The Chao trembled around him. The Deviants, despite their impossible forms, seemed hesitant before the explosion Sakolomé had just unleashed. Every pulse of his pseudo-Deviant body resonated with the primordial void, as if the Chao itself recognized his nascent authority.
Sakolomé lowered his eyes, his pupils becoming moving glyphs, symbols of pure appropriation. He slowly raised his hands and felt the foundations of the Deviants and the Chao respond to him—the very condition that made him conceivable: the internal coherence of their existences.
A creature with three faces tried to engulf him with its pre-causality breath. Sakolomé inhaled deeply. Each symbol floating around him linked to the breath. Zeerât unfolded, canceling the continuity of the attack at its root; Myâtrhe reaffirmed that this condition was now his; and reversed Orthinesia erased any possibility that the breath could not belong to him. The breath changed hands even before it fully existed.
The Deviants multiplied. Their forms twisted; impossible appendages and eyes appeared and vanished, but with every movement, Sakolomé appropriated the structure that made them coherent. Each foundation taken gave him a reflection of the Chao, a piece of its essence, a fraction of its power.
He shouted—not in rage, but in affirmation. The void around him vibrated, and waves of torn foundations fused with his being; he had become the custodian of the condition that rendered the Chao and the Deviants possible. The creatures backed away, not understanding that what they had thought to possess, Sakolomé now held in full.
The Chao bowed slightly, recognizing a new law: that of Sakolomé. Each foundation acquired increased his pseudo-Deviant aura, allowing him to manipulate not only his own existence but the very logic of the terrain on which he fought. He was no longer a mere participant: he was becoming a vector of pre-causality, capable of reshaping space, time, and the conditions of all that existed in this void.
Saiko observed, motionless and impassive, a faint smile on his lips:
— "Good. Keep it up, but beware… you still do not grasp the magnitude of what you manipulate."
Yet Sakolomé felt the power growing within him. A new energy emerged, a blend of rage, control, and absolute clarity. The Deviants, already redefined by his appropriation, hesitated to resume their assault. He was no longer merely defending himself: he was rewriting the very matrix of their existence.
The Chao itself lay around him like a moving carpet, each filament responding to his flow of foundations. The Deviants, whose shapes dispersed, began to reflect, in distorted fashion, Sakolomé's power. Each fragment of the Chao he appropriated increased his mastery: he could now manipulate the limits of this world, not just survive its attacks.
With a silent roar, Sakolomé concentrated all he had acquired into a single point in the void. The foundations of the Chao, the structures of the Deviants, the condition that made their existence possible… all fused within him. He felt a shiver: each absorbed foundation did not only strengthen his power, it redefined the coherence of the Chao, bending it to his pseudo-Deviant level.
He stood at the edge of something inconceivable. And amid this chaos, a smile stretched across his lips. Then he collapsed.
A week had passed. In the real world, the sky darkened with a strange gloom. Salomé slowly raised her eyes, her pupils reflecting the firmament devoured by darkness. Zelongue, silent at her side, also observed this unsettling change.
Salomé, in a deep voice:
— It seems… the moment has arrived.
Zelongue simply nodded, his expression hard as stone.
But this black veil was not made of clouds. Upon careful inspection, myriad writhing silhouettes could be discerned. Thousands of demonic creatures tore through the skies, their shrill cries resonating like an infernal dissonance.
A gust of mana-laden wind preceded the appearance of two familiar figures. Lingyin and Jin Muleo materialized near them, their gaze burning with anticipation.
Jin Muleo, with a predatory smile:
— Finally… the time has come to test my new skills. And also—
BOOM!!
The earth roared before he could finish his sentence. Gaping cracks ripped the ground, releasing nightmarish creatures. They were colossal, malformed, indescribably ugly. Their gaunt bellies clung to ribs, translucent pink skin revealing purple veins pulsating with corruption. No faces. Only black voids where identity should have been.
The air grew heavy, saturated with the smell of rotting flesh.
Salomé swallowed before putting on a cold smile:
— Shall we let them come close… or show them we dominate the sky?
A sharp sound split the silence. Ysolongue appeared in a flash of scarlet mana, Kai standing behind her, his expression grave, and Shushu perched in her hair, whistling nervously.
Ysolongue, calmly but with a wild gleam in her eyes:
— Fine… This time, I will have to truly fight.
A thunderous roar exploded as wings of pink mana burst from her back, radiating a vibrant power that made the air tremble.
Zelongue immediately followed, spreading his immaculate golden wings that set the sky ablaze with light. Salomé, refusing to be outdone, summoned her own violet mana wings, crackling with raw energy.
With a powerful beat, she rose above the battlefield, her hair flowing like flames in the chaotic wind. Her eyes blazed with authority as she pronounced:
— Domain of Domination!!
A wave of mana surged, flooding the sky… then violently collided with an unknown force. It came to an abrupt halt.
Salomé, stunned:
— What… Who dares?
Her gaze drifted to the ground. There, amid the gaping fissures, stood a familiar silhouette. A shiver ran down her spine. It was… Sakolomé. Or rather… his double.
But he was not alone. Beside him, a strange being. His body seemed devoured by living darkness, as if night itself had chosen to consume him. No face. Just a gaping void where identity should have been. And near him floated a heretical creature crowned with levitating masks.
Salomé, her voice icy:
— The… mirror creatures.
Barely had she spoken these words than Zelongue dived like a golden spear, tracing a luminous line across the sky. He struck at lightning speed, his wings leaving trails of golden lightning.
In a wing beat, he was upon Sakolomé's double, his hand falling like a sentence. A celestial roar burst forth as his fingers closed around the mirage's throat.
— We won't play with you for long!! roared Zelongue, his face contorted with determination.
The double remained motionless a moment, his face impassive, almost irritated… then suddenly he smiled. A cold, unsettling smile. Before Zelongue could react, the double's body dissipated like a mirage, fragmenting into ethereal shadows.
Zelongue, eyes wide:
— How… How did he do that?!!
Ysolongue swiftly extended her hand. A purple flash tore the air, and in the blink of an eye, Zelongue vanished from where he had launched and reappeared right beside her. He turned his head, surprised, his golden wings vibrating with contained energy.
Ysolongue, cold and methodical:
— Big brother, we have to act smartly.
Salomé, descending slowly to the ground, her violet wings crackling with mana, cast an intrigued look:
— And what do you propose, Ysolongue?
Ysolongue's serious face turned toward her. Her gaze surveyed the battlefield like a deadly chessboard.
— There are three major entities. The creature with the masks… Sakolomé's double… and that being covered in darkness. Add to that myriads of beasts in the sky and gigantic abominations emerging from the earth. So I suggest that—
— I'll handle those crawling out from the ground!
Lingyin cut in, her eyes blazing with excitement, a predatory smile distorting her lips.
— There are many of them… just enough to entertain me.
At these words, Jin Muleo cracked his knuckles, an overwhelming aura bursting around him.
— Then the creatures in the sky are mine.
Ysolongue arched an eyebrow, skeptical:
— Are you sure you can handle that alone?
A brief, dry laugh escaped Jin Muleo.
— Don't worry about that. It's just… a minor inconvenience.
Above them, the sky thickened, saturated with writhing silhouettes. A tide of winged horrors undulated in the shadows, blotting out the light like a coming apocalypse.
Salomé, frowning, voice laden with gravity:
— It's the first time I've seen… so many creatures at once. Uncle Jin… be careful.
Jin Muleo turned his head toward her, a cheeky smile on his lips, a wild gleam in his eyes.
— It'll be fine. Trust me.
But Salomé no longer listened. Her gaze was fixed on the ground, locked on Sakolomé's double who stood there, motionless, a chilling smile stretching his familiar face.
Her throat tightened. Then, in a voice cold as a blade:
— Him… I want. I want to take on Sakolomé's double.
A heavy silence fell. Zelongue turned his head toward her, a slight smile playing at the corner of his lips.
— It seems you've been waiting for him… for a long time.
She did not look away, her pupils burning with a smoldering anger.
— I don't know why he looks like my brother. But… seeing someone desecrate his image… it drives me mad.
A few steps away, Kai observed the shadowy silhouette, the body devoured by shifting darkness. His expression remained impassive, almost weary.
— I'll take that one.
Ysolongue nodded, but before anyone moved, she raised her hand, imposing her authority with a sharp tone:
— Perfect. But… one detail.
Her eyes fixed on Salomé, sharp as blades.
— The double seems unusually powerful. I propose you face him with Zelongue. Is that alright with you?
Salomé let a brief silence hang before nodding.
— No problem. It's not about pride. It's… a war.
Then, her gaze slid toward Zelongue and she gave a mischievous smile.
— Besides… I'll fight with my master by my side.
Zelongue blushed slightly, turning his gaze away, his voice suddenly nervous:
— Don't say nonsense! I'm not your master!!
A crystalline laugh escaped Ysolongue, breaking the tension for a moment.
— Very well… Then I'll take the mirror being.
At that moment, Shushu leapt gracefully from Ysolongue's hair, his small eyes shining with a lively gleam. He softly landed on Salomé's shoulder, his tail curling around her.
— Whenever you want, mistress.
Salomé smiled, a cold smile, filled with rage and determination.
— Very well… Let's begin.