Almesis erupted into laughter.
The sound rolled across Atlantis like the collapse of worlds themselves.
Ancient towers cracked apart from the vibration alone, while oceans of crimson sand burst upward around the colossal ruler of the desert. Its skeletal wings spread wider and wider until they blotted entire sections of the crimson sky from view.
"Finally..." Almesis growled, its voice distorted and hollow, like countless beings speaking at once from inside an endless abyss. "Finally something crosses my path."
Its clawed fingers dragged across the ground beneath it.
The moment those black talons touched the stone streets of Atlantis—
Entire structures vanished.
Not destroyed.
Not shattered.
Gone.
Buildings closest to its claws simply ceased to exist, erased from reality itself as though they had never been there to begin with. One moment towering walls stood proudly against time.
The next—
Nothing remained.
Youri's eyes widened immediately.
"What the hell..."
Lea stepped back instinctively.
"That's his Aura of Erasure..." she whispered. "Don't let him touch you."
Almesis tilted its skeletal head downward toward them.
"I have no recollection," it continued slowly, "of the last time I saw living things within my city."
Its grin widened further.
"But I think..."
The ground exploded beneath its feet.
"I'm going to enjoy this."
In an instant, Almesis lunged forward.
The sheer force of its movement distorted Atlantis itself. Entire avenues collapsed inward while gravitational pressure erupted outward from its body like invisible waves.
Youri suddenly felt his body become impossibly heavy.
The streets beneath him cracked violently.
Entire towers around the Tartarusios began getting dragged toward Almesis as though an invisible star had formed inside its body.
Infinite Mass.
Even standing still, the creature warped gravity itself.
Lea dropped to one knee immediately.
Youri barely managed to stay standing.
Then—
Darkness exploded between them.
A colossal wave of black antimatter erupted across the city as Altopereh appeared directly in front of Almesis.
The impact alone split the streets of Atlantis for kilometers.
Almesis halted instantly.
The two monsters stood face to face.
Altopereh had fully absorbed the Orbiton vessel now.
Its true form towered above Atlantis in all its monstrous glory.
Its gigantic antimatter body rippled endlessly with black liquid-like energy while crimson lines pulsed beneath its armored hide like glowing veins. Massive curved horns stretched backward from its skull while countless streams of dark matter flowed around its body like living smoke.
The crimson sky itself darkened around it.
Almesis stared silently for several moments.
Then it laughed again.
"You..." it hissed.
Its skeletal claws flexed slowly.
"I know you."
Altopereh grinned.
"You should."
Almesis tilted its head slightly.
"You kept running through my domain over and over again..." it muttered. "What did they call you again?"
Its grin widened.
"I don't remember."
Then its laughter deepened.
"After all... you lost to mere mortals."
The air around Atlantis trembled violently.
But Altopereh laughed too.
A deep monstrous laugh filled with pure hatred.
"Look who's talking," Altopereh growled. "The mighty Almesis."
Black antimatter began spiraling violently around its claws.
"The one who let the Sacros walk straight into his home... forge chains for gods... and leave without a scratch."
Almesis stopped laughing.
The entire city became silent.
Then Altopereh pointed one claw toward Atlantis itself.
"And you dare mock me?"
The instant those words fell—
Both monsters vanished.
The collision shattered half the district surrounding Tartarusios.
Almesis and Altopereh slammed into one another with enough force to send shockwaves tearing through the entire city. Entire towers collapsed instantly while the ground beneath them imploded into a crater stretching across kilometers.
Youri grabbed Lea immediately.
"We move now!"
The two rushed toward the Tartarusios while the battle exploded behind them.
Above Atlantis, Almesis swung one enormous skeletal claw downward.
The attack never touched Altopereh directly.
Instead—
Reality itself bent.
The slash existed across multiple points simultaneously.
Altopereh dodged left—
Yet the wound appeared across its chest anyway.
Dark antimatter erupted outward as a massive gash tore through its body despite the attack never physically connecting.
Altopereh snarled violently.
"So this are your broken ability's!"
It retaliated instantly.
Dozens of antimatter spikes erupted around Almesis before collapsing inward simultaneously.
MICRO SINGULARITY ROUNDS.
The city distorted violently as miniature black holes detonated around the ruler of the desert.
Entire chunks of Atlantis folded inward and vanished.
But Almesis simply walked through the destruction.
Its body ignored the collapsing space itself.
Then suddenly—
Gravity exploded outward.
Youri and Lea both slammed against the ground inside the streets below.
Entire districts of Atlantis began getting dragged upward toward Almesis as though the city itself was being pulled into orbit around the creature.
Massive towers tore free from their foundations.
Stone bridges collapsed upward into the sky.
Even the Tartarusios groaned loudly as portions of the colossal ship began shifting toward the gravitational pull.
Inside the chaos, Youri and Lea finally reached the massive entrance partially exposed beneath the sand.
The opening towered hundreds of meters high.
Ancient mechanisms lined its sides while massive symbols glowed faintly beneath centuries of dust.
Behind them, another explosion shook Atlantis.
Altopereh roared as antimatter beams erupted from its jaws, cutting across the city in gigantic arcs of black destruction.
Almesis countered by spreading its skeletal wings.
The space around the beams distorted instantly.
The attacks curved unnaturally—
Then redirected.
Altopereh's own attacks came flying back toward it from impossible angles.
The antimatter beams slammed directly into Altopereh's side, sending the colossal ruler crashing through entire sections of Atlantis.
Youri looked back briefly.
"What the hell is that thing!?"
Lea immediately grabbed him.
"Focus!"
The two entered the Tartarusios.
Darkness swallowed them instantly.
The inside of the ship felt impossibly vast.
Gigantic corridors stretched endlessly into the distance while ancient golden lights flickered weakly along the walls. Massive structures resembling engines lined the interior, many partially broken or buried beneath time.
The entire vessel felt dead.
Youri could feel vibrations traveling through the ship itself.
Like it was sleeping.
Far above them—
Another colossal shockwave erupted.
Dust rained from the Tartarusios ceiling.
Outside, Almesis grabbed Altopereh by the throat and slammed the antimatter ruler across Atlantis repeatedly.
Each impact erased parts of the city entirely.
Altopereh retaliated with savage fury.
Gigantic plasma blades formed around both arms as it carved directly through Almesis' wings, sending black skeletal fragments crashing across the desert.
But the wounds regenerated instantly.
Almesis laughed.
"You cannot kill the endless one!"
Its jaws opened unnaturally wide.
Then the city screamed.
Every loose object within Atlantis suddenly accelerated toward Altopereh simultaneously under Infinite Mass.
Entire skyscraper-sized ruins crashed into the antimatter ruler from every direction.
Altopereh exploded outward in black energy, vaporizing everything around it.
Then it lunged directly into Almesis.
The two monsters tore through the crimson sky above Atlantis like gods at war.
Meanwhile, deep inside the Tartarusios—
Youri and Lea finally reached what looked like a colossal chamber.
A gigantic circular mechanism stood at its center, covered in ancient symbols identical to the ones outside the ship.
Lea stared upward.
"This is the core chamber..."
Youri looked around.
"So how do we power this thing?"
Lea slowly approached the mechanism.
Then she froze.
The symbols were glowing.
One by one.
Something was already activating the ship.
A deep rumble echoed through the Tartarusios.
Then—
A voice.
Ancient.
Mechanical.
Alive.
"Power sequence... detected."
Youri's eyes widened immediately.
The colossal chamber began illuminating slowly with golden light.
Outside, Almesis suddenly stopped mid-battle.
Its skeletal head slowly turned toward the Tartarusios.
For the first time—
Its grin disappeared.
And deep within Atlantis...
Something ancient finally began to awaken.