Infinite wealth In A New World-Chapter 365: I am Light. I am Darkness. I am Death

[Star Nation City – Lower Districts.]

​The air in the city hung heavy and stagnant, smelling of ozone and copper. Civilians stumbled through the streets, their faces drained of color, gazes locked on the gruesome tableau scattered across the cobblestones. Bodies lay strewn about—commoners, merchants, nobles—fallen like puppets with their strings cut.

​"What is happening?" a woman whispered, clutching her shawl tight.

"Did a fight break out in the city?!" 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Yes! I saw them, a man and a woman!!" a merchant stammered, pointing toward the upper district. "They were so powerful... the sky cracked when they clashed!"

"Gosh, is the Star Nation getting out of hand? I should run to Eldoria. It’s the only safe place left."

​The commoners muttered amongst themselves, fear spreading like a contagion.

​"Hey!! There is a huge hole here!!" A man yelled, standing near the ruins of what used to be a grand plaza. He pointed into a dark, gaping maw in the earth.

​"What?! Was there something in there? Like an auction?"

"It looks like it... deep underground."

​BOOOOOM!!!!

​The ground lurched violently. Every head snapped toward the Royal District. High above, the sky shimmered as if made of glass. With a deafening sound of tearing fabric, the illusion that had masked the devastation shattered. Shards of spirit energies rained down, dissolving before they hit the ground, revealing the naked truth.

​"What... What?!! The castle is destroyed?!!"

​Someone yelled, their voice cracking as they stared at the smoking ruins in the distance where the palace once stood.

​"Run!! Star Nation is under invasion!!"

​Instantly, the fragile order collapsed. Chaos took the streets as thousands fled in a stampede of terror.

___

​[Castle Ruins – The Battlefield.]

​While the city below trembled, the castle grounds were being pulverized into dust.

​BAM!!!

​Jinx leaped into the air, twisting her body with supernatural grace as a beam of destructive energy from Leonardo smashed into the spot she had occupied a microsecond before. The earth vaporized on impact.

​"You?!! Don’t you run out of energy?!!" Leonardo roared, his composure fracturing. He had been engaging Jinx for ten minutes of high-intensity combat. She had been spamming high-tier spirit energy consumption skills that should have drained a Demigod dry in seconds. Yet, she wasn’t even breathing hard.

​"Don’t tell me you’re already tired!" Jinx yelled, her eyes glowing with feral delight. Space warped around her, and suddenly, dozens of clones materialized from thin air, rushing towards Leonardo with pure killing intent.

_

​On a nearby ridge, safe from the shockwaves, Nioh and Star watched with crossed arms.

​"Gosh, if I was the one she’s fighting, I would be drained of energy by now," Nioh admitted, wiping sweat off his face just from watching the intensity of the spirit output.

​"Jinx’s energy is truly infinite... I thought she was kidding about her cultivation," Star muttered, awe in her voice. "She’s a perpetual motion machine of violence."

_

​Down in the crater, Leonardo reached his breaking point.

​"Ok then!! I won’t hold back anymore!!!"

​Leonardo screamed, his voice distorting. He smashed his scythe into the ground. A crimson shockwave erupted, a tsunami of red sonic waves that pulverized the rock and shattered all of Jinx’s clones into glittering dust.

​"You think because you have infinite energy, you’re unstoppable!!!" He yelled. Hundreds of jagged ice swords materialized, humming with lethal intent. In unison, they shot into the air, locking onto Jinx with deadly accuracy.

​"Oh... You haven’t seen a thing."

​Jinx didn’t dodge. Instead, her body shifted like liquid mercury. In seconds, her horns and wings receded, her skin paled, and she took the exact form of Leonardo.

​BOOOOOM!!!

​The barrage of ice swords smashed into Jinx. The impact was cataclysmic, burying her under tons of ice and debris. But then, a strange resonance hummed through the air.

​BAM!!!

​Leonardo suddenly convulsed. The force of his own attack, reflected perfectly, threw him backward.

​"You bitch!!" He yelled, smashing his hand on the ground to arrest his momentum, jumping to his feet with wild eyes.

​"Come on? Why don’t you attack me?" Jinx, still wearing Leonardo’s face and voice, slowly descended from the sky. She landed lightly, dusting off her shoulder.

​"Whatever you attack me with, you will receive the full damage. No matter how strong you are, in front of this skill, your strength is useless," she said coldly.

​Leonardo stared at his doppelganger, his mind racing. ’This?! She is right. This girl isn’t even a God rank yet, but with this skill, she can fight a Tenth Order entity!! What a monster!’

​He scanned the battlefield, looking for an exit. ’There must be a way to counter this, the Master must know... If she is somehow connected to the vessel we are after, it’ll be difficult.’

​BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!

​Suddenly, the horizon to the east lit up. A mushroom cloud of dust rose into the sky.

​’This?! Valerie was killed?!’ Leonardo realized with a jolt. ’Only God Wolf could achieve that level of destruction so quickly.’

​While he was lost in thought, space blurred. Jinx appeared directly in front of him.

​"Are you dozing off?!!" She yelled.

​She struck his face with a punch that broke the sound barrier. Because she possessed his exact physique, her fist didn’t phase through—it connected with bone-shattering solidity.

​BOOOM!!!

​The blow sent him flying miles backward, crashing through the remnants of the castle walls.

​BAM!

​He smashed into the ground, rolling violently before coming to a stop.

​"You think because you gained some powers you’re anything close to Eldoria?" Jinx reverted to her own form, her dragon wings unfurling as she stalked towards him. "Before us, you’re just an ant that can be crushed!"

​"Calm down, feisty cat."

​The voice was calm, commanding, and instantly silenced the battlefield. Everyone turned their heads to the ruined gate. Sunny walked in, still clad in his Monkey King appearance, the Ruyi Jingu Bang resting casually on his shoulder.

​His subordinates recognized his aura instantly.

​"DAD!!" Jinx yelled, her face lighting up with a beaming smile.

​The battlefield froze.

​Sunny: "DAD?!!"

Nioh: "What did she just call the King?!!"

Star: "What the fuck?!!"

Leonardo: "WHAT?!!!!"

​The four were horrified. Even Sunny froze, his Monkey King persona slipping for a moment as a deep frown etched itself onto his face.

​"Why the look? You said—"

​"--Ok. Ok, I know what I said." Sunny quickly cut her off, raising a hand. He turned his head to the battered Leonardo, his gaze sharpening. "We need him alive... No matter what happens, we need to know what’s happening and who is behind all this."

​Sunny pointed his staff at Leonardo, locking the space around him. Then he turned to his subordinates.

​"Leave him to me."

​He waved his hand. Space folded in on itself, and instantly, Jinx, Nioh, and Star vanished from the battlefield.

___

​[Earth World.]

​The scenery shifted from a war-torn ruin to a lush, tranquil landscape. Jinx, Star, and Nioh appeared in front of the massive World Tree.

​"Huh? Where are we?" Star asked, looking around in surprise at the alien flora.

​"What are you two doing here?" Jinx asked, spotting Alex sitting near the trunk. Beside him lay Casey, motionless as a statue.

​"The King brought us in here to protect us," Alex answered, standing up to bow. "How are things outside?"

​Jinx let out a long breath. She flopped down onto the soft roots of the tree bed, resting her back against the trunk.

​"I am so tired," she groaned.

​"Oh, stop pretending," Star scoffed, rolling her eyes. She turned to Alex, her expression serious. "Tell us everything that happened in the auction and why Princess Casey is like this."

___

​[Outside – The Ruins.]

​Sunny stood alone amidst the rubble, facing the old Elder.

​"You must be Sunny," Leonardo said, getting to his feet.

​"You don’t even know me..." Sunny narrowed his eyes. "If my guess is correct, you aren’t Leonardo. Something or someone else is messing with all the elders... I must know who this new enemy is."

​"New enemy? Why ’new’ enemy? Don’t you have any enemies?" Leonardo asked mockingly. He began to walk, his scythe dragging along the stone, leaving deep gouges in the ground.

​"Lilith is annoying, but she won’t play such games. She always makes sure her mark is placed everywhere she goes... All these mind games, hiding your identity, it’s not her style," Sunny analyzed coolly. "As for Lester? We both want to kill one another. He won’t attack the Star Nation; that is meaningless to me... He will directly attack Eldoria. So tell me..."

​Sunny slammed the butt of his staff into the ground.

​"Who really are you?!"

​"Hahaha! You do know your enemies well." Leonardo laughed, a sound that grated like grinding stones. Suddenly, two glowing red eyes appeared on his blank, phantom-like face.

​"I am Light. I am Darkness. I am Death!! But everyone calls me the Heaven of Souls! Now that you know my name, do you think you can kill me?!!"

​Sunny froze. ’What the hell?! Heaven of Souls?! How did such an ancient entity...’

​He stopped his thought and laughed out loud, shaking his head.

​"Now everything makes sense!! You can’t enter this world physically, so you look for a way to take over the bodies of locals and use them to execute your plans! You’re more despicable than Lilith." Sunny said, his voice dropping to absolute zero.

​"I know I am despicable. I am not a good person to begin with..." The entity shrugged, using Leonardo’s body to gesture at the destruction:

"And that scrap—what do you call it? Honor. Yes, Honor! I don’t care about it... I only care about victory and gaining what I am after."

​He looked around the ruined castle with disdain.

​"Just sad I didn’t gain anything here. Even after destroying the whole castle, I couldn’t find it."

​"Couldn’t find it? Wait, are you searching for the weapon?" Sunny asked with a frown.

​"No need mentioning it, it’s useless now." Leonardo came to a stop. Slowly, deliberately, he placed his own hand on the crown of his head.

​"I should kill this host... God Wolf, we will meet when the realms align. Please, when that happens, ensure that girl is present. Her powers will be delicious."

​He applied pressure.

​CRACK.

​Leonardo’s neck snapped at an impossible angle. The body slumped, dropping dead to the ground like a sack of grain.

​"No!"

​Sunny rushed forward. He watched as Leonardo’s phantom form washed away like ink in water, revealing the old Elder’s normal face and skin. Sunny caught the old man just before his body hit the floor.

​"Hmm... If a body dies, the brain is still operational for some seconds. If I can tap into his memory for these fleeting moments, I will know what happened to the elders."

​Sunny didn’t hesitate. He placed his hand on Leonardo’s forehead, his eyes glowing as he forcibly channeled his consciousness into the dying neural pathways of the corpse.

​"Huh?!"

​The images flooded his mind. What he saw next froze him in place.