Darkness crawled across the throne room like a living ocean. At the center sat the one who commanded every shadow, every abyss, every fragment of oblivion ever born—
Azrion.
He shifted in his throne made of cracked stars, and the room itself trembled. Darkness poured from his form in waves so dense the space around him bent.
His body was tall—inhumanly so.
Black horns spiraled backward from his skull like twisted meteors frozen in time.
His eyes were pits of collapsing galaxies, spiraling with red and violet light that swallowed hope itself.
His face held nothing human—sharp, angular, monstrous, carved from ancient stone and shadow.
Long claws curled from his hands, metallic-black, each glowing faintly with drifting runes.
Down his spine, a segmented tail thrashed once—long, armored, ending in a blade sharp enough to slice through dimensions.
His chest was carved with countless demonic sigils, glowing as if filled with the screaming souls of fallen worlds.
Ren and Shade knelt before him.
Their wounds vanished instantly as Azrion flicked two fingers; their bodies healed, their power surged, their aura doubled.
Shade trembled in awe.
Ren bowed, chest heaving with unstable fury.
Azrion rose.
A single motion.
The entire hall shook.
His voice rumbled through the void like a collapsing planet.
"It is late… They have grown too bold."
His eyes narrowed.
"It is time I end this myself."
He raised his hand.
Reality shattered.
And all three—Azrion, Ren, and Shade—vanished into the dark.
---
A vortex exploded open above the battlefield where Akira, Ryozen, and Ashurael stood.
The air broke.
The ground shook.
Light dimmed instantly.
Azrion descended slowly, each step cracking the void beneath him.
Ren and Shade fell beside him—fully healed, aura burning with monstrous intensity.
Akira's jaw tightened.
"…He's here."
Ryozen whispered sharply.
"Prepare yourselves."
Ashurael's eyes gleamed cold silver.
"This is the true war."
Azrion didn't speak.
He moved.
One instant he stood still.
The next—
He blurred forward like a meteor tearing space apart.
Ashurael intercepted him, shadows exploding from his wings as he caught Azrion's claw with both hands.
The impact cracked the entire void-plane, sending shockwaves ripping through multiple shattered planets.
Azrion's voice dripped venom.
"You again… fallen seraph."
Ashurael grinned.
"Missed me?"
The two vanished into combat.
---
Shade rushed forward next, body twisting into a long serpentine demon of shrieking shadow.
Ryozen stepped in front of him, spinning his weapon as golden sparks danced around him.
"Let's finish what your brothers couldn't."
Shade hissed, voice echoing in multiple octaves.
"I will feast on your soul."
Ryozen smirked.
"Try."
He vanished.
Shade roared and lunged.
Their fight tore open the ground in spiraling arcs of gold and black.
---
Ren's eyes locked on Akira.
Akira stared back, heart breaking and burning at the same time.
"Ren."
Ren's answer was a roar—
haunting, broken, monstrous.
Their clash erupted in a burst of black-red energy as Yamitsurugi clashed against Ren's demonic blade.
Each strike shook the void.
Each slash carried pain older than their friendship.
Akira pushed forward, teeth clenched.
"You idiot… We were supposed to finish school together!"
Ren roared again, clawing at Akira's face with shadow-soaked hands.
Akira dodged—barely—slamming his sword into Ren's side.
"You hated training! But you still came with me because you said I'd probably die without you!"
Ren staggered, growling, shaking violently.
Akira's next slash ripped open the air.
"And that day in the rain—you dragged me home even though I couldn't walk! Remember that? REMEMBER IT, REN!"
Ren froze for a split second.
His eye flickered—just once.
A familiar brown glimmer beneath the abyss.
"...A… ki… ra…"
The word was so faint, so broken.
Akira's eyes widened with hope.
But immediately—
Oblivion inside Ren screamed and surged, drowning his voice.
Ren clutched his head, shrieking in agony, then charged again with demonic speed.
Akira raised Yamitsurugi.
"Then I'll fight through all of this until you speak again!"
Their blades clashed again and again—
each strike filled with pain, memory, and desperate hope.
---
Far away, Ryozen and Shade's battle spiraled upward.
Shade's tendrils lashed from every direction, forming dozens of weapons from living shadow.
Ryozen spun through them effortlessly, golden halos forming behind him.
Shade shrieked. "Why won't you DIE?!"
Ryozen smirked.
"Because you're all noise… no bite."
He thrust his hand forward.
A golden seal expanded behind Shade like a sun.
"Cycle—DEVOUR."
The seal slammed shut.
Shade's body cracked, shattered, then disintegrated into dust and black smoke.
Ryozen exhaled.
"One down."
---
Ashurael and Azrion tore through several dying planets in their duel.
Every movement distorted space.
Every clash erased light.
Azrion's tail sliced through entire moons as he swung.
Ashurael conjured obsidian chains fused with divine sigils, binding Azrion's limbs.
Azrion flexed—
the chains shattered like glass.
"You are weaker than before," Azrion growled.
Ashurael wiped blood from his lip.
"Weakened? Maybe.
Still better looking than you though."
Azrion roared and charged with claws blazing purple.
Ashurael caught the strike and kicked Azrion across an asteroid.
Ryozen joined him, landing beside him with his weapon dripping golden light.
Ashurael smirked. "Missed me?"
"Not really," Ryozen replied. "But let's kill him."
The two moved together.
Azrion swung his demonic blade-arm upward, creating a wave of void-energy that tore mountains apart.
Ryozen countered with golden orbitals.
Ashurael slashed with divine shadow.
Their combo shook the battlefield into chaos.
Azrion struggled—
but only for a moment—
before blasting both away with a furious burst of void-light.
---
Akira and Ren were still clashing, blades sparking like dying stars.
Akira blocked a savage downward strike; lightning cracked across his arms.
"Ren… Rina is waiting for you."
Ren froze.
His body trembled.
Akira's voice softened.
"She cried for you, idiot… She believed you'd come back."
Ren's pupils shrank.
He clutched his head.
"No… I… I…"
Oblivion screamed inside him.
Black veins spread across his face as the fragment fought him violently.
Akira's heart cracked.
"Fight it, Ren!"
Ren dropped to one knee, gasping, caught between two worlds.
Akira stepped closer, lowering his sword.
"You're not alone. I'm here. I've always been here."
Ren's fingers twitched.
Then—
A small whisper:
"Akira…"
Azrion turned sharply.
He saw it.
He felt it.
His eyes narrowed.
"So the vessel resists… interesting."
---
Back at Earth, Rina sat in Akira's room clutching the pendant.
Her whole body shook.
"Please… please come back…"
She pressed the pendant to her heart, sobbing quietly.
At that same moment, the pendant flickered—
resonating with Akira's voice and Ren's struggle.
---
Back in the void, Ren screamed again—
not in rage, but in pain.
Akira raised Yamitsurugi and shouted:
"I'm bringing you back!"
Azrion growled.
"I will not allow sentiment to ruin my creation."
He lunged at Akira—
but Ashurael and Ryozen intercepted him at the last second, slamming him backward with combined force.
Their divine auras flared—
Ashurael's black-silver wings expanded.
Ryozen's golden cycles spun at full speed.
"AZRION!" they roared together.
Azrion snarled, preparing a catastrophic attack—
But his eyes flicked toward Ren.
Ren still fought the oblivion fragment inside him.
Azrion saw it.
And for the first time…
a flicker of anger crossed his monstrous face.