The Omnipotent System

Chapter 170: The Final Judgement 5: This Is My Truth

Nyx's lips curled into a cold, bitter smile, though her eyes betrayed no joy. Her voice rose, calm yet steeped in contempt, echoing across the ruined expanse like the toll of a distant bell.

"You mourn me as though I am the one who has changed," she began, her tone cutting through the air like a blade. "But it is this world, this pitiful, hypocritical world, that first turned its back on me. It claimed to celebrate the light, yet it thrives in shadows, reveling in lies and betrayal." Her voice grew colder, more detached, as her fingers flexed, releasing faint traces of her power into the air. The ground beneath her feet cracked and trembled as if bowing to her fury.

Lysandra flinched at Nyx's words, her grip on her sword tightening despite the tremor in her hands. "Nyx, please—" she started, her voice breaking, but Nyx silenced her with a sharp glare.

"Do not speak to me of pleas," Nyx hissed, her dark eyes piercing through Lysandra. "Where were your pleas when the world cast me aside? Where was your outrage when I was condemned for fighting to protect what I believed in?" She took a step forward, and the earth quaked beneath her heel. "You, all of you, watched as I fell. You turned away when I needed you most. And now you dare to look at me with grief, as though you were ever innocent in this?"

Thalric's hand dropped from Lysandra's shoulder, his posture stiffening as Nyx's words struck deep. He averted his gaze, the guilt etched into his features undeniable. His fists clenched at his sides, but he did not speak, his silence a testament to the weight of her accusations.

Nyx's expression darkened further, her voice growing harsher. "The world claimed to cherish me, to honor me, yet it rejoiced in my suffering. It sought to control me, to chain me, and when I broke free, it painted me as a monster." She gestured to the crumbling landscape around them, her aura pulsating with destructive energy. "So tell me, heroes, why should I not return the favor? Why should I not strip this world of its illusions and let it choke on its lies?"

Kaelen let out a low growl, his rage barely contained. "You're wrong!" he shouted, stepping forward, the raw energy at his fingertips sparking dangerously. "We stood by you! We believed in you! But this—" he gestured wildly at the devastation around them, his voice cracking, "this isn't who you are!"

Nyx tilted her head, her cold smile returning. "Who I am?" she echoed mockingly. "Who I am is what this world made me. I offered it my light, my strength, and it repaid me with scorn and betrayal. If this world sees me as a monster, then a monster I shall be."

Ellara's sobs grew louder, her frail form trembling as she clung to her staff. "We never betrayed you," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "We loved you... I-I loved you..."

Nyx's gaze softened for a fleeting moment, her lips parting as if to respond. But then her expression hardened again, and she turned away, her cloak of shadows swirling around her. "Love," she muttered, the word dripping with disdain. "What use is love when it cannot protect, when it fades at the first sign of adversity?"

Valen stepped forward, his dagger drawn, though he held it loosely at his side. His eyes burned with a mixture of defiance and sorrow. "So, this is it? You destroy everything because the world wronged you? You become the very thing you once fought against?"

Nyx looked at him for a long moment, her expression unreadable. Then she raised her hand, her fingers curling as a dense, oppressive energy began to gather around her. "Yes," she said simply, her voice devoid of emotion.

The air around her grew heavy, the colors of the world dimming as the ground cracked and the sky darkened. A cold wind howled through the shattered land, carrying with it the suffocating weight of despair. Nyx's aura expanded, an ominous, swirling void that consumed everything it touched.

"Let this world feel the emptiness I have endured," she said, her voice resonating with a terrifying finality. "Let it taste the bitterness of betrayal, the cold embrace of nothingness. Let it crumble beneath the weight of its own sins."

The world shattered, consumed by the cascade of entropy, leaving only silence in its wake.

As the void settled into an oppressive silence, a faint ripple disturbed the suffocating stillness. Aveline appeared beside Nyx, stepping forward as if she had walked through the fabric of reality itself. Her presence was a stark contrast to the desolation—light, radiant yet tempered, an aura of grace and power that seemed untouched by the destruction surrounding her. Her emerald eyes, vibrant with life, regarded Nyx with a mix of sorrow and resolve.

Aveline's golden hair caught the faint remnants of light as it shimmered gently, framing her face like a halo. She stood with a quiet dignity, her hands resting loosely at her sides, though the faint tremble of her fingers betrayed her inner turmoil. Her gaze lingered on Nyx, taking in the cold, distant expression that had replaced the warmth she once knew.

"Is this what you wanted, Nyx?" Aveline asked softly, her voice calm but weighted with emotion. Each word seemed to pierce the thick shroud of silence around them. "To destroy your whole world? To stand alone in the void you created?"

Nyx's lips curled into a faint, humorless smirk, though her dark eyes remained unreadable, locked on the emptiness ahead. Slowly, she turned to face Aveline, her movements deliberate, almost languid, like a predator unconcerned by the arrival of another. Her cloak of shadows coiled and shifted around her as if alive, responding to her shifting emotions.

"What else would you expect from the Goddess of Destruction?" Nyx replied, her voice low and smooth, carrying a quiet venom. Her dark eyes glinted with a dangerous intensity as she met Aveline's gaze. "I embody the end. This is who I am."

Aveline's lips pressed into a thin line, her brows furrowing as she took a measured step closer. Her heart ached at the sight of Nyx—her once-vivid friend, now cloaked in despair and bitterness. "You are more than that," she said firmly, her voice carrying a note of defiance. "You were a protector, a beacon of strength for this world. What happened to the light that once guided you?"

Nyx laughed bitterly, a hollow sound that echoed through the void. She tilted her head, her expression sharp and mocking. "The light?" she repeated, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "The light abandoned me. It betrayed me. Now, I am the shadow it created."

As she spoke, a faint tremor ran through her fingers, betraying the smallest crack in her façade. Her fists clenched at her sides, and her jaw tightened, as though suppressing a deeper, unspoken pain.

Aveline's gaze softened, though her stance remained firm. She reached out a hand, her movements slow and deliberate, as if approaching a wounded animal. "Nyx, listen to yourself," she said, her voice filled with quiet determination. "This isn't you. This bitterness, this emptiness... it's not who you are. You're letting the pain consume you."

Nyx's glare sharpened, and her shadows lashed out, swirling around her in a protective barrier. She took a step forward, her presence towering and oppressive. "Do not presume to tell me who I am, Aveline," she said, her voice a low growl. "You stand here, untouched by betrayal, by scorn, and you dare to judge me?"

Aveline didn't flinch, though her expression wavered, a flicker of guilt crossing her features. She drew herself up, her radiant aura flaring faintly as she met Nyx's gaze. "I'm not here to judge you," she said, her voice steady. "I'm here because I refuse to give up on you."

Nyx's expression faltered for the briefest moment, her brows knitting together as if Aveline's words had struck a chord. But the crack in her armor closed as quickly as it appeared, and she laughed again, though the sound lacked its earlier venom.

"Give up on me?" Nyx echoed, shaking her head. "You do not even know me, Aveline. None of you did. You only saw what you wanted to see—a savior, a symbol. But I am destruction. This—" she gestured to the void around them, her movements sharp and deliberate, "—this is my truth."