The sky split in half.
One side bled starlight and void, the other smoldered with infernal fire and divine ruin. At the center of the maelstrom, two kings stared each other down—one born of cosmic betrayal, the other crowned through exile and conquest.
Thal'Zir raised his hand, and the stars obeyed.
"Cataclysm Array."
Above him, seven orbiting black stars shimmered into view, each humming with destructive power. He flicked his fingers—and they launched forward in a spiral, tearing the atmosphere into ribbons.
Leviathan moved like a shadow reborn. One flap of his wings and he disappeared, reappearing behind Thal'Zir mid-air with a clenched fist wreathed in black flame.
BOOM.
Thal'Zir turned just in time to block, but the force sent shockwaves through the clouds. Mountains in the distance cracked. Oceans hissed from the heat. The black stars whirled back and slammed into Leviathan, but the Fallen King didn't budge.
He grinned, revealing sharp teeth. "That all you got, hollow god?"
He twisted and unleashed a roar—not of sound, but of sheer will. The sky turned black, space fracturing around him. His wings expanded, and with a flick of his finger—
"Ruinfall."
A rain of spears made of fallen angelic sigils crashed from above, each one forged from Leviathan's own authority as the Fallen King. They pinned Thal'Zir's limbs mid-air, divine chains binding his movement for a brief second.
"Know what it means to be cursed by the divine," Leviathan snarled, appearing above his opponent with both hands blazing. "Crimson Blight: Heavenbreaker!"
He struck downward.
The impact cracked the heavens. The chains shattered—but not before Leviathan's full blow connected. Thal'Zir was sent plummeting, a meteor of chaos smashing into the earth below. The land buckled, creating a canyon a mile wide.
For a moment—just a breath—it was quiet.
Then the stars screamed.
Thal'Zir rose from the crater, body torn, blood of stars dripping from his mouth. His voice echoed like overlapping realities.
"You think I've forgotten pain, fallen one?"
He raised both arms.
The void screamed.
A circular glyph emerged beneath Leviathan—a cosmic gate opening with ancient runes, spinning faster and faster.
"Annihilation Spiral."
A vortex of pure anti-reality surged upward, swallowing everything in its path—light, matter, even time. Leviathan was caught for a second, eyes narrowing, body beginning to flicker.
But he laughed.
"Clever trick. Wanna see mine?"
He clenched his hand and ripped a blade of liquid darkness from his chest. It wasn't forged of metal, but regret, wrath, and broken promises.
"Godrend."
A weapon that could only be wielded by one who had fallen by their own hand.
He slashed the spiral.
Reality rejected the void.
The Annihilation Spiral shattered like glass, and Leviathan blitzed forward, his blade clashing with Thal'Zir's palm in a shockwave that split the sky into negative and positive space. One side day, the other endless night.
They exchanged a thousand strikes in a single second, each movement creating afterimages that lit the horizon. Wings collided. Fists shattered the air. Every blow echoed with the weight of dominions lost and cosmos forsaken.
Then—Leviathan feinted low, brought his knee up into Thal'Zir's gut, and slashed across his chest. Blood of the void splattered across the clouds.
Thal'Zir retaliated—"Void Pulse: Collapse!"
A point of infinite density exploded from his chest, throwing Leviathan back into the sky.
But the King of the Fallen righted himself, breathing heavily now. Smoke curled from his wounds. Still, his smile didn't fade.
"Been a long time since I bled," Leviathan chuckled.
He held out his hand. The fire around him condensed.
"Black Flame Overlord Mode: Fallen Crown."
A crown of black fire formed above his head. His body was covered in glowing red glyphs—ancient, forbidden markings of the old celestial war. His wings now looked torn from existence itself, leaking starlight ash.
Thal'Zir's face grew grim.
Leviathan's voice dropped into a growl.
"This is my domain now."
He vanished again.
This time, not even Thal'Zir could track him.
SLASH. SLASH. SLASH.
Three clean cuts appeared across Thal'Zir's torso before he even realized he'd been struck. He gasped, then roared, the void convulsing in rage. Galaxies dimmed as he gathered energy into one final spell:
"OBLIVION STARFALL."
The sky exploded into meteors of uncreation—stars falling, time warping, light twisting.
Leviathan stood still.
Then raised both hands.
"CHAOS BINDING – FELL ECLIPSE!"
His wings folded in, then burst outward.
A dome of pure force expanded from him, absorbing the meteor storm. It formed a prison—a starless cage—that devoured Thal'Zir's attack whole.
Then Leviathan stepped into the field. One-on-one, locked in that voidless space.
"You lose."
One final thrust. Godrend pierced through Thal'Zir's chest.
The Hollow Star howled—his essence cracking, dissolving into fragments of cursed light.
BOOOOOOOOOM.
A white flash engulfed the battlefield.
When the light faded…
Thal'Zir was gone.
And Leviathan stood over the unconscious heroes, battered and bleeding, but victorious.
He looked up at the ruined sky and exhaled.
"Guess I'm not that rusty after all."