Chapter 1 – Death of the Demon Sovereign
The heavens split with the roar of a thousand storms.
Blood rained over the shattered throne room, pooling around the black marble dais where Cain Reaper stood.
Every muscle in his battle-scarred body ached. His robes hung in tatters, soaked crimson.
The scent of iron and betrayal clung to the air.
They were all here.
The so-called allies who had sworn to fight at his side until the end — the Sect Masters, the Kings, the Saints.
Men and women whose lives he had saved, whose realms he had preserved with his sword.
Now they formed a perfect circle around him, blades drawn, eyes burning with greed and fear.
"You've climbed too high, Cain," said the Golden Heaven Emperor, his crown glinting in the light of the fractured sky. "We cannot allow you to step into the Eternal Realm. No one should have that power."
Cain's golden eyes — so bright they seemed to burn from within — swept across their faces. Not a single one could meet his gaze for long. They were lions in their own cages, tearing down the one who had broken his bars.
His voice was soft, almost kind. "So this is how it ends? After a thousand years of war, of carrying the weight you couldn't bear?"
The Crimson Saintess shifted uncomfortably. "You… you would have ruled over us all. We had no choice."
Cain chuckled, low and cold. "There is always a choice. You simply lacked the spine to live with it."
A cough tore from his throat, wet with blood. His knees threatened to buckle, but he stood straight — his pride an unbroken wall even as his body failed.
Above, the cracked sky swirled with lightning as the tribulation descended. One more step, one final breath, and he would have transcended mortality itself.
One more step…
The first sword pierced his back.
The second, his side.
By the tenth, he could no longer count them.
His lifeblood ran freely now, soaking into the marble as the storm above began to fade. The Eternal Realm slipped from his grasp.
He looked up at the throne he had taken with blood and fire.
Once, it had been a symbol of conquest. Now, it was nothing but a chair for cowards.
With his last strength, Cain smirked — a faint curl of lips that made several of his murderers flinch.
"I will return," he said, his voice a whisper and a promise carved into the bones of the world.
"And when I do… I will use you. All of you."
The world dimmed.
His body fell.
And Cain Reaper, Dem
on Sovereign, Slayer of Gods, was no more.