Chapter 286: The Betrayal of Gods

Although his appearance suggested that he had already reached the final moments of his life, deep within his battered body, Max was holding on far better than even he had expected.

His two hearts continued struggling against the overwhelming rage of the ancient god, but their relentless resistance had finally begun to bear fruit. The invisible barrier suppressing his magic had developed several tiny cracks, allowing traces of his long-lost power to seep through and reconnect with his veins.

And with every passing moment, those cracks continued to widen.

The Spirit Sovereign’s Heart seized the opportunity, pumping increasingly greater amounts of spiritual energy through the damaged barrier, while his other heart struggled to contain the foreign rage threatening to tear him apart. Although the process was excruciating, Max could feel his strength returning at an astonishing rate, gradually restoring the connection to powers he had believed were completely beyond his reach.

What had initially seemed like an inevitable death was slowly becoming an opportunity that neither Max nor his captors could have anticipated.

And perhaps most importantly, this was likely an outcome even the System Creator herself had never foreseen.

After all, the very power meant to destroy Max was now helping him break free from the restrictions placed upon his existence.

But the return of his power did not mean that Max was doing any better mentally. His mind was still struggling against an invisible force that seemed determined to drag his consciousness out of his own skull, threatening to separate him from his body entirely.

The sensation was so eerie and unbearable that, for a brief moment, he almost wished for death rather than continue enduring such torment. Yet even at his lowest, his desire to live remained stronger than the temptation of a quick release.

Within his distorted vision, the enormous crimson eyes slowly drew closer, illuminating the surrounding darkness with an increasingly intense glow. The rage flooding his consciousness had long surpassed anything he could reasonably contain, dragging forth memories of the Imperial Court Empire, Henry, and even his mother, reopening wounds that had never truly healed.

He wanted to kill, to destroy everything standing before him, to slaughter until the insatiable rage consuming his mind had finally been quenched. Yet no matter how desperately he struggled, his consciousness remained trapped beneath those dreadful eyes, unable to move or escape their overwhelming presence.

Then, through the crimson radiance, something enormous began to take shape.

At first, Max could only distinguish the outline of a massive head emerging from the darkness, its armored surface gradually becoming visible beneath the eerie glow. But as the surrounding shadows receded, the rest of the creature slowly revealed itself, its colossal body rising higher and higher until it resembled a mountain that had somehow been brought to life.

The Silver Crab stood before him in its full, terrifying glory, its enormous limbs extending across the darkness while its armored shell towered so high that Max could scarcely comprehend its proportions.

Before such an existence, he appeared no larger than an ant, helplessly standing in the shadow of something that had existed long before his own insignificant life had even begun.

"Face my rage, and experience the countless years of injustice I have endured. For I, a mere crab, was betrayed by the very gods who once called me their friend..."

The ancient voice reverberated throughout the darkness, crashing against Max with such overwhelming force that his entire body trembled. Every word cut into him like a rusted blade, tearing away at his remaining strength until his legs could barely support him before the colossal existence towering above.

Then, memories that did not belong to him began forcing their way into his consciousness, carrying fragments of a past so distant and unfamiliar that he could scarcely make sense of what he was witnessing.

Before his eyes, an entirely different world began to unfold, one so mysterious and vast that it surpassed even his wildest imagination. Strange celestial structures stretched across an endless expanse, surrounded by countless lights and unfamiliar wonders that seemed to defy the very laws of reality he had come to understand.

The knowledge accompanying those visions was unbearable, sending waves of excruciating pain through his skull as though someone were attempting to split his head in half. It was knowledge no mortal was ever meant to possess, memories belonging to beings whose existence transcended the world he knew.

The realm of gods.

It stood before him, so close that Max felt he could reach out and touch it, as though extending his fingers would be enough to cross the impossible distance separating a mortal from the divine.

He saw the enormous crab wandering among the stars, its colossal limbs carrying it across the endless darkness as it devoured entire planets, swallowing worlds that would have seemed unimaginably vast to any mortal. Yet the creature was not alone, for beside it walked three other gods, a woman, a man, and a dog, each possessing a body that towered even above the already monstrous crab.

Their sheer size made Max feel more insignificant than ever before, as though his entire existence amounted to little more than a speck of dust beneath their feet. He doubted such beings would even notice him if he stood directly in their path, and a single careless step would be enough to erase him from existence.

For the first time, Max found himself questioning whether he could ever hope to stand against creatures of such unimaginable power. No matter how much strength he accumulated or how far his evolution carried him, the distance separating him from these gods seemed almost impossible to overcome.

Yet strangely enough, alongside that helplessness, something else began to stir within him.

Rage.

An immense feeling of injustice flooded his consciousness, born not only from the suffering he had endured throughout his own life, but also from the ancient crab’s memories now becoming intertwined with his own. Despite their differences, both had experienced betrayal at the hands of those they had once trusted, and the resentment buried within those memories resonated with something deep inside Max.

Rather than extinguishing his will, that overwhelming rage became the very fuel keeping it alive, burning within him like a blazing sun that refused to fade, no matter how much darkness threatened to swallow it.

But then, the scene shifted, and the crab no longer appeared to be enjoying its journey through the stars. Instead, it found itself surrounded by hundreds of gods, their enormous figures stretching across the cosmic expanse, leaving the ancient creature with nowhere to escape.

And among them stood the three beings who had once walked beside it.

The woman, the man, and the dog.

Their presence was no longer comforting, nor did they appear to regard the crab as a companion. Instead, they stood alongside the other gods, looking down upon their former friend as though it were nothing more than a criminal awaiting judgment.

"Ka’mir, your sins have led you to this point. Do not blame us for stripping you of your power..." the woman declared, her voice carrying across the stars with an authority that seemed to shake the very fabric of the cosmos.

For some inexplicable reason, hearing that voice filled Max with an indescribable rage. The memories of betrayal, both his own and those belonging to Ka’mir, collided within his consciousness, awakening a fury so violent that even the ancient god’s overwhelming resentment seemed insignificant in comparison.

And deep within his body, something finally gave way.

The last remnants of the seal placed upon him by the System Creator shattered under the sudden eruption of power, allowing the magic that had been suppressed for so long to surge freely through his veins once more.