Strongest Existence Becomes Teacher-Chapter 194: End Of Dren ?

The moment the Heart of the Deep Forge was forced down his torn throat, Dren convulsed.

Mana flared wildly from the heart, pale yellow light pulsing erratically as the artifact reacted to being embedded inside a living body against its will. Flesh crawled and knit itself back together—jaw reforming, teeth regrowing, blood evaporating into steam.

Zane looked at him, eyes narrowing slightly.

"Hey," he said casually, almost conversational.

"I’ve got an idea."

Dren tried to speak, but only a distorted sound escaped.

Zane’s grip tightened in Dren’s hair.

Zane smiled faintly.

"Since you’re so obsessed with the planet’s core and its so-called infinite mana..."

"Let me show it to you."

Dren barely had time to register what was happening before his body was yanked upward.

The ground fell away.

They rose higher and higher, the red land shrinking beneath them. Wind howled violently, pressure crushing down as altitude climbed. Dren’s eyes widened as he realized what was happening.

"W–wait—!"

Zane stopped.

For a brief moment, the world felt eerily still.

Then Zane tilted his head.

"Here we go, Dren."

They dropped.

Not falling—

plummeting.

Zane drove them downward like a spear, accelerating beyond gravity itself. The air screamed as they tore through it, heat building from friction alone.

Zane’s voice cut through the roar.

"Better focus all that ’infinite’ mana on regeneration," he said calmly,

"or you’ll die before we reach anything interesting."

Dren snarled and swung a punch mid-descent.

His fist slammed into Zane’s side.

It was like hitting solid divine metal.

Pain exploded through Dren’s arm.

His eyes widened.

How—

Before, my punches were at least pushing him—

Or was even that a lie?

How much he was holding back the entire time...?

Fear crept in.

He redirected everything into healing.

Mana flooded his body. His jaw finished regenerating in an instant, teeth snapping back into place, flesh sealing—

The ground rushed up.

Zane shifted his grip.

At the last moment, he shifted Dren in front of him.

Booooom.

The planet shattered beneath them.

A colossal crater formed on impact, shockwaves ripping outward for kilometers. Rock vaporized. The land folded inward like paper under a god’s fist.

Dust and molten debris erupted into the sky.

But Zane didn’t stop.

He pushed.

Still holding Dren, Zane drove them deeper, smashing through layer after layer of earth. Stone cracked. Magma flashed past. Pressure increased violently as they descended.

The light vanished.

They plunged further down—

into the depths of the planet itself.

Dren was shattered again.

Not injured—

erased.

His arms tore away first, flesh peeling into nothing as the pressure multiplied. His eyes burst, his face collapsed, his ribs liquefied under the force of descent. For an instant, there was barely a shape left that could still be called a body.

And yet—

Mana screamed.

The Heart of the Deep Forge pulsed like a dying star, forcing regeneration again and again. Bone clawed its way back into existence. Flesh stitched itself together mid-destruction. Nerves reformed only to be torn apart an instant later.

Pain flooded everything.

He was feeling everything.

Every shred of his being burned, crushed, and rebuilt in an endless loop. His mind broke into fragments, thoughts dissolving into raw sensation.

He tried to scream.

No sound came out.

His throat regenerated only to be crushed flat again. His lungs reformed just long enough to feel the heat before collapsing under pressure. The deeper they went, the hotter it became—rock glowing, mana igniting, the planet’s interior roaring around them.

And behind him—

Zane.

Unmoving.

Unharmed.

His grip never loosened.

As the temperature climbed, Dren’s regenerated flesh began to burn, from flame and sheer environmental hostility. Even the Heart was strugglinh now, its pulses becoming erratic, frantic.

Zane’s smile widened.

Cruel and Interested.

As if watching an experiment reach its conclusion.

"Still healing, huh" Zane said, mockingly.

"Good. Keep going."

Dren’s consciousness screamed inwardly.

Stop—

It hurts—

I can’t—

But no plea escaped his mind.

Only pain.

Only falling.

Only the crushing certainty that this wasn’t a battle—

It was a descent.

And Zane was taking him somewhere

he was never meant to see.

Dren was tearing apart and coming back together again and again.

And Zane watched.

A slow, sinister smile curved across his face.

"This is getting fun..."

They fell deeper.

The heat climbed beyond anything Dren had ever thought. Pressure crushed in from all directions, trying to flatten his existence into nothing.

Near the mantle, Dren finally reacted on instinct.

A mana shield burst outward from his body, pale yellow light wrapping around him desperately, shielding him from the worst of the heat. Even then, cracks spread across it instantly, reforming just as fast as they broke.

Zane?

He didn’t bother.

No barrier.

No mana.

No resistance.

He was simply... fine.

Then Dren heard it.

Not through air.

Not through sound.

Inside his head.

"See?" Zane’s voice echoed, amused.

"This is where your so-called infinite mana generation starts."

Laughter followed.

Soft.

Mocking.

"Ahahahahahaha.."

And it felt like a devil whispering directly into Dren’s mind.

They passed the mantle.

Into the outer core.

Dren couldn’t see it.

His eyes kept tearing apart—bursting under pressure, reforming through sheer mana, only to be destroyed again. Vision became meaningless. Pain was all that remained.

And still—

Zane laughed.

"Ahahahahaha... isn’t this what you wanted to see?"

"Look at it, Dren."

"Take inspiration for your next invention."

They descended further.

Liquid mana surrounded them now—an endless, churning ocean of molten energy and planetary force. The core roared, not with sound, but with existence itself.

Then—

They stopped.

Zane stood still.

At the center of the planet.

He finally tightened his grip just enough to make Dren feel it.

"Look, Dren," Zane said calmly.

"We’re at the core."

Dren’s shield screamed under the pressure. His body regenerated in panic, mana pouring entirely into survival. Thought vanished. Pride vanished. Ambition vanished.

Only fear remained.

Inside his mind, a scream tore itself apart again and again—

Ahhhhhhhhhhh—

And this time—

There was nowhere left to fall.

The core trembled.

Not violently at first—

Just a deep, ominous shudder, like a dying heartbeat skipping its rhythm.

Zane tilted his head slightly.

"Oh..." he murmured.

"Looks like this planet can’t take much more."

Cracks of blinding light spread through the molten core, pressure spiking beyond control. The balance was gone. The chain had already snapped.

Zane smiled wider.

"I’m curious," he said softly, almost kindly.

"Can you and your little Heart survive a planetary explosion?"

He loosened his grip.

"Anyway," Zane added, tone casual,

"I’ll leave you to find out."

Dren reacted on pure instinct.

His mangled hand shot forward, fingers clawing desperately for Zane’s arm.

"No—!"

But there was nothing to grab.

Zane vanished.

Dren was alone.

The core convulsed.

He tried to teleport—

And instantly realized the mistake.

The pressure crushed space itself. Any attempt at displacement would tear him apart before the spell could even complete. Panic flooded his mind.

He rerouted everything.

Mana.

Shield.

Regeneration.

All of it poured into survival.

The Heart of the Deep Forge screamed, liquid metal glowing white-hot as it pushed far beyond its limits, dumping energy into Dren’s body faster than ever before.

Too fast.

Too much.

Outside—

Space rippled.

Zane reappeared in the void, arms relaxed at his sides, coat drifting gently as if in water. He turned back just in time to see it.

The planet bloomed.

A silent, blinding explosion tore outward—

Crust, mantle, core—everything collapsing into a massive wave of incandescent fire and shattered matter. Light flooded space like a newborn star, debris flung in all directions.

A planetary firework.

Zane laughed.

"Ahahaha—this is the best."

Fragments of continents vaporized. Oceans of molten energy dispersed into nothingness.

And Zane?

He floated there.

Unmoved.

Untouched.

The explosion washed over him and passed, as meaningless as a breeze.

He watched the fading light, eyes gleaming.

"Such beautiful fireworks."

The light slowly faded.

Zane hovered in the quiet aftermath, eyes sweeping through drifting debris—molten fragments, fractured stone, fading mana trails.

"...Hmm," he said lightly.

"Looks like you survived."

His gaze stopped.

"There you are."

Between shattered chunks of what had once been a planet, a grotesque lump floated—flesh half-formed, bones exposed, organs struggling to knit themselves back together. At its center, dim but unmistakable, pulsed the Heart of the Deep Forge. Its glow was weak now. Strained. Flickering as it forced mana into regeneration.

Zane drifted closer, hands in his pockets.

He looked almost disappointed.

"Ah, man," he sighed.

"I was thinking of letting you endure a star-level explosion."

He crouched mid-space, studying the pitiful mass.

"But you couldn’t even handle planetary output."

A small shake of his head.

"So weak."

He reached out and grabbed the lump of flesh as if picking up discarded trash.

"Anyway," Zane continued casually,

"let’s head back. No point leaving you here."

He turned.

Then paused.

His eyes shifted toward the nearby star—vast, burning, radiating endless light.

Zane smiled.

"...Might as well have some fun."

He flicked his hand.

Not a spell.

Not mana.

Just a motion.

A horizontal line cut across the star.

For a fraction of a second, nothing happened.

Then—

The star split cleanly in two.

Light surged violently, its core exposed, unstable beyond recovery.

BOOOOM—

A stellar detonation erupted, brilliance swallowing space itself as solar fire tore outward in a cataclysmic wave.

Zane watched it bloom.

"Nice."

And then—

He vanished.