Chapter 15
The moment the command was given, the First Void ignited.
Bravery moved first, a blur of motion targeting Shadow. But Shadow was ready; he unleashed a localized wave of Telekinesis, a concussive force that caught the Son of Satan mid-air and sent him reeling back. Simultaneously, the Rage Killer raised his hands, conjuring a massive, hellish fireball that threatened to incinerate the entire arena. Shadow instantly encased himself in a dome of Cosmic Aramid, while Makuhari and Bravery summoned shimmering energy barriers to withstand the searing heat.
Shadow didn't wait for the flames to die. From his dome, he launched a lethal barrage of Aramid spikes at all three opponents. Bravery, grinning wildly, tore open a portal in space, redirecting the spikes back toward Shadow. Makuhari, however, didn't bother with portals; he simply waved a hand, and the spikes approaching him disintegrated into dust. The Rage Killer responded with a counter-barrage of fireballs, turning the air into a chaotic storm of projectiles.
Seeing an opening, Shadow teleported behind Bravery. He swung an Aramid blade with enough force to cleave a mountain, but the blade stopped inches from Bravery's skin, vibrating against an invisible wall.
"What the—" Shadow muttered, his eyes widening in disbelief.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you," Bravery smiled, his oceanic eyes glowing. "You can't actually touch me." With a fluid motion, he delivered a counter-punch that bypassed Shadow's guard, sending him crashing hundreds of meters across the floating landmass.
As the Rage Killer lunged at Bravery to capitalize on the distraction, the Son of Satan manipulated the space beneath his feet. A portal snagged the Killer's leg, slamming him face-first into the ground. Bravery whispered a single word: "Gravity."
The weight of a mountain crashed down upon the Rage Killer, the gravitational pull increasing a thousandfold, pinning him into the bedrock of the arena.
Observing the chaos from the center, Inu Makuhari's calm demeanor finally cracked. His eyes flared with a divine, terrifying light. "Are you ignoring me?" he whispered, his voice trembling with a growing, cold fury. "Who do you think I am?"
The arena didn't just shake; it groaned under the weight of his presence. "Then I shall show you true power!"
Suddenly, the gravity across the entire Jupiter-sized plane surged to ten thousand times its normal strength. Lightning spiraled out from Makuhari in jagged, uncontrollable arcs, while massive rocky spikes erupted from the ground in every direction.
Shadow huddled beneath his Aramid shield, but he could hear the material groaning—the legendary defense was beginning to crack. Bravery's stacked layers of spatial shields were shattering like glass, one by one, and the Rage Killer struggled just to keep his hellfire barrier from being extinguished by the sheer pressure.
"It's too much," Shadow thought, his teeth gritted as he poured every ounce of energy into maintaining his shield. "The gravity... I can't move."
But Makuhari was only getting started. Above his head, he began to condense a sphere of pure white energy—a sun-like monstrosity the size of a moon. While the others were pinned down, unable to counter, the demigod they had underestimated prepared to erase the battlefield.
In that moment of absolute desperation, a cold, mechanical voice echoed within the depths of Shadow's consciousness.
[NEW SKILL ACQUIRED: BLACK HOLE]
The Adaptive Skill had finally triggered. As the moon-sized energy ball loomed overhead, Shadow felt a new, dark void opening within his palms. It was time to see if the Void could swallow a God.
The arena had become a theater of impossible physics. Bravery's spatial shields had completely shattered under the crushing gravity, yet he remained upright, suspended by that eerie, invisible force that shielded his very existence.
As Makuhari's moon-sized energy sphere descended, Shadow unleashed his newest instinct: a Black Hole. But he wasn't alone. Bravery, eyes wide with manic excitement, mirrored the move, launching a void of his own. The two miniature singularities collided and merged, swelling into a ravenous super-massive black hole that tore into the center of the pure energy sphere. The resulting collision was silent and absolute, nullifying both powers in a flash of nothingness.
Shadow didn't miss a beat. He stepped forward, a jagged purple line tracing across the entire plane as his eyes flared with a lethal light.
"I am Karma," he whispered.
The entire Jupiter-sized landmass erupted into a sea of his signature purple flames. Yet, as the smoke cleared, his heart sank. The Rage Killer stood unscathed, cloaked in a hellfire aura that fed on the heat. Bravery's invisible barrier held the flames at bay effortlessly. Most insulting of all, Makuhari hadn't even moved to defend himself; the hellish heat of the purple fire brushed past him like a summer breeze.
"This is getting annoying," Makuhari muttered, his voice dripping with aristocratic boredom.
The Rage Killer saw his opening. "Open! Hellfire's Domain!" he roared. A massive sigil appeared in the sky, raining down droplets of liquid fire that bypassed ordinary defenses. Makuhari countered with a simple whisper—"Holy Field"—creating a white canopy that turned the rain to steam. Bravery simply wove through the downpour as if the flames were afraid to touch him.
Shadow tried to counter with his own fire, but the realization hit him hard: his purple flames were inferior to the raw, ancient heat of the Rage Killer's Hellfire. He was forced to dodge, but even with his speed, the droplets began to sear his flesh. The pain was agonizing; his superior durability and poison resistances were useless against the metaphysical burn of the Abyss. He was forced to divert his energy into constant, rapid healing just to stay standing.
"Enough games," Makuhari said, his voice cold as he began a melodic chant:
"The light of day, the sword of faith... Eternal and true, reality renewed... Open and reveal, on my will, I summon... Vodrax-Deneres: The Pen of Creation."
A pillar of white light split the ground, and a majestic blade glowing with the brilliance of a thousand suns rose into his hand. With a single, casual vertical strike, he sent a wave of light upward that shattered the Hellfire Domain like glass.
"Now," Makuhari smirked, "I kill you all with this."
"Do you really think you're the only one with a relic?" Bravery mocked. "Come to me, Vezdinalva: The Sword of Annihilation." He drew a dark, jagged blade from thin air, its edge vibrating with a sickening, poisonous aura that seemed to rot the very space around it.
The Rage Killer let out a guttural laugh, stretching his hand toward the floor. "Come to me, Incinerator: The All-Consuming Flame!" The bedrock cracked open, spilling molten lava as a blade forged from the heart of a sun emerged.
The air in the Void grew heavy with the presence of three Cosmic Artifacts. Shadow stood in the center, the only one without a legendary relic. He knew his Cosmic Aramid was strong, but these were weapons that had carved universes.
Grimly, Shadow forged a new blade from his Aramid, lacing it with every ounce of purple flame he could muster. He looked at the flickering, dark-purple steel, wondering if a mortal's weapon could hold a candle to the blades of gods and demons.
He took a breath, centered his spirit, and prepared for the clash that would determine if his Karma was strong enough to survive the creators.
In a blur of motion that defied the laws of physics, Bravery vanished. His speed had transcended anything Shadow had witnessed before. He reappeared instantly in Shadow's blind spot, the dark edge of Vezdinalva humming with a sickening vibration. Shadow reacted with the instincts of a seasoned warrior, raising his Aramid blade to parry—but the cosmic artifact sliced through his weapon as if it were mere butter.
Bravery didn't hesitate. He swung again, a lethal horizontal arc aimed at Shadow's throat. In a desperate, split-second gamble, Shadow raised his left hand to shield his vitals. The Sword of Annihilation tore through flesh and bone with terrifying ease.
Shadow teleported instantly, reappearing at the far edge of the arena to gain distance. He stared down at the jagged stump of his wrist, his breath hitching in a moment of pure, visceral panic.
"My hand... it's gone. What kind of blade is that?" Shadow's mind raced. "I could barely keep up with two hands... how am I supposed to survive with one?"
Bravery's mocking laughter echoed across the void. "So, you're running now?"
In the center of the plane, the Rage Killer and Makuhari were locked in a titan's duel. Their artifacts, Incinerator and Vodrax-Deneres, collided with enough force to send shockwaves through the very fabric of the dimension, unleashing waves of raw, unpleasant cosmic energy.
"Those two are really having at it," Bravery said, glancing at the explosion of light and fire before turning back to Shadow with a predatory grin. "And then there's you... always running. You're too weak to be here."
The words cut deeper than the blade, for Shadow knew they were true. He was a man fighting monsters. But as his resolve threatened to crumble, that cold, familiar voice resonated within the depths of his mind.
[NEW SKILL ACQUIRED: REGENERATION]
A grim smile played on Shadow's lips. "Maybe I am weak," he said, "but that doesn't mean I'll lose."
Muscles began to knit together, and bone extended from the stump of his wrist in a rapid, grotesque display of biological reconstruction. Within seconds, his hand was fully restored.
"Oh? You can regenerate?" Bravery's interest was piqued. "I have a feeling there's something... different about you." He vanished once more, and Shadow braced for the inevitable strike.
Bravery reappeared behind him, the Sword of Annihilation whistling toward his neck. Shadow ducked the blow and unleashed a point-blank burst of Telekinesis, hurling Bravery across the bedrock.
Bravery stood up, dusting off his noble attire. "Come on. I only wanted to see if you could regenerate a second head," he joked, his sarcasm dripping with malice.
Shadow panted, his mind searching for an opening. "I've walked through death's door too many times today. I need something more."
As if answering his silent plea, the inner voice spoke again, presenting him with a choice that felt like a pact with the abyss itself.
[NEW SKILL ACQUIRED: VOID RENT]
[SYSTEM MESSAGE: Do you intend to borrow the Void Blade?]
[NOTE: To use the Void Blade, all acquired skills—including Regeneration, Telekinesis, and Healing—will be inaccessible. Do you accept these terms?]
Shadow hesitated. Without his skills, he would have no safety net. If he was struck, he would die. But looking at the cosmic artifacts held by his foes, he realized he had no other way to bridge the gap.
"I accept," he whispered.
The Void itself began to tremble, a sound like a thousand dying stars. The vibration was so intense that even the Rage Killer and Makuhari paused their clash, their eyes turning toward Shadow.
A black circle of absolute nothingness tore open in the sky above him. From its depths, a large, jagged sword descended. Its aura was so crushing it sent shockwaves across the entire Jupiter-sized landmass. As Shadow reached out and gripped the hilt, he saw the ancient inscription etched into the dark metal.
[VOID AZAREL: THE ABSOLUTE ERASURE]
The atmosphere in the First Void shifted from competitive to awe-struck. High above, the cosmic siblings—Desire, Nightmare, Dream—and the enigmatic Endless leaned forward in their thrones, their eyes wide in awe. Below, Makuhari stared at the jagged dark steel in Shadow's hand, wondering what kind of relic could capture the undivided attention of beings who had seen everything. The Rage Killer, however, only grinned; his blood boiled with the desire to test his legendary flames against this new intruder.
Bravery was paralyzed,never had he felt an artifact pulse with such absolute, terrifying authority.
The Rage Killer acted first, a blur of hellfire and steel. He lunged at Shadow, swinging Incinerator with enough force to split a continent. Shadow was still momentarily lost in the dark inscriptions of his new blade, but Void Azarel did not wait for its master. The sword moved of its own accord, parrying the hellfire blade with a soundless, bone-chilling impact.
The resulting shockwave sent the Rage Killer hurtling backward, crashing into the bedrock. He scrambled to his feet, a wild smile on his face. "That blade is awesome!" he roared, reaching for his weapon—only to freeze. A spiderweb of cracks had formed across the surface of the Incinerator.
"It... it can't be," he muttered, his voice trembling. "This is the Incinerator. It is eternal. It cannot break."
Bravery, desperate to reclaim his dominance, launched his own assault. Vezdinalva, the Sword of Annihilation, met Void Azarel, the Absolute Erasure. This time, Shadow took control. He swung with a heavy, deliberate arc. The collision didn't just push Bravery back; it shattered the Sword of Annihilation into a thousand dark shards.
Bravery stood in total dismay, staring at his empty hilt. "What kind of monster are you? You didn't have that before! Where did it come from? Who are you?!"
"I'm still figuring that out," Shadow replied, his voice cold and steady. "But I think it's time I tested its limits."
He launched himself at Makuhari. The demigod met him head-on, and the world seemed to scream as the Pen of Creation clashed with Absolute Erasure.
The shockwaves were no longer mere vibrations; they felt like impending doom, threatening to tear the First Void apart. Shadow's technique was superior—his years of discipline as a master of the blade outmatched Makuhari's raw power. However, the demigod's divine speed allowed him to counter Shadow's lethal strikes just in time.
They became a storm of light and shadow, clashing repeatedly until they met in one final, titanic collision. An explosion of pure energy erupted, followed by a shockwave that swept the other contestants off their feet. When the dust finally settled, only Shadow remained standing. He panted heavily, leaning his weight on the jagged blade to keep from collapsing.
Makuhari knelt nearby, staring at the fragments of Vodrax-Deneres in his hands. "But... how?" he whispered, his heart aching. The blade had been a gift from his mother on the day of his birth; now, it was nothing but glowing dust.
As Shadow's vision blurred from exhaustion, the mechanical voice returned.
[NOTICE: You currently lack the physical strength required to wield the Void Blade. To continue would mean your death. Do you accept a Return?]
Shadow looked around. The cosmic artifacts were destroyed. The playing field was leveled. He needed his abilities back—he needed to heal.
"I accept," he thought.
The black circle reopened in the sky, and Void Azarel ascended back into the abyss. Instantly, Shadow felt his energy flood back. His skills were no longer locked. The Regeneration skill kicked in, knitting his worn-out muscles and restoring him to full strength in seconds.
He didn't have a moment to rest. He sensed a ripple in space behind him and teleported instantly, reappearing ten meters away. Bravery's hand emerged from a portal exactly where Shadow's head had been a second ago.
"Your reaction time is good, I'll admit," Bravery grinned, though his eyes were now filled with a frantic, localized madness.
Shadow knew he was in trouble. Teleportation was a reflex, but against this level of speed, reflexes weren't enough. He had lost a hand earlier; next time, it would be his life. He needed a way to perceive the world differently.
The inner voice answered one more time.
[NEW SKILL ACQUIRED: SHADOW MIST]
Shadow allowed a grim smile to touch his lips. The Shadow Mist was more than a technique; it was a state of being. By transforming into a living gas, physical strikes would pass through him harmlessly, offering him a layer of defense even his teleportation couldn't guarantee. However, he knew the form was a double-edged sword. While immune to blades and fists, he was now even more vulnerable to non-physical forces—elemental magic or raw shockwaves could tear his gaseous form apart.
I just have to move the mist faster than they can strike, he thought.
The atmosphere suddenly turned frigid. Bravery stood still, all traces of his manic playfulness vanishing. He began to walk toward Shadow, his footsteps slow, rhythmic, and heavy with a newfound dread.
"I'm done playing games," Bravery whispered. "It's time to be serious."
His eyes ignited with the brilliance of a blue noon sky. Two obsidian horns erupted from his skull, his nails elongated into jagged talons, and his face became a void of emotion. This was the True Demon Form—the legacy of Satan unleashed.
The Rage Killer let out a low, guttural laugh. "I guess you're right. Let's go all out." His skin charred to a deep, abyssal black as his eyes bled into a crimson red with predatory yellow pupils. Massive horns spiraled from his head, and glowing, lava-like tattoos pulsed across his muscles. The Son of Lucifer had arrived.
Shadow stood stunned. He realized with a sinking heart that while he had been fighting for his life, they had been merely testing the waters. He had dangerously underestimated the depths of their power.
Both demons launched themselves at Shadow simultaneously. He reacted instantly, dissolving into a swirling purple vapor. Their fists passed through his misty form, colliding with one another in a spray of sparks and shockwaves. The impact sent both demons sliding back, though they landed with perfect, predatory grace.
"You couldn't do that before," Bravery said, his voice now a layered, demonic rasp. "Something is different about you."
"A mist form?" The Rage Killer smirked, his fists igniting with a heat that made the air scream. "I know how to handle that. I'll just burn the air until there's nothing left of you."
Bravery copied the move, lacing his own talons with hellfire, preparing for a second onslaught. But before they could move, they were interrupted by a sound like a dying star—a chilling, hollow whisper from Inu Makuhari.
"No... it can't be..."
The demigod was staring at his broken hands. Suddenly, his skin began to peel away in shimmering flakes, revealing a body of pure, blinding celestial light underneath. His eyes began to shine with the intensity of a thousand suns. The demons and the human watched in paralyzed amusement; they had never seen a transformation of this magnitude.
As his mortal shell fell away, Makuhari stood as a being of living energy. He took a single step, and the entire First Void was engulfed in an overwhelming presence. It was as if gravity had increased a billion times, yet a simultaneous force felt like it was trying to pull their souls from their bodies.
Shadow and the two demons were slammed to their knees by the sheer pressure of Makuhari's levitating form. The "Son of God" had ascended. In that moment, the rivalry between the three of them vanished. They realized a terrifying truth: this celestial being was far superior to all of them combined. If they had any hope of surviving the next minute, they had to bury their grievances and face this creator together.
They were no longer in a tournament. They were in a struggle for existence against a True Creator.
The three champions forced themselves upward, their muscles groaning against the crushing gravity of the celestial being. They were poised to launch a desperate, unified assault when Shadow suddenly froze. A wave of primal, paralyzing panic crashed over him. Without a word, he teleported to the absolute edge of the arena, his breath coming in ragged gasps.
"Something... something isn't right," he muttered, his voice trembling.
In the center of the void, the two demons launched their attack, but they struck only empty air. Makuhari had moved so fast he left an afterimage that fooled even their demonic senses. Before the Rage Killer could register the movement, he felt a searing heat in his chest. He looked down to see a glowing, translucent arm protruding through his torso, a hand made of pure celestial energy clutching his still-beating heart.
Makuhari tightened his fist. A sickening wet crunch echoed across the quiet arena. He withdrew his hand from the Rage Killer's back, and the Son of Lucifer slumped to the ground, dead before his body hit the stone.
Bravery, his face pale with dismay, instantly tore open a portal and scrambled to the edge of the arena to join Shadow. They stood together, two survivors looking back at a monster who had just effortlessly executed a being whose skin was harder than enchanted steel.
"How did you know?" Bravery asked, his eyes darting back to the glowing figure in the center. "How did you know something was off?"
"I tried to move," Shadow replied, his eyes wide. "But every fiber of my being told me that if I stepped toward him, I was already dead. I've been at death's door too many times to ignore the smell of it. It wasn't just fear... it was a certainty of extinction. That's why I fled."
Bravery looked at Shadow, his expression shifting from terror to a strange, calculating curiosity. "You know why I kept attacking you? I knew that in terms of raw power, you were the weakest here. But there was something about you—something intriguing I couldn't place. I wanted to force it out of you. Now, tell me... do you have anything left in your arsenal that can save us from that?"
"I'm hoping I get one soon," Shadow replied grimly.
"Get one? What do you—" Bravery's question was cut short as Makuhari materialized in front of them, his celestial aura burning like a supernova.
Shadow spoke directly into Bravery's mind: "The only way is to run. Teleport every time he appears. We have to hope he goes on a rampage and exhausts that energy until he drops to our level... or until I find a counter."
Shadow vanished instantly. Bravery, however, stood his ground for a fraction of a second, launching a concentrated Black Hole at the celestial being. Makuhari didn't even blink; he reached out and flicked the singularity away with a finger, as if shooing a fly, sending it dissipating into the void.
Bravery teleported to Shadow's new position, his voice frantic. "Why don't you use the Void Blade? You'd stand a better chance!"
"The conditions are too high," Shadow hissed. "He's too fast now. If I take that blade and fail to touch him, I lose my regeneration and my skills. I'd be an easy target. I need a better plan."
He was running out of space and time. But then, as he prepared for another jump, the cold, familiar resonance echoed in his mind once more.
[NEW SKILL ACQUIRED: ENERGY ABSORPTION]
"I think I know what to do. I will—"
Shadow's plan was cut short by a bone-chilling presence. He glanced toward Bravery, but the demon was already gone. Makuhari had materialized behind him, his arm plunged deep into Bravery's back. Though the hand didn't emerge from the other side, the look of absolute shock on Bravery's face told the story.
With a swift, brutal jerk, Makuhari ripped out the demon's heart. Bravery's body went limp, dropping onto the cold bedrock of the arena.
Shadow was alone. He was the last one standing, and the weight of the multiverse seemed to press down on his shoulders. It was all or nothing. In a final, desperate gamble, Shadow teleported directly behind Makuhari, wrapping his arms around the celestial being in a vice-like grip.
"Energy Absorption!" Shadow roared.
A torrent of blinding, celestial power flooded into Shadow. He was draining the god, but the sheer volume of energy was a tidal wave crashing into a cup. It was overwhelming—far beyond any limit his human soul had ever reached. Realizing the danger, Shadow tried to let go, but the tables had turned. Makuhari reached back, pinning Shadow's arms to his own body.
For the first time since his transformation, a sinister, terrifying smile spread across Makuhari's glowing face. He wasn't just letting Shadow absorb the energy; he was forcing it into him, overcharging his veins with the power of a star.
Shadow's skin began to crack like parched earth. The agony was beyond description, a white-hot fire burning from the inside out. As his vision turned into a kaleidoscope of cosmic light, Shadow felt his physical form begin to dissolve.
"I lost," he whispered in the final millisecond of his existence.
The arena vanished in a blinding explosion of cosmic energy as Shadow's body succumbed to the overload. When the light finally faded, only the celestial god remained, standing solitary amidst the dust. Makuhari took a deep breath, his glowing form receding until he returned to his human state.
Desire's voice, cold and melodious, echoed across the infinite void. "Congratulations, Makuhari. You are the winner."
With a casual snap of her fingers, the fabric of reality rippled. Shadow, Bravery, and the Rage Killer suddenly gasped, their bodies manifesting out of thin air, completely restored and whole.
"I'm alive..." Shadow thought, staring at his hands in disbelief. The phantom pain of the explosion still lingered in his mind, but his body was pristine.
"So," Bravery said, dusting off his noble suit and glancing at Shadow, "who won?"
"He did," Shadow replied, nodding toward Makuhari.
"Argh!" the Rage Killer growled, his face twisted in a look of pure annoyance. "How could I be the first one to die? That's insulting!"
The four cosmic beings looked down from their thrones, their expressions unreadable but satisfied. "The battle is concluded," Endless declared, her voice resonating through the First Void. "Your performance was... amusing. A perfect display. We thank you for your participation."
Dream rose from his celestial throne, his sun-like robes casting a warm, golden hue over the four champions. He wore a knowing smile, looking down at the warriors who had just painted the void with their blood.
"Before you receive your rewards and depart for your respective universes," Dream's voice resonated, "I shall grant you one final gift: a glimpse into how you truly compare to one another. I have measured you across seven categories. Listen well, for this knowledge may be the key to your survival in the ages to come."
He gestured into the air, and glowing inscriptions appeared, ranking the champions from highest to lowest:
Strength Makuhari > Bravery > Rage Killer > Shadow
Speed Makuhari > Bravery > Shadow > Rage Killer
Strategy Shadow > Bravery > Rage Killer > Makuhari
Adaptation Shadow > Bravery > Makuhari > Rage Killer
Skill Shadow > Bravery > Rage Killer > Makuhari
Power Makuhari > Bravery > Rage Killer > Shadow
Potential Shadow > Bravery > Rage Killer > Makuhari
"Take this as my parting gift," Dream concluded, his eyes lingering on Shadow. "Know your weaknesses to sharpen your strengths. Let this guide your path in the wars to follow."
Desire descended from her throne, her form shrinking until she stood eye-to-eye with the victor. She reached out, her fingers grazing Makuhari's forehead with a soft, ethereal glow. "I grant you the prize of the First Void: Cosmic Bridge. The cosmos is now your playground; travel it as you see fit." As soon as the words left her lips, she vanished, reappearing instantly upon her high seat.
Nightmare leaned forward, his void-like cloak billowing. "And with that," he rasped, "the battle officially ends."
The First Void shattered into a kaleidoscope of colors. Reality folded in on itself, and the champions were pulled back through the multiverses.
Shadow blinked, the scent of pine needles and damp earth hitting his senses. He was standing in the exact spot in the woods where he had been taken a month prior. Though he had spent only a month in the arena, he felt the heavy passage of time.
Exactly twenty-nine days had passed in this world.
He looked toward the horizon where his permanent base lay hidden. He had left his Knights with a warning not to fail; now, it was time to see if they had flourished or fallen in his absence. With his new skills—Regeneration, Energy Absorption, and the Shadow Mist—he was no longer the same man who had left.
The master had returned. Lord Shadow was back.