The corpses of the smoke-beasts dissolved into ash, carried away by the waves that still bowed at Azeron's command. The ocean was quiet again, but within him, a storm raged.
Azeron: "This power… it's endless."
He raised his hand again. The air bent. The tide rose at his thought alone, then crashed back down with thunderous obedience. A single heartbeat, a single breath, and the world itself shifted.
But the thrill twisted into unease.It wasn't just power—it was something else.
Beneath the surface of his veins pulsed a strange rhythm, not blood, not heartbeats, but whispers. Words he could not understand, voices clawing inside his mind like ancient chains rattling in the dark.
Voices (faint, overlapping):"Claim… throne… bleed… god… forsaken…"
He clutched his skull, stumbling, as if every secret of the universe was trying to force itself into his fragile human memories.
Akira's fear flickered. Azeron's fury drowned it.
Azeron: "No… I won't break. Not again. You will obey me!"
The whispers stopped. For a moment, silence.
Then—crack.
His reflection in the tidepool split. One half showed Akira—the pale, broken boy, eyes filled with despair. The other half, Azeron—divine, wrathful, eternal.
The island itself seemed to respond. The ground trembled, a low rumble echoing from the forest. Between the trees, a glow emerged—pale, blue, shifting like flame.
A figure stepped forth. Tall, faceless, armored in obsidian plates, its chest burning with a mark shaped like a spiral sun. It carried no weapon, yet the air bent around it like gravity warped at its will.
Guardian of Nex:"The Outcast has awakened. But divinity untempered is chaos. Prove your right, Azeron. Face your inner powers… or be consumed by them."
Azeron clenched his fists, his divine marks flaring.
Azeron: "…So this island isn't just a place. It's a test."
The Guardian raised its arm, and immediately, Azeron's chest seared with unbearable pain. From within him, black fire erupted, wrapping his body, clawing at his skin like it wanted to devour him.
His knees buckled. His scream tore through the shore.
But in the fire, he saw it—chains breaking. A sea of stars inside his veins. Rivers of light and shadow colliding. The truth of his existence: Akira the boy and Azeron the god were one, yet at war.
If he lost here, his divinity would eat him alive.If he won… the Island of Nex would recognize him.
The Guardian's voice thundered again:
Guardian of Nex:"You carry two names. Two souls. One must kneel… or both will burn."
Azeron staggered forward, divine fire burning hotter, his shadow stretching impossibly far. His lips curled into a grin sharp enough to cut the horizon.
Azeron: "Then let's see… if an outcast can chain a god!"
And with that, the true battle began—against himself.