Theron's roar shattered the atmosphere.
Under the immense pressure of his mana, his veins bulged like serpentine worms beneath his skin, and capillaries burst in a mist of red.
Yet, under the influence of his newfound, mysterious immortality, the horrific injuries knitted themselves back together in the blink of an eye.
Destruction and regeneration cycled a thousand times in a single second.
At his center, reality warped. Above the heavens and deep into the bedrock, darkness did not just fall, it conquered.
[House Voss Secret Art: Midnight Domain!]
Instantly, space spanning hundreds of kilometers was swallowed by an abyssal night.
The shadows of the fallen began to writhe. From the ink-black ground, they rose, first ten, then hundreds, then thousands.
The legion expanded exponentially until tens of thousands of shadow soldiers stood at attention.
Ancient dragons constructed of pure twilight, faceless giants, and nightmare beasts roared toward the invisible sky, paying absolute homage to their liege.
Even the fifteen surviving members of the Voss family guard found themselves enveloped by this majestic power, their exhaustion washed away by the tide of darkness.
Theron stood at the eye of the storm, dark energy drifting off his shoulders like volcanic smoke.
"Ha! The Obsidian Sea..." Theron smirked, his eyes glowing with a violet predatory light.
"I can tell this entire setup was a trap from the start. But it doesn't matter."
He cracked his neck, the sound echoing like a thunderclap.
"Because after I slaughter you two, I'm going to hunt down the coward hiding behind you!"
Facing two Eighth-Order powerhouses, holding back was not an option.
Normally, expanding the [Midnight Domain] to this catastrophic scale would have liquefied his organs from mana overload.
But Theron realized he had become a paradox, a bucket that could not overflow, constantly refilled by an external, infinite source.
He decided to remind the world what it meant to challenge the man closest to God.
The cultists, shrouded in white robes, watched the transformation. Though their aura flickered with shock, their fanaticism held them in place.
"Should I admit that you are indeed the Monarch of Shadows?" the white-robed figure on the right sneered.
"It changes nothing," the figure on the left hissed. "Regardless of your struggle, today is your expiration date."
They raised their hands in perfect synchronization, their mana flaring with a nauseating, corrupted light.
"Void Secret Technique: Abyssal Sacrifice!"
As the chant finished, the black-robed subordinates standing behind them stiffened. Their hands flew to their chests, clawing at their own flesh in absolute terror.
"Arghhh!!"
"Help me! Please!"
"Lord Demon God! I don't want to d—"
Their pleas were silenced by the sound of wet tearing. Blood erupted from every orifice, eyes, ears, and pores, spraying into the air like a macabre fountain.
Their veins turned black and burst, their faces frozen in masks of supreme agony.
It was a sight so grotesque that even Theron, a veteran of countless wars, hesitated for a split second.
'Damn. I've fought you bastards for decades, but your depravity never ceases to amaze me.'
He knew he couldn't let the ritual complete.
"Shadow Army! Devour them!" Theron commanded, thrusting his palm forward.
"First-Class Shadow Magic: Hand of the Titan!"
Shadow mana condensed, forming a colossal hand that dwarfed mountains.
Unlike his previous attacks, amplified by the [Midnight Domain], this palm spanned several kilometers, blotting out what little light remained.
BOOM!
The palm slammed down. The earth screamed.
A localized earthquake tore through the region, the shockwave powerful enough to shift the continent's tectonic plates.
Across the border, in neighboring empires, ancient monsters and supreme mages turned their gazes toward the battlefield, sensing the disturbance.
But as the dust settled, a distorted voice, sounding like a thousand wailing souls speaking in unison, echoed from beneath the giant shadow palm.
"Too late, King of Darkness."
The shadow hand was torn apart from the inside.
A monstrosity rose. Standing a staggering hundred feet tall, its body was a chaotic mass of void slime, studded with blinking, bloodshot eyes.
Embedded in its heaving chest were the two faces of the white-robed commanders, stretched and fused into the flesh.
The Void Aberration had descended.
"HAHAHA! THERON VOSS! WE TOLD YOU! YOUR GRAVE IS HERE!"
The voice was a physical force, shattering boulders and trembling the air.
Theron looked up at the eldritch horror. The wind whipped his coat violently, but his expression settled into a eerie calm.
Slowly, he reached into his pocket, retrieving a crumpled cigar and a silver lighter.
Click.
The flame lit the tobacco. He took a long, deep drag, exhaling a cloud of smoke that mingled with the shadow aura.
"Hey, Alfred," Theron spoke without turning around.
Behind him, Alfred, the Captain of the Voss Mage Corps and a Seventh-Order Mage, gripped his staff, ready to die.
"Sir?"
"Most of you have followed me for years. You know my limits better than anyone," Theron said, his voice steady.
"Five minutes ago, I was running on fumes. I was done."
He looked at his hand, clenching it into a fist.
"But a strange force entered me. It's healing my body, forcing my soul together, replenishing my mana faster than I can spend it."
Theron grinned, a savage, confident look returning to his face.
"Maybe a God took pity on me. Or maybe it's just luck. But with this power... I have to finish this."
"Alfred!" Theron barked, his voice softening just a fraction.
"You know... I really wanted to be there. I wanted to hold my son the moment he entered this world."
"Sir..." Alfred's eyes widened.
"Duty calls. Perhaps that makes me a bad father."
Theron tossed the cigar aside. The ember sparked as it hit the ground.
"But tell him this..."
Theron's mana exploded, pushing the surrounding soldiers back.
"This Bad Father is the Strongest Man in the World!"
He didn't give them a chance to argue. Theron triggered his ultimate taboo technique.
"House Voss Secret Art: One Man, Ten Thousand Shadows!"
His skin turned obsidian black. His pupils ignited into blinding purple suns.
The massive [Midnight Domain] that covered the horizon suddenly collapsed. It didn't fade; it imploded, rushing inward at light speed, condensing all that atmospheric mana into a single point: Theron.
His shadow expanded, rising ten meters, twenty meters, fifty meters, until a titanic avatar of pure darkness stood eye-level with the Void Aberration.
"Obsidian bastards! Take this!"
KBBOOOOOOM!
Theron's shadow avatar slammed a fist into the slime monster.
The impact was cataclysmic. However, back within the avatar, Theron coughed a mouthful of golden blood. His vision blurred violently.
Even with the infinite mana, the load on his vessel was too great. If one possessed Spirit Vision, they would see spiderweb cracks fracturing Theron's very soul.
He was burning the candle at both ends.
'I have twenty-4 hours,' Theron calculated coldly, wiping the blood from his chin. '24 hours before my soul breaks under this load'
Obviously, this mode was a last resort for him.
Without the sudden influx of Dimensional Points (DP) from his son, he wouldn't have been able to throw a punch, let alone manifest an avatar. But the cracks were still spreading.
"DAMN MORTAL! HOW DARE YOU STRIKE A GOD'S VESSEL!"
The Aberration shrieked. A tentacle of slime whipped out, smashing into Theron's avatar and forcing the giant onto one knee. The impact cratered the ground for miles.
Yet, from the kneeling shadow, laughter erupted.
"Ha... haha! If that ugly thing is the body your God granted you, then your God must be one ugly son of a bitch!"
Theron forced the avatar to stand, his grin widening manically.
"No wonder you hide under those hoods. You look like shit!"
He slammed his palms together.
"Shadow Art: Abyssal Thorns!"
At his command, the earth betrayed the monster. Spikes of solidified shadow, over a hundred meters tall, erupted from the ground, impaling the slime and locking it in place.
But Theron knew this was just the opening move.
The titan of darkness and the monstrosity of the void locked eyes. The atmosphere screamed as their auras clashed.
This battle of titans wasn't ending soon. In fact...
It had only just begun.