The abyss convulsed as Prismarine fire and divine light clashed again and again, each impact louder than thunder, sharper than lightning. Fragments of broken rings spiraled outward, dissolving into shimmering dust, but for every one Vemy shattered, two more reformed.
The Ring God's voice rumbled through the void, steady and vast.
"You resist. You adapt. But you still strike as a child."
Its rings folded inward, condensing into a single colossal halo that burned with impossible intensity. Every orbit warped the air, dragging space itself into its spiral.
Vemy's wings beat once, Prismarine blaze flaring in jagged arcs. The Senso Bean's energy was still raging through his veins, his body light and alive, every nerve singing. He felt untouchable—no, unstoppable.
But when the god swung its condensed halo downward, the impact erased the fragment he stood on in an instant. Stone, fire, even air itself disintegrated, leaving only annihilation.
Vemy barely managed to vault away, wings straining against the pull of collapsing space. His spear struck against the halo, sparks screaming through the abyss, but the blow sent him spiraling, blood splattering from his lips.
Too strong.
For a split second, the thought almost crushed him. But then the Prismarine within him pulsed, sharp and defiant. His fire didn't waver—it answered.
[Prismarine Affinity: 72% → 84%]
[New threshold reached.]
The words weren't spoken. They carved themselves into his mind, the Ring System itself responding to his ascension. His body vibrated, energy coursing in new patterns he had never touched before.
His eyes widened. The system's evolving in real time… because I'm pushing it against the god who made it.
He spread his wings, Prismarine shards peeling from his body like feathers of crystal, orbiting him in jagged arcs. For the first time, his fire felt less like borrowed power—and more like a weapon uniquely his.
The Ring God paused. Its colossal frame tilted slightly, the faintest shimmer of recognition crossing its impossible features.
"…So. You fracture my chains."
Vemy grinned through blood-streaked teeth, spear spinning into a reverse grip. "No. I'm forging my own."
He dove.
The fight exploded in a storm of raw destruction—Prismarine shards clashing against halos, wings slicing arcs of fire across voidspace, every movement leaving ripples of warped gravity. Akiar's storm, still lingering at the fringes, surged forward too, lightning crackling as if unwilling to let Vemy fight alone.
Together, storm and flame struck as one, forcing the god's halo back.
The void itself groaned under the clash.
And then—it happened.
[System Breakthrough Achieved.]
[New Ring Manifested: The Ring of Defiance.]
A surge of power slammed through Vemy, nearly buckling his knees. A glowing ring of jagged Prismarine fire spun into existence behind him, burning hotter and sharper than anything he had ever seen. Unlike the god's perfect, endless halos, this one was fractured, incomplete—yet it radiated something raw, untamed, and unyielding.
The Ring God's voice shook the abyss. For the first time, it was not calm.
"…Impossible."
Vemy roared, Prismarine Ascension blazing at its peak. His fractured ring spun faster, shards orbiting him like a miniature storm of fire and crystal. His spear thrummed in his hands, alive, eager.
"Not impossible," he shouted, eyes blazing with human fury. "Just mine!"
And with a single thrust, he struck forward, Prismarine fire colliding with divine halo—
—shattering a piece of the god's ring.
The abyss howled as cracks of light tore outward, space itself splitting from the impact.
The Ring God's laughter returned, but now it was edged with something new. Not amusement. Not disdain. But hunger.
"Good. Show me more."
🔥 Cliffhanger: Vemy just awakened his first unique ring, The Ring of Defiance, by breaking through the system mid-battle. For the first time, he has wounded the Ring God—and the god is thrilled by it.