Outer space bent.
Not from gravity—
from presence.
Kiandrae, Ivís, and Axel emerged from the void, their arrival tearing faint fractures through the starlight itself. The distant glow of Averis burned like a quiet promise behind them.
And then—
They stopped.
Two figures stood between them and the star.
Rayon, hands in his pockets, shadow coiling lazily at his feet.
Nyk beside him, posture relaxed, aura completely still—too still.
Kiandrae narrowed her eyes and stepped forward.
"Why are you in our way," she said coolly, "Monarch of the Endless Abyss? I intend to enter the star Averis."
Nyk stepped forward before Rayon could answer.
"What do you need on that planet?"
Ivís scoffed, heat flaring faintly around her.
"A Primordial has no say in a conversation between Monarchs."
Nyk grinned.
"No shit, fire girl."
Then his smile vanished.
A Primordial Aura of Ruin exploded outward—not loud, not flashy, but absolute. Space around him dulled, as if meaning itself recoiled.
"Try to pass me," Nyk said calmly,
"and you die."
Axel's pupils shrank.
He felt it instantly.
This wasn't a bluff.
Ivís's aura flared violently, heat screaming into the void, while Kiandrae's expression hardened.
"So that's how it is," Kiandrae said.
She moved first.
Ice bloomed instantly—Kiandrae's Ice Domain unfolding like a frozen law. Space crystallized, locking Rayon inside a layered barrier of absolute cold.
"Since this is what you want…" Rayon sighed,
"…I'll kill you all."
He raised his right hand.
And smashed forward.
The ice didn't crack.
It ceased.
Reduced to drifting frost—fine, powerless dust scattered into the void.
Axel struck next.
Decaying roots—ancient, parasitic laws—erupted toward Rayon, seeking to rot not flesh, but existence.
They never touched him.
A shadow barrier swallowed the attack, negating it completely.
Rayon vanished.
Axel barely had time to realize—
Before a kick slammed into him.
The impact folded space.
Axel was sent hurtling into a nearby moon, the surface fracturing as his body carved a massive scar across it before he finally stopped.
Kiandrae tried to strike from behind.
Failed.
Rayon turned calmly.
"Chains of the Abyss."
Black chains erupted from nothingness, binding Kiandrae instantly. They weren't cold. They weren't heavy.
They were inevitable.
Kiandrae's eyes widened.
"That artifact… it should be in the Upper Realm. Impossible."
Rayon stepped closer.
"It seems," he said softly,
"you Monarchs have been busy with my belongings."
Kiandrae smiled—even bound.
"They have a plan," she said. "And this time… it will work."
Rayon smiled back.
Not angry.
Not offended.
Just disappointed.
"You'll suffer," he said, "but I won't pity you. It's tragic someone like you holds the title of Monarch."
A portal of pure darkness opened.
Rayon threw her in.
The Endless Abyss swallowed Kiandrae without a sound.
Axel returned moments later, battered, breathing hard.
"Darkness—!" he shouted. "You won't get away with this!"
He tried to flee.
Rayon looked at him.
"Endless Night."
Darkness closed in.
Axel's senses collapsed—sight, power, direction, meaning itself stripped away. His abilities failed him entirely.
Rayon placed a hand against Axel's head.
And ended him.
Cleanly.
Absolutely.
Elsewhere—
Ivís and Nyk clashed.
Her heat distorted reality, melting space, burning through concepts themselves. Every movement left afterimages of flame and annihilation.
But Nyk moved just as fast.
Light-speed. Faster.
Her long-range attacks failed—Nyk's Ruin rendered their effects meaningless. Fire still burned, but its purpose collapsed.
Ivís realized it instantly.
I can't hit him like this.
She rushed in.
Close combat.
A mistake.
They traded blows across the void, shockwaves rippling through nothingness. But with every exchange, Ivís felt it—her strikes growing weaker, less effective, as Ruin stripped them of value.
Nyk landed one clean hit.
Ivís reeled back, injured, stunned.
Nyk exhaled.
"Fire girl," he said lightly,
"this was fun—but I'm taken, and I don't stay out this long."
He raised his hand.
"Domain of Ruin."
Ivís vanished into a space without time, motion, or meaning.
She struggled.
But Ruin isn't violence.
It's inevitability.
Her form unraveled—not torn apart, but invalidated, until nothing remained.
The domain collapsed.
Ivís was gone.
Rayon looked at Nyk.
"As a Primordial," he said calmly,
"you held your own against Monarchs."
Nyk cracked a grin.
Rayon continued, voice thoughtful.
"You see, lil bro—strength and titles don't decide battles. Power type does."
"If Kiandrae and Ivís fought, they'd be natural enemies. Their powers cancel. They'd be forced into hand-to-hand."
"But Ruin versus Fire?" Rayon shrugged.
"Ruin is the end state. Fire is just one way to get there—even if her heat was conceptual."
He glanced into the stars.
"Bad matchup."
Far away—
Kratos and the remaining Monarchs felt it.
Three presences extinguished.
Gone.
In another realm—
Mephisto smirked.
"So… they failed. As expected."
Nullivar's gaze darkened.
"You realize that move you made decides everything," he said. "War—or a new plan."
Demetrius frowned.
"You could've waited, Mephisto. Now we're forced to rush."
Doom's voice echoed, hollow and amused.
"…Why don't we use Light?"
The silence that followed was heavy.
And somewhere—
Abyss stirred.