Chapter 158: Sun and Moon

Just when the spear was about to hit him and send him to reincarnate, the surroundings changed.

​The mountain and the city vanished.

In their place was now a massive mud ball orbited by two celestial objects; one glowed in a brilliant orange, while the other absorbed that orange light and reflected it back as silver. Both where similar is size, one looked like the Sun and another like the Moon.

​Standing on the mud ball was Razen. His right eye now reflected the sun, and his left eye the moon. They glowed in orange and silver light like torch in the dead of the night.

​The hybrid who was infinitly close to him now seemed far away, held frozen in space by some mystical force.

​The aura Razen gave off was off the charts, but still barely within the mortal realm.

​"You Abomination, it’s time for your judgment!!!!" his cold voice echoed.

​His voice was filled with confidence, but his tone remained soft and gentle.

Night, Vance, Rango, and Jeffy, who were some distance away, felt as if they were truly in the presence of a god.

​Night felt it the most clearly because he was frequently in contact with a goddess like [Dream].

​But the Hybrid werewolf wore a mocking smile. In fact, she didn’t look scared in the slightest.

​Night observed this from his Nightmare Domain.

For some reason, his Domain was unaffected; unlike the others, he could still see the real sky mountain region.

​His Domain allowed him to see what was really happening. He saw something similar to his Domain overlapping the world and projecting itself over reality, but it felt like it was not real or more accurately... incomplete.

​Razen stood with his back straight, with the the arrogance of someone sure of his victory.

Though he looked like a god to everyone else, the hybrid could see that everything else was lacking.

​While he looked confident, internally, Razen was panicking like a pregnant woman about to give birth. He really wanted to run away, but he couldn’t.

​The Sun and Moon Seed gave a mortal the power of the divine. It was heaven-defying, went entirely against the natural order, and was classified as taboo.

​And just like anything taboo, it came with its own strict set of restrictions.

​The problem with the Sun and Moon Seed was balancing the pride of the sun and the gentleness of the moon. If he failed to be both prideful and gentle, his power would plummet, making the seed useless.

​It was easy for him to become prideful, but he always struggled with gentleness. Hence, he rarely used it, as there was always a risk of losing control and suffering a backlash.

​As for the sun and moon seed? he didn’t even know how he got it; as far as he knew, he was simply born with it.

​He closed his eyes and opened them again. This time, there was a serene look on his face.

​[Sun Rises in the West]

​The sun rose as he said this. As it happened, Razen released a terrifying amount of heat. The surroundings melted, and orange fire coated his eight-foot body, making him look like a Greek god.

​He then muttered, [Sun’s Pride].

​The fire gathered and shot at the hybrid like a beam of annihilation.

​Just when it looked like the hybrid was doomed, she released a massive amount of blood from her body, and the frozen space holding her shattered.

​She dodged the attack easily and then looked at Razen with an amused expression. "Why struggle when you know your fate?"

​Razen felt chills, and his pride wavered, weakening the seed. He felt most of his strength leave him as the seed withdrew its power, almost as if it were disappointed in him.

​The hybrid saw this and looked back at Vance, who was standing behind her, glaring at Razen with murder in his eyes. She said, "You know you will be next, right?"

​Vance looked at her and said plainly, "As long as he is dead, I don’t care." He didn’t harbor the ridiculous idea of going back and killing the Mystic Moon Immortal, the real culprit, but that didn’t stop him from feeling bitter.

​Still, he consoled himself by thinking that if Razen died, he would have at least partially avenged his sister.

​But the hybrid had different thoughts. "What if I kill you first?"

​Vance stiffened, while Razen, who had been feeling despair, suddenly got a twisted gleam in his eyes. Even though his fate was almost sealed, he didn’t want to give Vance the satisfaction of seeing him die first.

​The hybrid had a twisted expression on her face as blood-red fire covered her body in a cloak, making her resemble a goddess of fire.

​"I always wanted to see the great prodigy Vance die in despair," the hybrid sneered.

​Vance had a look of betrayal on his face. If he had known coming close would lead to this, he might have stayed content watching from afar.

​The hybrid didn’t give him time to think. She stepped on the air, and she was already upon Vance the next moment, thrusting her spear at him.

​A cold look returned to Vance’s face as he fed the tower more of his blood. He pulled out a rapier and parried her spear thrust. Neither of them moved.

​The hybrid raised her eyebrows in surprise, but her face quickly took on an excited expression. Soon, she would refine Vance’s bloodline and make him part of her own strength.

​To her, the stronger these guys were, the better. Here on this planet, she could grow without fear of the Immortals and Immortal Kings.

​The hybrid and Vance exchanged several moves, both of them standing their ground.

​But the hybrid was clearly winning. She looked the same as she had at the start of the fight. Her breathing was calm, her expression focused, and her body relaxed.

​Meanwhile, Vance was sweating buckets. His hands trembled after each exchange, and his face grew paler as his blood was continuously drained by the tower in exchange for temporary strength.

​Night watched their exchange, but he didn’t join them. While he knew teaming up with Vance was the wisest option, he stealthily moved towards Razen, who had already retracted the seed.

​Ever since the moment Razen had used the Sun and Moon Seed, his Nightmare Origin Tree had been acting weird. Urging him to claim the seed for himself.

​Razen had just managed to retract the Sun and Moon Seed without too much backlash. He planned to make a run for it, even though the odds were completely against him.

​He was lost in his thoughts, and hence he didn’t notice the presence nearing him until it was already too late.

​Night whipped the small black root at Razen the moment he realized he was spotted. Razen wanted to back away, but it was already too late.

​The root reached him before he could put any distance between them, wrapping around his neck like a rope. The sharp tip of the root pierced his neck from the back.

​He grabbed the root with both his hands and tried to pull it away, but to his shock, it refused to move an inch. As time passed, he felt himself growing weaker as the root rapidly drained him of his energy.

​The root entered his body through his windpipe, giving him tremendous pain. But the tightening root around his neck didn’t let him scream.

​Tears formed in his eyes, and blood leaked from all of his orifices.

​The root that had entered his body seemed to have finally found what it was looking for.

​It reached Razen’s dantian, pierced straight through it, and reached for the Sun and Moon Seed. It tugged at the seed and violently pulled it out. The next moment, Razen fell limp on the ground.

​Looking at his face, Night knew he couldn’t be any more dead.

​The moment he died, Vance and the hybrid looked over. ℯ

​Vance looked at him with a grateful expression, while the hybrid simply looked annoyed. She was expecting some drama, but this was anticlimactic.

​Night silently put Razen’s corpse away. As for the Sun and Moon Seed, it was already tucked away in his Inner World.

​...

​Inside the Inner World.

​The Sun and Moon Seed floated in front of the Nightmare Origin Tree.

​It looked half-orange and half-silver, covered in micro-patterns that didn’t make any sense.

​Night stared at it. He had almost expected the Nightmare Origin Tree to devour the seed. Instead, what he saw next surprised not just him, but even [Dream].

​He heard a whisper echo through his Inner World. It was a voice chanting, "The Tree of Sun and Moon, Origin of Duality, Mother of Earth... Please awaken within me."

​Isn’t that what Razen said? Night thought.

​As this happened, a wave of energy was released from the seed. Night immediately felt energized, and his recent soul injury began to heal on its own.

​Night felt alternating waves of warmth and cold cover his body. It didn’t follow a set pattern, but everywhere the sensation appeared, he felt that part of himself being purified.

​While this occurred, a massive change happened inside the Inner World. A projection of a huge sun appeared out of nowhere, and at the exact same time, an equally huge projection of a moon appeared.

​They manifested on opposite sides of the Nightmare World, and after a moment that felt like it lasted forever, they started moving.

​As their movement stabilized, the projections started to grow corporeal and real.

​And just like that, Night’s soul space had a sun and a moon.