Planet Arkon was a graveyard of light, a dark expanse where the very air felt heavy with a suffocating silence.
Glasen stood in the center of a desolate wasteland, his eyes scanning the horizon. "The rare blood," he muttered, his voice barely a whisper yet carrying a sharp edge. "We must find it. No matter the cost."
Around him, a small army of Nylomites stood like statues. They were predators waiting for a command, their breathing low and rhythmic. Glasen turned to them, his expression hardening. "If that boy disappeared so suddenly, then someone is hiding him. Someone is shielding his presence from us."
Before a single soldier could offer a word, a sudden, crushing weight filled the atmosphere. It wasn't a physical force, but a psychic pressure that made the ground groan.
Vanzayoree.
The King did not physically appear, but his shadow loomed over the entire planet. It was a signal, a wordless command that resonated in the very marrow of Glasen's bones. Glasen closed his eyes, leaning into the cold pressure. He understood. A slow, twisted smile spread across his face.
"So, it has finally begun," he whispered, opening his eyes to reveal a manic glint. "Let's have some fun."
Ayelen stood on a shimmering, translucent surface that felt like neither liquid nor solid. He looked around at the swirling nebulae and distant stars, his mind racing. "I have to get back," he told himself, his voice echoing in the void. "The others are still in danger."
Before he could focus his will to teleport, a voice cut through the cosmic hum.
"Ayelen."
He spun around. Baiana stood there, though she looked like a glitch in reality. her form was blurred and shifting, an incomplete masterpiece of light and shadow.
"Be careful," she warned, her voice vibrating with a strange power. "You are still new to this strength. You are a fledgling playing with the fires of creation."
Ayelen stood still, sensing the gravity of her words.
"And remember," she continued, her image flickering. "You are the only God of Moderator now. The balance rests on your shoulders alone."
A heavy silence followed. Ayelen felt the weight of that title, a burden he never asked for but could no longer escape. He nodded slowly, his jaw set in determination. "Thank you. I won't forget."
Without wasting another second, he focused on the coordinates of his home. His body dissolved into a streak of light as he tore through the dimensions.
The air on his home planet felt different the moment Ayelen landed. It was his home, yet it felt like a trap. As his boots touched the soil, a haunting whisper echoed through the trees.
"MANTINIX..."
Ayelen froze, his heart hammering against his ribs. "Who's there? Show yourself!"
He moved toward the source of the sound, his senses on high alert. But he was too slow. A sudden, white-hot flash of agony ripped through his midsection. A blade had slashed straight across his core. Ayelen's body buckled, his breath hitching as hot blood began to soak through his shirt. He staggered back, clutching his wound.
In front of him, Glasen emerged from the shadows, his face contorted into a jagged grin. "Got you."
Ayelen ground his teeth together, the pain fueling a spark of rage. "Who are you? What do you want?"
Glasen didn't answer with words. Instead, he snapped his fingers. The ground beneath them groaned and shattered, and a massive, grotesque beast clawed its way out of the earth. It was a mountain of muscle and scales, roaring with a sound that shook the sky.
The beast lunged. Ayelen moved by instinct, his body a blur as he dodged the massive claws. He spun mid-air, channeling his energy into a single point. A massive blast of light erupted from his palm, and the creature didn't just die; it shattered into a thousand pieces of dust.
But the beast was just a distraction. Glasen was already there.
A heavy fist slammed into Ayelen's guard. The force was astronomical. Ayelen was sent flying like a discarded toy, crashing through a multistory building. The concrete groaned and collapsed, burying him in a tomb of dust and steel.
Glasen walked forward with terrifying calm. With a casual flick of his wrist, a wave of energy split the entire standing structure in half. Ayelen rolled out of the debris just in time, but Glasen was on him in an instant.
"Annoying," Glasen hissed. He reached down, fist bunching into Ayelen's hair, and began a brutal assault.
Punch. Slap. Punch.
The sounds of impact were wet and heavy. Ayelen's head snapped back with every hit, his vision blurring as Glasen showed no mercy. Finally, Glasen threw him aside like trash.
"Parameter Conflict," Glasen muttered.
A dark, glitchy aura enveloped Ayelen. Suddenly, his very skin felt fragile. His divine defenses were being stripped away, leaving him raw and vulnerable. Glasen's smile widened. He was enjoying this now. He grabbed Ayelen by the leg and slammed him into the ground.
Once. Twice. Again.
Then, Glasen pointed a finger. A sharp, deadly beam of energy pierced through Ayelen's shoulder. Before he could even scream, Glasen raised both hands. Using telekinesis, he battered Ayelen with invisible blows from every direction. There was no escape, no room to breathe.
To end the assault, Glasen brought a massive, uprooted tree crashing down onto Ayelen's broken form.
Silence returned to the clearing. Glasen stepped closer, peering at the wreckage. "Dead? Already?"
There was no movement for a long moment. Then, a finger twitched. Ayelen groaned, shoving the massive trunk off his chest with trembling arms.
Glasen's patience evaporated. He lunged, grabbing Ayelen by the throat and lifting him off the ground. He squeezed, his grip like iron. Ayelen kicked and clawed, his face turning a deep shade of purple as his airway closed. Glasen was superior in every way—strength, speed, and centuries of blood-soaked experience.
But Ayelen still had his instinct.
Focusing the last of his strength, Ayelen manifested two jagged energy blades from his shins. He lashed out with a double kick, the blades slicing deep into Glasen's face.
Glasen roared in pain, blood spraying as he released his grip and stumbled back. But the triumph was short-lived. In seconds, the skin on Glasen's face knitted back together. The wound vanished.
Ayelen stared in horror. "How...?"
He didn't know how to heal like that. He needed a different edge. "Lifesteal!" he roared, rushing forward. He tried to drain Glasen's vitality, but the Nylomite was too fast. Glasen danced around his attacks with effortless grace.
Ayelen shifted strategies again. Two massive hands of pure energy materialized in the air, clamping down on Glasen. But Glasen only laughed. He opened his palm, and a small, swirling black hole formed. It grew instantly, swallowing the energy hands and devouring everything in its vicinity.
The planet itself began to tremble. The sheer density of the black hole was pulling at the very core of the world. Ayelen acted on pure adrenaline, creating a massive energy sphere and ramming it into the void. The resulting explosion neutralized the black hole, but the damage was done.
The planet's balance was shattered. Its orbit shifted, and the sky turned a bruised, sickly color. The temperature plummeted instantly, frost creeping over the shattered trees.
Ayelen looked up at the dying sky. "No..."
He wouldn't let it end like this. He channeled every drop of Nyloxin he had. His body began to grow, expanding until he was a titan of light. He reached out into the atmosphere, his massive hands catching the edge of the world's gravitational field. With a guttural roar, he pushed the planet back, forcing it into a stable orbit.
When he shrunk back down to human size, his eyes were different. They glowed with a cold, silver light.
He lunged at Glasen, using telekinesis to pin him by the collarbone. He began to crush the bone, the sound of snapping calcium echoing in the air. Glasen grunted in pain, but he wasn't done. He conjured dozens of energy orbs, firing them point-blank at Ayelen.
The sky was filled with light and fire as the explosions continued. Light. Heat. Pressure.
Neither of them backed down. When the smoke finally cleared, they were both standing, heaving for air. They rushed each other again, but this time, there were no more tricks.
It was raw, primal combat.
Punch. Kick. Elbow. Headbutt. Every strike landed with the weight of a falling star. Ayelen threw a punch, Glasen blocked and countered with a sharp elbow to the ribs. Ayelen winced, felt a rib crack, but stepped back into the fray.
They were both slowing down, their breathing coming in ragged, bloody gasps. But Ayelen had one advantage. He was a god. Nyloxin flowed through his veins like an endless river.
Glasen noticed the light in Ayelen's eyes wasn't fading. He stepped back, a bloody smirk on his lips. "You're strong. I'll give you that."
Ayelen didn't waste his breath on a reply.
"But strength isn't everything," Glasen said, dodging a desperate swing. "Why are you protecting this place? This planet... it killed your family. It let them die."
The silence that followed was deafening. Ayelen's eyes flickered, the pain of the memory hitting him harder than any punch. "How do you know about that?"
Glasen smirked. "It doesn't matter. What matters is you. Come with me, Ayelen. Help me revive my King." Glasen's voice became low and persuasive. "Do that, and everything will change. You won't have to hurt anymore."
Ayelen looked at him, a small, cold smile touching his lips. "I don't give a damn about your King." His voice turned into a sub-zero chill. "Stay away from this planet, or I will end you."
The Nyloxin in the air reacted to his resolve. Ayelen's hands and legs began to glow with a brilliant silver light. The energy was sharper, more refined.
Glasen blinked, his confidence wavering. "What is this?"
Before he could react, Ayelen was there. He moved faster than light, grabbing Glasen's arm and twisting. With a clean, silver flash, the arm was severed.
Blood sprayed the snow. Glasen screamed, a sound of genuine, agonizing pain. Ayelen didn't stop. He formed a silver blade and lashed out, carving deep, burning cuts into Glasen's back.
Glasen staggered, his body trying to heal, but the silver energy acted like a poison. The wounds stayed open. The skin refused to knit.
"What did you do?" Glasen gasped, his voice failing.
Ayelen stepped forward to deliver the final blow, but a swirling purple portal tore open behind Glasen. With a final, desperate burst of strength, Glasen kicked Ayelen back and threw himself into the void.
The portal snapped shut.
Silence returned to the wasteland. Ayelen stood alone, his chest heaving. The silver glow faded from his limbs, and he collapsed to his knees as his strength left him.
"What was that power?" he whispered, staring at his shaking hands. "It felt... incomplete."
He sat in the ruins of the battlefield, exhausted but alive. He had saved the planet, but at a terrible cost.
Far away on Planet Arkon, Glasen fell to his knees in the dark palace. His body was a map of silver-burned scars, and his arm was still a jagged stump. Even his legendary healing could not bring it back.
He looked up toward the throne, toward the silent shadow of Vanzayoree.
"I underestimated him," Glasen rasped, his voice trembling with a mix of fear and hatred. "We need to be careful. That power... it will change everything."
He clenched his remaining fist, his eyes burning. "We can't win like this. We need a different plan."
The war hadn't ended. It had only just entered its darkest phase.
• CHAPTER 14 ENDS •