As Agaat's vote of dissent echoed across the Origin Zone, the crystalline silence shattered. Space rippled, not from sound, but from intent. The intent to devour.
Ash's divine aura surged, now stabilized into the perfect equilibrium of creation and destruction. His gaze met Agaat's—both beings older than time, yet one had evolved… while the other had only waited.
Agaat stepped down from his throne, the ground beneath him rotting into void. Where the others radiated elements or concepts, Agaat radiated nullification. He was not death—he was absence.
> "You always feared me, Prime," Agaat hissed. "And for good reason."
Ash didn't move. "You were created to balance life. Not to erase it."
The other Supreme Beings circled the two, silent. This was no longer a vote—it was a declaration. The Convergence was broken.
Kaalketu crossed his arms. "So it begins again…"
Iravati's eyes welled with soft light. "But this time, he is not alone."
Ash raised his hand—and to the shock of many, he summoned the Anchor Sigil.
It was the final authority—an ancient glyph older than any of the Thrones. Its presence demanded attention. It bound law to existence.
Ash embedded it into the air between them.
> "Agaat," he said with finality, "You will not devour this universe. If you try, I will unmake you."
Agaat's laughter split the sky of the Origin Zone.
> "Try, child. Try and erase the hunger of the void."
Then came the pulse.
Agaat transformed.
His body cracked apart, revealing an infinite spiral of mouths, each devouring realities, each whispering words no mortal should hear. The Origin Zone itself trembled as Agaat expanded.
In distant realities, stars flickered. Nebulae turned grey. Wormholes howled.
Ash stepped forward, and the Supreme Halo formed behind his back—twelve wings of energy, each representing an aspect of divinity: Creation, Time, Soul, Flame, Ice, Earth, Storm, Void, Life, Space, Memory, and Choice.
The others watched—some with awe, others with fear.
Sarina, in the mortal realm, collapsed with a sudden gasp.
Her eyes widened. "Ash… he's fighting something ancient. Something endless."
Back in the Origin Zone, Ash took flight.
The first blow was his—divine flame slashed through Agaat's tendrils, severing a thousand devouring lines of fate.
But Agaat was beyond physical damage. He retaliated by ripping open existence, dragging Ash into a pocket of pure Negation—a place where even thoughts ceased.
Ash's heart nearly froze.
He closed his eyes.
He remembered Shiv's laughter.
Akarshan's questions.
Sarina's hand in his.
And with that… emotion, Ash tore through the void.
> "You forgot, Agaat. I've lived. I've felt. That's power even you cannot eat."
He returned, burning with paradox.
The fight shook the multiverse.
But as the battle waged, something darker stirred.
In the deepest layer of the Origin Zone, something older than the Supreme Beings began to shift.
It was not a god.
It was not a concept.
It was the First Silence.
And it had finally noticed… Ash.
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