CHAPTER 39 —
The Illusionary Void Realm was silent.
Not the thin, tense silence of battle.But a deep, heavy, ringing stillness… the kind that follows after a storm has torn through the world and left nothing but dust hanging in the air.
Haruto kept Eclipse Edge raised for a moment longer, chest rising and falling, droplets of shimmering void-light dripping from the fractured nothingness around him. His black and silver hair flowed behind him like a comet tail, his eyes glowing with slit pupils of deep void-silver. His coat billowed in the non-existent wind, the hems pulsing with the energy of creation and destruction intertwined.
Airi remained beside him.Her silver hair glowed with a faint golden sheen, floating like she stood underwater. Her aqua eyes were radiant, shaped like stars, her petite frame wrapped in the luminous runes of the Eclipse Staff that hovered in her hand, whispering with cosmic light.
The last fragments of the Herald they defeated drifted in the air like ash.Slowly, finally, the swirling mass of broken void essence dissolved into a puff of dark smoke and disappeared completely.
And with that.
The Herald was dead.
For a few long breaths, neither sibling moved.They simply stared ahead into the swirling nothingness.
Then Airi exhaled shakily.
"…Onii Chan…"She lowered her staff, her voice cracking softly. "W-we did it."
Haruto let out a long breath, tension draining from his shoulders. His eyes softened as he looked at her.
"Yeah."His voice was tired, but warm. "We did."
Airi smiled, relieved tears forming at the corners of her eyes.Her body trembled not from fear, but from the raw release of tension after pushing herself beyond anything she had done before.
Haruto stepped closer and patted her head gently.
"You were amazing."
Airi beamed, cheeks flushing pink. "Onii Chan too… I knew you would win."
He chuckled softly, exhaustion mixing with pride.
A rumble echoed behind them.
Lunara's wings burst into the scene, her massive dragon form folding down as she shifted into her humanoid body. Frost landed next, claws grinding across the shimmering nothing-floor, and Lyria floated gracefully, her wings leaving trails of light behind her.
All three approached with expressions of shock, awe, and… relief.
Lunara crossed her arms, smirking. "Well well… look at you two."She flicked Haruto's forehead gently. "You actually killed it."
Frost let out a deep huff. "Truly… I haven't seen something that terrifying in centuries. And you two defeated it by yourselves."
Lyria's voice trembled as she spoke, still wide-eyed. "Haruto, Airi… your resonance… your power… it was beyond anything I could have imagined."
The siblings exchanged a small smile.
Airi puffed her cheeks. "I-I was scared, but… Onii Chan was there, so… it was okay."
Haruto gave her a light poke on the cheek, sighing. "You did half the work."
Airi giggled softly.
But Frost tilted his head.
"When," the wolf lord asked slowly, "did you two become this strong?"
Airi blinked.Then nodded, as if remembering something important.
"Oh… that!"She raised her staff, admiring the swirling patterns of creation magic. "When Onii Chan first got the Eclipse Edge, it didn't work properly at all. It was like a normal sword…"
Haruto nodded. "Yeah. I looked into it in the shop window… and found something."
Lyria leaned forward. "What did it say?"
Haruto's expression turned a bit embarrassed but proud.
"It said Eclipse Edge is a weapon that only releases its full power when we—"His gaze drifted to Airi."—when we are united."
Airi's cheeks flushed. "S-so we started training together! For months!"She held up her staff, eyes sparkling. "Every day we trained to resonate better together… because our hearts needed to be… um…"
Haruto finished for her, smirking slightly.
"Aligned."
Her face turned bright red. "Y-you don't have to say it like that…"
Lunara smirked knowingly. "So you two trained together for a month just to unlock this?"Her arms crossed, her tail flicking behind her in amusement. "Cute."
Airi waved her arms frantically. "N-no! It wasn't like that—"
But Frost stepped closer, expression more serious.
"Then… why is this Illusionary Void Realm still intact?"His ears twitched. "The Herald controlling it is dead. The realm should collapse instantly."
Everyone fell silent.
Haruto frowned.
Airi gulped.
Even Lunara's smile faded.
Haruto slowly turned to look around the nothingness.
The realm was still here.Still stable.Still boundless.Still empty.
Lyria whispered, "That's impossible…"
Then.
A sound.
A quiet clicking.
No.
A chuckle.
A distorted, teeth-grinding laugh.
The siblings spun around instantly.
Frost growled.Lunara's wings flared open.Lyria raised her hands in a ready stance.
The broken fragments of the previous Herald didn't return…
But in the empty sky where the cracks floated like dying stars.
A circle appeared.
A giant, blood-red, grinning circle.
A smile carved into nothing.Sharp teeth.Hollow eyes.Twisting like a nightmare drawn crudely by a child.
It grinned wider.
"WELL DONE."
The voice was not a whisper.Not a layered echo like the Herald.It was a chorus of screams hammered together into a single word.
Everyone froze.
The grin… continued to widen.
"YOU HAVE PASSED THE FIRST TEST."
Haruto's grip tightened around Eclipse Edge.Airi stepped closer to him instinctively.
Lunara snarled, "First… test?"
Frost's fur bristled. "This thing… what is it?"
Lyria felt her knees weaken. "This… this presence… it's overwhelming…"
Haruto's power surged, ready to fight.
But the circle only laughed harder.
"THE HERALD YOU FOUGHT WAS A MID-TIER PAWN."
Haruto's eyes widened.
Airi covered her mouth.
Lunara's face darkened.
Frost felt a chill crawl down his spine.
Lyria whispered, horrified, "A… a mid-tier…?"
The circle spoke with cruel amusement.
"YES. ONE OF TEN MID-TIER HERALDS UNDER MY COMMAND."
If that was mid-tier…
Then.
What was top-tier?
The siblings exchanged a glance.
Haruto muttered, "That fight almost cost us our lives… and that was just mid-tier…?"
Airi trembled, but forced herself to stay upright. "Onii Chan… what do we do…?"
Haruto didn't answer.
Because the grin grew wider.
"And NOW… LET US SEE IF YOU CAN HANDLE SOMETHING… REAL."
A sound like tearing canvas echoed across the realm.
A jagged portal ripped open beneath the grinning circle.
Dark lightning spilled out.
A wave of power blasted the group backward except Haruto and Airi, whose Eclipse forms kept them rooted in place.
Frost dug his claws in.Lunara shielded Lyria with her wings.
Haruto steadied Airi with one arm.
Three silhouettes stepped through the rift.
Each step shook the realm.
Each presence was unmistakable.
Each aura was monstrous.
The portal sealed behind them, leaving three towering figures standing across from Haruto and Airi.
The first Herald's voice shook the void. Its humanoid frame was covered in shifting, geometrical patterns, and six pitch-black wings sprouted from its back.
The second Herald floated, surrounded by a swirling halo of chaotic energies, its form constantly glitching between shapes, its presence bending concepts themselves.
The third Herald was massive, nearly as tall as a mountain, its body made of layered void-plates like armor, a crown of unhallowed fire burning above its eyeless head.
The three spoke as one but in different tones.
"WE ARE THE TOP-TIER HERALDS."
The first Herald stepped forward, its voice sharp as a blade.
"I am Azrakan, Herald of Pure Annihilation."
The second Herald hovered forward, speaking in a warped, childlike tone.
"I am Veyluna, Herald of Distortion."
The third Herald's voice was thunder drawn through a grave.
"I am Gathrion, Herald of Eternal Ruin."
Haruto and Airi stood firm.
Frost's voice trembled. "To send all three… at once…"
Lyria whispered, "T-they are the highest ranked Heralds… even a god avoids clashing with them…"
Lunara gritted her teeth. "A single one can fight thirty percent of a god's true form… and they sent all three."
Haruto stepped forward.
Airi grabbed his sleeve, but didn't stop him.
He let Eclipse Edge rest at his side, ready to carve through existence again.
"So this is the real challenge."
His voice echoed with power, deeper than before.
Airi stepped beside him, gripping her staff tightly.
Her voice was soft… but unwavering.
"Onii Chan… we can do it."
The three Heralds tilted their heads.
The grinning circle above them laughed.
"SHOW ME."
Haruto's eyes burned with destructive twilight.
Airi's eyes glowed with divine creation.
The siblings lifted their weapons together.
Eclipse Edge pulsed.Eclipse Staff sang.
The three Heralds raised their hands.
The void cracked.
The realm trembled.
The air turned into blades.
Light and shadow spiraled.
And…
THE BATTLE BEGAN.
The first move belonged to Azrakan.
He teleported-no, he erased the space between them, appearing right in front of Haruto and Airi with his six void wings flaring.
Haruto met him first.
Eclipse Edge clashed with Azrakan's twin void blades.
The shockwave shattered the sky.
Airi swung her staff, unleashing a torrent of creation runes towards the other two Heralds. Veyluna stretched like ink, bending her spell around himself as if time curved to avoid him.
Gathrion stepped forward, each step causing the entire realm to quake, and slammed down a fist that could crumble stars.
Airi raised her staff,
"Solar Barrier!"
A golden wall erupted around them, stopping the blow but only barely. Cracks spidered across it instantly.
Haruto gritted his teeth as Azrakan pushed against him.
"You two… are impressive…"Azrakan whispered, voice cold."But nothing compared to US."
He unleashed a flurry of slashes.Haruto parried, sparks flying with each impact.
Airi dodged a ripple of distortion from Veyluna.
Gathrion summoned a massive scythe of solid void.
Lunara yelled, "Haruto! Airi! We cannot reach you this realm is locking us out!"
Frost roared. "Fight! Survive!"
The siblings didn't look back.
They couldn't.
Haruto raised Eclipse Edge high.
Airi mirrored him with her staff.
Their voices overlapped.
"Onii Chan—!"
"Airi—!"
"Let's go!"
Light and shadow exploded outward as they charged.
Azrakan met Haruto head-on.
Veyluna danced through Airi's spells like a ghost.
Gathrion brought his scythe down with force enough to erase continents.
The realm shook. Fractured. Screamed.
Haruto slashed with a wide arc.
Airi unleashed a wave of creation lilies that bloomed mid-air and detonated.
Azrakan countered Haruto's blade.
Veyluna bent Airi's lilies into spirals.
Gathrion punched forward, shattering ten layers of Airi's barriers.
But the siblings refused to fall back.
Haruto roared:
"AIRI—BOOST!"
Airi threw her staff forward.
"ECLIPSE SURGE!"
Haruto's speed multiplied.
He vanished.
Azrakan's eyes widened.
SLASH—!
A long cut opened across the Herald's chest.
Veyluna flickered.Airi conjured dozens of starlight arrows.
"ASTRAL VOLLEY!"
They rained down.
Veyluna twisted, bending space into a spiral, avoiding them.
But one arrow grazed his mask—and it cracked.
Gathrion raised his scythe again.
Airi shouted, "Onii Chan!"
Haruto teleported beside her, blocking the strike, the entire realm cracking under the force as Eclipse Edge met the giant void weapon.
Airi held Haruto's arm.
Haruto held her hand.
Their weapons glowed.
Their hearts resonated.
The three Heralds charged at once.
And Haruto whispered,
"Airi… ready?"
Airi smiled softly.
"Always."
They raised their weapons.
Light.Shadow.Creation.Destruction.Hundreds of runes circled them.
The three Heralds let out roars that shook the void.
The siblings screamed.
"ECLIPSE ASCENSION—!!"
The explosion of cosmic power swallowed everything.
Even the grinning circle…stopped smiling.
TO BE CONTINUED.