Chapter 5682

Without warning, an indescribable presence flooded the ravaged valley.

At first, it felt languid, almost drowsy, nothing like the tyrannical aura of the Soul Devourer. Yet its arrival felt inevitable, as though it had always filled every inch of sky, finally noticed only now.

Above, the swirling cloud of wailing spirits rippled like water struck by stone. The howling wind fell silent, as if an unseen palm pressed it flat.

An aging figure materialized on the rim of the crater, stepping between Jared and Sylvia in utter silence.

His robe was plain, even threadbare, his hair loose and unkempt-Zevon Swanson, and no other.

He had not torn the sky, nor shattered mountains. He simply arrived, like a passerby who happened upon catastrophe and decided, at last, to intervene.

The moment his boots touched the cracked flagstones, the howling black hand that could have flattened even a Heavenly Immortal froze in mid-descent, fingers splayed, unable to drop another inch.