Chapter: Severance of the Crimson Origin
Inside the Endless Domain—
The Void was no longer stable.
Cracks spiderwebbed across its infinite surface.
Stage Four strained under dragon pressure.
Origin Severance burned inside Jinyoung like a silent star.
And Antares—
Finally stopped holding back.
The Crimson Dragon Emerges
Antares inhaled.
The sound alone ruptured the Domain's upper boundary.
Then—
He transformed.
His humanoid frame exploded outward—
Armor shattered into scales.
Wings tore open the void like twin suns.
A body miles long coiled through the Endless Domain.
Eyes like collapsing red galaxies.
The true Crimson Dragon.
Not projection.
Not partial manifestation.
The origin form of annihilation.
The Endless Domain buckled instantly.
Stage Four trembled.
Jinyoung felt the difference immediately.
This was not authority.
This was extinction incarnate.
Antares' voice thundered across the Void.
"Now."
"Show me if you can erase what was born before correction."
The Domain Begins to Collapse
The Void sphere cracked violently.
Its boundaries flickered between existence and absence.
Stage Four's Endless technique was designed for singular combat—
Not for containing primordial dragon origin.
Jinyoung clenched his fist.
The Domain shrank tighter.
Compressing space around Antares.
Trying to maintain isolation.
But every wingbeat fractured causality.
Reality outside trembled.
The Rulers felt it instantly.
And one of them—
Moved.
The Betrayer Descends
A pillar of golden light pierced the collapsing Domain.
It forced entry.
It tore a breach in the Void.
The betraying Ruler manifested physically.
Radiant armor.
Six wings of burning law.
A spear formed from condensed authority.
Their presence stabilized the collapsing Domain momentarily.
"I will not allow irreversible destabilization."
Their voice echoed with cold judgment.
Jinyoung's eyes narrowed.
"You chose him."
"I chose preservation."
The Ruler turned toward Antares.
"I upheld my end. I weakened suppression."
The Dragon's massive head lowered slightly.
"I noticed."
The Ruler then faced Jinyoung.
"You cannot release Origin Severance."
"If you do, you risk tearing fundamental origin threads."
Jinyoung answered quietly.
"If I don't—he burns everything."
The Ruler's spear pointed directly at him.
"Then I will stop you."
The Three-Way Tension
The Domain now held:
• The Crimson Dragon in full origin form• A physical Ruler of law• A fragment bearer infused with Severance
The Void screamed under pressure.
Antares laughed, the sound shaking dimensions.
"You fracture yourselves before I even strike."
He unleashed a roar.
Annihilation wave erupted outward.
The Ruler blocked with a wall of law.
Jinyoung shielded with Endless compression.
The impact shattered half the Domain.
Pieces of void fell away—
Revealing glimpses of the real sky beyond.
If the Domain collapsed fully—
The planet would not survive the overflow.
The Test
Jinyoung inhaled.
Origin Severance pulsed inside him.
It was unstable.
Unrefined.
But ready.
He locked eyes with Antares' burning crimson gaze.
Then—
He reached out.
Not with aura.
Not with force.
With severance.
A thin line of black light extended from his hand.
It touched the Chaos Flame burning along Antares' scales.
For a fraction of a second—
Nothing happened.
Then—
The Flame flickered.
Not suppressed.
Not resisted.
Cut.
A sliver of Chaos Flame detached from Antares' body.
Disconnected from origin.
And vanished.
Not extinguished.
Not relocated.
Erased from continuity.
Across timelines.
Antares recoiled.
The Domain shook violently.
The Ruler's eyes widened.
"You actually severed it…"
The Dragon's voice deepened.
"…You dare."
For the first time—
There was no amusement.
Only focus.
The Cost of Testing
The severed sliver of Chaos Flame was microscopic compared to Antares' full power.
But the act—
Proved something terrifying.
Origin Severance worked.
Even on him.
But Jinyoung staggered.
Void-script flared across his skin.
Energy backlash tore through his internal core.
Absorbing partial Severance meant he carried its recoil.
Blood fell into the Void.
The Ruler saw weakness.
They moved instantly.
Spear of law hurled toward Jinyoung's chest.
"End this before he loses control!"
Antares' eye snapped toward the Ruler.
"You do not kill him."
The spear pierced Jinyoung's shoulder.
Pinning him mid-air.
Golden authority attempted to seal the Severance energy inside him.
To prevent further use.
The Domain cracked wider.
Dragon's Fury
Antares roared—not at Jinyoung—
But at the Ruler.
"You interfere in my battle?"
Chaos Flame surged massively.
The Ruler braced.
Wings of law expanded.
The Dragon's claw descended.
Law and annihilation collided.
The impact tore the Endless Domain open entirely.
It shattered like glass.
Reality flooded back in.
Sky.
Ocean.
Planet.
All exposed to full Crimson Dragon form.
The shockwave flattened mountains across continents.
The remaining Rulers scrambled to reinforce reality barriers.
Uncontained
Now free of Domain isolation—
Antares' true size became apparent.
His wings spanned horizons.
His body coiled through clouds like a living apocalypse.
The Ruler stood wounded but upright.
Jinyoung ripped the spear from his shoulder.
Origin Severance still burned inside him.
Unstable.
But active.
He looked up at the Dragon.
Then at the Ruler.
"You wanted preservation?"
He raised his hand again.
Void-script spiraled around his arm.
"This is preservation."
The Second Severance
He did not aim at Antares' body.
He aimed at the Chaos Flame source channel itself.
At the flow.
He released a stronger strand of Severance.
It struck.
The Chaos Flame along one wing—
Dimmed dramatically.
A section of crimson scales cracked.
Antares roared in genuine pain.
The sky turned black from pressure distortion.
But Jinyoung dropped to one knee.
Energy backlash ripped through him.
Fragments of his own timeline flickered briefly.
If he pushed further—
He might erase himself accidentally.
The Ruler hesitated.
Because now they understood:
If Jinyoung falls—
Origin Severance could detonate uncontrolled.
And take them with it.
The Shift in Fear
For the first time—
Antares did not advance.
He studied Jinyoung carefully.
"You carry extinction."
"Yes."
"And it is killing you."
"Maybe."
The Dragon's eyes burned brighter.
"…Good."
Because this was no longer predator and prey.
This was mutual risk.
Mutual annihilation potential.
The battlefield had transformed.
Not into conquest—
But into brinkmanship.
The New Balance
Above—
The loyal Rulers reinforced planetary stability desperately.
The betraying Ruler hovered silently.
Uncertain.
For the first time—
They were not calculating victory.
They were calculating survival.
The Chaos Sphere deep within the Tree pulsed weakly but alive.
Origin Severance no longer charging externally.
But now embodied in Jinyoung.
And the Crimson Dragon—
Fully manifested—
Faced a human who could erase pieces of his origin.
The wind died across the planet.
Antares lowered his colossal head.
"You will not survive prolonged use."
Jinyoung rose slowly.
"I don't need prolonged."
Silence fell.
The war had reached its most dangerous stage.
Not domination.
Not suppression.
But irreversible strike versus extinction flame.
And the next move—
Would decide whether creation remained regulated—
Or burned beyond restoration.