All the Dust that Falls - Chapter 18: A Bath of Blood

In a world where fate is dictated by prophecy, heroes are chosen by the gods, and Dark Lords are doomed to fall… Lucian Draeven refuses to play along.Once feared as the greatest Dark Lord in history, Lucian had the world under his iron rule—until the so-called Chosen Hero struck him down in a blinding flash of divine justice. The kingdoms cheered. The world rejoiced.Too bad Lucian isn’t actually dead.Having faked his demise and gone into hiding, Lucian watches from the shadows as a new Dark Lord rises, more reckless and incompetent than ever. Worse, the gods have selected another overly enthusiastic, sword-swinging Chosen Hero to bring “peace” once again.The problem? Neither of them have a clue how to actually rule the world.As kingdoms crumble, wars break out, and the balance of power teeters on the edge of collapse, Lucian comes to a horrifying realization:If the world is going to survive, then it’s up to him—the so-called villain—to secretly fix everything from the shadows.But there's just one little catch…Lucian’s legendary Dominions are still sealed, and the only way to regain his strength is by playing the role of a villain once more—spreading fear, manipulating his enemies, and pulling the strings behind the scenes.Now, as the oblivious Hero and foolish new Dark Lord battle it out, neither realizes that the true mastermind is watching their every move.Because if the world wants a villain…Then Lucian will be the greatest villain it has ever seen.

By the coast, a hundred-meter Star Gate shimmered with flowing light.Beyond the Star Gate, an army forged of steel stretched as far as the eye could see.Above the Sky Dome, squadrons of fighter jets streaked across, weaving an iron curtain.In the distant ocean, scores of aircraft carriers, destroyers, and frigates dotted the seascape, ready for action.All cannons were aimed at the figure who emerged from the Star Gate.“In the name of the Federation Command Center, I order you to stand down, or what awaits you is total war,” said the voice.“War?”Gu Jinlai took a step forward, and his form swelled against the wind, in an instant growing from less than two meters tall to a colossal Chaos Demon God thousands of kilometers high, emitting the brilliance of a white dwarf star from his being, his own gravity causing thunder and lightning, as well as tsunamis and tides within a thousand-mile radius.He looked down...At the war weapons that seemed like toys.He reached out, and a hydrogen bomb fell into his hand.Within him, the electron-degenerate star core released Helium, Helium elements expanded, and the terrifying high temperature instantly caused Deuterium and Tritium, Hydrogen's isotopes, to fuse, the energy bursting forth, forming a blazing white brilliance on the ocean's surface that was like igniting a sun.Before this sun's energy could be released, he clapped his hands together, and the dazzling white, mixed with heat in the billions of degrees, was compressed and sealed within his palms, not a fragment escaping.“I think, you should choose peace.” he suggested.

[WARNING: 18+ — NO RAPE]“I scratch and bite,” Vivian warned, holding the Lycan Alpha's gaze confidently.Ronan smirked, his hand gripping her chin possessively as he forced her to look up at him.“You'll crawl and beg too,” he promised.************Being the Clan Leader of the last remaining cursed Lycans, Ronan had long abandoned his task of finding his fated mate after years of useless searching. However, his life is disrupted when he encounters a mysterious and barely clinging-to-life alive Omega wolf, Vivian, trespassing on his land. Covered in strange Wickan magic symbols, Vivian is not just any wolf—she is his destined mate.Vivian has lived a life of rejection and suffering. Abandoned by her first mate for being unable to conceive, scorned by her family, and mistreated by her pack, Moonborn, she has endured endless humiliation. Forced by her father to mate with other Alphas in a desperate attempt to prove her worth, Vivian’s fate takes an even darker turn when she is cursed by a local coven and framed for a crime she didn’t commit. On the brink of death, she escapes into forbidden territory—Ronan’s land.A stretch of land her pack never dared to tread upon.Ronan’s mistrust only grows when he learns Vivian is from Moonborn, the pack that slaughtered his clan and remains his sworn enemy. Yet, irrespective of their dark feuding histories, he takes her in, determined to care for her and break the deadly curse inflicted upon her by Wickans and the ancient curse slowly leading him to an inevitable death. As they grow closer, secrets from both their pasts threaten to break them apart.And when Vivian’s niece arrives with a hidden agenda, matters become far more complicated.

– The planet [Earth] has entered the abnormal state [Apocalypse].

– You have failed in saving the Earth. The Authority, [Vintage Clock (EX)] rewinds the world’s time.

For Yu Jitae, it was a message he had seen many times.

It was tiresome.

It would have been great had he died with everyone else.

But he couldn’t, for his authorities that made him the strongest existence, brought him back in time whenever he did.

And even with his strength, he couldn’t protect the broad earth against the maddened dragons.

– The world’s time will soon begin.

As the clock resumed ticking in the direction it should, his 7th iteration came to a start.

Fortunately, he finally had a gist.