✨ CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE — THE LAST IMPACT ✨
The city trembled beneath them.
Aiden and the Executor collided mid-air.
The explosion of energy was apocalyptic, a fusion of golden-white and crimson-red that lit the skyline like a second sun.
Glass, metal, and concrete erupted outward in waves of destruction.
The streets below were unrecognizable, twisted into jagged valleys of debris.
Maya clung to a rooftop edge, silver threads flaring violently, trying to stabilize Dara and herself.
"This… this is insane!" she shouted, barely audible over the shockwave.
"Even Omega-Class shouldn't be able to withstand his Vessel output like this!"
Dara groaned, clutching the edge of the building.
"I am so done with buildings right now!"
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THE COLLISION'S AFTERMATH
The Executor's crimson wings beat like hurricane blades, sending shards of steel flying.
Its armor began cracking under Aiden's unrelenting assault.
Yet it did not falter—its form restructured faster than reality itself could register.
Aiden's wings blazed white-gold, threads of Maya's silver energy intertwining, wrapping him in a lattice of control.
Every strike he threw now carried precision, force, and strategy—not just raw power.
He jabbed his fist into the Executor's torso.
Red light exploded outward, but the monster barely stumbled.
It responded immediately, claws reshaping into spear-like extensions.
They skewered the air, forcing Aiden to dodge mid-flight.
---
THE FINAL DANCE
Aiden rolled through the debris-filled air, striking in tandem with Maya's guidance.
Silver-gold streaks weaved around him, a perfect mesh of attack and defense.
"Focus on the core!" Maya yelled. "Every hit must overload its central matrix!"
Dara, now fully committed, swung a fallen streetlight like a baton.
It wasn't much damage—but it distracted the Executor long enough for Aiden to reposition.
Golden fists met crimson claws in a deafening clash.
Every impact vibrated the ground for kilometers.
The Executor's final weapon emerged: a blade of pure condensed gravity, stretching from its arm like a comet's tail.
Aiden caught it with both hands.
The sheer force nearly snapped his bones.
He gritted his teeth, aura flaring like a nova, and pushed back.
---
THE TURNING POINT
The Executor's system screamed in fragmented voices:
"Vessel… output… critical… unmatchable…"
Aiden's aura shifted, golden-white flames weaving into pure consciousness of the Vessel.
He no longer acted on instinct—he acted as a singular entity of Vessel and human.
He pivoted mid-air, flipping around the Executor, and drove a double-palm strike directly into its exposed core.
BOOOOOOOM!!
The shockwave shattered surrounding buildings.
Crimson energy erupted outward like molten rivers.
The Executor staggered.
Its wings, now fragmented, whipped wildly.
Every system it possessed was screaming—failing—breaking under the Vessel's unified strike.
Dara shouted from below, awe-struck:
"BRO—YOU DID IT! IT'S—IT'S—OH MY GOD—IT'S FALLING!!"
---
THE LAST IMPACT
Aiden soared above the monster, wings fully extended.
Golden-white light enveloped him completely—pure Vessel Core Ascension.
He struck down.
One final impact.
Crimson and gold collided in a cataclysmic sphere of light.
The shockwave rolled outward, flattening blocks, cracking streets, bending the horizon.
When the light faded…
The Executor was gone.
Only scorched ground and shattered debris remained.
Aiden hovered, panting, wings flickering.
Maya's silver threads spiraled around him, stabilizing his form.
Dara staggered over, wide-eyed, stunned.
"We… we just survived Omega-Class… and the Citadel… somehow…"
Aiden looked at the smoking ruins.
His eyes glowed softly gold-white.
The Vessel whispered—not just as power, but as presence:
"This… is only the beginning."
Maya placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Then… whatever comes next, we face it… together."
Dara, still clutching his pipe, muttered:
"Can someone please tell me there's a break now? I need a nap… and maybe therapy…"
Aiden's laughter was low, warm, and fierce.
"No… the fight's just evolved."
From the Citadel's spire, distant lights flickered ominously.
Even with the Executor destroyed, the Dominion was far from done.
And the world… had changed forever.