Gold had always believed that gold was honest.
It never pretended to be something else. It did not scream like fire or vanish like wind. It endured, reflected, and carried the weight of time itself. That belief was the reason he trusted it more than people.
On the day Zygrode Death arrived, that belief was tested until it nearly shattered.
The city of Vireldan was old. Its streets were layered with centuries of metal, stone reinforced by iron bones, foundations threaded with forgotten coins and buried relics. To Gold Prasso, the city felt alive beneath his feet, breathing quietly, waiting.
Then the breathing stopped.
The first scream did not come from a person. It came from the ground itself.
A pressure rolled through the avenue, compressing the air into something sharp and wrong. Windows imploded inward. Street lamps bent like soft wax. People froze mid-step as shadows stretched unnaturally long, clinging to their heels.
Gold stood at the center of the main avenue, fingers trembling, gold responding to his pulse like a second heart.
Across from him stood Zygrode Death.
The man looked almost disappointed.
"That's it?" Zygrode said, head tilted, abyssal mist curling around his shoulders like smoke from a grave. "I expected more fear."
His magic leaked constantly, Abyss manifesting as jagged black constructs rimmed with violet light. Spikes grew and dissolved at random around him, piercing the street and retracting like living things. Small voids opened and closed at his feet, swallowing debris without sound.
Gold met his gaze. "You've already killed enough."
Zygrode's grin stretched wider than human anatomy should allow. "Enough doesn't exist."
The Abyss answered him.
The street behind Zygrode collapsed inward as a void opened, absolute blackness rimmed with purple energy. From it emerged massive abysmal spikes, shooting forward like spears launched by the world itself.
Gold slammed his hands together.
Gold erupted upward, forming a layered barricade of interlocking plates. The first spike shattered on impact. The second pierced through three layers. The third forced Gold back, boots carving trenches in the stone.
The fourth spike split in midair.
Gold's eyes narrowed. He raised his right hand, fingers curling.
The broken spike reversed direction, reforged instantly into pure gold, and launched back toward Zygrode at blinding speed.
Zygrode laughed.
Abyss wrapped around his arm, forming a black-purple shield. The golden spike slammed into it, warping space for an instant before exploding outward.
Buildings collapsed.
Dust swallowed the avenue.
From within the dust, Zygrode walked forward casually, stepping over bodies like obstacles.
"You see?" he said cheerfully. "This is why Abyss is perfect. It doesn't resist. It erases."
Gold coughed, blood dripping from his chin. His golden armor flickered, cracks glowing faintly.
"You talk too much," Gold replied.
He stomped the ground.
The city answered.
From every direction, gold surged. Railings. Coins. Weapons dropped by fallen guards. Entire storefront signs liquefied and flew toward him, wrapping around his body and solidifying into a massive, radiant construct.
Gold became a living statue of war.
Zygrode's eyes gleamed. "Now that's art."
They collided.
The impact shattered the sound barrier.
Gold's fist met Zygrode's abyssal blade, the clash releasing shockwaves that tore roofs from buildings. Abyss spikes burst from the ground beneath Gold, piercing his legs, while gold chains wrapped around Zygrode's torso, crushing inward.
Zygrode screamed—not in pain, but delight.
"Yes! Yes! Break me!"
He exploded outward, Abyss detonating in a wave of void energy. Gold was launched through three buildings, crashing into the cathedral plaza.
Before Gold could rise, the sky darkened.
Abyss spread above like a second firmament.
Void orbs descended, silent and heavy, erasing everything they touched. Stone vanished. Bodies ceased to exist. Even light bent away from them.
Gold struggled to his feet, panic threading through his discipline.
"This city—" he whispered.
A spear flew past him.
Mira.
She landed beside him, blood streaking her face, spear glowing with runic light.
"Evacuation's mostly done," she said breathlessly. "You better finish this."
Gold stared at her. "You shouldn't be here."
She smirked weakly. "Someone has to stab the crazy man while you're monologuing."
Zygrode descended slowly, Abyss wings unfolding behind him like torn reality.
"Oh? A side character?" he said mockingly. "I love those."
Mira charged without hesitation.
Her spear pierced through a void orb, detonating it with a burst of light. She spun, dodging abyssal spikes, striking Zygrode's leg.
The blade bit.
Zygrode hissed. "Annoying."
He backhanded her.
Mira flew across the plaza, crashing into a pillar. Gold screamed her name.
Rage surged—but he forced it down.
Gold extended both arms.
A golden sigil expanded beneath the entire plaza, sealing the ground. Gold structures rose, binding Zygrode's limbs, pinning his wings.
Zygrode strained, Abyss cracking the bindings slowly.
"You can't seal nothingness," he said calmly. "Abyss is the absence of rules."
Gold stepped forward. "Then I'll make new ones."
He compressed the gold further, density increasing beyond normal limits. The chains glowed white-hot.
Zygrode roared.
Abyss erupted from within him, tearing through the gold violently. Spikes impaled Gold's torso, piercing lung and shoulder. Void energy gnawed at his magic.
Gold fell to one knee.
Mira stood again.
"Hey," she shouted. "Eyes on me, monster!"
Zygrode turned.
That was all it took.
Gold unleashed everything.
A colossal golden construct formed behind him, shaped like a towering warrior, fists raised. It slammed down on Zygrode with the force of a falling mountain.
The city shook.
Zygrode was driven into the earth, crater forming around him. Abyss screamed, reality tearing at the seams.
Gold staggered forward, coughing blood. "Stay down," he whispered.
Zygrode rose anyway.
Half his body was missing.
Abyss filled the gaps.
"Death doesn't stay down," he said softly.
He raised one hand.
Abyss condensed into a single spear of void.
Mira saw it first.
"No—!"
She moved without thinking.
The spear pierced through her chest.
Time stopped.
Gold's world shattered.
"Mira!"
She collapsed into his arms, blood soaking his golden armor. Her eyes trembled, breath shallow.
"Heh… guess… I don't get that drink," she whispered.
Gold shook violently. "No. No, stay with me. I can fix this. I fix things."
She smiled weakly. "Not everything… should be fixed."
Her hand slipped from his grasp.
The gold around them went silent.
Then it screamed.
Gold felt something tear open inside him.
Not rage.
Not grief.
Something deeper.
Gold remembered.
Every promise ever bound by gold. Every vow. Every ring exchanged between lovers. Every oath sworn to protect.
His magic awakened.
The world turned gold.
Zygrode stepped back, eyes wide for the first time. "What… are you?"
Gold stood slowly.
His armor dissolved, replaced by something purer. The gold around him no longer obeyed commands.
It obeyed his will.
"You took something precious," Gold said, voice calm and empty. "Now Abyss will learn what loss feels like."
Reality bent.
Gold reached into Zygrode's Abyss and grabbed it.
The void screamed.
Gold compressed it, sealing nothingness inside perfect golden containment. Abyss cracked, collapsed, lost form.
Zygrode screamed—not laughing this time.
"No—no, no, no—!"
Gold drove his hand through Zygrode's chest.
Abyss imploded.
Silence fell.
Gold stood alone.
Holding Mira.
The city survived.
Gold Prasso did not smile again.