Chapter 571: Punishment

Damian stood perfectly still, his crimson eyes locked on the empty space where the Hooded One had vanished.

The seal had taken him, erased his presence from the dreamscape completely.

But his final words remained, echoing through Damian’s mind with poison that refused to fade.

“Are you certain they were ever truly your loved ones to begin with? Or were they simply pieces positioned around you by players who knew exactly which strings to pull?”

His jaw worked slightly, the only outward sign of internal processing.

‘What did he mean by that?’

The question formed cold and sharp, cutting deeper than any blade could.

‘Is he talking about Mom and Dad? About… Luna?’

His hands remained at his sides, but his fingers spread fractionally, an unconscious gesture.

‘Were they all just… positioned? Pieces on a board I never knew existed?’

The implications spiraled outward, each one darker than the last, refusing to settle cleanly.

‘When Mom held me, when Dad trained with me, when Luna–’

“A blade can only pierce the flesh and leave scars that eventually heal.”

The Sage’s voice cut through his spiraling thoughts like a knife through silk.

“But a whispered lie can fester in the soul forever, rotting from within until nothing remains but doubt and poison.”

Damian’s head turned fractionally, finding the Sage’s still form standing in the center of all that devastation.

His cracked white mask remained in place, those lightning-blazed eyes visible through the gaps.

“Do not let his venom accomplish what his power never could.”

The words settled between them with weight that pressed down on everything.

Damian’s throat worked, trying to form a response.

His boots started moving, carrying him across fractured ground toward where the Sage stood.

“You–”

BOOM

Thunder crashed overhead, the sound rolling across the dreamscape with force that made reality itself tremble.

Dark clouds materialized from nothing, gathering directly above the Sage’s form with terrible speed.

Damian stopped mid-step, his crimson eyes tracking upward.

‘This…’

His thoughts came measured and calm despite what he was witnessing.

‘What’s going on? It’s almost like–’

Recognition settled with cold certainty.

‘–a tribulation? Here? In this–’

“Ah.”

The Sage’s whisper emerged soft but carrying across the ruins.

“You’re faster than I expected.”

His head tilted back slightly, that cracked mask finding the gathering clouds without surprise or fear.

Just acceptance of something inevitable.

Silence fell across the dreamscape, heavy and suffocating.

Then an ancient voice emerged from the clouds, emotionless and vast, carrying authority that made reality itself bend just from existing.

“Mortal.”

The single word pressed down on everything.

“You have helped the universe maintain its balance today by sealing away the One blessed with Immortality, the being whose existence threatened to unravel the cosmic order itself.”

A pause that felt like judgment rendered.

“For this service, you have earned recognition that few mortals ever receive.”

The clouds churned faster, lightning beginning to flash in their depths.

“However…”

The word hung in the frozen air like a blade waiting to fall.

“In the process of achieving this necessary goal, you have broken the sacred rules that govern all battles waged within the Dreamscape.”

Thunder rolled, building and building.

“You invoked principles belonging to another Law entirely, wielding power that was never meant to be used in this realm.”

The voice became harder, edges appearing in the measured tone.

“And in accordance with the universal laws that govern all of creation, with the balance as witness to this transgression…”

Lightning blazed brighter, coalescing into something terrible.

“You shall now face punishment from the very Law whose principles you dared to invoke.”

Silence crashed down across the dreamscape, suffocating in its completeness.

Damian stood frozen, his mind processing the implications with cold precision.

‘Punishment for Sage? But what about the Hooded One–’

Before the thought could finish, the ancient voice continued, its tone shifting fractionally.

“And I must ask you to refrain from using–”

“You don’t have to worry about that.”

The Sage’s interruption came soft but absolute, cutting through the proclamation like a blade through silk.

His hands rose, fingers wrapping around the black axe resting against his shoulder.

“I can’t use it to escape the backlash even if I wanted to.”

His grip shifted on the handle, pulling the weapon away from his body.

“After all–”

WHOOSH

The axe left his hand in an instant, crossing the distance faster than sight could track.

It slammed into Damian’s chest and vanished, disappearing into his body like it had never left.

“–it was never mine to begin with.”

The Sage’s arms spread wide, his stance opening completely, offering no defense against what approached.

His cracked mask somehow conveyed certainty despite showing nothing.

“Come then!”

His voice rang across the ruined dreamscape with conviction that refused to bend.

“Send everything at once and end this quickly!”

A pause, his hands spreading wider.

“This darkness clinging to my soul has been itching for far too long anyway.”

The declaration hung in the frozen air for one heartbeat.

Then–

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM

All the purple lightning descended simultaneously.

Hundreds of pillars of crackling energy, crashing down from the heavens with the force of divine judgment.

They struck the Sage from every direction at once, wrapping around his form, consuming him in radiance that made looking directly at it impossible.

CRACK CRACK CRACK

The dreamscape stone beneath his feet shattered, circles spreading outward from the impact.

The light intensified, becoming blinding, reality itself screaming under the pressure.

But through it all, through the destructive force meant to erase him from existence–

The Sage remained standing.

His boots planted firmly against fractured stone, his back straight, his cracked mask still intact.

Lightning arced across his body, through his body, trying to tear him apart from the inside.

But he didn’t fall, didn’t collapse and didn’t show any sign of pain.

Just stood there in perfect calm, accepting what came.

‘I… can finally rest.’

The thought emerged quiet and peaceful.

‘After so many years of carrying this burden, of playing the game, of sacrificing everything…’

The lightning intensified, reality starting to erase his presence.

‘It’s… finally over.’

But before his form could start to dissolve, before the punishment could finish what it had started–

The ancient voice resonated again, emerging from clouds that had begun dispersing.

“Even though ‘I’ could not interfere with the punishment that universal law demands…”

The tone shifted fractionally, becoming almost gentle.

“‘I’ can still grant you final moments of peace before your existence fades from the tapestry of creation.”

The lightning stopped instantly.