Chapter 168: Chapter 168: The Laughing God
The battlefield fell silent for just a moment.
Then, the portal that had just vanished opened again — but something was wrong. It flickered, unstable, as if crushed by an immense force.
Seconds later, the horizon itself began to collapse.
The black energy twisted inward like a dying star... until something was thrown out.
A broken body.
Shattered bones, twisted limbs — a puppet torn to pieces.
The Undead Demon King fell headfirst, skull fractured, spine bent at impossible angles.
Every bone in his body was broken. He could barely move his jaw.
And then... a laugh echoed across the battlefield.
A golden light pierced through the clouds, like a pillar connecting heaven and earth.
Jax descended slowly from the sky, wrapped in a cloak of divine fire.
Unlike before, his armor seemed made of pure energy, giving him an otherworldly, godlike aura.
Even though this was just a clone, his power was beyond anything the Demon Kings had ever seen.
The air bent around him; wind stopped, sound froze.
It felt like the entire world was bowing to his presence.
"Ah... my beloved guests," Jax said with a calm smile.
"You came all this way to visit me... and you’re leaving so soon? What kind of host would I be if I let you go just like that?"
His laughter echoed — a deep sound that made the earth tremble and hearts shatter.
"You didn’t even let me show you my hospitality. Why don’t you stay for a day or two... or maybe forever? I bet your heads would make fine decorations for my castle."
The laughter spread across the battlefield.
The ground shook, the sky cracked, rivers turned to gold.
The Demon Kings felt the weight of that voice crushing them to their knees, forcing them to bow.
Their soldiers began collapsing, some cutting their own throats rather than look up.
Everyone below the rank of king couldn’t even withstand Jax’s presence — they chose death over staying in front of him for another second.
Behind Jax, the golden statues began laughing too — a hundred identical voices echoing his mockery, blending with his divine tone like a chorus of broken bells.
"What the hell is that!?" roared the Flame King, covered in blood.
"This power shouldn’t exist in this world! The laws of heaven forbid anyone like you from descending! You should be sealed by the rules of heaven and earth!"
"Sealed?" Jax repeated, smiling. "Ah, yes... I think I remember something like that."
In the blink of an eye, he vanished.
When the Iron King tried to react, Jax was already beside him — holding his head with one hand.
A sharp crack echoed.
The body dropped lifeless to the ground.
"You see..." Jax murmured. "A seal only holds what wants to stay sealed. When I began awakening this power, I felt something trying to bind me... but it was never strong enough to hold me forever."
The kings stepped back, fear finally showing on their faces.
"This can’t be real! No one can withstand the power of the heavens — you’re no exception, you damn monster!" shouted the Thunder King, raising his spear.
"You shouldn’t exist! We buried you in the Eternal Chamber—!"
"Oh," Jax interrupted, tilting his head with a cold grin. "So that was you. I almost forgot for a second..."
Jax’s eyes glowed crimson.
King Charles III was lifted into the air, his body convulsing as his veins split open one by one, blood evaporating before it touched the ground.
"I fought for you bastards!" Jax’s voice thundered.
"You summoned me from my world to save you from the Demon Kings — so you could live in peace! And my reward was a prison... that damned chamber you called ’mercy.’"
He laughed softly.
"I screamed in that void you built. I begged for a reason. You told me eternity would break me... but all it did was make me hungrier."
The broken Undead King tried to crawl away.
"Please... I’ll... serve—"
"Serve me?" Jax laughed. "You already did.
When you sent your armies to die for your pride, you fed my return."
The Undead King opened his mouth to plead — and his head imploded.
Nothing remained but dust.
The statues laughed harder, their voices merging with thunder and fire, mocking the few still breathing.
"Shut up, you damn monster!" roared the Flame King, unleashing a sea of fire.
The flames curved before touching Jax, bending away like they feared him.
"Your flames still recognize me," Jax murmured. "Once, I sought to be the God of Fire. Someone as weak as you shouldn’t even dream of hurting me."
The remaining kings started yelling at each other in panic.
"Retreat!"
"No, we have to fight together!"
"Idiot! You can’t fight that!
"Jax raised his hand.
Golden chains burst from the ground, wrapping around their legs, dragging them to their knees.
"Charles..." he said suddenly, turning to the last one still standing.
King Charles III — the same man who had once ordered Jax’s imprisonment — was shaking.
His armor cracked under divine pressure.
"I remember that face," Jax said as he walked closer. "The way you looked at me inside that chamber... like I was some experiment."
His smile twisted into something inhuman.
"Tell me, Charles... how does it feel now to look up at the insect?"
Charles lifted his sword, trembling.
"You were a mistake! A monster that should never have existed!"
"And yet... here I am," Jax replied calmly.
He vanished, reappearing behind Charles. His voice whispered softly in his ear.
"You gave me the punishment of eternal solitude, Charles."
"Now I’ll return the favor."
Jax plunged his hand into Charles’s back and ripped out his spine in one motion.
The scream vanished into the golden storm that filled the sky.
The body disintegrated into glowing dust.
Jax looked up at the few kings still breathing.
"Run. Hide.
Pray to whatever gods you still have left..."
He smiled.
"Because now, I’m the one listening."
The ground ignited in golden fire.
The statues joined his laughter as the mountains split and entire armies were erased from existence.
Jax floated above the chaos, laughing.
A god reborn.
"This world forgot me once..."
"Let’s see how long it takes to remember."