Observing from his hidden spot within the Soul Sea, Lex thought, “Why couldn’t I hear what it just said?” His curiosity spiked, but he quickly pushed the question aside. There was no time to dwell on the ‘why’ or ‘how.’ Not now. “Just a few seconds until I strike,” he reminded himself, as he steadied his focus.

Lex could have easily disposed of the will since he could feel that it was weak, maybe due to it being just a remnant, but then why would he do that? The will was a walking treasure trove, a repository of untold knowledge and power. Devouring it would grant him not only its comprehension of the laws—or perhaps what lay beyond them—but also its soul essence and memories. Those memories, if the will possessed them, could unlock secrets about the world outside the universe, the progression of power, and even the nature of his own existence. It was an opportunity too valuable to pass up. Lex’s mind raced with possibilities as he prepared to claim the will’s essence for himself.

The will’s soul energy in form of swords and spears hammered against the barrier in rapid, unrelenting waves, its desperation evident. Lex, who had been calmly holding his ground, shifted his gaze to the dark, spherical form of the will. With a voice that resonated deeply through the Soul Sea, he said, “Heaven’s Maw.”

In that moment, a torrent of Origin Energy erupted from him, raw and immense, shaking the very foundation of the Soul Sea. The once-stable ocean of soul energy churned violently, its surface roiling like a storm-tossed sea. Above them, the fabric of space itself began to fracture, cracks spreading like spiderwebs as the overwhelming power of Lex’s technique tore through reality. The air grew heavy with tension, the Soul Sea trembling under the weight of what was to come.

At first, a single crack appeared in the sky of his Soul Sea. The will, which had been attacking relentlessly, froze. “What? What is he about to do?” As it thought this, it divided a portion of its soul essence to defend, another portion to attack, yet another portion to flee, and a final portion to attempt to die with Lex if its possession was unsuccessful.

Then, a feeling washed over it. It recognized this feeling—a sensation it had not experienced since its own ancient war, since it had escaped destruction once before.

“No… this is…” Another crack formed. Then another.

The sky of Lex’s Soul Sea was shattering due to the Heaven’s Maw technique—an all-consuming technique in the form of a Maw. The will now enveloped itself with a barrier using the defensive portion. The feeling of imminent death intensified, and it decided to retreat, forcing itself to break free. But it was too late.

The cracks merged, forming a gaping rift. The rift tore open, and something vast, incomprehensible, began to form.

A Maw.

A colossal, otherworldly maw, vast beyond comprehension, forming from the heavens themselves. Its form was not flesh, not bone, not anything of material existence—it was a void given shape, a celestial manifestation of the universe’s hunger.

It did not radiate energy. It absorbed it.

Light bent toward it. Sound died in its presence. Time stuttered as it yawned wider. Inside its depths, there was no color, no stars, no end, only an abyssal darkness.

“Heaven’s Maw!” Lex’s voice resonated through the Soul Sea again, carrying the decree of annihilation.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

The Maw inhaled.

A powerful force dragged the will upward; its formless essence stretched, warped, unraveled. It struggled, lashing out with its remaining power, but the more it fought, the faster it disintegrated.

Its name, its identity, its history, all stripped away.

It was not just being consumed.

It was being erased.

“No.”

“NO”

“This can't be happening.” the will screamed.

Its form fractured, unraveling like frayed threads being pulled into the endless abyss of Heaven’s Maw. It had spent eons defying destruction, lingering when all others had fallen into oblivion. It had endured, survived, escaped annihilation countless times—yet now, it was being devoured.

By him.

By a mere boundling.

By a speck who had no right to stand in front of it, no right to even know its name.

Rage ignited within it, raw and unrelenting. It would not go silently. The reality of its impending annihilation struck deeper than any wound. It had always been the predator, never the prey. Never.

It thrashed, its essence lashing out in defiance, but it was futile. The darkness swallowed everything—its power, its knowledge, its very identity. All of it stripped away, leaving only a hollow void where it once existed.

“No. No. NO!”

It refused.

It would not be forgotten.

It would not let this stand.

With the last of its strength, it released a shriek that echoed through the Soul Sea, raw and wretched, filled with hatred, resentment, and sheer unwillingness.

“I CURSE YOUUUUUU!!!”

The words tore through existence like a dying wail, heavy with desperation, fury, and unrelenting loathing. However, there was also a tiny bit of regret in his voice. "I couldn't, in the end, give you your freedom, Xeri," he said to himself.

Then it detonated itself by unleashing a forbidden technique—a taboo that shattered its own soul a thousand times over just to wound its enemy. It didn’t care about the cost or the agony; it only cared that Lex, the one who had separated it from Xeri for eternity, suffered.

If it was to perish, then it would etch its hatred into reality itself.

Even as its form withered into nothingness, even as it was reduced to mere fragments of existence, it left behind one final thought, burning and seething with eternal resentment.

“I will make you regret this … I will make you suffer… even if it takes an eternity…”

And with that, the Soul Sea trembled as the curse took root.

Lex sensed it—a red mark etched into his soul his eyes narrowed as he studied the red mark, a chill ran through him, but he pushed the unease aside, there would be time to deal it with later. The will was not yet fully devoured. He would ensure it was consumed down to its last fragment.

He watched in silence as the invading will was devoured, its existence reduced to raw energy, absorbed into the endless void of Heaven’s Maw.

Then, the Mouth closed.

The cracks in his Soul Sea knitted themselves back together, the once-fractured sky above steadied, returning to its vast, silent expanse.

A deep, resounding stillness followed.

The traces of the battle faded, leaving behind only silence—absolute and unbroken.

The will was gone, but what remained was the red mark. Lex exhaled after observing it again for several minutes, but he could not get clues about its nature. It was just a mark, ominous and unexplained.

His gaze returned to the outside world, where the sword still hovered in the air, its power slightly diminished. Without the will’s essence to sustain it, the swords aura flickered faintly, a shadow of its former glory.

Lex made his decision. Before venturing further, he would first absorb the will’s memories, a necessary step to navigate the ruins with greater precision and, perhaps, to decipher the strange inscriptions that had eluded him earlier.

He closed his eyes, his mind sinking into the fragmented essence left behind. Knowledge and experiences began to unravel before him.

If the will had held secrets about this place, about the island’s origins, its fall, and the forces that once walked its halls, then those secrets would soon be his.

……………………

A colossal mountain, so vast that it dwarfed entire universes, loomed at the center of an endless continent, which itself was suspended within the unfathomable Void Sea.

The Void Sea—not a sea of water, but a metaphor for the boundless, empty nothingness between universes, a space so vast that even Dao Sovereigns hesitated to tread upon it.

At the base of this colossal mountain, buried deep within the fabric of existence, lay a prison, a place of eternal confinement, where the most heinous creatures of the Void Sea were locked away.

And in the deepest layer of that prison, a woman sat in utter stillness. Her form bound by chains of unknown origin, she remained motionless, her disheveled hair cascaded over her skin marred by wounds that refused to fade. Not because she couldn’t heal them, but because she chose not to.

The air around her was heavy, a silence that seemed to stretch into infinity. Yet, in an instant, Something changed.

A thread within her soul tensed. A connection cracked.

Her karmic threads, the invisible ties that bound her to those she once called family, shuddered. Then, one of them snapped. Her closed eyes flew open. A presence was gone. Her breath hitched, and her body trembled. frozen for only a fraction of a second before her pupils shrank in disbelief.

Her brother was dead.