The Man’s Decree – Chapter 5737

"H-Him? How... How can he be here? No... Impossible!" Despair quaked through the Soul Devourer's voice, as though he had glimpsed a fate crueler than death itself.

Jared stood slack-jawed, blood dripping from rents in his armor as the impossible turnaround hit him.

One heartbeat ago, he had braced for oblivion, now the shock of survival turned his legs to water, and he swayed in the sulfur-tinged gloom.

Gritting his teeth, he forced ruined muscles to obey, then lifted his chin toward the jagged tear still hanging in the sky. Beyond that ragged wound stretched a boundless sweep of night, an ocean of constellations so bright they seemed close enough to pluck from the dark.

Within that cosmic surf, a shape began to gather, hulking, indistinct, yet unmistakably regal. It was wrought entirely of cold starlight, and currents of ancient Heavenly Law streamed around it like luminous rivers, veiling every feature but hinting at power older than mountains.