★191
His sword melted away, the metal dissolving as it released his aura and the darkness in its purest and most unrestrained form. The change was instantaneous.
Parvak experienced chaos for the first time, a sensation far beyond mere fear or confusion. The entire Realm trembled violently, the ground shuddering as strange, distorted sounds echoed through the air, like the world itself was being torn apart.
The shaking grew worse, the sky seemed to warp, and the atmosphere vibrated with an oppressive pressure. It was not simply an earthquake; it was as if the very fabric of existence was being stretched and broken.
Distant cracks appeared in the landscape, thin lines of glowing fracture that spread like veins. Rocks levitated briefly before collapsing, and the air carried a deep, resonant hum, a sound that suggested something fundamental was unraveling.
Parvak could feel it, the instability, the raw power of the darkness interacting with the Realm's structure. Nothing about it felt natural. The environment groaned as though resisting the transformation, yet the forces at play were overwhelming.
Trees bent unnaturally, shadows lengthened and twisted, and the horizon blurred as if reality itself could no longer hold its shape.
This was chaos in its truest sense, not merely disorder but the arrival of something beyond comprehension. The Realm was being altered, strained under the weight of the unleashed power. Whatever rules had governed it before were no longer sufficient.
I shifted into Etherium, letting my perception rise beyond the ordinary. What I saw was not calm, it was impossible.
The archetypes themselves were in disarray. The archetypes, which should have maintained order, were instead struggling.
Space had begun to tear open in jagged wounds, edges flickering as if reality could not decide whether it still existed. Time behaved like a broken mechanism, skipping and stuttering, repeating fragments before jumping forward without explanation. Gravity collapsed in places, pulling debris in strange directions and leaving objects suspended as though the rules that anchored them no longer applied.
Everything was reacting to someone, no, something.
(Abyssal Calamities at it again)
"Dispose of the Last King of Scorpios at all costs, they said."
The Old One, no, Mordryth, said, the calmness and amusement in his voice unchanging.
"Even if it means reducing Kalidor to dust."
His grin widened before being engulfed in his own darkness. The mass began growing, which means...
He was transforming. The feeling was similar to what I had sensed earlier, an uneasy pressure that crept through me.
'This… this is fear.'
I froze, paralysed and unable to move as a gigantic tentacle shattered space itself, surging towards me.
'Snap out!'
Enta exclaimed, but I couldn't move. I was afraid. They knew all about me, and now, they're going to kill me at the first chance they get.
My instincts took over, raising barriers around me, but the tentacle punched through them as though they were nothing.
It struck me directly, sending my small frame crashing across the ground to the far side of Parvak. My cloak and clothes were scorched and torn from the earlier attack, and pain radiated through me. If it hadn't been for Enta's void shielding me, I would have been dead.
"Th… thank you."
I whispered, struggling to breathe.
'Void collapsed?'
Enta's attention seemed fixed on something else, but I could not afford to linger. I had to stand and fight.
A roar followed, so immense and violent that it flattened the earth. The sound alone accelerated the destruction of the archetypes, shaking the very foundation of the Realm.
My body reacted violently. It felt as though my strength evaporated, my lungs refusing to cooperate and my heart stuttering in my chest. I dropped to my knees, overwhelmed by the force of it.
Blood trickled from me, blurring my vision and dripping from my nose and mouth. My ears rang, and every movement felt distant, as if I were separated from my own body. The world around me swam, the devastation of the archetypes continuing despite my attempts to process what was happening.
For a moment I simply knelt there, shaken. Fear and determination warred within me. I could not give in, yet I understood how close I had come to breaking.
Whatever this creature was, it exceeded anything I had faced before. Still, I forced myself to breathe, to focus, and to rise, however slowly, because surrender was not an option.
'It ignored the defences of Nyxon, giving him a hellish beating. Those defences were built from Antares and I, yet it cut straight through them. It negated my void, again. Something that should not have been possible.'
Enta seemed more occupied with his own calculations than with me.
The Realm continued to shake with every heavy step, each tremor signalling that something vast was approaching, drawing closer.
'For an anomaly, you are weak, broken, and imperfect. That is precisely what I was searching for. I kept devouring your emotions to shape you, to push you toward something greater, yet I am disappointed in you, my Good Half.'
Entares spoke from his throne, looking down upon me with a mixture of judgement and distant expectation.
'You can do better.'
The words hung in the air. There was no mockery in his tone, only a cold assessment.
I remained on the ground for a moment, feeling the tremors of the realm through my fingertips. The approaching force made the atmosphere heavy, as though the world itself held its breath.
I swallowed, forcing myself to think. If the defences of Nyxon had failed, defences forged from both our powers, then whatever we faced operated beyond the rules I understood.
Negation of the void should have been impossible. The void was absence, a principle rather than a substance, and principles did not simply vanish. Yet they had been bypassed.
"'Kill him before the match begins. The longer you prolong the fight, the farther you are from victory.' That was my command. Stay still and be silenced by darkness!"
A thunderous voice clapped all around Parvak, archetypes popping like balloons.
Entares's words didn't mean anything, but something in me didn't yield. The Edict of Zenith burned, fueling me with the ancient will of the Scorpios Constellation.
I gather enough strength to stand still, ignoring my shaky healing body.
'This is my first real fight. My first real life or death confirmation. A small mistake can lead to my death, but... my journey hasn't yet begun. I can't fall now. Reality won't accept that.'
I looked up, facing the Hollow Prince of Baeleryon. It was so massive that it remained untouched by the distance.
(Meaning it's supposed to be smaller at a long distance, but it didn't work).
[[IMAGE]]
[[IMAGE]]
Darkness solidified scales with a tint of violet giving this Void Dragon shape. Just like his humanoid form, it has no eyes. Mordryth was travelling at immeasurable speed, Parvak undergoing destruction due to his earlier attack.
'First thing first. I have to get him out of Parvak. Unfortunately, teleportation isn't a thing in Kalidor, so I have to push him down into a portal.'
I thought, an idea any commoner posses. But I'm no commoner, I am a Star. That's how losers think. Let's give him a taste of the Supreme Way of thinking.
"Why use a portal when I can use void?"
I smirked, fear, hesitation isolated by the Edith. I didn't feel anything anything at them moment. Nothing to hold me back.
I took off, cloaking my fist with dark energy as I approached him. The moment he saw me, it was too late. Void consumed the earth right before my fist connected with his head. Mordryth sank into the void, and I followed, closing the fault in reality I left behind.
However, the place beneath it wasn't void. The void was just a gateway to something...
To be continued...