Azrion's body stopped trembling.
The entire void held its breath.
His cracked armor of shadows peeled away in chunks, revealing something far more terrible underneath — a form that did not belong to any world that understood life or death.
His back split open as two massive appendages unfurled — not wings, but jagged arcs of darkness, like the ribs of a god torn outward.
His eyes burned molten red, not like flames, but like dying stars collapsing inward.
A pulsating core beat at his chest, each throb bending the space around him.
Azrion had awakened fully.
And the Void screamed as if it remembered him.
Akira braced, Yamitsurugi shaking violently in his grip. His entire body hurt — bones rattled, lungs quivering, shadow veins webbed across his skin. Ryozen and Ashurael landed beside him, both battered, both bleeding light and darkness.
Ashurael wiped blood from his cheek.
"…He just evolved."
Ryozen tightened his grip on Kensei no Yoru.
"No. He returned to what he truly is."
Azrion vanished.
A sound like dimensions tearing echoed behind them. Akira spun— too slow. A massive black talon struck him across the ribs. His body shot through a ruined planet fragment, shattering it into dust.
Akira gasped, spitting blood into the void.
"Damn it… fast…"
Azrion reappeared above Ryozen, a spiral of cosmic runes forming around his arm.
Ryozen crossed his glaive against the blow — the impact detonated a shockwave that tore open dozens of miniature black holes around them.
Ashurael charged in, blades of divine light spiraling around his arms.
"Don't leave me out."
He slammed both palms together — Heavenrend Pulse — the blast striking Azrion from behind. It pushed him only an inch. Azrion's head turned slightly, as if annoyed.
He grabbed Ashurael by the throat and slammed him into the void so hard the entire realm cracked like glass.
Ashurael roared, transforming mid-impact into his divine form — wings of burning radiance unfolding, his hair shifting into silver fire, his markings glowing like molten scripture.
Azrion only grinned.
Ryozen leapt above the two, the Wheel of Samsara blazing behind him.
"Akira! Now!"
Akira appeared with Viel Step, Yamitsurugi coated in spiraling voidlight.
"Astral—"
Before he could finish, Azrion turned his arm into a blade of obsidian flame and blocked, sending Akira flying again.
The force inverted gravity, crushed it, and rebuilt it all in a single pulse.
Their battle devolved into chaos.
Azrion slashed the air — the cut opened a rift that swallowed entire broken planets.
Ryozen shattered the rift with a single roar — "Cycle Break!"
Ashurael struck Azrion from beneath with a divine beam that tore through a moon-sized mass of debris.
Azrion regenerated instantly.
Every attack they used battered him — but not enough.
He was adapting.
He was studying them.
He was waiting.
Akira refused to fall behind. Yamitsurugi resonated — its voidlight now pale white at the edges, responding to his raw will.
He dashed forward, each step bending the battlefield.
"Ren… Rina… everyone… I'm not losing here!"
He clashed blades with Azrion — sparks of darkness and light collided like dying universes. Akira spun, carving deep lines across Azrion's chest. The wound bled molten shadow.
Azrion laughed.
A horrible, ancient sound.
"You three are entertaining… but futile."
His core ignited.
A massive explosion erupted — a blast that devoured everything in its reach.
Akira flew the farthest — the wave crushed him against the collapsing remains of a shattered world. The strike knocked the wind from his lungs, nearly cracking his spine.
Ryozen and Ashurael were thrown in the opposite direction — slammed into what remained of a floating monolith. Dust and screams filled the air.
Akira struggled to stand.
"Not… yet…"
He pushed on his knees — until he sensed something.
A weak, trembling aura behind him.
Ren.
Ren staggered into view, body shaking violently, blood dripping from his lips. His breathing was ragged, but his eyes — half-oblivion, half-human — burned with desperate determination.
"A… Akira…"
Akira's eyes widened.
"Ren, stay back! You're injured—"
Ren cut him off, wiping blood from his mouth.
"I still… have strength. I need to help you. I must."
Azrion noticed.
His grin widened slowly.
"Ah… my vessel thinks he is still human."
Azrion lifted his arm. The runes on it turned red. His limb twisted into a massive blade — long, cruel, jagged like a fang pulled from a god.
He whispered the name of his killing strike:
"Oblivion Requiem."
The blade ignited — a roaring distortion of pure annihilation.
Azrion swung it straight toward Akira.
Akira reacted too late.
He was still recovering. His legs barely moved. His eyes widened in horror as the blade ripped through space toward him.
Then—
A blur.
A voice.
"Not… him."
REN.
He appeared directly in front of Akira.
Akira's mind went blank.
"REN—NO—!!"
The blade pierced Ren's chest — straight through the heart.
The sound was wet.
Soft.
Final.
Ren's blood splattered across Akira's face, warm and heavy.
Time froze.
Ren gasped, mouth trembling. His body sagged forward, impaled by the monstrous blade. His eyes softened — the oblivion inside them flickering out.
His fingers reached behind him… weak… searching.
Akira caught his hand.
Ren smiled faintly.
"…Sorry… bro… I couldn't… keep up…"
Akira's breath shattered.
His heart cracked open.
His mind went silent.
Ren's body slid off the blade.
He collapsed backward into Akira's arms.
Akira's eyes widened, pupils shrinking to pinpoints. The rushing sound in his ears blurred into nothing. His breathing stopped. His thoughts crumbled.
Azrion watched.
Ryozen and Ashurael watched in horror.
Ren's last breath escaped — soft and small.
And his hand fell.
A drop of his blood slid down Akira's cheek.
Akira didn't move.
Didn't blink.
Didn't breathe.
His face went blank.
Emotionless.
Terrifyingly empty.
Somewhere far away, Rina clutched the pendant Akira gave her.
She whispered their names.
"…Akira… Ren… please… come back…"
Her voice trembled.
But Akira didn't hear it.
The entire void felt something shift.
A darkness older than Azrion.
A light deeper than Samsara.
A silence sharper than death.
Akira slowly lifted his head.
And the universe trembled.