The void between superclusters stretched infinitely, dark and silent except for the distant hum of collapsing star systems. Kai floated above the Milky Way, golden eyes gleaming, hands clasped behind his back. Around him, stars trembled under the pressure of his Early Sage aura. The galaxy below was already a whisper of fear, and yet the real storm was about to descend.
Ema shimmered beside him, her starlight robes rippling with cosmic energy. "Kai… he approaches. This is not a Sage. A Monarch's presence warps space itself, stretches laws into flesh. This battle will destroy worlds if unchecked."
Kai's grin widened, calm and sharp. "Perfect. I've been waiting for a fight worth my strength. Heal and Deal is off—no shortcuts. No interruptions. If I can't bleed, it's not worth it."
The void convulsed. Stars flickered like fragile candles. Entire constellations bent as though bowing under some unseen authority. Then, a presence emerged—a fortress of light and gravity, seemingly bigger than galaxies themselves, compressing into a colossal figure: Lord Calyrex, Enforcer of the Primordial Humans.
Each of his steps crushed star clusters, sending ripples across the void. His aura radiated absolute law, bending cosmic threads into obedience. His voice boomed, resonating across the supercluster.
"By order of the Primordial Humans," he thundered, "I, Calyrex, Enforcer of Law, declare your existence ends here."
Kai tilted his head, amusement flashing in his golden eyes. "Finally. Something… challenging."
The throne hall of Solakar had barely begun to steady after the revelation when the sky itself darkened.
A second sun had risen above the capital, but this was no star. It was presence—dense, crushing, suffocating. The Primordial Overseer's warning had not been an exaggeration. Something beyond the comprehension of mortals had arrived.
The Emperor dropped to one knee, body quivering as though every vein inside him had caught fire. Across the empire, ships went silent, priests screamed, and rebellions paused in terror.
Then came the voice.
"Stay here, and this galaxy will be dust."
The sound was not carried by light, air, or signal. It was a law, etched directly into reality. Every being who heard it knew it was truth.
A man descended. No… not a man. A Monarch.
Lord Calyrex appeared above Solakar, clad in robes woven from the threads of constellations. His eyes contained the weight of collapsing stars, his every breath shifting nebulae. Each step bent gravity itself, pressing entire planetary systems into silence.
"Follow me into the void beyond the superclusters, anomaly." His gaze locked onto Kai, who floated in the distance, arms folded casually. "This galaxy cannot bear our exchange."
Ema's projection flickered beside Kai. "Kai… he's not exaggerating. If you fight here, you'll unravel half the spiral arms."
Kai's lips curved into a grin. "Then I suppose we take a walk."
And in the next heartbeat—both were gone.
Without warning, the Monarch extended his hand. The void split. Stars detonated in brilliant supernovae as a domain of absolute gravity and law erupted around him. Space itself twisted into impossibility, planets colliding mid-orbit, suns shattering under invisible hands. This was no mere attack—this was a galaxy cluster collapsing into itself.
Kai's body shimmered. His Early Sage aura flared, forming a radiant golden sphere around him that distorted light, bending even the destructive laws of Calyrex's domain. Meteors, black holes, and solar-scale energy blasts collided against the sphere—and yet he floated, almost laughing.
The first exchange of blows began.
Calryex swung a hand, and entire stars erupted, forming streams of molten plasma, tearing into surrounding systems. Kai countered by splitting his aura into countless threads, each one wrapping around collapsing worlds, holding them together like puppets. He manipulated gravity in return, sending shards of destroyed stars hurtling back. The force of their clash cracked space-time, and nearby galaxy clusters trembled in response.
Kai and Calyrex hovered within that endless gulf, two sparks daring to ignite the nothingness.
Calyrex raised a hand, and reality bent. His Domain unfolded.
"Throne of Absolute Law."
The void itself rearranged. Space flattened, time slowed, and causality crystallized like glass around them. Kai felt his strikes dulled before he even made them. Every movement he thought of was already accounted for, redirected, denied.
"A Monarch's domain," Ema whispered within Kai's mind. "He dictates what can and cannot happen. Even death obeys him."
Kai chuckled, golden eyes narrowing. "Let's see if your laws hold against mine."
He summoned Clive, the sword of severance. With a single slash, the void split like paper. Billions of light-years of emptiness screamed open, a wound that refused to heal. He aimed the blade at Calyrex, cutting toward his throne of law itself.
The Monarch didn't move. The strike passed, cutting reality, but not him. The wound of space recoiled, snapping closed around Calyrex as if he had never been there.
"Child's tricks," Calyrex said calmly. "Laws cannot be severed. They are inevitability."
Kai's universe within trembled, his civilizations roaring in his blood. He pressed harder. Stars flared in his aura, storms of raw creation spilling outward. His blows carved rivers of broken void, cracks stretching across infinity. Yet every strike… slid away.
Then Calyrex lifted a finger.
"Eternal Judgment."
A pillar of law, infinite and unbreakable, descended like the decree of a god. It smashed into Kai, tearing through his shoulder, and exploded outward into the void. The ripple vaporized entire regions of space that had never known light.
Kai reeled, golden blood scattering like fragments of newborn suns. Before he could recover, another decree fell. His side was split open, ribs shattering as the void roared in sympathy.
"Impressive," Calyrex murmured, his voice cold yet intrigued. "This anomaly… his strength is growing mid-battle. Not just raw power… refinement. Adaptation."
Kai smirked, eyes glinting with exhilaration. He leapt into the fray, moving faster than light, each strike reshaping local physics. Solar flares exploded under his fists, magnetic storms twisted around his legs, and shockwaves split nearby star systems. His Flame-Kinetic Law fusion danced across the void, igniting dying stars and compressing gas giants into energy pulses he hurled at the Monarch.
Calryex responded with a sweep of his hand. Entire neutron stars warped, becoming sentient war hammers of crushing gravity. Kai dodged, barely, feeling the edges of time itself tear as the blows reshaped reality. He laughed wildly, blood warming him with the sensation of true combat for the first time in decades.
"You're getting stronger," Calyrex observed, eyes narrowing. "But still… your attacks barely touch me. Step further, anomaly. This galaxy, this cluster, is nothing. You cannot hope to survive if I focus fully."
Kai's grin turned savage. "Good. Then I'll push you harder."
With a thought, he unleashed Celestial Shatter, a domain-like ability forming around him. Stars within a hundred systems disintegrated into luminous shards, flowing like rivers of molten gold toward Calyrex. He combined it with Time Compression, forcing the Monarch to dodge in fractions of seconds while the void folded unpredictably.
Calryex responded with Absolute Nullification, bending the cosmic energy streams into anti-energy fields, reversing matter into void. Stars exploded in a dance of light and shadow. Nearby superclusters shuddered. The Monarch's strikes were precise, surgically dismantling Kai's constructs, yet Kai adapted mid-motion, weaving his threads faster, fusing them with surrounding debris and energy.
The impact of their clash was cataclysmic. Entire star systems shattered. Black holes formed and evaporated. Cosmic radiation flooded sectors untouched by sentient life. Planets were ejected from orbits, dwarfing the destruction Kai had wrought against the Knoll Empire.
Kai's laughter echoed across the void, wild and unrestrained. "This… is what I've been waiting for! The universe finally feels alive!"
Even Calyrex, unshaken, took note. "He is… learning. Not just power. Technique. His manipulation of matter, energy, and laws… it's improving mid-battle. Remarkable."
Kai pushed further, combining Flame-Kinetic Law fusion with Gravity Manipulation and Temporal Threads, creating shockwaves that disoriented Calyrex for brief moments—enough to feel the Monarch's surprise. But every strike against him was a reminder of the Monarch's superiority. Kai's body began to show signs of strain, wounds forming where raw energy tore through his aura.
Pain lanced through him. He gasped, golden eyes blazing, blood mixing with cosmic energy. And yet… he laughed. True exhilaration. True combat.
Calryex stepped forward, domain expanding further. His aura spread like a living galaxy, twisting space, warping time, suppressing the very laws Kai relied on. Nearby galaxy clusters trembled. Calyrex spoke, voice like a collapsing universe:
"Anomaly… enough of this theater. If we remain here, the galaxy and the supercluster will be destroyed. Retreat… or face complete erasure."
Kai's grin widened, golden aura sparking like collapsing stars. "No. This is where the fun begins. Let's see how far my bloodline can bend reality."
And so, the clash escalated, tearing superclusters, bending the void, stretching the laws of creation and destruction. Kai was battered, bloodied, yet learning. Every strike, every dodge, every moment was shaping him into something far beyond the Early Sage he had been when the battle began.
The void itself seemed to recognize the battle as legendary. Stellar formations realigned to watch, cosmic winds whispered in anticipation, and distant Primordial Humans sensed the clash, observing with a mixture of awe and concern.
Kai's golden aura flared, dazzling, pushing even Calyrex's perception. "You're good," Kai admitted, blood and energy dripping across the void. "But I'm just getting started."
The fight, unrestrained and ferocious, would continue beyond this galaxy, spilling into the void between superclusters, threatening existence itself.
And the boy, the anomaly, was finally laughing… truly enjoying a fight for the first time in his life.
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