As Aleksander gazed into the darkening sky, swallowed by a sudden malevolence that stripped the sunrise rays, his eyes sharpened. Determination burned in them, even as his confidence and will clashed with the primal instincts of fear and despair creeping into his body.
"He survived one of my strongest attacks," Aleksander noted, clearly surprised, though his calm demeanor held. "Now I understand why he is said to be the most powerful creature to ever live—surpassed only by the Supreme Beings themselves."
"What a monster."
From afar, a figure plummeted from the heavens like a falling star, a meteor crashing into the ground with a cataclysmic force that carved a massive crater into the ruined earth.
It was Julius.
A maniacal laughter tore through the devastated city—wild, unhinged, the sound of a deranged god drunk on ecstasy. "YOU COMPLETELY ANNIHILATED AND KILLED ME WITH THAT LAST ATTACK OF YOURS!" Julius roared, eyes blazing with a rabid enthusiasm, his voice cracking with both rage and exhilaration. Gone was the elegant, calm figure; in his place stood madness incarnate.
"I haven't had this much fun since my resurrection!" he continued, his grin splitting wider. "You truly are a god in the making, Aleksander!"
"I was right to wait thousands—millions of years—for the chosen Ivanovich to be born. All that wasted time on the unworthy before you… it was worth it."
Slowly, Julius rose from the pit. His movements were strained at first, but each step bled with overwhelming malice. Around him, the air withered—light twisted and died as darkness devoured it. His once-black hair bleached into wool-white strands, and his body swelled, frame hardening into a more monstrous form.
"You managed to force my dormant powers awake," he said, slicking back his bloodstained hair with a trembling hand, a wicked smirk tugging at his lips. "I'd been struggling to access them. But when you killed me, my instincts screamed for survival—something I haven't felt since my youth."
His voice dripped with mockery as he added, "For that, I deeply thank you." He lifted his head, revealing eyes now burning yellow and crimson, glowing with the hunger of a predator beyond gods.
Aleksander held his silence. He knew now the truth: the creature cloaked in mortal guise would not fall so easily. One devastating strike was not enough to kill Julius—not permanently.
Julius noticed the shift in his opponent's aura and grinned like a wolf. "That divine-infused attack of yours was strong, I'll give you that. And yes, divinity cuts through me like a blade—I am, after all, evil incarnate. But don't think you can erase me with one blessed blow."
"If that were possible, I wouldn't have survived for so long. I've faced Ivanoviches before you, and though I found them irritating beyond belief, I always won in the end."
His laughter was low now, simmering with venom. "You Ivanoviches are born with divine power. My greatest weakness."
His expression twisted. "But… I am cursed with immortality, child."
The words slithered into the air, heavy and undeniable. "Even breaching my regeneration is an achievement in itself. But no matter how many times you kill me, no matter how many fatal blows you land… I will always return."
He spread his arms wide, as though unveiling some grand revelation. "Because my true self is not this vessel. I am an eldritch god, born from the collective hatred of every living being."
His eyes gleamed with malice. "You didn't know this, did you?"
Aleksander said nothing, but his stare grew sharper, his resolve iron-hard.
Julius chuckled darkly. "Few know my nature. What you see is nothing more than a vessel—an extension of my will. Destroy this body, reduce my soul to ash, strike me from the Book of Existence itself… and still, I will return."
"For as long as my true essence endures, outside the plan of creation itself, I will be reborn. Again and again."
His smirk deepened, venomous and eternal. "I will always come back."
As Julius' aura began to lick from his body, his clothes completely torn off, revealing an omega crest burned across his now broader, muscular chest—a symbol of the pact he had made with the one who dragged him back from the land of the dead.
Julius stepped forward, slow and deliberate, from the rim of the massive crater, his eyes fixed on Aleksander. "But," he said casually, "just as divine forces are my weakness, they are also the only way to truly kill me."
He paused, his tone calm but heavy. "If you wield the Legendary sword Excalibur, a blade forged from a fragment of God Himself, then yes—you could kill me permanently. You could cast my vessel's soul into Hades, into the underworld itself."
"But without Excalibur, your only chance is to find an Ethereal Instrument imbued with divine nature or powers."
Julius' grin widened. "That is my immortality's greatest weakness. That is why, ten thousand years ago, I was defeated by the Great Heroes who bore Excalibur in their hands."
His voice dropped, low and unyielding. "I am evil incarnate. For as long as evil must exist to balance good and love, so too will I."
Aleksander's cold voice cut through the tension, unshaken. "Then why tell me this at all?"
Julius' expression twisted into unsettling joy. "To give you hope, Aleksander! You looked so gloomy—I thought I'd share my weakness to boost your confidence!" His grin sharpened. "After all, neither you nor anyone else in this era has the strength to end me."
But then, to his surprise, Aleksander chuckled. His smirk spread, sharp as a blade. "To me," he said, "you sound like an infinite punching bag. I could kill you again and again—each time stronger, sharper, better."
Julius raised a brow, amused. "Is that so?" he chuckled. "You could say so."
Aleksander's eyes hardened. "Even if you are immortal, that doesn't mean you can't be beaten."
"You're right," Julius agreed without hesitation. "Immortality doesn't mean invincibility. A stronger opponent can still defeat me."
Aleksander snorted, breaking into a teasing laugh. "Didn't you get your ass handed to you by Count Dracula once? I grew up reading all about those well-known losses you took."
But Julius only smiled faintly. "I remember. In my reckless days as a young Herrscher. I could never forget those losses. They forged me into what I am—a god in mortal flesh. A catalyst walking this world. Every defeat built me, until none could touch me. Until the only opponents worth my time were death itself—or the Supreme Beings."
His voice softened almost nostalgically. "But then, the day came when every race united to wage war against me and my kingdom. That was exciting."
Aleksander's expression shifted, almost understanding. "I know that loneliness. I'm young, but no one my age comes close to me. Even those older, wiser, stronger—they're still beneath me. It's boring at the top."
Julius' grin flared with sudden warmth. "I KNOW, RIGHT?! Finally, someone who understands!"
But Aleksander's tone snapped back into steel. "Enough talking. It's time we finish this."
"Agreed."
Their auras ignited at once—creation and destruction colliding, the very fabric of space twisting and warping around them. The ground quaked, reality itself groaning beneath their clash.
"No more holding back," they both thought, unspoken but clear.
Aleksander's mind steeled. He's a threat to everyone here. His power grows by the minute. But I don't need to use my Eyes of Supreme Authority to kill him. It would feel like bullying someone weaker.
Meanwhile, Julius' thoughts burned with excitement. This boy is thrilling. I'll drag this fight out, savor it—keep him alive until my thirst is satisfied.
Aleksander suddenly raised his hand, calling out with confidence. "You said the only way to kill you is with a divine weapon, right? Conveniently, my family owns three of them."
Julius' grin widened, eyes glinting with dark ecstasy. "Then bring them on!" His aura flared into a cloak of shadow, malevolent and suffocating.
But before their clash could erupt, the skies split apart with a thunderous roar. From the rift above descended three colossal ships, gold and black, sailing the heavens as though they were oceans.
The Starlight Voyagers had arrived.
And with them—the devil himself.