killing me, the space, the moon, the sun, the stars, all of them will seize to exist… this world will plunge into darkness and everyone will die due to your selfish ambitions! Do you really want that?" The beyond growled.

"What?" Derik replied with an indifferent look on his face. He couldn't tell if the beyond was indirectly begging for his life or not so he was left confused for a little while.

Clasping his hands together, Derik slowly pulled his hands apart and between his hands, a red spear slowly took shape leaving everyone stunned.

It was the judgment spear of Adinos! 

"How is that even possible?" The Beyond asked. 

It was understandable if Derik created an undead version of Adinos, using his necromancer path. Or if he let her soul possess his body, allowing him to utilize her abilities. But watching him create Adino's spear without using any of the two was simply unbelievable.

"Didn't I tell you, I will show you? This is death, the dead returns to its source… me! In the past, I would need to put in a lot of effort to summon the souls of the dead and borrow their power even though it belongs to me… back then I was limited to the strength of those I killed but now I realize that it doesn't matter who kills them… as long as they die, their power is mine…. This why I keep saying this… I am the absolute… I cannot be defeated again…" Derik muttered as he waved his hand and a miniature version of the sun, moon, and stars appeared behind him.

The former cosmic beings, Kaido, and the others replaced was death so their powers are his for the taking. 

"You see… Once you die, your strength becomes mine as well… your power becomes mine! This world will not crumble… I thank you for your services to this world before my birth, but your services are no longer required…" Derik said as he waved reached for the skies and a massive sun appeared above his head.

"Burn away!" He spoke softly as he let the sun fall towards them.

In response, Kaido stepped forward and generated a massive sun of his own and tossed it forward as well.

"I don't remember giving you the permission to move!" Derik snarled as clasped his hands and a spatial gate appeared in front of Kaido's sun, consuming it even before he could reply.

"Don't think you are the only one who can do that!" The gray haired elderly man said as he prepared to create a spatial gate of his own but his actions were intercepted by Derik.

"SILENCE! DON'T MOVE!" 

They have only spoken words but somehow these words possessed enough authority to halt the old man's movements.

"What is this?" Kaido asked.

"The word path of the late king of Gyro!" Diana responded with a terrified look on her face.

"ENOUGH TALK! ON YOUR KNEES, EVERYONE!" Derik roared with a hint of disdain visible in his eyes!