5th Day of the 1st Fire Cycle[1], 2000 g.c.
The Velvet Kennel erupted the moment my fist cracked his jaw. Lust in the air burned away, replaced by brimstone and iron. Pandarens roared, Dark Elves shrieked. Catgirls and Imps shrank back, unsure whether to cheer or hold their breath. The atmosphere sharpened as Ikari and I locked eyes. His golden pupils burned, tinged now with a sudden pulse of violet as his aura stirred. In contrast, my [Heaven's Kaleidoscope] spun calmly, the twin gankyril rotating like galaxies orbiting one another. Somewhere in that tension, I slipped [Who Is Jill Scott] into motion, planting the mental illusion seed I intended to harvest later. Ikari's failure to stop me with his Time Freezing spell earlier had forced him into a corner—his entire approach had to change.
Ikari cracked his neck with a sharp pop, rolled his right shoulder, and pulled at the collar of his jacket faintly. His matching fingerless gloves gleamed under the artificial light, scarred from battles past. Then he grinned, a wild, toothy flash, before vanishing in a burst of speed.
I matched him with a grin of my own, bracing my stance just as his fist cut the air. I drove a jab forward at the exact same moment. The two blows collided, knuckles slamming together in perfect timing. Instead of violence, there was silence for a breath as the force canceled out, then a sudden release—an outward wave of pressurized air spread through the coliseum in a shockwave that rattled seats and stirred hair.
It didn't stop there. We blurred together, strike for strike, each motion mirrored. For several beats, we were reflections in motion—so seamless it was impossible to tell where one fighter ended, and the other began.
"Are they equal in battle power?" Zawa asked, her voice rising over the crowd.
Dream Flower, her palm still pressed to her forehead from earlier, let out a dry laugh. "Or they're just testing each other out."
Nicole didn't look away from the fight, her lips curling into the faintest of smiles. "Lord Xiro has no equal. Not even his mirror reflection could be one."
Jack Cobruh kept silent, his sharp eyes following every exchange. His thoughts carried their own weight. "To think I would meet someone who could rival Sirius's magick output here. That Oni's strength is on par with a Tru-Demon. How will you win this one, my brother?"
In the thick of it, while our limbs snapped forward and recoiled like pistons, I decided to speak. "Where did you learn such flawless Taekwondo, my nigga?"
Ikari's muzzle split into another grin. "This? Picked it up from the late Sabeknim Joestar. Closest thing I had to a mother, you could say."
"Well," I said, stepping into the next beat of our clash, "did she teach you how to deal with M-Cees?"
He went high with a devastating side kick, the air whistling at its speed. I leapt, tucking knees to chest, and before my body had even peaked in its arc, I fired a spread of Devil Mana bolts point-blank. Each one crackled violet-black as they tore through the short distance and hammered into his chest, knocking the Wolven off his feet for the first time. His frame skidded back, claws carving furrows in the arena floor.
"Better stop holding back your bag of tricks," I warned. "I'm too dangerous to play it safe with."
Ikari flipped off his back and landed smoothly, as though he had rehearsed the motion a hundred times. He wore a smile now, wide and genuine, and gave me a nod that admitted my point without words. His hands lifted, moving in opposing circles. The magitons in the air quivered, then clumped together. Dust and fragments of shattered stone shuddered as though compelled by invisible strings. Metal particles screamed together into a mass until a boulder of impossible density floated before him, its surface glittering with shards.
"M-Cees aren't anything special," Ikari declared. "Many people can wield magick. Superior Metal Mana Arts: Ganymede!"
The colossus shot toward me with blinding speed, the air around it compressing into a sonic crack. I simply raised my hand. The sheer quantity of metal was too generous, too ripe. A magnetic tether coiled out from my will, halting the projectile in midair as though I'd snatched a fastball barehanded. I twirled it once in place, then hurled it back at him, testing his response.
Ikari didn't flinch. He cocked his arm back and drove his fist through the mass, detonating it into an eruption of shards and dust. The thunderclap echoed through the Kennel. But when his eyes cleared, he realized I was gone.
His head darted around. Left. Behind. Above. His pupils narrowed. That was when the floor under him warped open into an indigo portal, and I surged upward with a rising uppercut. The blow clipped his chin, launching the Wolven off his paws in a burst of spittle.
But Ikari wasn't prey. Even as he reeled in the air, he latched onto my arm and wrenched his body in a brutal over-the-shoulder throw. My back crashed into the arena floor with a thunderous crash.
He followed immediately, a haymaker cocked to crush me where I lay. But his fist slammed into my guard just as I dissolved into another portal. His blow carried through, and in the blink of an eye, I dropped from above, reappearing from the ceiling with a dive kick.
He pivoted on instinct, catching my leg mid-drop and dragging me into the arc of a brutal counterpunch aimed for my skull. His fist connected—except it didn't. The sound and feel of the impact were wrong, hollow. His eyes widened as the realization dawned.
I stepped out of a second portal behind him, real this time, my fist coated in a searing shell of Omnis Mana. I drove it into his kidney with merciless precision, sending him stumbling forward, coughing blood. He rolled once, then clawed himself back to his feet, golden eyes flashing with something new. His chest rose and fell in ragged pants, blood trailing from his muzzle. For the first time in that night, Ikari was truly hurt.
"What the hell was that?" he thought, the disbelief plain in his eyes. "I knew I had him in my paws, but..."
I chuckled, shaking my head. "That [Absolute Hypnosis] is a bitch, ain't it?"
He bared his teeth, eyes narrowing. "So it was a mind trick. Those eyes of yours aren't just decoration, huh?"
"You know what they say," I replied smoothly. "Stare too long at the abyss, and it will stare back."
On the sidelines, the girls and Jack basked in the spectacle like it was the best show of their lives.
"Gosh," Zawa sighed, her voice syrupy. "Look how sexy Master Xiro looks when he fights. And with such wonderful mana pouring out of him."
Nicole whipped her gaze toward her, her tone sharp enough to cut. "Eww. The fact that my Lord even allows you near him is beyond me. You don't deserve to stand in his presence."
Zawa smirked like a cat who had cornered a mouse. "Seems like the bloodsucker's mad I got to taste her God's nectar."
Dream Flower quickly slipped between them, throwing up her hands. "Girls, girls, cut it out. You're about to miss a duel worth remembering just because you can't stop catfighting."
"Hmph," Nicole hissed, her energy reluctantly dimming. "That bitch should learn her place."
Dream only sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, knowing this night was far from over.
Jack ignored the argument altogether. His attention remained locked on me. "He's chaining skills together without chants, and there's no mental or spiritual recoil. How?" His eyes sharpened with resolve. "I need to know what his ID Status looks like."
He tried, slipping [Appraisal] over me like a net. But each time the result failed, tangled in the endless loops of [Moon Sage: Tsukuyomi]'s error feedback. His jaw tightened in annoyance, but he wasn't ready to give up.
"Fine," he thought. "Time for the ace."
He whispered his Ultra Skill into motion. [Discovery]. Unlike [Appraisal], it bypassed the safeguards. Tsukuyomi couldn't wall it out. The veil fell, and Jack saw everything.
"Well, I'll be damned. All of his stats… Z-Ranked? And his MP is in constant growth? This doesn't make any logical sense."
That was when [Moon Sage: Tsukuyomi]'s voice whispered directly into my head. "Master, we've been analyzed. The Ophiran is peering at our ID Status."
"So the one with the Sonata Core slipped past you?" I mused internally. "Omnia really did break the system with those things."
Jack stiffened as my voice answered him telepathically. "My stat sheet looks insane, right? Just hold onto what you saw until after this freestyle battle. Do that, and I'll tell you everything about Sonata Soul Cores."
He froze. "What the hell?"
"Relax. No malice here. Just a deal."
Jack swallowed, considering. The bait was too good. The word Soul Cores alone was honey on the tongue of his curiosity.
"Okay," he thought back. "You have a deal."
"Say less," I answered.
Jack finally exhaled and muttered under his breath, "Not sure how I feel about that guy just poppin' up in my head."
The Wolven and I were just coming out of our momentary pause in the action. The Velvet Kennel's energy shifted again, the coliseum air thick with layered scents. Sweat, animal musk, ozone, and the tang of charged magitons all clung to the room. It was as if even the atmosphere knew things were about to grow heavier. Sparks of loose mana snapped against the barrier walls, and the crowd's cries swelled, feeding on the tension between us.
Ikari's golden pupils burned back into that eerie violet glow, and for a moment, he studied me with a curiosity I hadn't expected. His chest rose and fell slowly, deliberately, before he spoke.
"I haven't fought anyone as interesting as you and that Tengu since I met Jack. Where are you from?"
"Southside Talasi, Velonica," I answered with a cocked grin. "Whatchu kno' about it?"
"Never been to Velonica. But if fighters this good are there, then I'mma have to pull up and check it out, one day."
"Tell 'em you know the King."
"Word. You're royalty?"
"Yeah, but don't sweat all that right now," I said, brushing it off with a flick of my wrist. "We're just two warriors on the battlefield."
"Good. I'm not that good with manners around nobles."
"The only thing I want from you," I leaned in, "is to see that transformation again. Come on, turn up the power. I already know about it."
Ikari hesitated. His ears twitched, the way a predator tests the wind before deciding to pounce. The pause stretched, a heartbeat, two—long enough for the crowd to grow restless. Then, with a breath like he was shedding the last of his restraint, he let go. The air convulsed, mana clusters—thick, luminous, swirling like stars falling out of orbit—appeared around his body. The floor rumbled underfoot as his aura roared outward, flooding the arena with pressure that pressed against lungs and bones alike.
"Chaos in control—[Meteora]!"
His blonde and red fur blazed with brilliance, fire licking across his form as his muscles tightened. His eyes narrowed into a predator's focus, violet light shimmering like polished amethyst. The oppressive weight of Divinity Mana poured from him, crushing, absolute, the kind of force that could crack mountains if left unrestrained.
"Damn," I muttered, feeling the push of that signature. "You feel stronger than when you fought Alex."
"My [Meteora] lets me grow in power the more I enjoy myself."
That made me pause.
"That form is bathed in Divinity Mana like aTrance," I thought. "I'd better watch out. He can damage me now."
"Keep in mind," [Moon Sage: Tsukuyomi] murmured within, calm and precise, "our Soul Core is still recovering from the last use of [Trance: Ookami], while [Trance: Neutrino Devil] is still on cooldown since your separation from Belial."
"In short," [Midnight Star: Belial] added with a wicked chuckle, "no Divine Forms to match him. We gotta kick his ass the old-fashioned way."
"That's fine with me," I replied, mentally baring my teeth.
Ikari vanished. Not in a blink, not in a blur—he moved faster than photons scattering in space, his body appearing beside mine in an instant. His snap kick sliced through the air with lethal accuracy, aimed for my temple. But my instincts flared before thought could catch up. [Auto Evade] and [Danger Sense] pulled me out of harm's way, my body flowing aside like water.
He pressed harder, refusing to let up. The Wolven's attacks blurred beyond the visible spectrum, punches and kicks too fast for light itself to record, but my eyes had no such limitations. With my Ultra Skill, every strike was slowed into a watchable reel, half-speed clarity. My arms deflected his fists, my shoulders slipped past kicks that could split moons. Each dodge and parry carried the nostalgia of growing up with a baby brother who lived in the fast lane and a mother who broke most physics whenever she sneezed. Fighting speedsters was in my blood.
But even I wasn't untouchable. Ikari baited my focus for a half-beat and crashed a heavy kick into my ribs. The follow-up right hook smashed into my jaw and sent me flying. My back slammed against the coliseum's spatial barrier with a seismic crack before I bounced down to the floor. The spiritual sting burned through every nerve, reminding me I wasn't untouchable against Divinity.
"Yep," I groaned, rising back to my feet with a smirk. "I felt that one."
The audience roared their approval, but Ikari had already set up his next move. Sixty-six orbs of Solar Mana and Divinity Mana circled around me like glowing suns, each humming with lethal energy. They rotated in perfect formation, the air warping with their combined heat.
"Superior Solar Mana Arts: Sirius A!"
At his command, the orbs darted inward, homing like swarms of golden hornets. Their heat scorched the air, vibrating space itself. I raised my palm, calm and deliberate, and activated [Absolute Absorption]. One by one, the orbs collapsed into my void, draining into the pocket dimension like water disappearing down a drain. Their heat and threat were snuffed out completely, leaving nothing but stillness in the air.
The look on Ikari's face was worth more than the stolen orbs. His ears shot back, pupils narrowing to slits, the kind of look you give when your universe suddenly flips. For a breath, there was awe—raw, naked awe—before irritation burned it away like paper in fire.
"Got damn," he muttered. "How many abilities are you housing, over there?"
"More than we got time to list," I answered coolly. "But the real problem is in my ability to analyze and copy."
With a flex of my hand, orbs of Solar Mana sparked into existence around Ikari, orbiting his body like a mirrored spell. I grinned, waiting to see how he'd react.
He didn't panic. Ikari tilted his head, exhaled, and then moved with motion that defied comprehension. His fists and feet blurred as he speed-blitzed through every orb, shattering them with precision. A second later, each one detonated in soft pops of light, harmless as fireworks. He stood there, shoulders rising and falling in rhythm, eyes locked on me again.
The Velvet Kennel erupted with cheers and howls, the crowd nearly falling out of their seats to keep up with the exchange. Even our friends on the sideline struggled to follow the movements. Ikari's aura swelled further, his body drawing on a deeper well of Bio Mana, compressing Spatial Mana between his palms. A dark purple sphere flickered into existence, thrumming with a violent hum.
"Let's see your response to this. Superior Spatial Mana Arts: Phoenix A!"
Space folded in on itself, collapsing into a pinprick of violet-black that blossomed into a singularity. The pull hit me instantly, dragging my body toward it with the hunger of a dying star. My fingers clawed against the void, but the Event Horizon warped even my silhouette, smearing me into a redshift blur. From the stands, I must have already looked frozen in time as I slowly erased from view. A shame they missed my smirk.
"Lord Xiro, no!" Nicole's voice cracked with panic.
"Shit," Dream spat. "Someone hit him with his own move."
"Hahahaha!" Zawa cackled, clutching her stomach. "I weakened the Devil and ended up getting him killed. Aw man, that's rich!"
"Haaahhh!" Ikari bellowed, his chest heaving as he held the spell steady.
He didn't hesitate. With a sharp clap of his hands, he collapsed the singularity, sealing it and erasing me from the field entirely. Silence fell over the Velvet Kennel. The audience stared wide-eyed, too stunned to even cheer.
And then the indigo portal bloomed beneath Ikari's feet. His ears flicked, too late. A magnetic force yanked him down into the wormhole, dragging his body out of the coliseum floor. The portal snapped shut behind him, leaving the entire arena in confusion and disbelief.
The truth of the matter was that Ikari had just been pulled into my [Midnight World]. One moment, he had been locked in the chaos of the coliseum; the next, he floated in an endless sea of silence, suspended between constellations that were both alien and beautiful. The stars were indigo and iridescent, glowing faintly as though they pulsed with breath, painting the background in shifting hues of violet and blue. The smell of ozone tingled sharply in the air, but layered with it was something faintly sweet—vanilla, soft and surreal, like the space itself exhaled with its own atmosphere. He turned slowly, pupils widening as the infinite expanse stretched in every direction, a galaxy stripped of planets, leaving only stars that shimmered like fragments of broken jewels. The sudden shift in reality should have rattled him, but instead, Ikari's chest rose with a strange calm. He looked outward with reverence.
"I don't know where I am," he admitted, his voice quiet, but there was no fear in it. His lips curved into a bittersweet smile. "But all the stars remind me of home."
My voice rippled before I ever appeared. "I see you fucks with the feng shui. You're in my personal realm."
From the starlight, mauve mist gathered into the rough outline of a man. Slowly, I solidified, smoke giving way to skin, bones, and the faint glow of my aura. My eyes burned brighter than the stars around me, and Ikari—or rather, Sirius—watched me with narrowed suspicion.
"So you survived that attack, too," he muttered.
"Like I said, Sirius," I answered coolly, "you ain't the only nigga in control of spacetime."
That got his ears twitching, the truth of his real name hitting harder than any strike. He tilted his head, a fang glinting as he smirked. "You know my true name, huh?"
"Anything brought here gets instantly analyzed," I said, tone even, my voice reverberating across the world itself. "Including people."
He studied me carefully, eyes glinting with something between curiosity and wariness. "Is that why you brought me here? Hoping for home-field advantage."
"Of course." My arms folded loosely across my chest. "In this world... I'm God."
"Then it sounds like I get to put my belt to the ass of God," Sirius said, his smirk broadening into something feral.
I chuckled, low and steady. "A shame my pride won't let it be this one. You can't defeat me with will alone."
He didn't argue. Instead, Sirius bared his fangs in a grin that promised violence, his aura flaring outward like a sun breaking loose from its orbit. Magick surged. The air grew heavy. His hands cut through the space in sharp patterns as he chanted low and dangerous.
"Then let's get Sirius. Superior Divinity Mana Arts: Sirius B!"
The [Midnight World] convulsed. Micro white dwarfs appeared all around me, each one glowing fiercely, dense with Divinity Mana. Their gravitational fields rippled through the void, tugging at my skin and bones. I hadn't even taken a breath before they collapsed inward, detonating in a chain of supernovas.
The world drowned in light. Blinding heat and cosmic fire lashed out like an angry deity. The sound wasn't a single boom—it was a staccato of muffled explosions, cascading one after another like dominoes falling into oblivion. Space itself buckled, and the waves of pressure hit with the force of trillions of warheads.
I laughed through the brilliance, though he couldn't hear it. "I'm glad you didn't do that in the Sycamore Tree. Don't think the ol' girl could've handled it."
Sirius twisted in place, head jerking back and forth as he searched for me. He couldn't feel me here. Not unless I wanted him to. His body tensed, muscles drawn tight as anticipation crawled up his spine.
"Like I said," my voice echoed from everywhere and nowhere, "here, I'm the one above all. You will not win."
I reappeared behind him, arms folded like I hadn't a care in the world. Sirius spun fast, kicking out in a blur of motion. My figure shifted only slightly, but his boot never found purchase. He pressed harder, moving through flurries of jabs and devastating kicks. None connected. Each strike carried perfect execution, but to him, it felt like aiming was delayed.
"Doesn't matter how fast you move," I commented as I watched him, "In here, speed is just another coin flip I rigged."
To punctuate the point, I planted a roundhouse into his chest. The blow rippled through him like thunder, sending his body tumbling across the void until he forced himself to a halt. When he steadied, the grin had vanished. For the first time, Sirius looked serious.
He thought quickly. "My MP's stupid low. I'm trapped in his bullshit pocket space. And my body's starting to ache. I might as well go all out and try out my new trump card."
A pulse of energy ruptured from his body. Purple light spilled in every direction, motes of nihility eating at the edges of the stars.
"Chaos Uncontrolled—[Meteora: Canjis Major]!"
In an instant, his form disappeared into something vast, something truly celestial. His body blurred into the shape of a galaxy, outlines shimmering with violet starlight. His eyes became burning orbs of violet flame. Magickal energy poured from him without pause, relentless and unyielding.
It was respectable. He had cast aside hesitation and held nothing back. I had to commend it, even as my chest stirred with excitement. This was practice against a demigod, and I was enjoying myself.
I flickered beside him, testing his new strength with a quick hook. My fist connected—and then ceased to exist. My hand evaporated into nothing, obliterated on contact.
He didn't flinch. His counterstrike came just as swiftly. I tried to twist the odds, but his raw output overrode the probability. I braced an arm in time, but it too shattered instantly under the blow.
Pain was brief. Flesh and bone knitted back as I regenerated both limbs. I expanded [Love/Hate] to force space between us, buying myself a second. But Sirius wasn't waiting.
"This install only gives me sixty-six seconds of universal power," he thought, his body pulsing brighter. "We've gots to finish this now, Sirius."
Divinity Mana, Solar Mana, and Spatial Mana gathered in his palm. It was so dense the magitons shrieked, orbiting the growing sphere like flares torn from dying suns. His body braced as he positioned it forward, the volatile orb thrashing violently with power.
I could feel the challenge, and my blood thrummed [Adaptive Predator] active in response. My stance shifted—Goku's silhouette in my frame. Between my palms, I molded Devil Mana and Anti-Mana into an orb that hissed and crackled, electricity leaping in jagged ultramarine streaks. The air turned bitter, sharp, as though reality itself recoiled from the energy.
"Anti-Mana Arts: Collapsing Star Breaker!"
His voice roared over mine. "Hyper Solar Mana Arts: Quasar!"
We released.
His Quasar burst forward in a lance of brilliant blue, searing through space and burning even the fabric of reality. Mine tore loose as an indigo-black wave of abyssal energy, antimatter unraveling existence itself down to the atoms.
Then they met.
It wasn't impact—the shit was more like birth and annihilation at once. The beams met in a silent flash that swallowed even the stars, bleaching the void into shadow.
The beams pressed against each other, neither giving way, their power funneling into a searing knot of energy. Lightning forked out in black, blue, and violet strands that stretched for miles, cracking like whips against the edges of the realm. Each strike carved deep scars into the void, glowing like molten glass.
Time slowed. My body strained just holding the Collapsing Star Breaker steady, my palms screaming from the pressure of channeling so much raw annihilation. I could feel his mana pressing against mine—searing hot, noble, and burning, as if his attack carried the weight of a sun's pride. Mine was colder, hungrier, the abyss gnawing at everything it touched. The energies fought for dominance.
And then came the sound.
The first detonation rippled outward in a low, resonant hum, the kind that vibrated in the chest and rattled bone. A heartbeat later, the hum escalated into a roar, like a billion hurricanes all screaming in unison.
The knot at the center pulsed once, then split into jagged fractures of light.
The pressure was unbearable. The [Midnight World] folded in on itself, seams tearing like cloth, then snapping back only to rip wider. My vision blurred as reality itself buckled under the weight of our clash.
Finally, the collapse couldn't be contained. The knot of energy burst, swallowing us both. The explosion was the unmaking of concepts. Gravity warped, sound died, and for a heartbeat, we existed in a place beyond matter or mana.
Then came the final shatter.
It sounded like glass breaking, multiplied by infinity, and cloth ripping across the firmament. Reality itself tore wide, hurling us through the rupture.
Then gravity remembered us. We slammed into the Velvet Kennel with a thunder that cracked the stone floor wide open. Dust roared skyward. For a breath, the coliseum seemed too small to have contained what just happened.
Nicole's voice cut through the din. "What was that sound?"
Dream pointed. "There they go!"
Zawa cackled. "Oh looky, he didn't die. I think."
Jack's jaw tightened. "Ikari! Looks like they're both down."
Sirius lay flat, smoke curling off his fur. His chest rose and fell sharply, every breath a fight. I, on the other hand, pushed myself to my feet. My spatial barrier shimmered once, then faded invisible, the bulk of the chaotic-divine energy absorbed by its protection.
"Feels like I got hit by Truck-kun," I muttered, brushing debris from my shoulder. "If I weren't already in an isekai..."
A rasp of laughter rose from Sirius. He grinned through the exhaustion, voice rich with relief. "I'm too low on mana to keep up anymore. Good game, you win this one, my brotha."
For a moment, no one spoke. The arena held its breath, staring at the two of us: one on his feet, one on his back. Then the cheers erupted, wild and deafening, like the Velvet Kennel itself had come alive. Their victor was decided.
The last man standing was the Devil King of Velonica.
[End of Chapter]
[1] April on Earth