The darkness enveloped her like a shroud, but it was not an empty darkness, but a dense, vibrating void, charged with the echo of collapsing worlds and universes fading into the abyss of oblivion. Aurora floated in that infinite void, her body suspended between fragments of broken realities, as she watched entire galaxies extinguish like candles snuffed out by a cosmic wind. Her mind, though conscious, was immersed in a kind of deep trance, as if she were part of something much bigger than herself, a cog in the machinery of the multiverse.
Suddenly, a light flickered in the distance, faint at first, like a lost firefly in the night, but quickly grew to illuminate the vast field of cosmic ruins. The light revealed a legion of figures advancing towards her from the horizon, like an army of specters rising from nowhere. They were gods, heroes and transmigrators of different races, with armor that gleamed with a supernatural glow and determined faces, marked by a thousand battles. All united under one purpose: to confront five beings of absolute power who stood in the center of the battlefield, like pillars of darkness holding the weight of destruction.
Aurora felt a chill run down her spine as she watched the figures more closely. Their armor, forged in materials that defied comprehension, shone with an ethereal glow, and each of them radiated an aura that made the space around them tremble. But it was one figure in particular that captured her attention, like a magnet attracting her gaze.
There, among the warriors, was Kaili. Her figure was even more imposing than Aurora remembered, like a goddess of war who had descended from the heavens to lead the final battle. She wore black armor with gold and silver details that seemed to move like living liquid, adapting to her every movement with a supernatural fluidity. The shoulder pads, shaped like outstretched wings, seemed to defy gravity, and her breastplate, decorated with ancient runes that shone with an ethereal glow, seemed to contain the knowledge of forgotten eras. A translucent cape billowed behind her, defying the absence of wind, and her hand rested on the hilt of a sheathed sword, made of condensed energy, that seemed to vibrate with a contained power. Her gaze, cold and calculating, assessed her enemies with disdain, like a predator watching her prey before the hunt.
Beside Kaili, four more figures remained shrouded in shadows, like specters waiting their turn to join the dance of destruction. She couldn't make out their bodies or faces, she only saw female silhouettes that moved with a spectral grace, as if they were puppets controlled by invisible threads. Each radiated a deafening aura, a presence that distorted the space around them, as if reality itself folded before their power. They seemed to be waiting for something, like guardians of a secret too great to be understood, a secret that would only be revealed at the moment of the final battle.
The air filled with tension, like a bowstring about to break, as the two forces prepared for battle. The gods, heroes, and transmigrators raised their weapons, swords that cut through space, bows that fired arrows of light, wands that conjured spells of destruction. They were ready to face the five beings who stood before them, to defy the destiny that had been imposed on them. But before anything else could happen, the darkness closed in on them, like a curtain falling on the stage at the end of the play.
The scene changed abruptly, like a channel change on a cosmic television. Aurora now found herself in a completely dark room, plunged into total penumbra, where the darkness was so deep that it seemed to absorb light itself. Only a magnificent throne in the background emitted a dim light, like a lone star in the night, which barely illuminated the figure sitting on it. It was a woman, tall and majestic, with features that Aurora recognized immediately: her own, but mature, refined, divine. It was like seeing herself in a mirror of the future, a reflection of what she could become.
The adult version of Aurora had an overwhelming beauty, like a goddess who had emerged from myths and legends. Her hair, silver as moonlight, flowed like a cascade of stars, and her eyes, of the same color, with vertical pupils that shone with an overwhelming power, seemed capable of seeing through the soul. She wore a robe made of a luminous material that changed color depending on the angle from which it was viewed, like a cosmic chameleon that adapted to the reality that surrounded it. On her head rested a crown of branched horns, which emitted a slight pearly glow, as if they were branches of a tree that had grown in the heart of the cosmos. Her voice, when she spoke, resounded like thunder, filling the room with its power.
"I see you have finally killed," she said, with a tone that mixed satisfaction and disdain, as if death were a game for her. "It seems that little by little you are realizing your nature. You have summoned Kaili; she will be of great help in your process of conquest. Become strong, spread chaos, destroy everything, sow fear. Only in this way can you reach your true potential."
The woman paused, leaning slightly forward, like a predator approaching her prey. Her eyes, cold and inquisitive, pierced the young Aurora, as if she were evaluating her, looking for any sign of weakness.
"I must admit that, honestly, I am disappointed in you, or rather in myself," she continued, her voice full of contempt. "To think that you would pick up a pet in the form of a human," she said, pointing to Sebastian with a dismissive gesture, as if he were an insignificant insect. "And that you would generate a little affection for him makes me nauseous just to think about it. He is an obstacle in your way, a burden that prevents you from moving forward. Kill him. He is not like us. An inferior being, an insect like him does not deserve to be in your presence."
The young Aurora felt paralyzed, as if she had been frozen in time. The words of her future self hit her like a hammer, shattering the image she had of herself. Was this her destiny? To become a monster that only sought destruction and chaos? To kill Sebastian, the only friend she had ever had, the only one who had accepted her as she was?
"I can't," Aurora whispered, her voice barely audible. "I can't kill Sebastian. He is my friend."
The adult version of Aurora looked at her coldly, as if she did not understand her words. "Friend," she repeated, with a mocking tone. "That is a word that has no place in our vocabulary. Friends are for the weak, for those who need company to survive. We are superior beings, destined to rule, to destroy. We don't need friends. We only need power."
"But Sebastian has helped me," Aurora insisted. "He has taken care of me, he has taught me things. He is important to me."
"Importance is an illusion," replied the woman on the throne. "A concept created by the weak to justify their attachments. Do not be fooled by your emotions. Sebastian is an obstacle. An insect that must be crushed."
The young Aurora felt a pang of pain in her chest. The words of her future self were tearing her apart, but at the same time, she felt a strange resistance, a force that impelled her to defy her destiny.
"I will not do it," she said firmly, raising her gaze to meet the cold eyes of her future self. "I will not kill Sebastian. Nor will I become you. I will find my own path, a path where power does not mean destruction, where strength does not imply cruelty."
The adult version of Aurora looked at her in surprise, as if she could not believe what she was hearing. For a moment, a shadow of doubt crossed her eyes, a crack in the mask of coldness she had built over the eons. But the doubt disappeared as quickly as it had come, replaced by an expression of contempt.
"You are naive," she said with disdain. "You believe that you can defy your destiny, that you can escape from what you are. But you are wrong. The darkness is in your blood, in your soul. Sooner or later, it will consume you, it will turn you into a weapon of destruction. You cannot escape your nature."
"I don't understand," Aurora said, her voice trembling. "I don't want to be like that. I don't want to kill Sebastian."
The adult version of Aurora observed her coldly. "You have no choice. It is your nature. The darkness will consume you, it will turn you into a weapon of destruction."
Aurora shook her head, her eyes filled with tears. "I don't want to. There is another way. There has to be."
"Do not be naive," replied the woman on the throne, in a sharp tone. "Power is not obtained with pleas. It is taken. And to take it, you must be willing to sacrifice everything."
Aurora looked at her defiantly, a spark of rebellion igniting within her. "I will not sacrifice Sebastian. I will not sacrifice what I am."
The woman on the throne laughed coldly. "Then you are doomed to failure. The path of power is paved with the bones of the weak."
"We'll see," Aurora replied, with a determination that surprised even herself. "I will decide my own path."
The adult version of Aurora watched her in silence for a long moment. Then, with a resigned sigh, she said, "Do as you please. But don't say I didn't warn you."
And with a final flash of light, the scene vanished, leaving Aurora alone in the void.