Beyond the Apocalypse

Chapter 1108: The end of the One Hundred and First Layer

As Abaddon’s crimson blade of antimatter flashed toward Vlad, time seemed to slow, freezing the battlefield into a scene both majestic and terrifying.

Abaddon’s lips curved into a cold smile as his sword descended, ready to sever the True Depravita’s head.

Away from them, Demogorgon’s eyes shone with savage excitement. To him, the battle was already over.

And in that suspended instant, shock filled Vlad’s gaze. There was no space left to dodge. No time to escape.

It should have been the end.

Then, at the very last moment, a vast and terrifying aura manifested in the distance.

Entropy.

The power was so overwhelming, so absolute in its sense of finality, that even Abaddon could not help but glance toward it.

"He appeared!"

Abaddon’s eyes sharpened, but there was no fear in his heart.

"It doesn’t matter. It’s too late for the White Death to stop my sword."

Yet the instant that thought passed through his mind and his gaze returned forward, he saw something that shook him to the core.

The horror in Vlad’s eyes had vanished.

A spatial portal had opened directly in front of him.

The tip of the antimatter blade plunged into the distortion—and disappeared.

For a fraction of a second, Abaddon froze.

The distraction caused by the sudden manifestation of the White Death’s aura had prevented him from noticing the portal’s formation. By the time he realized what had happened, it was already too late.

A scream echoed across the battlefield.

It came from Demogorgon.

The explosive Demon Paragon had lowered his guard, convinced the fight was finished, and distracted by the distant aura of Entropy. He only noticed the danger when the crimson blade of antimatter erupted from a spatial tear behind him—piercing straight through his heart and bursting out of his chest.

Then the world detonated.

"BOOOOOOOOOOM!"

A catastrophic explosion tore through the air as Demogorgon’s power spiraled out of control. The destructive force was so immense that the entire One Hundred and First Layer of the Abyss began to tremble violently. The sky fractured and collapsed while continents cracked and heaved upward.

Both Vlad and Abaddon were hurled through the air by the blast.

Abaddon’s mind reeled.

He could not believe he had been tricked so completely.

Worse still, the overwhelming aura of the White Death had suddenly vanished.

"Is he preparing a sneak attack?"

As a master of a concept tied to endings and annihilation, Abaddon understood better than most how terrifying Entropy could be. If the White Death struck at the right moment, even he could be killed instantly.

But he had no time to dwell on that possibility.

The True Depravita of Wrath was already moving.

Vlad shot forward, shattering floating landmasses and fragments of falling sky as he advanced. The power gathering within the Quietus Sword rose to its limit.

"Damn it!"

Abaddon forced the thought of the White Death to the back of his mind and focused entirely on the threat before him. His crimson blade flared with violent power as killing intent and fury surged through him.

He launched forward as well, blasting through debris, broken terrain, and burning fragments of the collapsing skies.

Both figures became streaks of destruction, their momentum rising higher and higher as they accelerated toward each other.

Just as they were about to collide, the aura of the White Death appeared again in the distance.

Abaddon’s eyes twitched.

But this time, he refused to be distracted.

With absolute focus, he poured all his power into a single strike, slashing toward Vlad’s head. His expression was cold and absolute, completely ignoring the Quietus Sword rising toward his own chest.

He was prepared to exchange wounds.

He was certain he would kill the True Depravita of Wrath before the counterattack could end him.

But as his blade reached Vlad—

His eyes widened.

The antimatter sword passed straight through Vlad’s head.

Abaddon had been so intent on ending the battle immediately that he failed to realize a crucial detail.

The cooldown of Quantum Expanse had ended.

Yet his battle instincts reacted instantly.

"It doesn’t matter. I cannot harm him—but neither can he. As long as my blade remains inside his body, I don’t have to fear his sword."

The reasoning was sound.

But Abaddon had overlooked one thing.

The madness of the Xaos King.

The moment the crimson blade phased through his skull and reached his chest, Vlad deactivated Quantum Expanse.

Reality snapped back into place.

The antimatter blade materialized fully inside his body.

Muscle, bone, and his left lung were instantly destroyed.

The pain was catastrophic.

But Vlad did not hesitate.

At the exact same moment the antimatter weapon tore through his torso, the Quietus Sword drove forward—piercing through Abaddon’s chest and impaling his heart.

Shock and agony flooded the Demon Paragon’s eyes.

And it only grew worse.

Gray flames erupted from the wound and spread through his bloodstream, carrying the power of stillness. The motion of his atoms slowed. His energy circulation faltered.

Then the Eye of Gluttony ignited on Vlad’s forehead.

Its power surged to its peak.

The blood within Abaddon’s heart began to vanish, devoured from the inside.

"AAAAARRGHHH!"

Abaddon released a scream of pure agony as he felt his bloodline being consumed.

Madness flashed across his face.

In desperation, he burned his life force and soul simultaneously, forcing his power to spike beyond its limits for a single instant.

With that last surge, he twisted the antimatter blade buried within Vlad—

And cut the True Depravita of Wrath in half!

Vlad’s eyes widened in genuine shock.

There was no calculation behind that reaction. He truly had not expected Abaddon to unleash such overwhelming power after having his heart pierced, his bloodstream flooded with Quietus energy, and his bloodline actively being devoured.

Even so, the True Depravita of Wrath did not allow that surprise to paralyze him.

The instant danger rose, his body exploded into a cloud of mist. The transformation carried him away from the Demon Paragon before the antimatter blade could cut his head off. A moment later, the mist condensed again in the distance, reforming into his body—whole and intact.

Abaddon clenched his teeth, rage and fury burning in his eyes as he watched Vlad regenerate so quickly. His killing intent surged, heavier and colder than before.

Yet he did not attack.

Through his senses, he had already felt Demogorgon withdraw from the layer. The wound in the explosive Demon Paragon’s heart had been too severe for him to remain on the battlefield—especially with the White Death’s aura appearing and disappearing unpredictably in the distance.

The situation had changed.

After casting one final, hate-filled glance toward Vlad, Abaddon made his decision. He turned sharply and plunged downward, his power shattering space-time before him as he tore open a path out of the battlefield.

In the next instant, the antimatter Demon Paragon left the One Hundred and First Layer of the Abyss.

Vlad did not try to stop him.

In fact, he was relieved to see both Demon Paragons withdraw.

Although he appeared unharmed, the reality was very different. Transforming into mist and reconstructing his body had consumed an enormous amount of Depravita Aura. The strain of the battle, combined with the damage he had sustained moments earlier, had pushed him close to his limits.

The only reason he was still standing was the constant flow of vitality and energy being siphoned into his body from Jormungandr’s power.

So when the battlefield finally fell silent, he allowed himself a small breath of relief.

"I survived," Vlad murmured to himself. "And I took part of his bloodline. I achieved more than I needed."

He gave a slight nod, then let the tension in his body ease.

Only then did he take a proper look at his surroundings.

The state of the One Hundred and First Layer made his expression grow complicated.

The sky was fractured and dim. The land was breaking apart, its structure unstable, reality itself flickering as if it could collapse at any moment.

Vlad narrowed his eyes.

"It’s dying."

The battle had been too intense. The forces unleashed by multiple Paragon-level beings had pushed the layer beyond what its laws and structure could withstand. The foundation that sustained its existence was unraveling.

For many, witnessing the death of a layer of the Abyss would be an extraordinary opportunity. The collapse of a world-like domain often released rare energies, fragments of laws, and phenomena that could grant tremendous insight or power.

But for Vlad, the sight did not hold much value.

He had already witnessed the destruction of a Supreme World. He had seen the unraveling of a Primordial God’s Divine Kingdom.

Compared to those events, the death of a single layer of the Abyss offered little that he had not already experienced.

Still, he knew others would benefit greatly from it.

A faint smile appeared on his face.

Without hesitation, Vlad turned and left the dying layer.

Moments later, three figures arrived in his place.

Merlin. Orkin. Brightkin.

The three Sovereigns stepped into the collapsing realm, their eyes shining as they took in the disintegrating sky and the trembling land beneath their feet.

Excitement and anticipation surged within them.

They were about to witness a majestic event—the death of a layer of the Abyss—and claim whatever power or insight could be seized from its final moments.