Chapter 132: A Strange Awakening.

The creature and Sy666 clashed in a tornado of horror, a chaos of pure and cursed energy. Despite its wounds, the creature remained almost unshakable, unleashing a raw, wild, primitive power, as if the entire world had to bow under its wrath.

But elsewhere… elsewhere, Sakolomé remained frozen.

Still lying down, his gaze fixed on Sally's lifeless body.

His wide-open eyes, motionless, seemed dead.

He no longer heard anything.

He no longer even saw reality cracking around him.

He only felt his own body slowly fading away — grain by grain — out of existence.

For him… to see Sally like that…

It was worse than death.

Rivhiamë, inwardly:

Sakolomé… I think I have no choice left.

I will have to materialize to face this creature.

But… it's because of me that you're still standing… If I leave your body, you will immediately evaporate into reality…

A heavy silence.

No answer.

Rivhiamë:

— Sakolomé? Are you listening to me? Sakolomé!!!

Still nothing.

As if Sakolomé had been disconnected… from reality.

Or worse, from himself.

Rivhiamë grimaced, worried.

Then she sighed.

Rivhiamë, resigned:

— I think you are… resigned to die. Very well. I will come out. Fight. But try… try to stay conscious!

If you still hold a link to this world, I can make an existence substitution…

Even if your body disappears, your consciousness will survive. You will live in me, as I once did with your father…

A flash of decision.

She begins to withdraw from Sakolomé.

But…

Rivhiamë:

— Huh?!

She tries again.

Nothing.

She insists, concentrates, forces the dissociation.

Still nothing.

Rivhiamë, shocked:

— What is…?! What is this phenomenon?!

An unprecedented silence.

Worsh...

The universe tilts.

Everything turns black.

GRRRZZZZZ!!!

A mana of colossal intensity bursts from Sakolomé's body, cleaving the skies like an eternal lightning bolt, and immediately interrupts the fight between Sy666 and the creature.

The mana is heavy.

Crushing.

It was still night, precisely midnight… but the sky suddenly seems brighter than day.

Dense and vibrant red and black particles spread throughout the world, like divine spores.

Sy666, his body entirely made of souls, remains frozen, intrigued.

As for the creature… it no longer moves.

Silent.

Motionless.

It does not understand what it is seeing — or feeling.

At the heart of this mana surge, a horned silhouette emerges.

Majestic.

Terrifying.

Silent.

Like an eternal judge, it slowly rises… and then suddenly:

Absolute silence.

The mana abruptly fades.

Only he remains.

Sakolomé — or at least… something that resembles him.

He is standing.

His body is intact, without a single wound.

He wears on his head a massive crown made of black, organic horns, as if they had grown directly from his skull.

His eyes, redder than ever, shine with an abyssal glow.

Beneath them, marks, thin like scratches… or frozen tears.

The silhouette stretches slowly, as if waking from a long sleep.

Unknown (blinking):

— Hmph… What the hell is this mess?

He calmly observes around him.

The chaos.

The split sky.

The lost souls.

The silence of the suspended war.

Sy666, visibly annoyed by this disturbing presence, rushes at him without hesitation.

But the new Sakolomé raises a hand, almost distractedly.

— You… I don't like your face. Disappear.

Fwshh.

Sy666 vanishes instantly. Dissolved. Erased. Not a trace left.

The creature remains alone, suspended under the gaze of the new being.

It trembles.

He shows no hostility, however.

But his presence is immense.

Oceanic.

And facing him… it feels tiny.

Insignificant.

A stone drowned in a bottomless abyss.

He raises his hand, and without violent gesture, suspends it in the air.

The creature is paralyzed.

— You're the one who pulled me from my sleep?

— You who dared to push this kid too far?

He sighs, exasperated.

— This kid, that's my room, you see?

— It's my bedroom. If you destroy it, where do I sleep?

Then he looks the creature straight in the eyes.

His gaze becomes thoughtful, almost surprised.

— Hmm… No. Actually, you don't seem to be the one who wanted to wreck my house…

He releases the creature, letting it fall inert, then slowly scans the surroundings with his eyes:

— What could have caused all this…?

His gaze lands on the field of ruins.

Everywhere, bodies.

Exhausted, lifeless, scattered in chaos, like dead leaves after a storm.

Then… he sees her.

A separate body.

Silent.

Motionless.

Pink hair, skin already pale as the frost of death.

He approaches slowly.

He kneels before her.

Sally.

— I see… It's the death of this little one that broke the kid.

He gently places his hand on her cold cheek.

She was completely extinguished.

A long silence.

Then he extends his hand, covering Sally with divine mana.

The supernatural flow snakes over her entire body, like a sacred cloak.

And suddenly… he feels something.

A residual echo.

A foreign imprint.

He immediately stands up, his gaze hardening.

He fixes the creature.

— You… You are the origin of all this chaos, aren't you?

The creature trembles, petrified by pure fear.

But curiously, he does not seem to be really speaking to it.

He addresses someone else.

Something through it.

— You devour the remnants of dead beings. You spread chaos, even among young demons. You feed on it like a cosmic parasite…

Suddenly, a strange voice is heard, resonating through the rifts of space-time.

— Hihihihi… So what? What are you going to do, child?

He remains calm, almost indifferent:

— It's not me who will take care of you. You already know that. But you've played enough, don't you think? What are you still waiting for here?

The voice sneers, more acidic:

— Tsss… Did a kid like you really have to appear at the feast? You'd better go back to see your dear mother. I hear she's sealed not far from here, Saïko… doesn't that bother you?

Saiko smirks, icy:

— Sealed? My mother? You must be joking…

He slowly raises his eyes to the black sky.

— If my mother were really sealed… then everything else would be too. Because she is everything.

A heavy silence settles.

Even the voice seems hesitant.

He adds, coldly:

— Isn't that right, Azazel?

A long moment of emptiness.

Then… black smoke escapes from the creature's body, in living whirlwinds, as if an entity was tearing itself from the world.

— Anyway, we are destined to meet again, hahahahaha…

The smoke disappears.

Silence returns.

Saiko turns his gaze again to Sally.

He sighs deeply.

— I'm sorry, little one…

— Azazel took even your being away. Even I… cannot bring you back. His authority is above mine. Rest in peace.

He slowly stands up, observing one last time the devastated horizon.

Then, suddenly, the crown of horns disappears.

A blink of an eye.

Sakolomé regains possession of his body.

His eyelids grow heavy.

He staggers.

And falls to his knees.

But his body, now… is no longer cracked.

It is healed.