5th Day of the 1st Fire Cycle[1], 2000 g.c.
The first breath of dawn slid across the battlefield like a blade of pale gold, cutting through the last hours of night while we were already moving at full throttle. Our scrimmage with Orion had turned the forests of Endora into a warpath of ruin.
Kicks, punches, and weapon swings cracked through the air faster than sonic thunder could follow. Every time one of us missed or clashed with Orion's defenses, the displaced air detonated with booming shockwaves that chased behind our movements like lagging echoes.
At speeds beyond light, colors stopped behaving right. Red wasn't always warm. Blue twisted into green. The sky flickered between shades as reality struggled to keep up with what we were doing. But my [Kaleidoscope Eyes] didn't care about none of that. Through the shifting spectrum, I could still see everything. Every shattered mountain ridge. Every valley we tore open with stray blows. Entire swaths of Endora's forest got erased just from the wake of our movement. Trees folded like grass beneath cyclone winds. Rivers burst their banks from the tremors. Biomes collapsed into each other as the terrain buckled.
Animals scattered. Sociovores died. Collateral damage didn't give a damn about intentions. And through all that chaos, Orion kept dancing. The Angel in that chocolate-colored vest and slacks moved with control over the damn battlefield. Calm. Precise. Elegant even while throwing lethal strikes. Which was kinda impressive, since I knew I was cheating my ass off. He wasn't exactly playing with honor, either. Those webs of his? Half the squad couldn't even see them. Invisible filaments cut through the air in geometric patterns around him. Gamma Webs stretched between trees, across the ground, even through open air like silk wires made of divine radiation.
Deadly traps and shit.
So I fixed the problem. I expanded [Heaven's Kaleidoscope], pushing my Ultra Skill outward until the sensation of my sight split into three separate streams. It felt like my consciousness cracked open. Then I shared my vision.
Alex and Steez gasped at the exact same time. Suddenly, they could see them. Thousands of divine filaments glistening in the dawn light like spider webs soaked in mercury. Alex twisted mid-flight with his blue energy wings beating behind him, barely avoiding one that would've cut his torso in half.
"Yo! That shit was right in front of my face!"
Steez whistled under his breath as his glowing cobalt gankyril eyes followed the web patterns.
"Man... this dude really got that shit everywhere."
Luda didn't say much. He didn't need my help. The gold and red light of his [Eye of Ra] burned behind those once emerald pupils as he tracked the webs himself. Even with the vision boost, though... Landing a clean hit on Orion felt damn near impossible. We moved. He moved better. Every strike we threw met the perfect response. My probability manipulation nudged attacks into the most favorable outcomes possible—tiny adjustments to chance itself.
And Orion still blocked them. Still dodged. Still countered. Like he already knew what was coming.
That's when [Moon Sage: Tsukuyomi] hit me with the update.
"Orion has been using the skill [Future Sight] to predict everyone's actions."
I clicked my tongue internally.
"That nigga's cheating too? Bitch! I got that skill as well. Let's run it."
There was a pause.
Then [Moon Sage: Tsukuyomi] answered calmly.
"You cannot at the moment."
My eyebrow twitched.
"The hell you mean I can't?"
"You are currently sharing your [Kaleidoscope Eyes] with Alex and Steez. Activating [Future Sight] simultaneously will exceed their Soul Core processing limits. Unlike you, their cores cannot sustain multiple Ultra-level functions."
I cursed in my head.
"Shit."
Without that ability... We were fighting someone who could see seconds into the future.
And we couldn't match it. Which meant we were gonna have to get creative if we wanted to hurt this motherfucka.
Steez had Orion pinned between two broken mountain ridges, his sansetsukon snapping in relentless arcs. I vaulted over Alex's shoulder as his azure wings carried him forward in a dive. The Tengu didn't even look back. He trusted me to handle the mess above him.
Gamma Webs dropped down like a collapsing curtain, trying to cocoon him from the sky.
My ōdachi flashed. The Red Queen screamed through the air in a blazing arc. Divine steel met divine filament.
The webs shattered.
Alex didn't waste the opening. Quantum Hellfire erupted along the length of the Dawn Goddess as he spun the bō with pure hatred fueling every movement. Orion had been busy parrying Steez's relentless staff strikes when Alex came roaring in like a comet. The blow should've flattened a city.
Instead—
Orion's foot buried itself into Alex's stomach. The impact bent Alex's body in half before launching him like a missile. He blasted through the roof of a house in the nearby village, wood and stone exploding outward in a storm of debris. Before I could react, Orion followed through. Two lightspeed-fast punches landed. One on Luda. One on Steez. Both of them got knocked backward with explosive force.
That left Orion's back open.
"Perfect."
I lifted the Blue Queen and squeezed the trigger. Three anti-mana rounds cracked through the air like railgun shots.
Orion twisted.
The first two missed. The third hit. His elbow exploded. The forearm separated clean off, spinning through the air before disintegrating into silver mist. He turned slowly toward me. And regrew the arm like it was nothing.
I narrowed my eyes.
"He only blocks when the damage is just physical," I thought. "Maybe he can't tank spiritual damage the same way."
My thought process didn't last long. Tachyon Webs erupted toward me. I reacted instantly.
The Red Queen carved through them in rapid strokes, my blade cutting the radiation filaments faster than they could wrap around me.
But that wasn't the real attack. It was a goddamn distraction. Orion appeared behind me. Four arms wrapped around my torso and arms before I could fully pivot, scooping me in one swift motion. Then he dropped.
Hard.
The back suplex slammed me into the planet with the explosive force of a nuclear strike. Air ignited around my body from the friction. The impact was so loud I could taste it. Metallic pressure filled my mouth while the shockwave rolled through the surrounding hills like thunder traveling across the ground. Before I could recover, Orion mounted my chest. My arms were pinned. Then the punches started. The first one cracked against my spatial barrier like artillery. The second made the ground crater deeper as a shattering noise could be heard between the boom.
The third blurred my vision.
Hammer fists. Straight punches. Brutal and efficient. Each hit detonated against my face like a bomb going off inches away. By the seventh strike, black and red blood sprayed into the air.
My skull was already regenerating. Didn't matter.
He kept going.
Eight.
Nine.
Ten.
Eleven.
Twelve.
Thirteen.
Finally, he stopped.
Orion looked down at my battered face while the bone and flesh knitted itself back together.
"Do you still feel the same?"
His voice was calm.
Mocking.
"Do you still think that you could conquer the Heavens?"
Divinity Mana flooded from his body, coating him in Ether.
Which meant those punches hadn't just been physical. They hit my soul as well.
"Do you think this is enough power to prevent me from harvesting you?"
My jaw clicked back into place.
Blood pooled in my mouth.
I spat it right into his face. It splashed across his milky-white skin.
"You hit like a bitch. Keep your wrist straight."
Orion froze.
For a split second, he just stared. Then his eyes narrowed. His fist raised high above my skull. The punch came down with enough force to cave my head in.
But something moved first. The White Empress slid across my face like living porcelain. The sleek white mask formed over my features just as his fist connected. The world exploded with frost. A freezing detonation blasted outward, coating Orion's limb in black ice up to his forearm.
He jerked back, studying the frozen arm.
That's when the Dawn Goddess smacked him across the face. Alex came in swinging like a man possessed. The bō cracked against Orion's jaw and sent the Angel flying across the battlefield. Alex hovered above me with blue wings flaring.
"HELL fuck yeah! Finally hit that damn jumping spider."
He glanced down at me.
"You good, Xi?"
I sat up, wiping black blood from my mouth.
"Frosty."
I nodded toward him.
"I appreciate the save, tho."
I started pushing myself out of the crater.
That's when I heard Alex scream. Not a battle shout. A real scream. Pain.
A crack formed across his energy wings. My [Kaleidoscope Eyes] locked onto him instantly. His Soul Core was overheating. The magickal boost I gave him was pushing his system past its limits.
Before I could cut the connection—
Orion appeared.
One kick crushed into Alex's sternum. Then both of Orion's fists slammed down like twin meteors. Alex smashed into the ground. The earth cratered around him. Before he could recover, Tachyon Webs wrapped around his body. He got cocooned instantly.
Steez rushed in.
My little brother moved like a bolt of blue light, three-section staff whipping toward Orion's skull. Orion tilted his head. The strike missed. Tachyon Webs shot from his fingers and wrapped around Steez's ankles. Instantly stopping his movement and reversing his pull.
Then Orion spun once. The web snapped tight, detaching both of Steez's feet from their ankle. Baby bro got launched across the air like a bleeding ragdoll. His body flew two hundred yards before slamming into the dirt.
He didn't move. My eyes scanned his vitals.
Unconscious.
His [Super Self Regen] was burning the last of his MP to stop the bleeding and keep him alive.
Seeing both of them get dropped... That shit hit different.
Emotion flared up in my chest before I even realized it. I raised the Blue Queen and opened fire. Anti-mana rounds screamed toward Orion.
Luda joined me. Golden javelins of solar energy blasted through the air. But our attacks slammed into a wall of Tachyon Webs. The barrier absorbed everything. Orion barely moved.
Instead, he looked down at the frozen arm from earlier.
"Seems my regeneration isn't working while that part of the body remains frozen."
He flexed his fingers slowly.
"Every single cell has ceased movement."
Without hesitation—
He grabbed the arm at the shoulder. And ripped it off. Silver ichor sprayed across the battlefield before the wound sealed itself.
"It appears that works," he said calmly.
"I can now fully regenerate the limb without interference."
A new arm began forming instantly.
Luda stepped beside me. His golden aura flickered unevenly. It wasn't looking regal anymore; the strain of that shit was obvious now. Sweat ran down his face while his glowing emerald eyes stayed locked on Orion.
"We've gotta wrap this up."
His voice was tight.
"It feels like my entire soul is on fire."
I nodded slowly.
"I might be able to land some hits now that I can use [Future Sight] to counter his."
Orion raised his voice across the battlefield.
"Congratulations."
His tone was almost amused.
"You rely heavily on those eyes... far more than you realize."
He tilted his head slightly.
"But from your inconsistencies, it is clear you have no idea how to truly use the Abraxas Code."
"If you did, this fight would have had a different outcome."
I raised the Blue Queen and aimed it straight at his face. My finger tightened on the trigger. Then Luda screamed. I turned immediately. He had dropped to one knee beside me, clutching his right hand. The sigil on the back of it burned through the glove in a glowing red pattern.
"FUCK!"
His voice cracked with pain.
"My hand!"
"It's burning!"
In the distance, Orion murmured quietly to himself.
"It's finally time, huh?"
"The Prince's Lord Seed is blossoming as well."
"Triggering the [Mark of the Beast]."
My head snapped toward him.
"What the hell are you—"
[Moon Sage: Tsukuyomi] cut in.
"The telepathy connection with Luda has been snapped."
My mind stumbled over that sentence.
"Snapped?"
Before I could process it—
My [Danger Sense] exploded in my skull. Yet, I was so stunned, I almost missed it. It took Kyttin Luna's voice to cut through the noise.
"Master, parry!"
My body moved before my brain did.
The Red Queen snapped upward.
CLANG.
The Meridian Goddess slammed against my blade with a sonic boom.
I looked up.
Luda stood in front of me.
Head lowered. Shoulders hunched. The sigil burned bright through his glove.
Slowly... he lifted his head.
Our eyes met, yet the [Eye of Ra] was extinguished.
And I knew instantly.
Luda wasn't there anymore. The familiarity in my nigga's gaze was gone. Like somebody else had crawled into his skin.
A deep growl rumbled from his throat.
Behind us, Orion started laughing.
Loud.
Unrestrained.
"Didn't I tell you, Demon Lord?"
His voice dripped with satisfaction.
"You were always fated to die by Luda's hands."
It's funny how dramatic the planet Gaia could be. Right in the middle of that fight, when the air was thick with mana and broken earth, the wind suddenly shifted direction. Not slowly either. It whipped across the scarred battlefield like the whole damn world had turned its head to watch what was about to happen.
Leaves tore from shattered trees and spiraled into the sky. Dust rolled across the ruined ground in twisting funnels. Even the smell of the forest changed, that wet amberwood scent getting pushed aside by the metallic tang of mana radiation.
Gaia had a way of doing that.
When something big was about to go down, she'd move a little differently, like a mother watching her kids fight in the yard but not stepping in.
And I knew it was watching. Moments like that stuck with me the most when I looked back on this whole mess.
[Moon Sage: Tsukuyomi]'s voice slid into my mind right on cue.
"The [Mark of the Beast] is forcing Luda's Soul Core to be replaced by a Golem of Fate, master."
There was a brief pause while my brain processed the new data pouring in. "The skill gives the owner the ability to seal and deal serious damage to beings with Outer Realm blood."
He paused again. "Like ours."
My boy, [Moon Sage: Tsukuyomi], never missed when it came to the updates.
The new mana pressure coming off Luda surged upward like somebody turned the dial all the way to max. His aura exploded outward in waves of golden and amber radiance that shook the ground beneath our feet.
And it kept climbing. Soon, that pressure sat damn near equal with Orion's. The divine radiation pouring off him lit the battlefield like sunrise had decided to stand on the damn ground with us. It should've been impressive. Instead? That shit irritated me like fuck.
The feeling scratched at the back of my skull like a bad memory trying to break through. Then I realized why.
Because Luda's mana signature was changing. Everything that made it his started fading away. That wild solar energy. The confident warmth that always carried his presence. The familiar rhythm I'd felt beside me in a hundred fights.
Gone.
What replaced it was something else entirely.
A signature I hadn't felt in a long time.
It was poetically disgusting. Beautiful even.
But there was poison braided through every thread of it. Sweet like honey... yet promising nightmares. That soft, dreamlike tone within the mana made something in my chest burn. Then it clicked.
That signature belonged to one person.
The Archon of Fate, Destini.
Luda's body straightened.
His shoulders rolled once as if someone new had just stepped into a suit that fit perfectly.
Then he looked up at me. But those weren't the eyes of my best friend.
"It is a huge pleasure to see you again, Xiro Mikazuki."
The voice coming out of my brother's mouth carried a delicate amusement that made my stomach turn.
"Especially, so soon, don't you think?"
The air vibrated faintly as her words settled across the battlefield.
Something ugly sparked to life in my chest.
Rage.
Not the casual anger I carried around most days, either.
This one had teeth.
The hatred I felt toward Destini hit me like a drug. A sharp rush that flooded my veins so quickly it almost made me dizzy.
The shit felt stronger than cocaine.
Because the idea of her kidnapping my brother's body just to try and make him kill me? That crossed a line.
My [Dominus Superbiae] ignited inside my soul. Right behind it, [Dominus Irae] roared awake like it had been waiting for a reason. Emotions I didn't even know I still had started grinding against each other inside my chest.
I stared straight into those stolen eyes.
"You have some fucking nerves to use my family like a puppet in your futile attempt at stopping me from killing you."
Luda's lips curled slightly.
But the smile wasn't his.
"You wound me, Archon of Night."
Destini tilted his head, studying me like a scientist watching a reaction unfold. "I am only trying to do what I must to protect the omniverse from you."
She stepped forward slowly, the Meridian Goddess resting casually in Luda's hand. "You understand that, right?"
Her gaze sharpened.
"You too seek to protect what you've come to love." A faint smirk. "Like that pride of yours."
Behind her, Orion casually dusted off his vest while observing everything like this was a damn lab experiment.
"I must say," he said thoughtfully, "this exercise with him has given me excellent field data on the Noetic Operational Virtual Architect."
Destini nodded lightly.
"Wonderous."
She rolled Luda's shoulders again, adjusting to the body like a puppeteer settling into familiar strings.
"Be sure to retrieve the [Mark of the Beast] from this body when we are done here."
Her eyes flicked toward Orion. "And we'll move forward with Project Solomon."
Orion chuckled softly.
"I'm already ahead of you."
He flexed the arm he had regenerated earlier.
"I've sent word to Libra to expect me by morning."
While they talked like this was just another day at the office, Luda's body moved smoothly into position.
Destini swung the Dawn Goddess through the air once before settling into a combat stance that felt almost... graceful.
Orion finished regenerating his arm completely, silver ichor evaporating off the new limb.
Both of them looked ready.
Two-on-one.
Alex was down.
Steez was down.
And I stood there in the middle of it alone.
What I didn't expect was the feeling creeping up inside my chest. Conflict.
I didn't want to kill my brother. But I absolutely wanted to kill Destini.
My brain kept searching for some answer about what the hell I should do next. And the more I thought about it... The whole situation felt more stupid. Why the hell was I even being forced into a position where hurting my own family was on the table? The thought pissed me the fuck off. Then it pissed me off even more. Because they had me in a setup designed exactly like that. I couldn't believe the disrespect of it. And that's when my emotional guard slipped. My dark V-Skill didn't hesitate.
The moment my emotions cracked open, [Midnight Star: Belial] slid into sync with me like we had been waiting for this moment together. His whisper curled through my body as our wills aligned.
"Demon of the Midnight Star—" My voice echoed across the broken battlefield. "[Trance: Neutrino Devil]."
Everything paused.
The wind.
The dust.
Even Orion and Destini stopped moving for a second.
Gaia loved drama like that. Then my mana detonated. My aura multiplied by fifty instantly. The ground beneath my feet flattened as gravity bent around the density of power pouring out of me. Light started breaking apart around my body like it couldn't decide what direction to travel anymore. My Bio Mana erupted violently. Nihility poured through my mana circuits as my entire Soul Core ignited into something that felt like an antimatter star. Devil Mana flooded outward, coating my aura in dark-indigo flames. Energy wings erupted from my back—deep ultramarine fading into violet at the edges. Long horns of condensed mana extended from my temples. A tail of crackling power unfurled behind me. Even my hair lifted and twisted with the current of my aura.
Guess I really wasn't beating those "Devil" allegations anytime soon.
Orion's eyes widened slightly. The fascination in his gaze was obvious.
"So that rumor about him having reached the first stage of Trance Awakening is true."
Destini narrowed Luda's eyes as she studied me.
"This version of the skill is a bit different. Modified."
Her voice carried careful curiosity.
"It appears to be powered without a Genesis Weapon."
She shifted her stance slightly.
"Use caution when you engage. It may not have the same flaw in its design."
While they were talking? My battle power just kept climbing. If they were smart, they would've jumped me right then and there. Killed me before the transformation stabilized.
But they didn't. They kept talking.
And I was done listening.
I vanished. Not fast. Gone. I reappeared directly in front of Orion with the Red Queen already mid-swing. The ōdachi cut through the air, aiming to split his face in half. At the last possible femtosecond, Orion's dagger artifact flicked sideways and knocked the blade off course. The edge still sliced through space itself. Reality split open for a fraction of a moment. Then the rift detonated behind us as the universe rushed to repair the damage.
I was already swinging again.
And again.
And again.
Millions of strikes poured out as our weapons collided at speeds that made the concept of time meaningless. The battlefield blurred into streaks of motion.
For what felt like an eternity, Orion and I clashed like two storms trying to tear each other apart. Then Destini joined. Luda's body flashed into the fight.
Two versus one.
I could have felt threatened.
But honestly? I was on straight fuck shit by that point. My [Adaptive Predator] had never felt more alive. The power pumping through my body felt incredible. Exhilarating. The Dominion's once intimidating mana signature? It was starting to look insultingly more surmountable. My whole mood flipped. They really had me fucked up, thinking I couldn't win.
The Red Queen clashed against the Meridian Goddess as Luda's fan-shaped dual axe met my ōdachi in explosive sparks.
Orion's Gamma Webs snapped around us while we fought, slicing through trees and terrain alike. The three of us danced across Endora's countryside like living natural disasters. Each collision sprayed glowing sparks into the air that floated down like morning dew.
I landed hits on Luda.
But I adjusted every single one. No lethal strikes. Just spiritual pressure. Attacks aimed at the invading ghost inside his body. It was risky. I had no idea if Destini was redirecting the damage to the real Luda or not. Hell, I wasn't even sure if my brother was still in there at first. Then [Moon Sage: Tsukuyomi] spoke again.
"Using the Crest of the Wolfpak to invade Luda's spiritual defense is a double-edged knife."
His voice was careful.
"It also allows him to bypass our protective spatial barriers."
I gritted my teeth mentally.
"A Crest is the ultimate sign of trust between a leader and his people."
My gaze locked onto Luda. "It's the only way I can keep a true watch on his soul."
I inhaled slowly. "I won't kill my family."
I didn't get time to think much longer. While dodging a horizontal swing from Orion, I stepped straight into Luda's follow-up. The Meridian Goddess chopped down across my upper arm. The double-edged axe bit deep. Ebony-colored blood poured from the wound. I kicked backward, disengaging from the fight and landing on a cracked boulder nearby. My hand pressed against the cut while my regeneration kicked in. Across from me, Orion still looked fresh. Barely touched.
Luda's body, though? It was starting to show limits. His aura flickered unevenly. I was still in good health overall. But fighting both of them at once made landing a lethal strike damn near impossible. They were chipping away at me slowly while my power kept climbing.
Orion tilted his head thoughtfully.
"I must give credit where it's due."
His eyes glinted with curiosity. "He is indeed the strongest variant since Zero Tàiyáng."
He glanced toward Destini. "Even with an incomplete Trance, he's able to fend off our combined assault."
Destini's voice came from Luda's body with calm confidence.
"He's getting stronger the longer this battle goes on."
She lifted the Meridian Goddess slightly.
"A worry not."
"The [Mark of the Beast] will ignore the defenses of those with Outer Realm blood."
Orion nodded.
"I'm aware." His gaze flicked toward me. "I felt it firsthand."
A faint smile formed. "Now... shall we wrap this up?"
I steadied my breath and drew the pieces of my Guardian Armament back together.
Astral Mana gathered around my hand like smoke returning to a flame. Black threads of Omnis Mana twisted with iridescent strands of divinity until the weapon began to rebuild itself in front of me. The unholy metal of the blade condensed out of raw spiritons, humming with a low, hungry vibration as the Kiss of Twilight took shape again.
The bastard sword slid into my palm like it had been waiting for me to come back. Wind moved across the torn countryside of Endora, carrying the smell of scorched dirt and broken wood. Bits of shattered stone floated slowly through the air where our earlier clashes had bent gravity out of shape.
I planted my feet and rolled my shoulders. That's when her voice slithered back into my mind like a velvet breeze.
"Now that I'm back, I have an idea that could either save Luda or destroy the souls of you both. But either way, it will free his body from my mother."
Omnia's tone carried that same sultry calm that always felt dangerous and comforting at the same time. She never rushed when she talked. And her presence was stabilizing my emotions.
I grinned despite the tension crawling across the battlefield.
"I'm with the shits. Tell me."
While she spoke inside my head, I kept my eyes locked on Luda's body standing across from me.
Destini moved Luda's body like a master puppeteer, fingers sliding through a series of Mikazuki Clan kuji-in. The hand signs were sharp and precise—too precise. The air above her exploded into light. Thousands of spears formed instantly. They hovered across the sky like a frozen rainstorm made of pure Divinity Mana. Each javelin glowed gold and white, humming with enough pressure to crack the ground beneath us.
The technique was unmistakable.
King's Barrage.
Except this version was heavenly. Every spear shimmered like a miniature star ready to drop. Honestly? It would've been beautiful as hell if I weren't the one being targeted. At the same moment, Orion moved. Thin silver lines appeared in the air around me—invisible strands of energy snapping into place across the battlefield like a cage building in fast-forward. Tachyon Webs.
They stretched across every escape path.
Above.
Below.
Left.
Right.
Every step I was about to take was already predicted by the ocular ability we both used. They were trying to trap me in every timeline possible.
I started to move.
Then I stopped. Because if they were reading the future... Then I'd just have to change the future right before it happened.
Instead of completing the dodge I had already begun, I slid my body back into place. Dust dragged across the ground under my boot as I lowered my stance. My shoulders turned. Blade angled. Breath pulled deep into my lungs.
And then I roared.
"Crescent Moon Blade: Tidal Surges!"
The moment the words left my mouth, the sword moved. The Kiss of Twilight blurred into motion so fast the blade disappeared entirely. My arms flowed through the technique like water breaking against a cliff. The first swing cut a Tachyon filament in half. The second shattered a dozen spears. The third turned my movements into a hurricane. Void metal screamed through the air as the greatsword became a spinning tide of destruction. The technique carried my body with it, my movements rolling into each other like waves crashing over waves.
Divinity spears rained down.
Thousands. Hundreds of thousands. Every strike met my blade.
CLANG!
CLANG!
CLANG!
Magiton sparks burst through the dawn sky like floating fireflies as mana collided against mana. Golden fragments of broken javelins drifted down around me like glowing snow while the web strands snapped apart one by one.
The speed kept rising.
My arms warmed with heat from the friction of raw magickal force as the sword danced faster and faster until the air itself started howling, attempting to keep up.
By the time the last spear shattered, the sky was empty again. And Luda was already moving. His body blurred forward with Meridian Goddess raised high. The twin-bladed axe folded open like a crescent fan as he closed the distance in an instant. I aimed my palm. A black portal ripped open beside him. [Midnight World]. The entrance yawned like a hungry mouth, ready to swallow him whole. But Destini reacted fast. Luda twisted mid-dash, sliding sideways through the air with unnatural flexibility. The portal snapped shut inches from his shoulder as he redirected the charge straight at me. Our weapons collided. The impact was biblical.
BOOOOM.
The sound cracked across the countryside like a detonation punching the sky.
The two Guardian Armaments slammed together, sending a shockwave blasting outward in every direction. Trees snapped in half twenty miles out. Hills split apart. The ground buckled beneath us like it had been shattered by a giant.
Stone exploded.
Wind roared.
I held my ground, pushing back against the axe as sparks sprayed between us.
That's when Orion moved.
One moment, he wasn't there.
The next—
Cold mythril kissed my back.
His artifact dagger drove forward and slammed against my spatial barrier with a metallic screech. He leaned close behind me. His voice carried the calm satisfaction of someone solving a puzzle.
"Yes, to all things—[Fragile]!"
CRACK.
This was his second time using that quiet bomb. The first time helped him land those face smashes.
My barrier shattered like glass under his Ultra Skill, again.
With that assistance, the blade punched through the broken defense and slid into my spine.
Pain flashed white across my entire nervous system.
I barely had time to register it before the next command came.
"Now, Disable—[Fallen Death: Samael]!"
The Vessel Skill's ability detonated inside my body.
A violent suppression slammed through my Soul Core like chains wrapping around a raging star. My Trance flickered once—
—and vanished.
The indigo energy wings dissolved into sparks.
My extended horns faded and returned to normal size.
The Kiss of Twilight disintegrated from my hands.
In the same breath, Luda's axe came down.
The Meridian Goddess crashed into my chest like a falling mountain.
CRUNCH.
The impact folded my ribs inward and sent black blood flying through the air. Breath exploded out of my lungs as the world spun violently around me.
For a second, the light of the sky turned black.
Then red.
Then nothing.
The pain was so overwhelming that it became quiet. Funny how that shit works. Right before everything faded, I forced my mind to steady itself. No panic. No screaming. Just silence as the darkness rolled in.
I let the void take me. Peacefully.
What only felt like a heartbeat later, my eyes opened again. Except... they weren't my physical eyes. The pain from Orion's blade, the crushing impact of Luda's axe, the roar of battle—all of it had vanished like someone had muted the universe. What replaced it was a silence so calm it almost felt fake.
I stood in the middle of an endless orchard.
Rows and rows of fruit trees stretched in every direction, perfectly spaced and impossibly symmetrical. Their branches carried blossoms and ripe fruit at the same time, pink petals drifting lazily through the air like soft snow. The grass beneath my feet was cut to an exact height, each blade standing straight like it had been measured with a ruler.
It was beautiful.
Too beautiful.
Perfect symmetry always had a way of looking a little aggressive to the mortal eye. Like the idea of it was trying a bit too hard to please your brain.
I tilted my head back and looked up. Above me sat a star burning in eternal noon. It hung in the sky without moving, casting a warm golden light over the endless garden. No clouds. No breeze was strong enough to break the stillness. Just that massive sun shining forever in the same place.
The vibe hit me instantly. It reminded me of my [Midnight World], except flipped inside out. Mine was moonlight and darkness: quiet stars and cold shadows. This one? This shit was sunlight frozen in place. I glanced down at my chest, instinctively reaching for the spot where Luda's axe had buried itself into me. My fingers passed through my torso like mist. No blood. No wound. Just my ethereal form.
A slow grin pulled across my face.
"Bet."
That meant my gamble worked. I was definitely inside Luda's mind-space.
I'd slipped half of my soul into his Soul Core right before Orion disabled me. Sneaky little maneuver—splitting my soul and stashing half of it inside my homie's body like spiritual contraband.
The problem was that I couldn't stay long.
If my soul started regenerating the missing half inside his body, the power surge would rip his Soul Core apart from the inside out. His spirit wouldn't survive that kind of overload. So imagine my relief when I felt a familiar presence nearby. A pressure. Faint, but stubborn. I turned my head and saw him standing a few trees down the row. His form looked like a hazy silhouette wrapped in pale gold light, like someone sculpted him out of warm fog.
I walked up to him and laughed. "There you go, nigga. I'm glad she didn't kill you off."
The silhouette stiffened.
Then it turned toward me.
"Xi? Xiro? How did you get here?"
His voice carried confusion, relief, and about ten different questions fighting each other for attention.
I shrugged like I had just stopped by to borrow sugar.
"I placed your body under hypnosis and used the Crest of the Wolfpak to invade your soul. Nothing major."
He blinked slowly.
"...How is that even possible? What about your body?"
"I left my body holding the other half of my soul. I'm not trying to be trapped here, so we've gotta make this quick."
The golden haze around him shifted as he folded his arms.
"What do you mean? You're in my sacred place, and I'm extremely busy at the moment."
I stared at him like he had just said the dumbest shit imaginable.
"Nigga, how busy you gotta be to not notice that your body has been hijacked by the enemy?"
He froze.
"Hijacked?"
The realization crawled across his face slowly.
"Forgive me, bro. I fear that my body being stolen would make sense as to why I'm having so much trouble trying to open my eyes."
He rubbed his temples like the thought itself hurt.
"If not for feeling your spiritual pressure, I probably would have been stuck in this fog trying to hold on."
I clicked my tongue.
"That damn [Mark of the Beast] is the gate between you and Destini."
"The Archon of Fate?" He exhaled slowly. "Even so, I'm afraid I won't be able to assist right now."
The light around him flickered weakly.
"The amount of magick being converted into ascended mana is damaging my Soul Core, badly. I'm giving it my all just to keep the remaining half from tearing and breaking."
His hands trembled slightly.
"This pain is unbearable, dawg."
He laughed weakly.
"It's taking all of my mental strength not to succumb to it. But I've never felt power like this before."
I scratched the back of my head.
"Shit. It probably wouldn't have been so damaged if not for my forced buff on y'all."
He shook his head immediately.
"I appreciate the thought, but my weaknesses are only due to me."
His gaze dropped to the ground between us.
"I feel like I let the squad down. Becoming a threat to the very people I call my second family."
The orchard wind finally moved a little, rustling the leaves softly.
Then his voice dropped lower.
"Yet, I want this power for my own. To experience this realm of magick, I could never go back to being a simple SS-Class M-Cee."
The words carried more honesty than pride. The sunlight above us intensified in reaction. A few branches on nearby trees broke off the limbs and fell with overly ripe fruit.
"There must be a way for me to keep it as my own."
I paused.
Because that right there? That was his ambition talking. Luda had always been loyal. Always solid. Always the dependable one in the squad. But underneath that loyalty was a greedy hunger. A quiet one. And right now, that greed was fighting for survival just as much as his soul was. I couldn't see his face clearly through the golden haze, but I didn't need to. I knew that look. Frustration. Disappointment. The feeling of addiction from chasing a goal.
I cracked my neck and smirked.
"We're not done yet, fool."
His head lifted slightly.
"I bet half of my Soul Core on this gamble."
I pointed upward like they could hear me through dimensions.
"So we're going to kick Orion's ass with this idea I got from Omnia."
I stepped closer.
"Trust me, if you want to see some magickal power, this shit will show you stuff even I've never seen before."
Then my grin widened.
"But first, we're going to disconnect your link to Destini."
The wicked smile that stretched across my face probably looked a little unhinged. "High risk, high reward type shit."
Luda just shook his head gently and chuckled. With those laughs, the wind returned to the endless garden.
"I should have known you would be willing to gamble with the future."
I shrugged.
"Of course, I am a double-or-nothing type." Then I tapped my chest. "Add-on that I can manipulate probability..."
I leaned in slightly.
"My nigga, I'm playing with house money."
He stared at me for a moment.
Then his expression softened.
"If I trust anyone with my life, it would be you, Xi."
A small grin formed on his face.
"Besides, if I die, I'll find a way back to haunt you as a ghost for fucking up."
I laughed.
"You know what, that's fair."
I stuck my hand out.
"Let's do this."
He stepped forward without hesitation. Our palms slapped together in that familiar dap-up before our fists knocked against each other. That simple contact carried years of trust. Years of battles. Years of brotherhood. With our knuckles pressed together, I lowered my voice. The synchronization of our mana led the way for my following words.
"[Core Fusion]."
Back in reality, the first thing that moved was Orion's arm. His hand slid free from the wound in my back, dragging that cursed artifact along with it. The blade left my spine with a wet, grinding sound that made the air feel heavier for a second.
My body didn't react. Didn't twitch. Didn't breathe. I just hung there in the air for a moment like a broken puppet. Spiritons popped and fizzed around me like tiny sparks from a dying quasar, drifting through the battlefield as faint motes of silver light. They crackled softly, the sound almost like burning paper.
Then gravity remembered I existed. My body sagged forward.
Black blood poured from the hole in my back like an oil spill spreading across pavement. Thick. Slow. Too dark to look natural. The scent hit the battlefield almost immediately. Brimstone. All Infernian blood carried that smell—sulfur, ash, and something ancient that reminded you Hell wasn't just a concept.
The same blood splashed across Luda's body as I collapsed forward onto the flat of the Meridian Goddess. The axe rang softly from the impact. Above us, Gaia's sky had begun changing colors. Pink. Orange. Blue. Dawn was pushing its way into the world, the horizon glowing like someone had cracked the planet open and poured light inside it. And the wind?
It stopped.
Just... stopped. The forest that had been screaming from the violence moments earlier went still. Because my mana signature vanished. Completely. That silence made Orion uneasy. He stepped closer, eyes narrowing as he studied my unmoving body. The Angel clearly wasn't interested in destroying my Soul Core—not with the Abraxas Code still locked inside it.
His tone sharpened.
"Careful! It appears that the last attack destroyed half of the core. That remaining half is severely damaged because of your Genesis Weapon."
Across from him, Luda's body tilted its head slightly.
Destini was still piloting him. But there was hesitation in her voice.
"I'm not fully sure on that."
Her glowing eyes studied my body carefully. "Xiro's Soul Core split in half before my attack landed."
A pause followed. "I'm having difficulty remembering when."
That sentence landed wrong.
The moment the words left Luda's mouth, Destini felt it. She was the Archon of Fate. Memory wasn't something she struggled with. That meant something had interfered with her awareness. Her eyes suddenly widened. My invading psionic waves were crawling through the spiritual field like invisible parasites. The illusion I'd wrapped around the battlefield unraveled instantly as she tore it apart. But it was already too late.
Orion leaned forward slightly, eyes narrowing.
"What is that growing essence I feel coming from within the prince's body?"
The answer came a second later.
My bloodied body didn't fall away from Luda. It sank into him. The moment our bodies touched, the pressure detonated. A blinding eruption of light exploded outward as mana burst from the point of contact like a newborn star collapsing in reverse. The ground cratered instantly, dirt and stone launching into the air as waves of magickal force rolled across the countryside. Destini tried to speak. Tried to shout. But the sound cut off halfway. The fusion ripped her right out of Luda's body. Her spiritual presence was violently ejected, thrown from the host like a parasite getting rejected by a living immune system. Inside that light, something new formed. Even Orion could only stand there and watch.
"What is happening?"
The Angel shielded his eyes from the growing sphere of energy.
"Where is all of this pressure coming from?"
The orb shrank inward as the mana density multiplied.
"Damnit, did she absorb the Abraxas Code or something?"
He jumped backward suddenly, instinct forcing distance between himself and the phenomenon. Because the sphere had grown dense enough to bend gravity. The ground warped. Trees leaned. Rivers miles away surged backward as Gaia's gravity field twisted around the singularity forming before Orion. Across the exoplanet, winds went wild. Storms formed. Clouds spun in confused spirals as the atmosphere tried to understand which direction gravity even pointed anymore. Inside that shrinking orb, the light began turning wrong.
Not white.
Not colorful.
Black light.
An inverted brightness that swallowed color instead of producing it. The morning sunlight bent around the sphere like it was scared to touch it.
Then—
POP.
A sonic snap cracked across the countryside.
And we appeared.
Not as two.
But as one.
With the use of [Core Fusion], I forced the two half-souls into temporary unity. Not a simple merge. A parallel dual-core. Luda's Soul Core erupted with Ether, releasing radiant iridescent magickal pressure that felt like a bright, large sun. Mine? Mine collapsed into Nihility. Dark antimatter energy churned through it like a black star devouring light itself. Those two Foundational Particles—Ether and Nihility—fed into each other, amplifying the magickal output of the new core beyond anything either of us had produced individually.
The result?
Power. Unstable and unmatched. Beautiful. Terrifying.
The air itself seemed confused by the presence that replaced the orb. The atmosphere carried a strange taste now—something intoxicating and divine at the same time. Our hair shifted colors slowly, like someone sliding a filter over reality. It started the color of a watermelon rind. Then faded into indigo. Then black at the tips. Two horns curved from our forehead, coated in swirling mana as they pointed toward the sky. From our back, massive wings of energy spread outward, formed entirely from streaming magickal currents. The face we wore? It carried both of ours. Luda's sharper jaw. My eyes. Features blended like the universe had taken the best pieces from both blueprints and stitched them into something new.
Even my bioarmor had reversed its colors. My obsidian armor now carried snow white tones with golden trim running along the edges—Luda's influence showing itself clearly. The waist-cape was gone. Everything about the design screamed power without needing decoration.
We looked down at ourselves slowly.
"Damn."
Two voices moved through the same thought.
One calm. One reckless.
This form was impressive.
Someone new. Yet familiar.
Luda's strength multiplied by my strength.
A straight-up glitch in the program. Across the field, Orion stared in disbelief.
"Who is this?"
His eyes scanned our aura again.
"I don't feel any of Destini's presence, yet I'm getting an overbearing sense of the prince and Demon Lord."
We tilted our head, studying our new hands.
"Just as dope as we thought it would be," we murmured to ourselves. A faint grin appeared. "Doesn't look like I'll be able to keep this up for too long."
Orion tried using [Future Sight] again. The skill returned nothing. Just a blinding paradox. When he stared at us, the only thing his mind could interpret was a void brighter than the sun.
No timeline.
No outcome.
No future.
Just a walking error in reality.
We looked around casually.
"Now, where about did we leave them?"
Our eyes locked onto two distant figures across the countryside.
"Ah, there they go."
Orion moved instantly.
Tachyon Webs exploded from his hands, thousands of invisible threads racing toward us to cocoon our body. Hyper-enforced filaments that distorted the spatial fabrics, unlike before. But we had seen that move way too many times by then. We barely looked at them approaching. With a lazy flick of our wrist, we brushed the webs aside. The Tachyon filaments shattered into harmless strands, [Magick Reconstruction] instantly turning them into drifting celebratory confetti.
Orion froze. Confused. Stunned.
He couldn't even track the moment we moved or make sense of what just happened. By the time he disabled [Future Sight], relying on his natural eyes instead, the battlefield showed nothing but a blur. Then he felt us again. Half a mile away. We stood calmly with Steez tucked under one arm and Alex under the other like groceries we'd just picked up.
Orion blinked.
"When did he collect them?"
His voice carried a note of genuine fascination.
"Oh my, what an intriguing turn of events."
We crouched down and placed both of them gently on the ground.
A small twist of our wrist activated the spell.
A sphere of ultraviolet and gold expanded around their bodies, humming softly as divine magick filled the air. My Recovery Sphere had evolved. This version ran on a mix of Divinity Mana & Omnis Mana. Inside the transparent bubble, healing accelerated instantly.
Alex's shattered mana pool refilled like someone had opened a floodgate. His muscles repaired themselves in seconds. Steez? His missing feet regrew immediately—bone knitting, muscle weaving, skin sealing over like time had reversed itself. Both of them inhaled sharply. Consciousness returned. Their eyes snapped open. They sat up slowly, rubbing their faces as if trying to wake up from the weirdest dream imaginable.
Alex stared at us.
Hard.
Then squinted.
"Luda? No. Xi? Wait, you're not Xiro."
He pointed at us suspiciously.
"Who the hell are you?"
Beside him, Steez leaned forward, eyes wide.
"Ain't no way..."
We paused.
That was actually a good question. Who were we?
Two souls. One will.
Xiro. Luda.
The answer rolled through our mind like a punchline waiting to land. That's when we pointed at ourselves with our thumb.
"I guess you could call us…"
A grin spread across our shared face.
"Xida, the Invincible."
Yeah.
The pose probably looked goofy as hell. But the devilish smile helped sell it. Alex and Steez stared at us for a moment. Relief slowly replaced the confusion on their faces. They didn't fully understand what they were looking at. But they knew one thing.
Whoever we were, if we were standing in front of Orion? Then betting everything on us had to be as good as playing with house money.
[End of Chapter]
[1] April of Earth.