Chapter 44 – "Solar Burst"
The sky trembled.
Arthur's aura exploded, illuminating the ruins of the HQ with a golden brilliance so intense it pierced even the darkness of the Void.
Before him, Yzareth stood, arms crossed, his immense shadow stretching all the way to the horizon.
— Interesting, he murmured.
You're one of the few who can move under my gravity domain.
Arthur's eyes glowed with light as he replied calmly:
— I am the one who protects the living. And you… you're nothing but a remnant of chaos.
> — "Solar Burst."
A solar explosion burst forth from Excalibur.
The golden beam shot upward, piercing the heavens before crashing down on Yzareth like the wrath of a god.
The impact shook the entire continent. Atmospheric barriers cracked under the force.
Liora shouted:
— Everyone, fall back!
The hunters retreated hastily, but Valor, arms crossed, conjured an immense magic shield that quivered under the colossal heat.
The light erased everything — shadows, sound, even the sense of time itself.
When it finally faded…
A figure still stood.
Yzareth.
His left arm was partially burned away, fragments of dark energy evaporating from his skin.
But his gaze remained untouched.
He lifted his eyes toward Arthur, a smirk forming on his lips.
— Not bad. But do you truly believe light alone can defeat the Void?
His voice turned into a roar.
The air itself exploded.
His crimson aura expanded, covering the clouds.
The sky darkened in an instant. Red lightning erupted from the ground like serpents of fire.
> — "Absolute Dominion: Collapse of the World."
Gravity multiplied a thousandfold.
The ground warped, mountains crumbled, and the hunters were pinned to the earth.
But Liora pressed her hands against the soil, her psychic domain expanding instantly.
Her telekinesis spread out, wrapping the hunters in an invisible force that kept them from being crushed.
She grimaced, focused.
— Good thing I got used to wielding this hammer. No matter the mass, no matter the weight… gravity has no hold on me anymore.
She lifted her head, defying Yzareth.
— Hey, lizard! I lift tons every day — you really think your gravity's gonna stop me?
Yzareth gave a brief smile.
— Hmph… impressive. No wonder you're their commander.
But you and I both know maintaining telekinesis on this scale drains your mana dry.
— So what?! she shot back.
What's it to you, lizard?
Her telekinesis flared even stronger. With a sharp motion, she lifted Yzareth and hurled him violently toward Arthur.
Arthur, panting, spun Excalibur.
— If light isn't enough… then I'll use the flow of time itself.
His eyes turned golden, and invisible needles of Chronos began to spin around him.
— Third Form of the Chronos Sanctum… Solar Reversal.
A burst of light inverted gravity itself.
Yzareth, startled, felt the very force he had summoned crush down upon him.
Liora seized the opening.
Her hammer was engulfed in sacred runes.
— Mass: Infinity.
She leapt, striking with a power that made space itself buckle.
The blow hit Yzareth, sending waves of distortion across the battlefield.
For an instant, it seemed he would fall.
But then he smiled — a cold, chilling smile.
— Enough games.
He raised one hand.
His aura condensed into pure black flame.
— Tremble… before the true form of the Void.
His body disintegrated… then reformed into a human shape.
He now had long white hair and deep black eyes.
His scales were gone, replaced by pale skin veined with darkness, and he wore wide black pants with shadowy reflections.
Dark wings unfolded from his back, spanning half the sky.
With each beat, the air itself quivered — as if the world rejected his very existence.
The entire world seemed to bow beneath his awakening.
Oceans boiled. Continents cracked.
> — This is the beginning… of the end.
Arthur raised Excalibur.
Liora lifted her hammer.
Lya, Ethan, Nova, Ryn, Valor, Annabelle, Beatrice, Marie, and the others stood in formation.
They knew they were no longer facing a mere adversary…
But an entity born before time — or perhaps from a place where time never existed.
The Primordial Dragon had awakened his true form.
And in that instant… the world descended into the Rage of the Void.
Chapter 45 – Rage of the Void
The sky collapsed.
The stars went out one after another, devoured by darkness.
The entire world trembled beneath the awakening of the Primordial Dragon.
Yzareth, in his human form, slowly beat his wings.
Each flap made reality itself shudder, tearing the air into shards of shadow.
His black gaze swept across the battlefield.
— You think you can defeat me?
I am the Void before the light.
I am what existed before all creation.
A single step made the ground explode.
A shockwave rippled outward, sweeping the hunters away like fallen leaves.
Arthur drove Excalibur into the ground and erected a wall of golden light.
— Sanctum Aeternum!
The divine barrier stopped the wave — but cracked immediately.
Arthur staggered back, teeth clenched.
— His power… it surpasses even the laws of the world.
Lya narrowed her eyes, whispering:
— If we don't stop him here, he'll wipe out the entire continent…
Liora tightened her grip on her hammer, pure rage emanating from her.
— Then we stop him. Even if it costs us our lives.
She slammed her hammer into the ground, invoking the Divine Warfield.
Runic symbols erupted all around, binding the area within a sacred barrier.
— As long as this barrier stands, he's trapped in here with us!
Yzareth turned his head toward her.
— Trapped?
A thin smile twisted his lips.
— You're the ones who just trapped yourselves with death.
He raised a hand — and a black orb formed in his palm.
The air distorted, gravity twisted.
The sphere grew, absorbing everything around it: rock, light, even magical energy.
Ethan shouted:
— He's creating a magical black hole!
Valor dashed forward, wrapped in black lightning.
— No time to hesitate! Primordial Thunder Strike!
He struck the orb with a titanic blow.
An explosion tore through the air… but the sphere didn't move.
Instead, Valor was pulled in, his right arm swallowed by gravity.
— Damn it! My arm—!
Arthur, in a flash, sliced through the gravitational pull with Excalibur and yanked him back.
— Get back, idiot!
But Yzareth snapped his fingers.
Space folded.
A blast of dark energy fell upon them.
Lya used her shadows to shield the group, but the impact sent her flying.
She coughed up blood.
— He's… toying with us…
Ryn dashed forward at the speed of light.
Her body became a silver ray that pierced Yzareth's defenses.
She struck his chest with a pure blow of divine energy.
The impact lit up the horizon…
But when the light faded, Yzareth held her hand between two fingers.
— Nice try.
He squeezed.
A sinister crack echoed.
Ryn screamed as her arm disintegrated into luminous dust.
Arthur intervened, striking at full power.
— Solar Tempest!
A solar storm swept across the battlefield, forcing Yzareth to step back.
His gaze darkened.
— Interesting. You possess a power… that brushes against mine.
Let's see how far you can go.
He placed a hand on his chest.
His aura began to pulse.
The air grew heavy — suffocating.
> — "Original Mode: Celestial Void."
His body turned translucent, almost ethereal.
Every particle of energy around him evaporated.
The hunters could see him… but could no longer feel him.
As if he existed outside the world.
Arthur felt a cold sweat trickle down his face.
— He's… everywhere at once…
A whisper echoed behind him.
— Exactly.
Yzareth appeared at his back.
Arthur had no time to react — a palm strike hit his chest.
The ground caved in, and the King was blasted hundreds of meters away.
— ARTHUR! Liora screamed.
But the dragon was already turning his gaze toward her.
His eyes met hers.
— Your turn, "Commander."
A shiver ran through her.
But Liora grinned fiercely.
— Funny. I was about to say the same thing, lizard.
She spun her hammer, levitating it with telekinesis, then fused her twin axes into a single colossal blade — a sword of immense mass.
Around her, golden silhouettes appeared — the spirits of fallen commanders.
— Supreme Authority: Lineage of Heroes.
The specters charged at Yzareth, striking in unison with her.
The battlefield erupted in blinding light.
For the first time…
Yzareth raised an arm to defend himself.
And in that moment, Liora knew —
They had a chance.
Tiny.
But real.
Chapter 46 – Lineage of Heroes
The world trembled.
Hundreds of golden auras rose around Liora.
The silhouettes of fallen commanders, knights, and hunters took shape — armed with sacred swords, lances, and hammers.
Their cries from beyond echoed through the heavens.
> — Supreme Authority: Lineage of Heroes.
Yzareth lifted his gaze toward the storm of spirits.
— The dead… refusing to rest? A pitiful illusion of humanity.
He extended his hand, and a wave of black energy swept across the battlefield.
But the spirits held firm.
They threw themselves at him without fear — ignoring pain, ignoring death.
Liora charged forward.
She swung her hammer at full speed, then conjured divine energy chains.
Before they reached him, the chains coiled around the dragon, and spikes burst from each link, piercing into his flesh.
Yzareth growled — for the first time, his movement stalled.
Liora roared:
— Titan's Bind!
The chains suddenly became as heavy as mountains.
The ground cracked beneath their weight, forcing the dragon to kneel.
Seizing the opening, Liora dashed forward.
Her speed became so great that her body vanished from sight — a rain of invisible slashes pierced Yzareth.
When she stopped, glowing lines appeared across the dragon's body.
— End of Trajectory.
She raised her hand.
Her incandescent hammer descended from the heavens, striking Yzareth in a divine explosion.
— We're not fighting for ourselves, Yzareth…
But for everything you wish to destroy!
A sacred wave swept through the air, pushing back the darkness.
Yzareth looked up, unscathed — though cracks lined his body.
— Insolent.
He extended an arm.
His shadow stretched and took the form of an immense black dragon behind him.
The beast roared, and a tide of dark flames surged from the ground, devouring the heroic spirits one by one.
Liora screamed:
— Hold your ground!
The golden specters roared in unison and sacrificed themselves, exploding in a chorus of sacred energy.
A golden surge overwhelmed the flames of the Void.
The explosion was cataclysmic.
A pillar of light rose to the heavens, driving back the black clouds.
Lya, watching the scene, whispered:
— She used the souls of heroes to counter the Void itself…
Ethan clenched his fists.
— That's pure suicide… she'll die at this rate!
But Liora didn't stop.
Her body bled, her skin cracked under the strain.
Her aura burned so fiercely that even the runes carved into her hammer tore apart.
— For humanity! For my people! she cried.
She charged one final time, propelled by the light of the fallen heroes.
The hammer descended upon Yzareth like a star.
The impact shook the entire planet.
Silence… then an explosion of light.
When the dust settled, Liora was on her knees.
Her hammer lay shattered in fragments.
Yzareth stood tall, covered in fissures, looking at her calmly.
— That was… amusing, he said.
But you're not the one who will defeat me.
With a gesture, he closed his hand around her.
A black sphere enveloped her.
The hunters screamed:
— Liora!!
Yzareth clenched his fist.
But just as the sphere was about to crush her, a golden light tore across the horizon.
> — "Enough."
Time stopped.
The flames froze.
Even the screams hung motionless in the air.
A lone figure walked forward through the golden dust.
Valen had arrived.
Lya exhaled, half relieved, half exasperated.
— You sure took your time…
Valen smirked.
— I wanted to make a dramatic entrance.
His gaze fell on Yzareth.
The atmosphere shifted instantly.
— You've crossed the line, Yzareth, he said calmly.
And I… have crossed yours.
Yzareth raised an eyebrow, intrigued.
But the stars within Valen's eyes began to spin slowly.
Elyonna, in her miniature form, frowned.
— Oh no… he's angry.
Chapter 47 – The Dragon's Judgment
The wind had stopped.
Even gravity seemed afraid to move.
Valen walked forward slowly, his eyes glowing red.
Each step made the earth tremble—not from brute force, but because the world itself reacted to his presence.
In his gaze burned anger. Ancient anger. Cosmic anger.
Yzareth stared at him, intrigued.
— So… the infamous "Divine Hunter."
Your presence is unlike the others. You are neither man… nor god.
Valen smiled faintly.
— I'm simply the one you should've let sleep.
For touching my comrades… you risk death.
A heavy silence settled.
Liora, on her knees, lifted her head, panting.
— Valen… don't underestimate him. He annihilated the heroes of the past…
— I know, he replied without looking at her.
And it's precisely for them that I'll end this quickly.
His eyes deepened in red.
Two star-shaped irises began to spin slowly in his pupils.
Around him, the air shimmered like a sea of stars.
The world held its breath.
Yzareth narrowed his eyes.
— Who do you think you are? You may be the Divine Hunter… but I don't see you as superior to me.
Valen stopped.
His smile vanished.
— Shut up, you damn lizard.
Before Yzareth could reply, Valen appeared before him.
— I told you to shut up.
A punch to the gut.
Yzareth was hurled into the sky, his body piercing the clouds.
He stabilized with his wings, then unleashed a breath of black flames.
But Valen didn't move.
He watched the attack… and it vanished.
As if it had never existed.
Lya, trembling, whispered:
— How did he do that? Where did Yzareth's breath go?
Valen appeared above the dragon.
A kick slammed into his spine.
He drove him into the ground, his foot still pressed into his back, until they crashed into a titanic crater.
The shockwave shook even the upper realms.
Yzareth rose, spitting blood.
His body regenerated quickly.
— You're strong… but you'll never be able to—
Valen grabbed his face and smashed it into the ground.
Then hurled him into the air like garbage.
Yzareth regained his senses, his body regenerating again.
— He's really strong… I can feel it…
He appeared before Valen and threw a punch.
Valen dodged.
Yzareth followed with a flurry of strikes so fast they seemed invisible.
Unavoidable. Inhuman.
Valen dodged them all.
With an ease that bordered on insulting.
Yzareth leapt back.
— He sees something I don't…
No… that's impossible…
He stared at the starry irises.
— Does it have something to do with… those eyes?
Valen stepped forward.
— You're too slow.
He raised his hand.
— Elyonna, transform back into the Sword of Judgment. It's time to end this.
Elyonna pouted briefly.
— You're always so rough…
But she transformed, her body becoming a divine blade, pulsing with celestial energy.
Yzareth roared.
— No matter what you do! You can't defeat me!
I am a primordial being!
I am an abstract existence!
You cannot—
Valen smiled.
A predatory smile.
— Let's test that.
Yzareth shivered.
— How is it possible… that I feel fear?
Before he could think further…
Valen had already sliced him in two.
Then, at an inconceivable speed, he cut him into pieces.
Fragments of a being who believed himself eternal.
And finally… he erased him with a single glance.
Silence.
Even the stars seemed frozen.