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"Veil of the Abyss."
The words echoed in Mei's mind, vibrating like a distant bell announcing the imminent shift in balance. The portal had released an overwhelming spike of energy, sufficient to restore, almost instantly, the strength of the Princes and Dante. Mei felt, in every fiber of her being, the oscillation of power around her. The black hole she had created, designed to distract and wound, was being sucked back, consumed by the Princes, as if they were adapting to every nuance of her technique.
And the Veil was forming. Mei could feel the darkness solidifying, covering the battlefield with a primitive, inevitable sensation. Every molecule of energy around her seemed to pulse, responding to the portal's presence.
Dante laughed, his voice sharp and full of sadistic pleasure:
— What will you do now, Mei? This situation wasn't in your plans, was it?
Mei merely smiled, lowering her head slightly. Her voice, calm and firm, cut through the air:
— Plans? I don't make plans. I make ideas.
It hasn't strayed from my design… she thought, analyzing every detail. The Veil is active now, two dimensions about to overlap: this Abyssal place and the Veil. She could simply explode everything and reset the field from scratch, but it would cost a great deal of energy to shape a powerful attack, and then she would immediately have to deal with the Veil and the Princes in a wide-open space, risking her strategy. Therefore, it was better to limit the field, concentrate everything into something greater, and bet on the difference in strength to kill two problems with one. Time to act.
She raised her arms, feeling the pressure of energy condensing around her. Dante was already concentrating his strength, molding the space to encompass the entire area of the Abyssal cosmic plane. Mei knew the work he was doing—calculating enough energy to cover that expanse requires time and precision. Every second of delay was an opportunity.
Dante murmured almost without realizing it, a mix of fascination and apprehension:
— What is this woman going to do? Everything is against her… there's no way…
Dante spoke, but the pressure from the black hole was shaking everything in that space.
Hair, robes, everything in the wind.
Mei closed her eyes for a moment. She felt the Planetary Nebula spinning with increasing intensity around the black hole, as if it were alive, responding directly to her own aura. The Princes felt the energy intensify, the black hole's gravity increasing with every rotation. They tried to absorb, they tried to resist, but they were trapped, limited by Mei's own creation.
Almost complete… she thought. The Planetary Nebula isn't just an attack technique. It's a variation created for summons. The greater the summon and its energy, the greater the damage. The more they absorb, the more exposed they become.
A divergent technique. Meaning, its power depends on certain conditions.
The black hole intensified, momentarily releasing the male Prince. But all his strength was channeled to the woman, imprisoning her in a cage of energetic spheres pulsing with the very essence of gravity.
The man tried to intervene, hesitating, confused. Mei had predicted every move:
— Dual Divergence.
Mei's mental command released an explosion of energy from the black hole, pushing the man back while feeding the woman, enveloping her in a sphere of incandescent energy. The darkness tried to swallow everything, yet she still shone, defying the laws of matter and energy.
They are strong but don't have enough energy. They are unstable, unconventional summons, which might affect the conditions a bit, but I can't retreat. All I need to do is create and ensure. My technique won't fail. It can't fail. Mei took a deep breath, feeling every pulse of cosmic energy, every oscillation of gravity and light.
The woman was absorbing all the energy.
Feeling every power flow through her veins, she looked at Mei — What does this woman think she's doing? Is she stupid? She's spending an immense amount of energy and feeding me in the process... When the Veil forms, I will kill her with a single blow. — She snarled while shimmering inside the black hole.
Listening, Mei smiled and thought: Perhaps she thinks I'm wasting energy. But she doesn't understand that I am in control.
And you will be part of my ritual.
Dante, in turn, felt Mei's silent precision. Every movement, every gesture, every nuance of the battlefield was under her control. She wasn't just fighting; she was molding reality around her, manipulating space, defining the battle's rhythm, and simultaneously testing the Princes' resistance.
The black hole spun with near-insane intensity, absorbing and releasing energy in a calculated manner. Mei felt the cosmic pressure increase, the Veil almost complete. If it stabilizes… if it expands further… everything changes. But for now, in these final seconds, control is in my hands.
The woman radiated energy, fed by the black hole itself. Mei maintained her focus, calculating every variation, every reaction, anticipating the next move. This is the essence of fighting without limits. Transforming ideas into reality. Every blow, every released energy, is an extension of my will.
And Dante knew, in that instant, that this red-haired woman was not just a threat. She was the force shaping the Abyss's destiny, the only one capable of confronting the Veil and the Princes with such mastery and absolute control.
The Planetary Nebula orbiting the black hole stopped abruptly. Its concentrated energy hovered directly above the woman, making her the target of immense pressure that seemed to burn every molecule of her ethereal body.
Dante watched, his eyes alight with expectation and tension. Everything was against Mei, she was trapped and would be suffocated by the Veil, yet she still resisted and, worse, was plotting something, something he couldn't predict.
At that moment, he was betting on closing the Veil and killing her.
The strategy hadn't changed.
The Princess-Prince roared, unable to contain herself, her energy vibrating unstably, almost about to explode under the Nebula's weight.
The male Prince advanced with a roar, aiming for Mei with all his might. But before he could even touch the edge of her aura, the woman screamed desperately, diverting his attention. He hesitated, and that moment was enough.
Mei felt the weight of the energy around her, but in her mind, every calculation was already done:
What these creatures don't understand is that true power isn't just in brute force. It's in the control of space, in the absolute manipulation of the surrounding energy. Every technique, every summon, no matter how powerful it seems, is still subject to something greater.
She felt the black hole pulse, felt the Princess-Prince tremble under the pressure. It was too much energy concentrated in a single point, energy that no one, except her, could control with such precision.
There are techniques in this world that create areas of absolute power. Within them, the caster dictates the rules. The Veil is an example of that, but Abyssal energy, pure energy... none of it matters if I can impose my will. The Veil is problematic, but nothing stands before a greater power; all I need is to bet that I can break this energy.
Now all that remains is me, against two overlapping dimensions, a risky bet. It's going to be a grand all or nothing.
Mei took a deep breath. Every thought, every calculation, every risk was concentrated in that moment.
It wasn't enough to just have the explosion of the Planetary Nebula or even the Devastating Supernova. I would spend too much energy to subdue just one area. So I waited, until I had two areas of simultaneous, condensed energy… then I need the divergence. My technique, their energy… everything fused into a single point. It's risky, it exposes me to extreme damage, but putting my life on the line as a condition is the only way to amplify the power to its maximum.
She felt Dante's gaze piercing through her, his unease palpable:
"Just how far can Mei Nuhay go?"
"These Tsukis, what a problematic lineage."
Mei began to run. Her feet barely touched the ground as her aura grew, radiating power like a sun about to explode. She knew that the moment her energy touched the woman's aura and fused with the Nebula, the technique would reach an unprecedented level.
It's now or never… forbidden technique…, she thought, a challenging smile appearing on her face.
Solar Fusion: Divergent Devastating Supernova... Or rather…
— Sun — Her voice cut through the air, laden with absolute power.
Dante and the Prince felt it, the energy exploding, subjugating everything around them, and at the center, the woman.
The Prince screamed in despair:
— SERAPHYNE!!!
The Princess Seraphyne and he exchanged a look, filled with unspoken sentiment.
The universe seemed to hold its breath for an instant. And then everything turned white.
BOOM.
The air rippled like liquid. Every breath carried heat, energy, and a tension that made matter tremble. Mei's explosion wasn't simply devastating—it was a rupture in reality itself, a force that distorted light, deformed space, and bent time around it.
The Veil of the Abyss began to crack like ancient glass. Black and purple fissures spread in chaotic patterns, pulsing with residual energy, vibrating as if the universe itself were agonizing. Every fragment that broke away from the Veil floated, spinning slowly before disintegrating into cosmic dust, evaporating without a trace.
The dimension sustaining the Princes, built with Dante's precision, could not withstand the pressure. Space trembled, distorting in concentric waves that tore the sky and ground, bending gravity into small whirlpools before imploding into a deathly silence. There were no visible figures, only pulses of pure energy erasing everything they touched, consuming buildings, streets, cars, and trees in a vortex of destruction.
The potency of the blow destroyed the overlapping dimensions, but it didn't stop there; subjugating them was only the beginning.
The ground split open violently. A colossal crater formed, swallowing streets and blocks as if the city had been sucked into a hole in the world's fabric. Fragments of concrete, twisted metal, and rubble floated for a few seconds before being consumed into incandescent particles, evaporating in a rain of red sparks that fell from the sky like a shower of blood and ashes. Every spark erased whatever it touched, as if marking an absolute annihilation.
The sky seemed fused with the explosion. Clouds of purple and red energy writhed and spun, casting flashes of light that made shadows dance in an unsettling manner, like specters of a world that no longer existed. The atmosphere was dense, charged with electricity and pure energy, trembling in waves that resonated through the ground, making the crater pulse like a gigantic heart about to rupture.
The wind carried sparks and ashes, forming small tempests that swept across the crater in chaotic whirlwinds. Every gust seemed to whisper the magnitude of the power its creator wielded. There was no sound of life, only the echo of the destruction itself, the crackle of residual energy dissipating, and the vibration of space trying to recompose itself.
On the horizon, the crater gaped like a living wound. Its edge smoldered, with fragments of buildings still burning, twisted, floating slowly before disappearing. Every spark falling from the sky seemed to mark the complete nullification of any presence. The world was silent, except for the murmur of particles, as if the universe itself were breathing cautiously, terrified before the power that had been unleashed.
And there, in that absolute void, the sensation was unequivocal: there was nothing, no one, capable of resisting this. Mei's force had redefined space, erased the Abyss, and consumed any shadow that dared to exist in that instant. Every detail, every spark, every fragment was the signature of the Divergent Devastating Supernova, making it clear that the destruction was not merely physical—it was existential.
To be continued…
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