The Mad Dog of the Duke's Estate-Chapter 372. You Shall Move Forward (1)

"...We could have had the world in our grasp," the false Caron said bitterly, his voice trembling with disbelief. "We could have bent reality to our will, done whatever we desired. Is this really the future we dreamed of?"

The air twisted and warped as the power of Void spiraled out of control.

Within that vortex of chaos, the fake stared at Caron in sheer horror. Even the self-proclaimed Demon King of Void couldn't stop what was happening, because the very power of Void he'd handed over to Caron had broken free of all control.

Boooooooom!

A deafening rumble shook the collapsing world. The massive barrier that had isolated the Core of Sin began to crack and shatter, unleashing a roar like the end of time itself.

"Hah," the false Caron let out a hollow laugh, as if mocking his own failure.

He wondered where everything had gone wrong. He had exploited the opening Caron had shown him—deliberately, he now realized—and struck without hesitation. The plan had been simple: To absorb every fragment of Void lodged within Caron's core. If everything had gone as planned, he would have gained enough power to create dozens of worlds at his whim.

From the beginning, this battle had been one where the victor would devour all.

The false Caron had wanted to birth a new world, become a new Demon King of Void, and repeat that cycle endlessly—an eternity of dominance and rebirth. But that grand plan had crumbled into ash, ruined by Caron's insane self-destruction.

Thud!

The fake kicked Caron hard in the stomach, grinding his teeth, and said, "You stupid bastard."

They could have been gods—both of them. Even that pathetic fool who insisted he was the "real one" could have ascended, ruling over every world that existed.

The fake believed the God of Light was a useless wretch who only watched from the heavens—that was no god. True gods ruled over all things. They commanded, they destroyed, they owned.

So he wondered why Caron had thrown it away, and why he had chosen death over divinity.

"That damned previous life of yours... It made you weak," the fake spat, driving Guillotine through Caron's torso with a sickening crunch.

Blood spilled freely, yet Caron only smiled faintly, as if amused. His voice hoarse, he murmured, "Did you just call me weak?"

"You don't even have the guts to become a god. What a coward," the false Caron said.

"You didn't even have the courage to die," Caron replied with a broken laugh. "Who are you calling a coward, huh? What's the matter? Are you scared of dying? You pathetic coward. That's why you're the one falling apart."

He coughed violently, spitting blood onto the ground. The pain was unbearable, his vision fading white—but oddly enough, he felt at peace.

The moment that fake had linked their cores to absorb his power, Caron had deliberately forced Void's power into overdrive. Rampaging hadn't been difficult. All he had to do was let go and stop resisting the malice he had been containing for so long.

Now the power of Void was consuming him from the inside out.

Ssshhh.

Dust began to pour from his skin like sand from a broken hourglass. That dust wasn't ordinary—it was his very life, devoured and transmuted by Void's power. The sight mirrored Halo's own disintegration from before.

At least that's a relief, Caron thought faintly.

He'd repaired Halo's core—roughly, but enough. Halo would never reach the level of a 9-Star again, but he would live.

Looks like I'm the first to go again, Caron mused wryly. He had wanted to do so many things once the war was over. Maybe he shouldn't have said it out loud—maybe that had jinxed him.

He chuckled softly.

The fake glared, then plunged Guillotine into Caron's thigh.

Thud!

"Did you really think rampaging would be enough to destroy me?" the fake growled. "This is nothing."

Whoosh!

The power within Caron's body was being completely drained away. He was powerless. But the fake wasn't unscathed either.

Crackle! Crack!

The power Caron had unleashed inside him was rampaging wildly, creating violent surges throughout his form.

"You worthless insect," the fake hissed, his voice dripping with hatred. Even the condensed power of Void couldn't fully suppress Caron's reckless power.

"Hah..." Caron smirked faintly through the pain.

Madness flickered in the false Caron's eyes. He glared at Caron with a murderous gaze, growling, "Things didn't go exactly as planned, but I'll start by killing you. Once you're gone, everything else will quiet down."

"You thick-headed idiot," Caron rasped. "Took you long enough to figure that out."

"Now, let me explain what happens next," the false Caron continued, raising Guillotine. "I'll kill you here—body and soul. I'll chain your spirit inside me so you can watch, forever, as your comrades die one by one."

"How kind of you," Caron said with a bloody smile. "Worrying about me, are you?"

The fake gripped Guillotine tightly, pressing the cold blade against Caron's neck. His grin was cruel and gleeful. He whispered, "By the time I'm done, you'll beg me to erase your soul. Everything you cared for in this life—I'll take it all, piece by piece..."

At that moment...

Squelch!

A sword, gleaming with a piercing blue light, burst through the fake's chest, impaling his heart. The blade, radiant and pure as the sea itself, pierced straight through his core and jutted out the other side.

The fake froze, disbelief painted across his face. Slowly, he turned his head—only to see an old knight with silver-white hair standing behind him.

"I'm afraid that's not going to happen," the old man said.

His voice was frail, the tone weary—but his expression was more alive than ever. Just the fact that he stood at all was a miracle.

Whoosh.

The core Caron had painstakingly held together—Halo's core—had begun to twist under the strain of the Void's power.

"You crazy old bastard!" Caron shouted, his voice cracking with anger.

Halo only smiled radiantly and replied, "Didn't I promise? That I'd be the one to kill you."

"If you're old, then act your age! You should've stayed in the back and rested!" Caron snapped.

"When you, my friend and grandson, decided to throw his life away, did you think this old man could just sit back and watch?" Halo countered.

Crack!

The power that had been rampaging through the fake's body was suddenly sucked into Halo. The force was overwhelming, twisting his form beyond recognition, but he stood firm, unmoving. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"If you really wanted me out of the fight," Halo said calmly, "You shouldn't have restored my core."

"You... worthless piece of filth!" the fake screamed, his voice unraveling with madness.

He flailed, unleashing chaos, but Halo only tightened his embrace around him. Muscles once withered by age now flexed like steel as he crushed the monster in his arms.

"I killed you fifty years ago," Halo said softly. "Looks like I'm doing it again, Caron."

"...Halo," Caron whispered, trembling.

"Caron," Halo said gently, "What you're feeling right now, betrayal and more... That's exactly how I felt fifty years ago."

For a moment, Halo's face overlapped with the one Caron remembered from fifty years ago. The same smile, warm and infuriating all at once.

"Did you really think I wouldn't notice your plan to blow yourself up?" Halo asked with a laugh. "You've still got a long way to go, you bastard. This time, you're the one who feels betrayed."

There was no turning back now.

Whoosh!

Halo, astonishingly calm, channeled the power of Void straight into the fake's body. Both of them began to glow with a deep violet hue as Void energies clashed violently, erasing everything around them.

Even Halo's body began to scatter like dust in the wind.

"Halo, you mad bastard..." Caron's voice broke as he watched.

It was the end of vengeance, the fall of the Demon King of Void. It was everything he had fought for across countless years—yet he couldn't bring himself to smile.

Caron wondered where it had gone wrong. He wondered if restoring Halo's core—just so that Halo could live—was the mistake that had led to this.

Guilt clawed at his chest. The same guilt he had buried deep for decades now rose to the surface, suffocating him.

"It's not your fault," Halo said through the crumbling storm. "It never was your fault. This was mine to bear from the beginning."

His voice rang through the chaos like sunlight through fog.

"I've never felt more alive than I do right now," he said. "So don't you dare cry. You'll just look uglier if you do."

Caron remembered—long ago, at the moment when Cain Latorre's life had ended, Halo had once asked him...

"Was this really the path that made you happy?"

Halo had always known Caron had tried to escape his misery through death. That was why Caron now shouted back at him, voice raw with pain, "Is this your idea of happiness?!"

Halo chuckled weakly and replied, "Ah, and what was it you said back then? 'At least I'm less miserable now,' wasn't it? What a pathetic answer that was."

He laughed loudly, freely, like he had half a century ago, before looking straight into Caron's eyes.

"I'm not 'less miserable' anymore," Halo continued, smiling through tears. "I'm happy—truly happy."

Ssshhh!

The fake's body, devoured entirely by Void, scattered into nothing. Now it was Halo's turn.

Caron could only watch helplessly as his friend's body began to dissolve into dust. The Core of Sin crumbled around them, and his dearest friend was vanishing with it.

There was no undoing it now.

"Caron," Halo called.

Step.

Halo walked toward Caron, even as malice whispered its venom into his ears.

"You can still live."

"Cut down your friend. Take his body and survive."

"Become the god of a new world."

But those honeyed lies found no purchase in Halo's heart.

"Are you crying?" he asked softly.

"You stupid bastard," Caron muttered, his voice breaking. "Why did you...?"

Halo laughed faintly and said, "That's why we're friends, isn't it? Because we're both idiots."

Their eyes met—Caron's blue ones gleaming through the dust—and Caron clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles turned white.

"...Any last words?" he asked quietly.

Halo was the strongest man on the continent, the Grand Duke of the empire, the head of the Ducal Family of Leston, and beyond all titles—his friend.

Halo smiled and answered, "Go easy on the family and the boys, will you?"

"...Anything else?" Caron asked.

"Hmm." Halo tilted his head in thought, then waved casually. "Keep moving forward. Until you're sick of it. Got it?"

They were simple words, but they were unadorned and honest. That was Halo's final farewell.

"Leston finally grants peace."

"A long wait has ended."

"The story that repeated endlessly... ends here."

Crack.

And with that, Halo's body scattered into the wind. Only his sword, Gram, remained.

Caron picked it up silently and looked to the sky.

Rumble!

The violet barrier had vanished, and the sky of the Demon Realm spread above him. Once, it had been gray and ashen.

"...Ah."

Now it shone bluer than ever, brilliant and clear. Ash-colored dust drifted gently through the air beneath that sky.

No voices echoed anymore, and no whispers remained.

At last, Void had reached the end it had longed for.

***

Step. Step.

Caron walked away from the Core of Sin without a word.

The world, once held together by the power of Void, was already crumbling in every direction. Not only the Core of Sin, but even the once-brilliant city of Glory, was turning into dust.

His core had long been exhausted by the endless battle. He looked as though he could collapse at any moment, but Caron couldn't allow himself to rest just yet.

"Caron!"

"Lord Caron!"

As soon as he stepped outside the Core of Sin, his comrades came running toward him. They were the elders of the Ducal Family of Leston, Leo, Seria, and others. They quickly supported Caron's staggering body, their faces pale with worry.

"Caron," Leo said, hurriedly checking his condition.

Caron managed a faint grin and rasped, "Ah, Leo. You're still alive? Your face, though—it's so pale you could pass for a corpse."

Leo huffed and replied, "You're one to talk. Where are you hurt? Tell me, are you hurt anywhere?"

"My core's a little..." Caron muttered weakly.

"The core is fine. There are traces of damage, but someone seems to have mended it temporarily. Please, just hold still—I'll offer a healing prayer," Seria said as she placed a gentle hand on his back.

As she began to whisper the sacred words, Leo's gaze fell to the sword in Caron's arms—Gram, Halo's blade.

No one needed to ask. The silence said everything. The owner of that sword was no longer of this world. Everyone present understood that truth.

Caron looked quietly at Leo and said, "I'm sorry. Grandfather... he..."

Leo shook his head, forcing a weary smile, then replied, "It's not your fault."

"I should've—" Caron began, but Leo cut him off.

"It's what Grandfather wanted, wasn't it?" Leo interrupted softly, his voice trembling but warm. "So smile, Caron. We won."

Leo drew Caron into a careful embrace, and Caron closed his eyes, biting his lip hard—until the tears he had been holding back finally spilled over.

A story had ended.

It was an excruciatingly long story, full of blood, betrayal, and sacrifice.

And at last, it had come to a close.