Heaven’s Forsaken System

Chapter 25: The First Clash

The crack in the sky widened, jagged veins of darkness stretching across the horizon. The enemy was no longer watching from afar. They were here.

Shen Liang stood at the front of his gathered forces, the weight of creation pressing against his shoulders. The celestial-abyssal envoy beside him exhaled slowly, their gaze locked on the encroaching storm. "They have chosen war."

Shen Liang's smirk did not waver. "Then let's give them one."

[System Notification: Dimensional Intrusion Detected – Enemy Invasion Imminent]

From the fractures in reality, the first of the unknown invaders emerged—shifting, unstable, resisting definition. They were not made of flesh and bone, nor of energy as understood by mortals or gods. They were paradoxes given form, moving in jagged, unnatural motions, bending the laws of reality with each step.

The silver-flamed woman, once celestial, clenched her fists, silver embers licking at her robes. "We cannot let them take a single step into this world. If they do, they will unmake it."

The abyssal warlord let out a low growl. "Then we hold the line."

Shen Liang's power surged, his domain reinforcing itself, sealing the cracks as fast as they could appear. But the enemy was relentless.

Then they attacked.

A ripple of unreality surged forward, consuming everything in its path. The sky warped, mountains cracked, the very essence of the realm screamed.

Shen Liang raised a hand—and caught the impossible.

The world trembled as he pushed back, forcing his will against the invading force. He had built this world, and no force beyond fate or existence itself would take it from him.

[System Override: Realm Stabilization Engaged]

The first battle had begun.

The moment the ripples of unreality met Shen Liang's grasp, a shockwave pulsed outward. The gathered warriors braced themselves, but even their reinforced bodies trembled under the pressure of existence itself being rewritten. Shen Liang's fingers curled as he compressed the surge of raw, undefined energy into something tangible, forcing the chaotic essence into the palm of his hand.

For a fleeting moment, the invading force hesitated.

Then, they shifted.

More figures began pouring from the cracks in reality. Not mere soldiers, not even sentient entities in the traditional sense—manifestations of contradictions. Some moved forward, yet never truly approached. Others split into multiple versions of themselves only to collapse back into a singular form moments later. Their very presence defied all logic, all natural law.

The envoy turned to Shen Liang. "This is not just an invasion. It is an overwrite. If they gain a foothold, this world will not merely be conquered—it will be rewritten into something beyond our comprehension."

Shen Liang's expression darkened. "Then we erase them first."

He extended his hand and released the compressed energy. A beam of pure will erupted from his palm, streaking across the battlefield. The moment it made contact with one of the intruders, the entity fractured—splintering into a thousand mirrored reflections of itself before vanishing completely. The other invaders reacted instantly, shifting and adapting, learning from the strike in real time.

[System Notification: Enemy Adaptation Detected – Adjusting Parameters]

The silver-flamed woman let out a sharp breath. "They're evolving already."

The abyssal warlord cracked his knuckles. "Then we break them before they adapt too far."

As if in response to the growing threat, Shen Liang's world reacted.

The mountains trembled, spires of energy bursting forth from the very core of the realm, each pulsing with a light that was neither celestial nor abyssal. The new warriors who had sworn loyalty to Shen Liang felt the shift, their bodies resonating with the power of a reality that was still being defined.

Then, Shen Liang spoke—and his words shaped existence itself.

"We do not fight to preserve an old world. We fight because this one is ours."

The warriors roared in unison, their energies igniting, the battlefield becoming a clash of gods and paradoxes.

The first true war of the new reality had begun.

The invaders did not hesitate this time. They evolved. Their shifting forms recalibrated, adjusting to the forces being wielded against them. One entity extended a jagged limb, its edges flickering between dimensions, and swung toward the silver-flamed woman.

She met the attack with a blazing strike of celestial fire, but the entity did not burn. Instead, it absorbed the flames, twisting them into something else, something unrecognizable. Shen Liang watched as the energy reformed, reshaped, and then lashed back toward them.

He stepped forward, raising his hand. The stolen flames froze mid-air, quivering under the force of his command. With a flick of his wrist, he shattered them, reducing them to nonexistence.

[System Alert: Reality Manipulation Confirmed – Enemy Resistance Increasing]

Shen Liang gritted his teeth. "They're learning too fast. We need to end this. Now."

The abyssal warlord let out a snarl and surged forward, his obsidian blade slicing through the nearest entity. The moment the weapon made contact, the entity split—its body fracturing into a thousand reflections, each moving independently. It reformed a second later, stronger than before.

The envoy's voice was tight. "They are not just adapting. They are rewriting themselves to survive."

Shen Liang clenched his fists. Then he would rewrite them first.

He took a step forward, the very air around him distorting. The laws of his world bent, folding at his command. He willed the battlefield to shift, and reality obeyed.

The invaders froze.

For the first time, they did not move, did not shift. Shen Liang had caught them in a space they could not comprehend—a lawless void, of his own design.

"You do not belong here," he said, his voice ringing with absolute authority. "And you never will."

With a final pulse of raw willpower, he erased them.

The battlefield went silent.

The rift in the sky flickered, and for a moment, it seemed as though the invasion had ended. Then, from the darkness beyond, something deeper stirred.

The envoy whispered, "That was only the beginning."

Shen Liang smiled, but it did not reach his eyes. "Then let's end it properly."

The war had only just begun.