Creation Of All Things-Chapter 180: The Power Of Zayriel

Loop

The aftershock of the battle lingered in the air.

Joshua stood at the center of the ancient platform, head bowed, chest rising and falling with each breath. A faint glow still pulsed beneath his skin. Not bright. Not wild. Just steady. Alive.

No one said anything at first.

It wasn't because they didn't want to.

It was because they couldn't.

Something had changed.

And not just with Joshua. The room itself had shifted. The air didn't resist him anymore. The pressure that had weighed down on them since arriving in Ostarius was gone.

Like the fortress had accepted him.

Like it knew who he was.

Joshua finally looked up, his eyes glowing faintly gold on one side and black on the other.

"I'm… still me," he muttered.

"Technically," Draken said, arms crossed. "You're a past-lives fusion reincarnated chosen hybrid messiah of some kind, but sure. You're you."

Joshua squinted. "You made that sound way worse than it needed to be."

"Because it is worse," Aria whispered. "Your aura's different. I can feel it."

Veyrion stepped forward, smile wide, voice shaking just a bit.

"Joshua… you've done what even the Council feared you might never achieve. You didn't just awaken. You synced. Zayriel's memories, powers, instincts… they're yours now. But they didn't take over."

Joshua blinked. "So… what does that actually mean?"

Veyrion raised a finger.

And a sudden ripple of energy shot out from Joshua's body.

The stone beneath his feet shifted colors. Reality… flexed.

Not broke. Just… rippled.

Alice staggered. "Did he just warp space without trying?!"

Draken frowned. "He didn't even channel it."

Veyrion nodded slowly. "His mere presence now adjusts the physics around him. He doesn't cast powers. He is the power."

Joshua took a step forward and blinked—he was already ten meters ahead.

He turned around. "Did I just—"

"Yup," Adam muttered. "Instant movement. Subconscious teleportation."

Joshua looked down at his hand and raised it slowly.

A black and white flame flickered to life in his palm.

It didn't burn. It didn't crackle. It just was. A stable, quiet flame of existence and erasure at the same time.

"Voidflame," Veyrion whispered. "One of Zayriel's oldest abilities. A fire that consumes both matter and spirit. Balanced with Creation Spark—the flame that can bring something back."

He raised his other hand.

A second flame appeared.

Golden. Warm.

Joshua stared at them both.

"…That's crazy."

"You haven't even scratched the surface," Draken said. "Try focusing on something. A thought. A place."

Joshua closed his eyes.

For a moment, nothing.

Then—

A tear opened in the space beside them.

A portal. Small. Wobbly.

But it was there.

Through it? The edge of a ruined field. Black grass. Crimson skies.

Veyrion's eyes widened. "That's the Wounded World! That's… that's a sealed realm!"

Joshua stared in disbelief. "I didn't mean to do that. I just… I just thought about it."

Veyrion stepped beside him. "You're not accessing portals. You're remembering them. Zayriel wasn't bound by distance. He walked through memories of space."

Joshua rubbed his head. "Man, that's going to give me a headache."

A sudden BOOM rang out.

Everyone turned.

Joshua had accidentally created a gravity shift—just by scratching his head.

His aura was fluctuating. Shimmering between celestial and abyssal.

Alice stepped back. "Hey, hey, hey, control your aura, dude. You're pulling moons out of alignment."

"I can't!" Joshua barked. "It's just doing it on its own!"

Kael'Thar grunted. "You're leaking. Your body's not used to channeling this much divine-abyssal energy. You need a core filter."

"I need a nap."

"I second that," Alfred muttered. "Just watching this is exhausting."

Joshua exhaled, then focused hard. With effort, the aura dimmed.

And finally, silence returned.

Veyrion walked up slowly, voice soft again.

"There's more. When Zayriel reached full awakening… he could speak words that bent reality. He called them World Keys."

Joshua frowned. "Like… spells?"

"Not spells. More like… verbal commands written into the source code of existence. One word could create a planet. Another could erase one."

Joshua raised an eyebrow. "You're kidding."

"You want to try one?" Veyrion asked, smirking.

"Hell no."

"Smart," Draken said. "You'd probably erase our lungs by accident."

Joshua turned, walking toward the edge of the arena. "So what now? I've got wings I can't use, flames I don't understand, and memories that keep showing me wars from twelve universes ago. That doesn't make me some savior."

"No," Veyrion said, following him. "But it makes you dangerous. To the wrong people."

Joshua looked back at him.

"And to the right ones?"

Veyrion smiled. "It makes you hope."

Adam stepped forward, patting Joshua's back. "You're gonna need training. Lots of it. You think awakening means you're strong now? Nah. This was just unlocking the door. What's behind it?"

He pointed at Joshua's chest.

"That's where the real power is."

Later that night – A quiet ledge in Ostarius

Joshua sat alone, legs dangling over the edge, staring into the starless abyss below.

His hands still glowed faintly. The flames danced along his fingers, flickering between light and dark.

He sighed.

"You ever feel like you didn't ask for any of this?" he muttered.

Zayriel's voice echoed faintly in his mind.

"You didn't. But you're the only one who can carry it."

Joshua looked up.

"…Yeah. That's what I'm afraid of."

Behind him, the others had already started preparing. Whatever came next, they'd face it together.

But for now…

Joshua sat with his power. With his past.

And with the future just beyond the next door.

Elsewhere

Somewhere far beyond the stars, in a realm twisted and broken by time, a dark figure sat on a jagged throne made of shattered worlds and withered bones. The sky above boiled with crimson storms. Screams echoed through the wind like whispers of the damned.

The Architect of Ruin slowly opened his eyes.

A pulse. A tremor. A ripple in the Void.

He felt it.

Zayriel… had awakened.

"…Tch."

His frown deepened, sharp eyes narrowing as he leaned forward.

"So… the brat's finally done it," he muttered, voice low, cold, dripping with ancient hate. "He's unlocked it… that power that never should've been his in the first place."

He stood up.

The ground cracked beneath his feet.

"Good."

His hand clenched into a fist, shadows coiling around it like chains. His wings—one skeletal, the other metallic and corrupted—spread out slowly.

"Very good."

His lips curled into a wicked grin.

"When I rip that cursed source out of his fragile little chest…"

His eyes gleamed—one a void of stars, the other a burning sun.

"…It will be the most satisfying moment in all creation—"

And then—

He laughed.

Loud. Long. Unhinged.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"

The sound tore through the sky. Mountains cracked. Entire cursed lands trembled at the echo.

He tilted his head back, laughing like a man who'd waited eons for revenge and was now just close enough to taste it.

"HAHAHAHAHA—!"

He stopped suddenly. ƒreewebɳovel.com

A crooked smile still lingering.

"Come, Zayriel," he whispered, almost lovingly. "Let's finish what we started… and let the stars bleed."