chapter 47: The false Truth

The void around the battlefield was a desolate expanse, remnants of the fight between Uraume and Umbra's wives still crackling with energy. The Godhand stood before Umbra's wives, flickering in and out of reality, their power dwindling but their resolve intact. Though Umbra's presence had erased many, the Godhand lingered, untouched by his divine wrath—for now.

Umbra's wives stood silently within the protective bubble he had placed around them. Their eyes, though watchful, revealed nothing. No emotion, no response. It was as if nothing had changed. But the Godhand knew better.

"You think you know him," one of the Godhand sneered, his voice grating against the silence. "You think you understand the One True King? You don't. Let us show you what he's truly done—what he really is."

A pulse of dark energy spread from the leader of the Godhand, and the air around them shimmered as scenes began to form—memories drawn from the darkest corners of time. Umbra's atrocities materialized like nightmares, projected in vivid detail before his wives.

The First Memory: Souls Enslaved for Eternity

A world appeared, where the sky was bathed in a blood-red hue. The battlefield below was littered with the corpses of countless warriors, their bodies lying broken under Umbra's command. But death was not their final fate. Umbra stood amidst the carnage, and with a simple wave of his hand, the souls of the fallen were chained to him. Their wails of agony echoed in the air as he bound them in eternal servitude. They would never pass on, forever enslaved to his will.

"He took their souls," the leader of the Godhand hissed. "He didn't just kill them. He trapped them for all eternity, forcing them to serve him in death. Their suffering never ends."

The Second Memory: The Consumption of Stars

The scene shifted to the vastness of space, where Umbra stood at the center of a galaxy, his eyes glowing with malevolent hunger. With a flick of his hand, entire star systems blinked out of existence, consumed by the endless void he commanded. Billions of lives were extinguished in the process, their worlds turned to dust as their stars collapsed into nothingness.

"He devoured entire star systems," one of the Godhand growled, his eyes burning with hatred. "Planets and civilizations were destroyed in an instant, their light forever gone."

The Third Memory: The Curse of Eternity

Next came a vision of a peaceful kingdom, trapped in time. Its people lived out the same day, endlessly repeating their lives. Umbra had cursed them, forcing them to experience the same routine for eternity. Every day, they awoke with the same memories, aware that no matter what they did, they were stuck in an endless loop. Their minds slowly unraveled, descending into madness.

"He condemned them to live the same day over and over," the Godhand said with a wicked grin. "No escape, no end. They remember every second, but they can never change it."

The Fourth Memory: Torturous Immortality

A new memory unfurled—of a group of once-proud warriors, now reduced to helpless shells of their former selves. Umbra had cursed them with immortality, but in the most twisted way. Their bodies could never heal, and they could never die. They felt every wound, every moment of pain, as their bodies decayed. They lived in eternal suffering, never able to escape the agony of existence.

"He gave them immortality," the leader of the Godhand spat. "But he stripped away everything else. They live forever in torment, unable to die, unable to live."

The Fifth Memory: The Erasure of Hope

The final scene showed a world on the brink of salvation. Its people had come together, rebuilding after a catastrophic event, united in their hope for a better future. But before they could achieve their golden age, Umbra appeared. With a mere snap of his fingers, he erased their progress, resetting the world to its broken, chaotic state. Their memories of peace were gone, leaving them to wander aimlessly in a world that no longer had hope.

"He took everything from them," a Godhand member sneered. "They were so close to peace. So close to salvation. And he destroyed it all, erasing every memory of their progress. They will never know how close they came to greatness."

The visions faded, but the weight of what had been revealed lingered in the air like a storm waiting to break. The Godhand stood tall, waiting for a reaction, expecting horror, anger, maybe even betrayal from Umbra's wives.

But there was nothing.

No words. No tears. No emotion.

Umbra's wives remained silent. Akari's gaze remained fixed on the Godhand, her grip on her sword never wavering. Selene, Nyxara, Aeloria, and Seraphina all stood still, their expressions unchanging. They watched the memories, witnessed the horrors, and did not move.

The leader of the Godhand growled in frustration. "You saw it all! How can you stand there in silence? You know what kind of monster he is! Do you not care? Does this not matter?"

The silence stretched on.

The Godhand were aghast, unable to comprehend the lack of response. They had thrown everything—Umbra's darkest deeds, his most vile atrocities—before his wives, and they had not even flinched.

The leader of the Godhand took a step forward, his anger boiling over. "You are as twisted as him! All of you!" His voice echoed through the void, but it was met with nothing.

The wives of Umbra—the One True King—stood silent, unyielding, as if nothing could shake their resolve. Whatever the Godhand had hoped to achieve by revealing Umbra's darkest acts had failed.

In the end, the Godhand realized that they had lost this battle—not through force or destruction, but through their inability to break the bond between Umbra and those who stood by his side.