Chapter Nine: The End of Domination and the Beginning of the Galaxy
There was no logical explanation Ethan could comprehend as he watched the scene unfold before his eyes.
A soft hand... a hand he knew so well, emerging from his sister's body after she had stabbed him squarely in the chest.
Time froze at that moment. His grip loosened, and he fell to the ground, his knees failing him, his face a mask etched with horror.
"What... did you do?"
His voice was barely audible, as if lost in an abyss of guilt. Her gaze wasn't angry... it wasn't spiteful... it was filled with deep disappointment, a look that told him wordlessly that it wasn't up to her.
But before he could think, before even a second of this horrifying stillness had passed, lightning split the sky, the winds stopped, and he appeared.
A man descended from the cleft as if he were an entity other than this. His footsteps broke the silence of the world, and his face...
Ethan gasped. "I... I know this person..."
But that knowledge wasn't comforting. It was more like a cold stab.
Something in his being knew this existence... and feared it.
"It's like he's killed me a thousand times before..."
Suddenly, without any resistance, the world went black before his eyes. He fell into unconsciousness.
He opened his eyes into the void.
A place without time, without boundaries.
In the center of it, an old man sat on a throne floating in nothingness, looking at him with a mocking smile.
"Fool... throwing yourself at your empty Malik, not knowing that someone snuck up behind you? Even if it was your sister? Do you really think that's an excuse?"
Ethan looked at him with lost eyes, and the old man continued:
"No, it's worse that you didn't even feel that subtle energy that traveled through the void and took over her brain. This... is your failure."
Ethan shouted, "What are you talking about? Who did this?!"
The old man raised an eyebrow, then narrowed his eyes.
"Darqa."
Her name vibrated within his consciousness. A dark sensation swept through his soul, a vague memory from another world.
"So... this is the end of me?" Ethan muttered.
But the old man burst into laughter, a thunderous, mocking laugh:
"Hahaha! What a joke! Are you afraid of a mere lowly monster? You, who possess the second most powerful ability in this existence? And what I saw of your power... doesn't even represent one percent of it."
Ethan gasped. "What?!"
"You only took a quarter of the power, and even that, you don't know how to use it."
The old man suddenly raised his hand, and a ball of oscillating gray energy appeared.
"But it's okay..."
He threw it at Ethan, and before he could reject it or retreat, it merged with his chest, releasing a tremendous light...
The second Void Power Gem... settled within him.
Ethan woke up in the same place he'd been, on his knees. But his body... was different.
The aura surrounding him was thick, glowing, almost tearing the air apart.
His wounds were gone, the pain evaporating.
He stood calmly... his eyes ablaze.
"Playtime is over."
He summoned his spirit immediately and, without hesitation, reached across the void and moved to his sister.
He looked at her for a moment, then broke the alien energy's hold on her with a focused spirit strike.
She fell unconscious, and he opened a void portal and sent her to safety.
But his eyes were watching something else... the Catastrophe.
That Catastrophe with a face he would never forget.
It was her... the same one who had killed him in his previous life.
Ethan smiled. It was a mad smile, not one of joy... but of murderous fervor.
"It's time..."
He summoned his Heavenly Spear and launched himself straight at the Catastrophe.
They met. The two weapons clashed.
The space exploded with sound and energy, and the air shook as if crying out for help.
A violent exchange. Blows and flashes.
Ethan retreated, then shouted:
"First Form!"
His spear changed shape, and the trappings of power swirled around him.
He advanced like a storm, slashing, destroying, screaming.
The Cataclysm tried to renew its defense, but Ethan was not the same.
Each blow carried behind it the anger of a wasted life... and a longing for revenge.
But time was not on his side.
His body began to weaken, and his knees tilted towards the ground.
"Power... is not enough..."
He raised his head towards nothingness.
"Old man... are you still there?!"
A whisper came from within him:
"Use the skills... I left you."
Remember.
Void transport.
Self-replication.
Explosive jolts.
Suddenly, five copies of him appeared, moving at breakneck speed, each attacking from an angle.
And the Catastrophe... began to feel actual pain for the first time.
A scream from her tore through the sky.
But it wasn't over.
She drew her sword...
She lunged at him, a direct hit that pierced his defense, followed by another...
His left arm was broken, his blood spattering on the ground.
But he didn't fall.
He raised his spear, his body trembling:
"Galactic Attack!"
A blast of energy shot out of his spear, in the form of an exploding star, knocking the Catastrophe away, as it screamed frantically.
But she didn't die.
She, too, was hiding her final card.
She screamed:
"I'm going to destroy this entire place!!"
She transformed into a compact form, her sword doubling in size, and the world began to collapse around her.
Ethan spat out blood, then smiled.
"This? Just kidding."
Raising his spear, he shouted:
"Second Form!"
His spear transformed into a heavenly blade, his energy multiplied tenfold, the ground beneath his feet cracked, and the world turned red from the aura.
He charged.
The last collision.
The last moment.
The last decision.
Light swallowed the scene.
The end of the chapter.