Valorian's armor was covered in countless cracks. A deep wound starting from his shoulder stretched all the way down to his chest, his golden blood drifting in the void like shimmering stardust. His breathing had grown ragged Despite this, he did not retreat Xerathul, standing across from him, was a completely different sight The black energy swirling around his body was continuously expanding, as if devouring the very space he occupied. His eyes gleamed with a purple darkness, and the black sword in his hand radiated a mana that grew denser by the second.
Because he was no longer alone.
The power bestowed upon him by Vorgath, the Monarch of Darkness, had elevated Xerathul far beyond his former self.
With a mocking smirk on his lips, Xerathul spoke.
"Will you continue to resist, Valorian?"
Valorian stood up, slowly and heavily.
He gripped his spear tighter.
"Until my last breath."
"How pathetic."
The very next second…
BOOOM!
Space warped.
The moment Xerathul vanished from sight, his dark blade had already reached Valorian's chest.
CRAAAK!
The sword pierced through the armor, plunging straight into his chest.
The explosion unleashed at that moment did not just affect the two of them…
It shattered the surfaces of nearby planets.
Mountains turned to dust.
Oceans evaporated.
Continents were flung into the void of space as massive chunks of rock.
Valorian was hurled back hundreds of kilometers before he could barely stabilize himself.
Blood poured heavily from his mouth.
"…Gh…"
The wound on his chest was widening rapidly.
Yet, the determination in his eyes had not faded.
"Not yet…"
"It's not over."
Valorian began to gather the absolute last remnants of mana within his body A golden light swirled around his spear, briefly illuminating the darkness of space.
Seeing this, Xerathul laughed out loud.
"Again?"
"Futile."
Valorian didn't answer.
He took a deep breath.
And…
He hurled his spear with all his might.
The spear tore through the void, exceeding the speed of light as it rocketed toward Xerathul Xerathul effortlessly raised his sword to deflect it.
At that exact moment…
Valorian's body instantly turned into pure light.
Teleportation.
In a flash, he appeared directly behind Xerathul.
For the first time, Xerathul's eyes widened in shock.
"…What?"
Valorian's voice echoed across the entire void.
"DIE!!"
Gripping the spear with both hands, he drove it into Xerathul's back with every ounce of strength he had left.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!
This time, the resulting explosion was far beyond anything before Thousands of soldiers from the dark armies were torn apart and scattered into space by the mere shockwave.
The nearby planets didn't just crack…
They were utterly obliterated.
Most of the star system vanished into the chaotic energy born from the collision of white and black light.
For minutes, nothing could be seen.
Only dense dust…
Shattered rocks…
And silence.
Finally, the cloud of dust began to slowly disperse.
Valorian was down on his knees.
He was gasping for air.
The veins in his hands were ruptured, and his armor was almost completely destroyed.
He looked ahead.
Of Xerathul…
Nothing remained.
No body…
No armor…
No dark mana…
Only the void.
Valorian had succeeded Xerathul was destroyed But the price of victory was heavy.
Valorian's vision began to blur The mana in his body was completely depleted His internal organs were on the verge of collapsing from the impacts he had taken.
Suddenly, he coughed violently.
"Kh…!"
A large amount of blood erupted from his mouth He could no longer even stand.
He slowly collapsed to his knees His breath grew weaker with every passing second.
Yet, there was something he did not know.
This war…
Was not over yet.
Far away, sitting upon a massive black throne rising from the depths of the darkness, a pair of eyes had been watching everything in silence from the very beginning
The Monarch of Darkness Vorgath
There was neither anger nor surprise on his face
Only a profound indifference…
He stepped down from his throne with heavy strides. Every step he took carved invisible cracks into the fabric of space, the dark mana swirling around him like a sentient being He turned his gaze toward Valorian For a moment he said nothing.
Finally, a cold, condescending voice echoed through the void.
"Weak."
A single word…
Yet, even this single word exerted a pressure upon Valorian as if mountains were crashing down on him Vorgath slowly raised his right hand into the air The moment he lightly closed his fingers, invisible chains wrapped around Valorian's body.
Telekinesis…
Valorian could not move.
"Wh…!"
In an instant, his body was ripped away from the planet he was on.
BOOOM!!
The moment he slammed into the first planet, continents shattered into pieces Before he could even stop, he was hurled into a second planet.
BOOOOM!!
Mountains melted into seas of lava.
A third…
A fourth…
A fifth…
With every single collision, massive planets split in half, their remnants scattering into the stellar void Valorian's bones splintered, his ribs snapped one by one, and his internal organs suffered severe damage from the relentless impacts Yet, Vorgath did not stop.
He was like a child mindlessly tossing a broken toy back and forth for amusement.
With every movement of his hand, Valorian was slammed into another world Blood was no longer just pouring from his mouth it began to stream from his eyes and nose as well His consciousness was slowly fading into a blur And right at that moment…
An image he hadn't seen in years flashed across his mind.
A schoolyard…
The laughter of children…
A young boy fallen to the ground…
The time when Valorian was still just a human…
While a group of bullies beat him mercilessly, not a single student dared to help Right then, a boy stepped out from the crowd.
Omer Jin-Hoo.
Without a second thought, he stood right in front of the bullies.
"Enough."
A single word…
But that was the word that changed Valorian's life that day.
"Don't touch him."
The bullies turned on Omer.
But Omer did not take a single step back.
That day for the very first time, someone had fought for Valorian The school days they spent together afterward Sitting at the same desk during classes…
The laughs they shared…
The bond they forged like brothers…
All those memories began to flash before his eyes, one after another A tear streamed down from Valorian's trembling eyes.
"…Omer…"
The name, escaping his throat with great difficulty, vanished into the void When he snapped back to reality, another impact drove him straight into the core of a planet His body had finally reached its absolute limit.
His heart beat erratically…
His lungs were ruptured…
His liver and other organs were beginning to fail under the weight of the blows Even his divine body could no longer endure this torture Vorgath watched Valorian's agony without showing a single shred of emotion.
Then, he slowly raised his massive sword, shrouded in dark mana The energy swirling around the blade was so dense that even the light of the surrounding stars began to dim.
"Your end has come."
Vorgath took a single step forward Space turned pitch black. He brought his sword down toward Valorian with all his might.
Valorian finally closed his eyes He had no strength left to resist Only a single name passed through his mind.
"…Omer…"
And just as the blade was about to reach his body…
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
An explosion of unimaginable scale occurred, shaking the very depths of the universe This was no ordinary explosion The fabric of space rippled. Energy waves expanding across billions of kilometers made star systems tremble. Asteroids in the immediate vicinity disintegrated into atoms before even making contact. The entirety of the Hydra Constellation was engulfed in a blinding black and purple light The energy was so dense that even Earth, located millions of light-years away, felt the impact. The atmosphere shook briefly; energy fissures resembling massive cracks appeared in the sky. Oceans surged, clouds dispersed, and people all around the world watched the skies in utter amazement at the inexplicable purple-black auroras Once the shockwave generated by the explosion passed, space fell into silence once more A thick cloud of dust enveloped everything.
Vorgath narrowed his eyes trying to see ahead through the haze
"…What?"
The dust slowly began to clear The first thing to become visible was his massive, dark-mana-shrouded sword. It was no longer moving forward.
Someone…
Had stopped his blade with a single hand.
Vorgath's eyes widened in shock The figure standing before him was clad in black attire that seemed entirely integrated with living shadows. The hem of his coat swayed slowly despite the lack of any wind, and the black and purple aura rising from his body made space itself vibrate.
His eyes…
Did not resemble those of a human Purple lights glowing within a void of pitch black made anyone who looked upon them feel the ultimate silence of death There was no anger on his face…
Nor any mercy.
Only absolute tranquility.
And that tranquility weighed heavier than any fear Vorgath had ever experienced.
For the first time…
The Monarch of Darkness felt the urge to retreat The sword in his hand remained motionless The man before him hadn't even taken a single step He was just silently looking at him.
Vorgath's lips trembled.
"This… is impossible…"
Right at that moment, a shaking voice rose from behind him.
"My Lord…"
Vorgath glanced out of the corner of his eye toward his vanguard.
The expression on Draermoth's face had completely changed. He spoke with a terror never seen before "I believe… the very thing we feared has come to pass."
Vorgath turned his gaze back to the man in front of him.
That name…
Omer Jin-Hoo… had returned