Crack! Crack! Crack!
Power radiated outward. The ground split, and the walls shook!
"Backlash from a Divine Ability!?"
Startled, the Lord of Self steadied his mind at once. Then his gaze shifted to the chessboard. Pieces scattered in every direction, and anger and astonishment flashed in his eyes!
Snap! Snap! Snap!
Crisp sounds rang out through the void. Behind them, the web of legends born of decades of planning was snapping apart, strand by strand, and slipping free!
"Chen Fang... the Chen Clan!"
The childlike look finally vanished from the Lord of Self's face. He ground his teeth and spat out the name. Feeling the backlash throw the power within him into chaos, he hardened his expression!
"By sheer coincidence, you've disrupted my plans again. And you think I'll make the same mistake twice? Dream on!"
Violent will surged from his body. Behind him, the image of the River of Time gradually descended, its raging waters roaring and heaving up wave after towering wave!
As each wave rose, countless fragments of history drifted within it. Amid the flying spray, figures from the past flickered in and out of sight!
"Return!"
At his command, black threads wound their way into the river.
A wave immediately turned from illusion to substance through Turning the Illusory into the Real and crashed down upon the Lord of Self, swallowing his body in an instant.
The churning water wrapped around him. It also engulfed the frenzied Spirit Light that had erupted under the backlash and was on the verge of bursting from his body, forcibly sealing it inside so none could escape!
"Ugh!"
The Lord of Self grunted as he forced the scattered power to remain within him. He was clearly suffering.
But the cracks around him finally stopped spreading.
He drew a deep breath,