Single Wish: Rise Of The Omniscient Paragon

"Imperium; Fall of The Rot"

The moment Aethara invoked her Imperium, the world shifted.

A deep, guttural heartbeat reverberated through the air, its sound was more like the groaning of a wounded supreme being than anything mortal.

The earth trembled as cracks tore across its surface, spreading outward like jagged veins. Greenish light spilled forth from beneath as if the land itself was bleeding rot. A dark green mist erupted from the fissures, crawling across the terrain like a living entity. The air turned heavy, almost suffocating, and it also carried the bitter, acrid stench of decay.

Massive thorned roots burst forth from the fissures, writhing like serpents before anchoring themselves into the ground. Blood-red flowers with blackened edges bloomed across the battlefield in unnatural bursts, their petals unfurling to release clouds of corrosive spores into the air.

From the largest of these fissures and connected to these roots, a massive tree erupted, an abomination of bark and vines that clawed its way into existence.

The Tree of Rot loomed above the domain, its twisted, blackened trunk stretching impossibly high into the swirling canopy of crimson vines. Its bark oozed a sickly green sap that dripped steadily to the ground, hissing as it corroded everything it touched.

The branches spread wide, gnarled, and jagged, and from them hung clusters of crimson flowers that pulsed rhythmically, as though they had hearts of their own. Some flowers emitted thick plumes of greenish mist that snaked through the air, while others released bursts of glowing spores that scattered like dandelion seeds in the wind.

The crimson flowers sang a haunting melody, a low, droning hum that seemed to pierce the mind as if mocking the futility of resistance.

Above the Titanic Tree of Rot was the sky which was no less horrifying. It churned like a living storm, its obsidian clouds writhing with streaks of crimson lightning that cracked and seared the earth below.

Each movement of the crimson lightning bolts illuminated the countless crimson eyes scattered across the vines and flowers of the Tree of Rot, each staring down with a malevolent, watchful gaze.

However, the most horrifying part of the sky was not the crimson lightning bolts but the snowfall.

Pure white spores descended steadily from the sky, each flake was delicate and eerily beautiful, glistening faintly in the gloom. However, the spores carried death within them, a visible manifestation of rot.

Wherever they landed, they dissolved into the earth, spreading their corruption in pulsating waves. Even the air seemed to grow heavier with each spore that fell.

The Tree of Horror was the domain's beating heart, its roots extending through the cracked and rotted ground while pulsating with the ominous energy of rot. The crimson vines that filled the domain sprouted from the tree itself, writhing and twisting like serpents, and some of them coiled protectively around Aethara as if shielding their lord and master.

Hovering in the air in front of the Tree of Horror was Aethara, with her massive wings of crimson vines unfurling with an eerie grace. The glowing rune tattoos on her bare skin pulsed in rhythm with the heartbeat that echoed through the domain, her presence radiating an aura of undeniable supremacy. The crimson eyes on her wings turned toward Corey, each one burning with rage and malice.

"Welcome to my Imperium," Aethara's voice echoed, having a calm, indifferent, ethereal, and also malevolent tone to it, which was carried by the winds that howled through the domain. "Here… rot is life."

The instant Aethara said these words, the ground beneath and around Corey and Selene writhed as if it was alive, and the snowfall of spores intensified.

The rot spread visibly and the landscape around Corey and Selene slowly dissolved into a grotesque tableau of decay.

With Selene on his back and his hexagon barriers beneath his feet, Corey observed the Imperium around him with a calm and the most solemn gaze he had ever had in his life.

His gaze slowly shifted to Aethara who hovered above him like a Goddess of Ruin…

'No… like a Fallen Angel of Rot.'

Corey recalled the title Aethara told him she had, and he realized that he could actually die fighting Aethara.

He also knew that he was no longer on a battlefield, but a death sentence written in vines, spores, and decay.

This was no battlefield. This was a death sentence written in vines, spores, and decay.

'Should I have just fought the Family Head of the Anacletus Clan?'

Corey looked behind him to see the figures of Pamela and Raegar, but he saw nothing but roots, vines, and blood-red flowers.

'An Imperium huh…'

Although Corey was extremely shaken by the ability that Aethara had just unleashed, Corey had some knowledge regarding the ability called Imperium.

Imperium was basically a domain where the owner reigned supreme. In an Imperium, the power of the owner is multiplied by several folds, and their control over their abilities reaches an extremely high level.

There were more benefits that came with an Imperium, however, there was one thing that Corey knew.

It was said that Imperium was an ability for Tier 7s… For Immortals. It was one of the reasons why Immortals were so powerful and feared.

However, he was… standing before a monster that could use the ability of Immortals.

'Did my luck become shitty ever since I entered the Shattered Dimension of the Old Ones.?'

Corey released an internal sigh, and then a light of desire and curiosity flashed in his eyes as he stared at Aethara.

Despite the terrible situation he was in, there was just one good thing that could come out of his situation if he survived.

'I want her.'

Corey's stars of consciousness flared brightly as countless plans and battle simulations formed in his mind as he thought of how he could kill her.

Corey's desire for Aethara was not for a sexual, emotional, or relationship purpose.

No

Corey desired Aethara to become one of his Nightmare Fingers!