OP Sister Chapter 546: Unpaid Debt

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Jack dreamed of a dark palace wreathed in blue flames.

Countless specters encircled the palace, with endless monuments of bone erected around the structure.

He dreamed of a crimson, eye-like moon gazing at him from above, while a presence within the palace beckoned him.

A voice, woven from the voices of every person he had ever known or met, called out to him.

[Hollowed Void.]

“…?”

Jack felt dizzy within his dream, uncertain why this was happening, where he was, or why he was dreaming so vividly.

Usually, when he dreamed, Fenrir appeared by his side, sharing dreams and using these moments to practice and hone their abilities.

But Jack felt utterly alone in this eerie, ghostly domain, where only the dark palace, specters, and bone monuments existed.

[Hollowed Void…]

The voice grew louder, urging Jack to flee in fear, too terrified to confront it. He ran in the opposite direction.

Yet, as he fled, he found himself before the Dark Palace once more.

The specters wailed as they saw him, compelling him to enter the Dark Palace.

“Go inside…!”

“GO INSIDE!”

“Go…! Get inside!”

“The Great Emperor is calling for you!”

“The Judge seeks you!”

“The Great Judge awaits you!”

“Hollowed Void!”

“Hollowed Void!”

“Hollowed Void!”

“Shut up! Shut up! Nngh! Agh!”

Jack screamed in agony, clutching his head. Resisting the voice was futile; the more it called him “Hollowed Void,” the more he felt a strange force enveloping his body.

This force compelled him to walk toward the voice’s origin, a singular voice wielding commanding power that easily bent him to its will.

Every fiber of Jack’s being screamed in horror, but he could neither resist nor escape.

“The Emperor awaits you…”

“Hollowed Void…”

“Stardust Child.”

“Hurry, the Emperor must not wait for you any longer.”

Before a massive black door stood four giants of abyssal shadows, their forms spreading like black fog.

Their faces were obscured by darkness, but their eyes glowed with distinct colors, and their shadows formed unique dark halos behind them.

“N-No…! I don’t want to! Leave me…! Leave me alone! This isn’t a dream, is it?! Where am I?! What’s happening?! Fenrir…! Fenrir, where are you?!”

Jack screamed in terror, struggling against the force, but the four beings, with a mere glance, pulled him back toward the great gate.

“Ahh! Ungh! I won’t go! I won’t go! No matter what! I must not face that thing! I cannot face it!!!”

Jack’s fear was not mere panic; he knew instinctively that confronting the entity calling his name would strip away his autonomy, his existence wholly consumed by a Myth so powerful it would overwrite him entirely.

[Hollowed Void…]

[Thou shalt be my vessel…]

[Spread darkness and death…]

[Hollowed Void…]

[Thou owest me a great debt…]

[It is time to repay a thousandfold for my favor!]

“Agh! N-No...! Ugh!”

Jack screamed as the voice burrowed into his skull and mind, as if his skin were being flayed, his skull pried open, and his brain crushed by an unseen hand.

The four beings then spoke their names, and Jack felt his body begin to decay and rot.

Their true names etched into his “hollowed body,” causing convulsions, unable to withstand their authority, a universal law.

The first shadow rose, taking the form of a tall, slender woman with cascading hair of blazing souls, her crimson eyes piercing Jack’s soul. A veil of eternal darkness covered her head, while her dress exuded neither color nor element, only stillness, as if the universe itself fell silent before her.

[The Veiled Matron of Silence, Ereshkigal.]

The second shadow stepped forward, revealing a titan with eyes like mirrors that unveiled the truth of their target’s soul. Its claws tore through Jack’s soul, scattering his essence monstrously.

[The Mirror-Eyed Arbiter, Thanomai.]

The third shadow remained seated, but its singular azure eye, encased in a spiraling lotus amid ghostly wails, echoed through Jack’s bones, shattering them before piercing his stomach and ripping out his spine. Its form was barely discernible, resembling a vast “thing” with countless limbs wreathed in endless ghostly flames of blue and red.

[The Ember-Womb of Rebirth, Mawruq.]

The fourth shadow emerged, towering as the tallest, the eldest judge crowned by darkness and shadows, the direct servant of the Great Emperor and the only one able to speak his name. Decay and rot enveloped Jack as his skin withered, his flesh turned putrid and fell from his bones, and his bones crumbled to dust.

[The Crown of Rot, Nergaloth.]

Each time they uttered their true names and titles, Jack saw the same symbol—an inverted triangle with a line through its center—etched into his very being.

As Jack screamed in horror, the Four Judges of the Netherworld judged his soul, mind, and heart. The Hollowed Void warped under their gaze, mutating into a mass of endless bones, rotten flesh, eyes, and ghosts.

Knock, knock!

“Ugh...! No…!”

To his greatest terror, Jack remained conscious through this agonizing ritual of decay, as the door to HIM trembled, someone knocking from the other side.

Someone desperate to see him above all!

KNOCK, KNOCK!

The door shook violently as the entity behind it knocked harder, the gate trembling as it began to creak open.

“DON’T LOOK! DON’T LOOK! DON’T LOOK!”

Jack tried to close his eyes, but he could not; he was now a grotesque mountain of corpses.

The entity from the other side crept closer.

More.

And more.

Until.

“Ah…!”

Jack glimpsed a small black claw, which pointed directly at him.

[Hollow Void…]

[It is time to repay…]

Jack screamed as he was dragged toward the claw, the force pulling his bare soul toward it.

The claw grasped him tightly, piercing his existence and tearing apart every fragment of his being.

[At long last, you are mine! No longer will you escape my grasp, Hollow Void! Now I can finally…]

[…?]

Yet, as Jack was torn apart, each fragment analyzed and consumed by shadows and phantoms, the Emperor noticed something.

[You… are not him…]

[WHAT… WHAT ARE YOU?!]

Jack could neither respond nor defend himself.

Before the gazes of the Four Judges and the Emperor, he was nothing but an insect.

And yet…

FLASH!

A faint light flickered from the depths of his soul.

The light blazed brightly, searing the hand for a mere moment.

[MANDALA’S LIGHT! NIRVANA! NO! HE IS MINE!]

“I apologize, great and noble sovereign of the Netherworld, but this child’s soul is not yours to claim.”

The light enveloped Jack, restoring his fragments and healing them, swiftly ascending through the dark, clouded skies while carrying him.

[Nirvana! You shall not escape the Netherworld either! All of you must die and be judged. The darkness beckons you all with great hunger. Coldness is all that awaits you. Death is absolute. You cannot escape it… no matter what.]

“Ngh…!”

The light flickered as half its radiance vanished instantly.

A formidable power, opposing and overwhelming the great light, began to subdue the one aiding Jack’s soul.

“I cannot…! Ugh! Hah… To think your soul would suddenly be taken to the Netherworld. You must truly be him after all.”

“W-Who…! Who are you?! This isn’t a dream?!”

“Ah, I wish it were merely a dream! Now, go! You must not let the forces of the Netherworld claim your soul, or everything will end!”

Jack’s soul was hurled through the dark clouds, traversing dimensions and realms, returning to his body.

As this occurred, he saw the light take the faint form of a young man. The Four Judges ensnared him with chains, casting him into the pits of hell.

The “thing” emerged from the gate, piercing his chest with a black spear, transforming his radiance into darkness, decaying and fading away.

“Ah!”

Jack awoke, eyes wide, surveying his surroundings, finding himself resting inside a small wooden house.

The chaos and dread he had felt were gone, replaced by an profound sense of tranquility.

Yet his body still ached. Touching his skin was painful, marked by burning scars and disfigured in several areas.

“A-Ahh…! Ugh…!”

His body, mostly bare and wrapped in white bandages, was surrounded by giant, cold, wet, pink petals.

“Where… Ugh?!”

Jack groaned, clutching his head as he glimpsed something within his heart.

An inverted triangle with a line through its center.

“Aagh!”

Upon seeing that triangle, he screamed in terror, realizing what he experienced was no mere dream or nightmare.

It was real!

While unconscious, his soul had been dragged into the depths of the Netherworld for some horrific reason.

And as he saw that inverted triangle…

“A-Ah…! What’s happening to me?!”

His hands, once white, began turning black, his skin decaying rapidly.

As he touched his face, his skin peeled away easily with his fingers.

“I-I’m decaying…?!”

His eyes fell from his face, revealing his skull beneath purple, rotten flesh.

“Jack!”

A voice echoed behind him.

A palm touched his back, and a radiant light engulfed his entire being.

“{Vajranaya: The Path of Diamond Motion}”

“{The Four Truths}”

“{The First Truth: Truth of Suffering – Dukkha Pulse}”

From this palm, imbued with tranquility, a wave of white empathy revealed the hidden pain in all beings, encompassing Jack’s decaying body. This power, capable of halting conflict by exposing shared sorrow, immediately stopped the decay from worsening.

“{The Second Truth: Truth of Origin – Tanha Severance}”

A blade of insight, glowing with golden light resembling the sun, cut the root of craving. Used to free souls bound by obsession, this blade severed the connection between Jack’s soul and the entity attempting to seize his body.

“{The Third Truth: Truth of Cessation – Nirvana Veil}”

A field of stillness that nullifies hostile intent manifested. Within it, no violence could arise, and the darkness consuming Jack ceased entirely after its origin was severed.

“{The Fourth Truth: Truth of the Path – Magga Ascension}”

The one aiding Jack became a living axis of the Eightfold Path, shaped like a blooming lotus. This ability granted allies clarity, dispelled enemies’ hatred, and realigned the cosmos. A potent healing power surged through Jack, restoring his decaying body and tormented mind.

“Aahh…! Haaa…! Ugh…!”

Jack gasped in disbelief, his body restored, though his hands bore terrible scars, blackened and extending to his elbows, resembling dark flames.

“W-What…?! Who…! What…?” Jack asked, struggling to process what had happened. “T-Thank you…! But…! Why?”

“Had I not intervened, your body and soul would have been claimed by him,” the man behind him sighed. “Greetings, Jack. I am Siddhartha Gautama, though most call me Buddha. I am a Constellation, yet also a human, like you.”

“Y-You…!”

Jack gazed at the man, a giant over five meters tall, radiating light like a sun.

His face exuded eternal tranquility, despite bleeding from his eyes, nose, ears, and mouth.

“Constellation? Wait…! You’re bleeding!” Jack panicked.

“Ah… Please do not worry,” Buddha said with a calm expression, wiping the blood with a lotus petal. “Blood is merely blood. How many times have I bled and starved in my long life? Too many to count.”

“Wait…! What’s… what’s happening here?” Jack asked, looking around. “Where am I?!”

“Oh, my dear, a month has passed since you arrived here with your sister! Much has transpired,” Buddha smiled. “I am glad you are awake, but… that was perilously close. It seems the Emperor of the Netherworld desires your soul and body above all… What have you done to earn the enmity of such a formidable being, my friend?”

“…? Who is that? Wait, did you say you’re Buddha?!”

Jack stepped back, sensing the cosmic auras surrounding him.

His eyes widened as he dreaded the truth.

“Yes, I am Buddha, and you have landed in the Great Beyond… or what remains of it,” Buddha said. “Welcome back, Jack, to this now-ruined future. Ah, look, your sister approaches. She has been training relentlessly against Gilgamesh and Ares to refine her body and technique.”

“…?!”

Jack saw a radiant golden and crimson light descend, arms outstretched.

“Anna?! It’s really you—Ugh!”

“Big bro! You’re finally awake!!!”

With a powerful embrace, the strongest little sister joyfully greeted her brother.

BOOOM!

Buddha’s house, once again, could not withstand the impact, shattering into pieces.

“Oh my… I must rebuild my house again, hoho.”

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