Global Gods : Skill-Resonance Awakened Chapter 387 387: Ch 387 : The First Hero and The Final Lord

The darkness within the Negation Domain was no longer a silent void; it had transformed into a chaotic battlefield where the very foundations of existence were being pulverized into nothingness.

At the very center of this maelstrom stood Sunny, his hands enveloped in a chilling, radiant fire. This was not the common blue luminescence of mana, but rather the concentrated, unadulterated essence of Faith, the spiritual residue born from the desperate pleas of countless souls seeking a savior.

As the formless entity known as the Beyonder began to coalesce into a humanoid shape before him, the immense scale of the being became terrifyingly evident.

Its fingers stretched out longer than Sunny's entire height, each tipped with obsidian talons that seemed to eagerly devour the very light Sunny emitted. It issued no roar; instead, it moved with an inexorable, crushing weight, reminiscent of an inevitable end.

The attack descended with the terrifying speed of a collapsing star. A colossal, shadowy hand plunged downwards, its trajectory aimed directly at Sunny's core, carrying with it sufficient physical force to obliterate an entire universe.

However, Sunny was no longer the terrified mortal he had been mere moments ago. Through his profound mastery over the control of Faith, a skill meticulously refined over countless millennia within the ceaseless flow of the River of Time, he managed to weave the golden threads of Faith into a formidable barrier in the span of a single heartbeat.

The collision was utterly cataclysmic. The Beyonder's claws struck the barrier with immense force, and the resulting sound was a soul-wrenching shriek.

"What purpose do quintillions of prayers serve if I cannot even shield a single life?" Sunny spat out, his jaw clenched against the pressure that threatened to crush his very soul.

He watched with wide, horrified eyes as the Faith comprising his shield began to dissolve. The Beyonder was not merely striking him; it was actively consuming the very energy of his shield.

The golden fire was being siphoned into the entity's void-like skin at a rate that caused Sunny's heart to momentarily cease its beat.

"It feeds on the laws and energy," Sunny realized with a sudden surge of understanding, his mind working at lightning speed. "And my Faith represents the purest energy within this desolate darkness."

He instantly re-evaluated his strategy. Abandoning the idea of a single, robust barrier, he began to manifest thousands upon thousands of paper-thin shields, layered one atop another like the protective scales of a mighty dragon. Each individual layer was meticulously designed to be expendable.

When the Beyonder's strike made contact, it would consume one layer, losing a minuscule fraction of its momentum for an instant before impacting the subsequent layer.

This became an endless cycle of destruction and reconstruction, a desperate, frantic race where Sunny employed his Faith to purchase mere seconds of survival.

Strike after relentless strike rained down upon him. The surrounding darkness shimmered and distorted with every impactful blow, while the ephemeral golden sparks of dying Faith cast fleeting illumination upon the featureless visage of the Beyonder.

Sunny's own body, despite being fortified by the potent Nihilium bloodline, began to strain and groan under the sheer magnitude of the physical forces being exerted upon him.

'At this alarming pace, my Faith will be completely depleted long before the Negation itself breaks,' he thought, his muscles screaming in protest. 'And if I fall here, the billions of Old Gods whose presence I sensed earlier will truly be condemned to rot into nothingness. I am the sole remaining beacon of light in this desolate graveyard.'

It is a universally acknowledged principle within the multiverse that extreme pressure invariably results in only one of two outcomes: an object either shatters into unrecognizable dust, or it transforms, hardening into an unyielding diamond.

Sunny, at this very moment, was undergoing a brutal forging process within the most unforgiving crucible imaginable. Stripped of his usual abilities, divested of his mana, and confronting an entity belonging to a lineage capable of slaying even a Void Emperor, he was being compelled to rely solely on the raw, inherent strength of his physical form.

He was no longer a celestial deity dependent on his innate talents; he had become a resolute King, standing firm upon his own foundation.

Beyond the expanding circumference of the Negation Domain, a different, more ominous type of shadow loitered.

Deimos, the notorious Lord of Discord, drifted ominously at the domain's periphery, his crimson eyes fixed in a gaze of predatory curiosity. He could detect the faint, lingering traces of Sunny's aura, a shimmering trail of violet starlight that led directly into the heart of the sphere.

"My instincts... they are surprisingly calm," Deimos murmured to himself, his voice a low, merciless rasp. "Across billions of years spent battling Gods and dismantling their divine realms, my intuition has never once led me astray. If Cosmos himself entered this desolate darkness, then there must be a treasure within, one truly worth the inherent risk."

Placing his trust in his gut feeling, a critical misjudgment eerily similar to the one Sunny had made, the Lord of Discord plunged headlong into the encroaching darkness.

The transition was immediate and jarring. Deimos felt the established laws of his own Demonic Realm snap like brittle, dried twigs. The very essence of Discord that he usually commanded, the pervasive chaos that he masterfully wove into a formidable weapon, was suddenly suppressed, as if he had been involuntarily submerged in thick, frigid oil.

"What insolence is this?" he growled, extending a hand to touch the oppressive darkness.

Every single movement felt as though he were trudging through waist-deep molten lead. The pervasive negation slammed against his demonic divinity, actively attempting to revert him back into a primitive, base lifeform.

However, Deimos was an apex predator of a completely different magnitude. Having sustained himself for eons by feeding on the collective sins and discord of two distinct cosmic bubbles, his physical vessel had evolved into an impenetrable fortress of dense, demonic might. Though the onslaught exacted a significant toll, he stubbornly refused to yield.

Nonetheless, the sudden forfeiture of his powers left him feeling disconcertingly exposed. For the first time in what felt like an entire epoch, the Lord of Discord experienced a disquieting prickle of unease. He felt akin to a magnificent shark adrift in an ink-filled tank.

However, Deimos's sudden appearance caused an unexpected consequence. The Domain of Negation operated as a closed system, its immense power currently concentrated on suppressing Sunny and the Beyonder's primary target.

When a second entity possessing Deimos's formidable strength entered the domain's influence, the system was compelled to redirect its resources.

The power of Negation found itself split. While half of its suppressing force remained fixed on Sunny, the other half surged towards Deimos, aiming to quell his demonic laws.

Within the chaotic battleground, Sunny abruptly felt an immense burden lift. The oppressive weight upon his soul lessened, and the invisible fetters binding his innate abilities, though not severed, loosened considerably.

"The pressure... it's shifting?" Sunny gasped, surprised.

His gaze drifted towards the dark horizon. His Divine Eyes, despite their diminished capacity, detected a colossal, dark-red energy signature penetrating the domain.

Simultaneously, the Beyonder faltered. Its featureless head cocked, its senses perceiving a new, potent scent of divinity within its territory.

The entity's eyes, which resembled abyssal pits of burning, malevolent red, flashed with an immediate, primal hunger.

It shifted its attention from Sunny to the approaching Deimos. Seemingly deeming the newcomer a more substantial meal for the present moment, the Beyonder emitted a piercing, metallic shriek and dissolved into the darkness, hurtling towards Deimos with the terrifying speed of a nightmare.

"Huh? Who is this unexpected benefactor?" Sunny let out a hollow chuckle, wiping a smear of golden blood from his lips. "Whoever they are, they've just purchased the most priceless moment in existence."

As if on cue, his body erupted with a familiar, refulgent warmth. The Second of Stability had returned, its activation likely prompted by the Domain's divided attention.

Without a moment's hesitation, Sunny expended a few quadrillion Faith points, stretching the very fabric of time. For him, the world ground to a halt.

Activating his Divine Eyes, the darkness yielded its secrets. He perceived everything: the vast expanse spanning trillions of miles, the billions of Old Gods whose souls flickered like fading embers, and then, his savior.

"Wait... Deimos?" Sunny's eyes widened in astonishment. "The Lord of Discord is my guardian angel? Truly, Fate possesses a darkly ironic sense of humor."

He observed the Beyonder closing the distance on the Demon Lord, who was still grappling with the physical strain of the Negation.

Deimos, though immensely powerful, lacked Faith. He wouldn't be capable of erecting the protective shields Sunny had employed. He would be torn asunder in mere seconds.

Sunny's gaze darted towards the escape route. He could flee, preserve his life, and disappear into safety, leaving Deimos as the sacrificial pawn. It was the logical course of action.

"But I doubt I'll be granted another opportunity to rescue these Gods," Sunny whispered.

His ingrained morals, shaped by a life that prioritized loyalty above cold logic, prevailed. He turned his resolve back towards the countless fallen deities.

Sunny channeled an astonishing quantity of his Faith into the void. A luminous golden mist began to permeate the Negation Domain, bestowing upon each fallen God a droplet of pure, life-affirming Faith, potent enough to reawaken the latent laws within them.

Then, his soul reached out.

Like a cosmic vortex, portals materialized adjacent to each deity he had resuscitated.

Within mere minutes, millions of Old Gods were drawn into the sanctuary of his inner world. He dispatched a message to the Overseer: "Prepare the healing Gods. The ancient Gods have returned. Utilize the Faith reserves to maintain their stability."

As the final nearby God dematerialized into his soul-space, Sunny's attention was drawn to the nexus of the impending confrontation. The Beyonder was perilously close to Deimos.

"I have what I came for," Sunny murmured, his violet eyes reflecting a complex mix of emotions. He could depart now, allowing his adversary to perish in the encroaching darkness.

However, he recalled the pride of the Demon Lords. Should Deimos fall here, the Demonic Realm would descend into anarchy, a chaos that would inevitably seep into Sunny's own expanding territories. More critically, he still yearned to understand Deimos's presence.

"Should I flee... or should I aid my comrade?"

Sunny clenched his fists. He sensed the talent-link beginning to waver; the Domain was finally adapting to their combined presence. He had mere seconds before his strength ebbed, rendering him mortal once more.

"Heh. A Sovereign owes no debts to demons," Sunny declared, his form blurring as he executed a Void Step. He moved not towards escape, but towards the Beyonder's flank. "But I do relish a vigorous encounter in the shadows."

The ethereal violet starlight and the dark-red demonic aura were poised to clash with the all-consuming Nothingness. And within the heart of Negation, the First Hero and the Final Lord prepared to stand united.