Chapter 107: Fate Reverser

Charles poked his head out from the stairwell of the corridor, posing this bizarre question with a tone of sheepish embarrassment.

"Hmm? Are you Charles Lade?" the purple humanoid figure, formed from the shattered remains of Colin and cloaked in a deep, abyssal black, asked in Colin’s own voice.

"Yes, yes, it’s me, Charles Lade. Is this a bad time? I mean, since the Captain and the Professor are about to be finished off, is it too late for me to just walk away?" Charles scratched his head, wearing a look of genuine distress, appearing as if he truly regretted showing up at this moment.

"Ah… indeed. Look at your Captain and Mr. Zieg; they cannot even interfere with reality as it stands. If you wish to leave, I shall grant you that opportunity." The purple figure waved a hand, turning its featureless face toward Zieg and Shugin, who were enveloped in the distorted space.

The two men seemed frozen, suspended in mid-air, their bodies flickering with static-like noise—the same glitching interference seen on a broken television screen—constantly vanishing and reappearing, their forms rendered translucent.

"Ugh, you sound like a truly generous soul, but I feel it would be a pity to just walk away like this. You can’t move either, can you? I mean, if I were to use this to blow this place to kingdom come, wouldn't you die here too?"

Charles seemed tempted, but his tone shifted abruptly. As the "Moon" tarot card in his hand dissipated, a glowing metal sphere engraved with a peculiar crest appeared in his palm.

"The Destroyer? I didn't expect you to get your hands on such a thing. Aren't you afraid of blowing your Captain and Mr. Zieg to bits along with yourself?" Colin’s tone remained indifferent, though a note of threat had crept into his words.

"Ah, I didn't expect the Shadow of the Royal City to be a supplier of this stuff either. A friend of mine just happened to have the connections. How about it? Consider letting my Captain and Professor go, and I’ll spare your life." Charles flashed a cheeky grin, looking at Colin, who remained trapped and immobile within the distorted space.

"Very well. It seems I have lost the initiative. However, I still have a question. Pernia Lade’s prophecy stated that everything would go smoothly, and that I would successfully kill your Captain and Professor here—though the part about the key exceeded the scope of the prophecy."

"But, all of you in the Lade family see the same prophecies, do you not? How could you attempt to change it? Historically, your family has used this unique ability to avert countless disasters and calamities. You seem rather... deviant."

"Ah, Grandma Pernia? What did she do? I have no idea. I did see the prophecy, sure, but I didn't look at it closely. I saw a few parts that didn't sit right, so I came to report it. See? The prophecy has already changed, hasn't it? So, you can't trust this stuff entirely."

"Oh? No wonder the Lade family has distanced themselves from you. You have completely betrayed your family’s creed."

Colin’s words carried a hint of pity, as if mourning the waste of something precious.

"Tch. I don't know why they believe in this ability so much. They treat a few glimpses of images as absolute truth? Even if they all came to pass, I think it’s because they were the ones pushing events in that direction. Rather than predicting the future, it’s more like being boxed into a circle by someone else." Charles shook his head, his tone filled with helplessness.

"A friend of mine once said, if you believe in something blindly just because you saw two or three glimpses of the future, you’re bound to be swindled out of every penny you own." Charles added after a moment of thought.

"It seems you have truly squandered your talent."

"Nah. If it weren't for this ability, I wouldn't have known about this at all, and I wouldn't have been able to rush over to save my Captain and Professor and get a raise." Charles shrugged nonchalantly, utterly indifferent to Colin’s incessant chatter.

"I’m afraid you won't have the chance for a raise. Why do you think I’ve been wasting my breath with you?" Colin’s tone rippled; the hidden mockery and disdain now replaced the previous calm of their conversation.

Colin, who had been trapped in the distorted space like Zieg and Shugin, unable to move or use power, saw the deep, abyssal black color on his body fade away, revealing a purple, material-based form that now appeared "real."

"Only those who can adapt to the Void can truly survive. I wonder how long it will take for your Captain and Mr. Zieg to adapt to this space—which isn't even a true Void, but merely one created by an incomplete 'Gate of the Void'?"

The purple humanoid glanced at the still-distorted Zieg and Shugin. Even without a face, one could infer its disdain and mockery from the details.

"So, walking away earlier would have been the best choice. I gave you the chance. Or perhaps, if you had detonated 'The Destroyer' earlier, you might have actually had a chance to kill me. But, since you wasted time talking, pay the price for your own choice."

The distorted space began to expand. The unstable, static-like substance crept along the charred walls of the corridor toward Charles at the stairwell. Wherever it passed, the stability of reality was shattered, turning into the same substance that imprisoned Shugin and Zieg.

"Sigh, why would you assume I wasn't preparing something while I was talking to you?" Charles’s voice, silent for a long moment, rang out again. The tarot card in his hand had been flipped over.

"What a waste of this power, only usable once." He muttered with a touch of regret. The inverted "Wheel of Fortune" in his hand disintegrated instantly, releasing a special power that swept across the entire area like an invisible pulse.

"What is this? The divine power of the God of Order? Are you a priest?" Colin’s tone finally carried genuine shock. It had discovered something unique within the pulse released by Charles’s inverted tarot card, and after sensing it closely, it could no longer suppress its emotions.

"Don't make such jokes. I only believe in the God of Light and the Lady of the Night. I’m very pious, don't slander me." Charles frowned, looking strained, yet the words he spoke remained irreverent and flippant.

Colin no longer had the heart to use words to manipulate its opponent’s emotions. The shockwave of the God of Order’s power released by Charles seemed to have altered the state of something—even if it only affected two people, that was enough.

"Bang!" A massive force slammed Colin into the ground. Hands equipped with claws and scales violently tore at Colin’s reconstituted purple flesh, ripping apart the carrier—which lacked bones or muscles and was composed solely of unknown matter—until it shattered, sending hard purple fragments flying everywhere.

A thick fog drifted through the corridor, solidifying beside Charles. It was Shugin, clad in his Smoke Demon armor. He stood in a position that blocked the path between Charles and Colin, effectively preventing Charles from being attacked.

"Ugh, the Professor looks a bit terrifying. Captain, aren't you going to help him?" Charles retreated behind Shugin, though his legs trembled uncontrollably due to the presence of the Smoke Demon.

Staring at Zieg, who was violently tearing and crushing Colin’s body with his claws, leaving the enemy with no room to fight back, Charles felt a shiver of fear. He hadn't realized the Professor was so terrifying; perhaps he should be a bit more restrained in the future.

Glancing at the cowering Charles, Shugin’s cold voice rang out: "Where did that courage you had when confronting it earlier go? It’s unnecessary now; my intervention would only get in Zieg’s way. As for you, if I don't protect a weakling like you, your contribution just now might become meaningless if the enemy takes you hostage."

"So, Captain, you admit I made a contribution?" Charles’s focus was remarkably strange.

"Indeed. But I would like to ask you: is the contract from the God of Order that you signed with the Professor and me still intact? I recall our rule is that if one deliberately destroys or influences a signed contract, the penalty is..."

Shugin’s words were heavy with meaning.

"Ah, haha, Captain, how did you know I have the technique to strip the power left by the God of Order from the contract and release it crudely through a tarot card? Ah, haha, thank you for your appreciation, Captain. That is the greatest reward for me; I need nothing else."

Cold sweat beaded on Charles’s forehead. Why was it that every time he got cocky, the Captain and the Professor could always find some hair-raising justification to thwart his plans? If there was a God of Fate, was he being targeted?

Over at Zieg’s side, the battle was nearing its end. The dragon-like traits constantly emerging on Zieg’s body granted him ever-increasing power: sharper claws, stronger muscles, and a more ferocious aura.

He was frantically destroying the purple humanoid shell Colin called a carrier, using sheer violence and strength to crush, annihilate, and dismantle the tough, resilient body bit by bit.

When the entire body was destroyed until only the head remained, Zieg, now completely covered in red scales with sharp, clawed hands, grabbed the head of the purple shell. His mouth began to glow with extreme light and heat.

"Boom!" Dragon’s breath erupted in the space. An explosion, far more powerful than the previous one, bloomed in the corridor. The flames were even extinguished by the violent shockwave, leaving only light and heat to destroy everything in the vicinity.

Shugin’s raised shield blocked the overflowing aftermath. Even so, Shugin, who had turned his smoke into nails to anchor himself to the ground while pushing the shield with all his might, was pushed back nearly ten meters by the blast, leaving a grotesque trail of destruction on the floor.

The area where Zieg stood had completely collapsed. The surrounding scorched, semi-liquid matter was shifting sluggishly—the result of bricks and soil being utterly destroyed by the extreme heat.

A massive, shattered crater appeared in the corridor. Zieg stood there, the head of Colin he had been holding now completely gone. The power had been so great that even the debris that might have fallen and crushed Zieg had been obliterated beyond recognition.

Clearly, Colin’s carrier had been vaporized, destroyed utterly. The flames were blown away elsewhere, but they persisted at the point of the explosion. Zieg’s clothes had been reduced to ash, and flickering sparks drifted around him...

"Is it over?" Charles poked his head out from behind Shugin, asking with a hint of anticipation.

"Unclear. No, wait—not yet. Zieg, watch out!" Shugin’s brow furrowed tightly. According to what Colin had said earlier, the carrier used to sustain its existence was destroyed, meaning it should feel pain and suffer damage. Zieg, having completely destroyed the carrier, should have killed Colin.

But... was the enemy’s word truly reliable? The answer was negative. The smoke screen still quietly permeated the entire space, observing the slightest movement in the collapsing corridor in a way similar to, yet distinct from, Wang Yu.

And it was precisely when Charles asked the question and Shugin was answering cautiously that a portion of the smoke screen lost its trace. It hadn't been blown away; it had completely vanished. Something—something capable of destroying matter—was moving through the corridor, devouring and destroying the smoke belonging to the Smoke Demon.

"Go!" Grabbing Charles, Shugin began to move with all his might. The destroyed smoke formed a path, which was the trajectory of the unknown object’s attack, and its target was Charles.

Dragging Charles, Shugin dodged with every ounce of his strength. The thing that had suddenly appeared finally revealed itself: it was a pitch-black chain. At the end of the chain was a void rift emerging from the air. The chain extended from within, frantically chasing Charles and destroying everything in its path.

"Because of you, I must abandon this shell and identity. Then, you shall pay the price! Boy of the Lade family, do you not wish to become a Fate-Defier? Then face a future where you no longer exist. I will erase you completely." A hollow voice echoed; the characteristics of Colin were no longer audible, but it was undoubtedly him.

"This guy has revealed his true form. He is a Void creature, but there are no records of this..." Shugin saw the silhouette appearing in the void rift: it was a gigantic eye.

Where the pupil should have been, there was no pupil, but a pitch-black pit like an bottomless abyss—endlessly deep, giving everyone who glimpsed it the illusion of falling into it.

The speed of the chain was increasing, and the void rift seemed to be expanding. Something massive, existing on the edge of reality and the Void, was trying to squeeze out temporarily to become a presence in the material world. And it was nearing success.

As it continued to squeeze out, the void rift widened. If this were not the bottom of the Fallen Abyss, covered by a reality-stabilizing anchor field, it might have been faster, but even so, the thing was almost out.

Shugin’s evasion became increasingly difficult as the thing approached the material world, and the chain’s speed grew ever faster.

"Zieg!" Shugin shouted. Something had to be done. This thing could not be allowed to emerge easily, or the impact might cause massive destruction to the Royal City.

"Roar!" Responding to Shugin was a deafening dragon roar. The giant head of the red dragon broke through the walls and floor of the corridor, biting down on the chain chasing Charles and Shugin.

Then, with violent, muscular strength, the red dragon frantically broke through the rock layers and soil above, pulling the chain and dragging the unknown monster as it charged toward the surface.

Shugin and Charles hung onto the dragon’s body, carried along as they surged violently toward the ground.

The space was too small; the battle required a larger arena.

The earth shattered. The red dragon, its physical strength pushed to the limit, destroyed every obstacle between it and the surface. Tearing at the chain from Colin, dragging the unknown monster, it broke through the surface, shook the lake, and soared into the sky under the watchful eyes of Wang Yu and Avia.