Chapter 546 – The Chaos Realm

After sending my father, Eve, and Nael back out, Mei Gui and I ventured deeper into the black fog of Chaos. Following the trail I left with the pebbles, the other three should be able to make it out with no problem. The more difficult part was up to us—finding the core and origin point of this distortion, and entering the Chaos Realm through there.

Without a doubt, that’s where my mother was. After all, she had went to Luisfer and gotten the information from him. There’s no chance she would go anywhere else after finding the exact location of the Forbidden Isle, and Chaos Realm.

What she was doing here, I didn’t know. Nor did I care all that much right now, to be honest. I just wanted to see my mother again, and while that may seem like an immature wish for someone my age, it was a reasonable one.

With Mei Gui’s guidance, the two of us were able to make it to the origin point of all the fog with relative ease. No Chaosborn beasts dared approach us with Mei Gui’s immensely dominant power here, given how she was like the queen of Chaos. I soon realized that I could take my mask off, since the air here, despite being poisonous to pretty much anyone else, was ineffective against me.

Very soon, we arrived before what looked like a massive black and red blight hovering in the air, protruding a dome-shaped wall of swirling black energy around it. I lifted my gun to fire a bullet at the blight, but the wall around it reflected the attack and rendered it useless.

“… Hm. I’m guessing we need to destroy this thing, and some kind of gate will open?” I asked, to which Mei Gui gave a nod.

“You can consider this as the castle walls if the Chaos Realm is a castle, Master. However, normal attacks, even Chaos-charged ones, will not work against it.”

“Oh…? So you mean… I have to use Forbidden Magic?”

“Correct, Master.”

“But all the ones I know don’t directly do damage, and are more… utility spells.”

“That is also true, Master—which is why I will be teaching you a new spell, right now. It will be the first actually-damaging spell of Forbidden Magic and will require a lot of mana to cast, but I believe you can handle it as you are now.”

“Alright,” I said firmly. “I’m ready.”

Mei Gui closed her eyes. “Very well. Now, I want you to close your eyes, and purge all other thoughts. That will be difficult considering you are here to search for your mother, but if you want to be able to cast this spell, this is something you must do.”

I nodded and did as told, doing my best to clear my head of any unnecessary thoughts in the moment. Like Mei Gui said, that was extremely difficult, as my entire mind was filled with images and memories of my mother, but… I’ve accomplished harder things before.

Seeing me in a state of pure concentration, Mei Gui continued.

“The name of this spell is Impulse Desire,” she said. “The movement to cast it is simple—swipe your right hand in front of you diagonally as if you had claws and was trying to scratch someone ahead of you. If done right, a wave of powerful Chaos energy will shoot out, annihilating anything in its way. As for the reason it is called Impulse Desire… that is because of the wild and rabid nature of this attack. It is extremely strong, yes, but at the same time difficult to control. That is what makes it an ‘impulse’. An ‘impulsive’ desire to kill.”

“…”

I silently took in what she had to say, and ran it through my head. That was the only thing I thought about as I channeled the raw Chaos energy through my veins, and into my hands.

“Now… when you are ready, Master, go for it.”

Forbidden Magic — Impulse Desire.

Instantly, my eyes snapped open, ablaze with deadly red energy, and I swiped my hand forward just like she told me to. Like a nightmare claw, I sliced down at the blight’s energy barrier, and instantly, I felt a surge of power rush through my body, down my arms, and through my hand like never before.

A torrent, a tsunami of ridiculously strong Chaos energy shot out of my fingertips, shaking the entire ground and annihilating the barrier in an instant. The Chaos core being protected by the barrier was similarly consumed, and still my spell continued wreaking havoc, until I heard the sound of several dozen massive rock formations being cut apart and tumbling to the ground, utterly destroyed.

As for within the fog, the core blew up upon contact, and instead transformed into multiple strands of bright white energy, shining with red outlines. They dispersed for a moment only to come back together, but this time, not in the shape of a ball. They now formed a door—a gate, dark and ominous. The outer edges of the rectangular gate glowed red, while the interior of the gate was too dark to see anything.

Finally, the energy around my body settled down, and I let out a breath of relief.

“… Whew. That was… exhausting.”

“But Master seems to have successfully done it,” Mei Gui said with a smile. “As expected.”

“Still, that took up way too much mana than I was expecting,” I said with a sigh. “In any case, though… this gate…”

“It is the door leading to the Chaos Realm, yes,” Mei Gui said. “Step through, and we will be transported.”

Taking a deep breath, I stepped forward into the gate, and entered the Chaos Realm.

*****

The Chaos Realm was exactly what I expected it to be.

Strings of rocks close to one another but not quite attached, hovering in the air like outer space. Everything else, however, remained affected by gravity, creating a contradiction that should not be there. The sky was dark, illuminated only by flashes of bright red lightning, some of which struck the rocks, and all around us, flying rocks soared by, like asteroid belts.

It was chaotic. It was dispatterned. It was a realm of contradictions, paradoxes, and disorder.

It was a realm of Chaos.

“… Be careful, Master,” Mei Gui said. “There are many beings of pure Chaos in here, much like myself. One misstep… and it may spell the end for both of us.”

I nodded. “I’m aware. Just by the energy this place is giving me… it’s not good.”

Sweat beads were already on my forehead even though we’d only just arrived here, and that was not a good sign by any means.

“So, uh… where’s the place we’re supposed to go?” I asked.

“That light up there,” Mei Gui said, pointing ahead. “Do you see it, Master?”

I narrowed my eyes and followed where she was pointing with my gaze, and saw that past and beyond a bunch of floating rocks, like a ramp that twisted and turned but still went upwards in the end, there was a light. It was a massive tower with a bright shining red light atop of it, marking our destination.

“If your mother is in here, that is where she will be,” Mei Gui said. “And… it also holds the secret to your power, Master.”

I blinked. “The secret… to my power?”

“Yes. You will see when you get there—the answers of what Chaos is, why your bloodline was the chosen one, and much more… all shall be answered in that tower.”

“…” I turned my gaze to the tower once more, and wondered just what mysterious I would unravel there.

*****

– Meanwhile, Outside –

“… Whew… finally made it back out,” Xuan Ying panted heavily, wiping the sweat from his eyebrows. “… I’m really getting old, aren’t I? To think that tiny bit of fog is enough to make me this pressured…”

“It’s not your fault, Master X,” Nael stated with a bow. “That fog is no simple fog. It is extremely powerful, much like those wolves we fought in there. It makes sense for you to not be able to withstand it, no matter how strong you are.”

“Yeah… thanks for the comforting, but… I just don’t like to lose to my son, y’know?” Xuan Ying said with a chuckle. “Oh, and also—don’t call me Master X anymore. That identity of mine is long gone.”

“But… I feel more comfortable… calling you that…”

Xuan Ying glanced at the poor demon for a moment, then sighed.

“Fine, fine. Whatever. You can continue calling me that, if it makes you more comfortable.”

“Fufu… so, what’s the plan from here?” Eve asked, folding her arms. “Do we go back to the city, the plane, or just wait here?”

“I can’t go anywhere right now,” Xuan Ying said, turning back around and looking at the fog. “… Not before I am able to see my wife and son return together, safely.”

“Then we shall wait here with you,” Nael said firmly, displaying his loyalty.

“Heh…” Xuan Ying gave a chuckle, and sat down on the ground.. “Let us wait, then.”