The hall trembled. Not from sound, not from movement but from presence.
Reality bent inward as though something greater than existence itself had stepped into a room too small to hold it. The walls groaned. Shadows warped. Even Shou's golden eyes lifted from his cup.
He had arrived.
Cosmic.
His figure stood at the center of the hall as though he had always been there. A long white cloak draped over him, woven with threads of light that shimmered faintly like starlight. His garments mirrored the style of ancient robes, flawless and pure, every fold precise. His hair flowed in a glowing white cascade, each strand alive, faintly laced with touches of black and streaks of gold that caught the air like fire in still water.
And his face—
calm. Unreadable. The kind of stillness that crushed armies without a word.
Dantero couldn't breathe. His chest heaved once, then locked, as though the air itself had decided he wasn't worthy.
Dantero: (thinking) ...What the hell...
Cosmic's eyes moved slowly, like the turning of entire galaxies, first to Sukojo—
then to Copi.
He didn't raise his hand. He didn't call on power.
A click.
His fingers brushed together softly.
The sound was almost too faint to hear.
But the result was merciless.
Sukojo and Copi were hurled from the chamber in an instant, bodies ripped away at a velocity beyond even the concept of speed. They flew through folds of reality, their outlines dissolving into streaks of light, sent further than any mind could trace. The very fabric of the Dark Empire's hall shook under the force.
Shadows slammed harder into the stone. Hollows fell fully prone. Even Champions gasped, their bodies trembling. Dantero's arms buckled; blood ran from his nose as he hit the ground.
But Dark stood.
And Shou sat.
Cosmic lowered himself, slowly, deliberately. His white cloak spread against the ground as one knee touched down. His glowing hair shifted gently, white laced with those strands of black and gold.
His head bowed.
Cosmic: My Eternal Origin.
The words weren't spoken. They were felt. The syllables didn't carry sound — they carried weight, meaning, reality itself bending as if the name was too absolute to exist in speech.
Shou set the cup back down on the table. The porcelain rang softly.
Shou: Cosmic. You came.
Cosmic raised his gaze, calm and composed.
Cosmic: Your presence needed no invitation.
A fracture tore open again. And through it, staggering with fury—Sukojo and Copi returned. Their faces twisted with rage and disbelief.
But they didn't attack. Not yet.
Shou's golden eyes lingered on the three of them, faintly amused.
Shou: Hm. All here at once. How rare.
The porcelain rang faintly as Shou set the cup down.
And then—
everything shifted.
No warning. No sound. No gesture.
One instant, they were in the hall.
The next, the world around them fractured like glass.
The air shattered. Light inverted. The floor beneath them dissolved.
Dantero's body jerked, heart leaping into his throat. He blinked once—
and when his eyes opened again, they were standing on a barren plain that stretched endlessly, under a sky of broken stars. Black sun. White horizon. An endless wasteland where reality itself hummed with pressure.
Shou stood between them. Still calm. Still smiling.
Shou: This is not the place for you to break worlds.
He lifted his hand lightly.
Dark felt the weight leave his shoulders. Dantero gasped as the crushing pressure lifted completely. In a blink, the two of them were placed high above the battlefield, standing on a balcony of shadow carved from the air itself.
Shou: Watch. But do not fear. Nothing will touch you here.
Dark narrowed his eyes, his chest tight.
Dark: ...You're protecting us.
Shou: I am ensuring you see.
He gave them one last glance, golden eyes faintly glimmering, before his form dissolved like smoke in the wind.
The ground below cracked.
Cosmic stood at the center, his white cloak flowing against the phantom wind, glowing hair burning faintly with threads of black and gold. Calm. Still. His gaze steady.
Across from him, Sukojo's body flared with black flame, his jaw clenched, eyes burning with hunger and wrath.
Sukojo: You...
The word was a growl, his aura ripping the plain in jagged waves.
And beside him, Copi stood, his grin sharp, too wide, fingers twitching as the air around him warped like bending glass. For once, though, his smile wasn't mocking. It was tight. Focused.
Sukojo and Copi's eyes met.
The silence was louder than war.
They both hated it. Hated each other. Hated the idea of standing side by side.
But this—
this was Cosmic.
And without speaking, they moved.
Sukojo lunged first, his fist breaking reality itself, the sky splitting open behind his punch. Copi followed a breath later, his body dissolving into light and shadow, reappearing behind Cosmic, claws aimed at his spine.
The impact never came.
Cosmic tilted his head.
Two fingers raised.
The ground exploded outward in silence. Both Sukojo and Copi were hurled back, their bodies skidding across the endless plain for miles before they caught themselves. Dust spiraled into the heavens.
Dantero's mouth dropped open.
Dantero: (thinking) ...He didn't even move...
Dark's gaze hardened, fists clenched at his sides.
Below, Sukojo snarled, wiping blood from his lip.
Sukojo: Don't get cocky, Copi. Stay out of my way.
Copi's grin widened again, eyes twitching with a manic gleam.
Copi: I wasn't planning to. Unless you slow me down.
Cosmic's voice cut through them. Calm. Clear.
Cosmic: If you intend to stand, do so together. Otherwise, don't waste my time.
The words weren't taunting. They were fact.
Sukojo's eyes locked with Copi's for a breath.
No words. Just that look. The kind of look only two monsters who'd once tried to erase each other could share.
A truce. Temporary. Fragile. But necessary.
Sukojo: (thinking) With Copi here... I will win.
His gaze shifted back to Cosmic. His grin twitched, faltered.
Sukojo: (thinking) The only concerns are him... and Dark. It's like... they're father and son.
Cosmic's head tilted slightly, his calm eyes sliding onto him.
Cosmic: (softly) Of course we are.
The words cut through the air like a blade of silence.
Sukojo's face stiffened, his pupils shrinking. He hadn't spoken aloud. He hadn't even formed the thought fully. Yet Cosmic had answered.
And then the smile came. Small. Calm. Almost... kind.
Cosmic: He is my son.
The world slowed. Even Copi's grin froze mid-stretch.
Dark's eyes widened before he forced them still. A flicker — the briefest crack in the mask. His chest tightened, the echo of truth pressing against his ribs.
Dark: (thinking) Honestly... I still don't believe that.
Cosmic turned his gaze onto him, the faintest trace of warmth there.
Cosmic: You will. In time.
The calmness in his voice almost broke him more than any shout could have.
Dark clenched his fists, shadows spiraling around him, his demonic aura flickering awake. His horns edged longer, curling as his voice dropped low, layered, inhuman.
Dark: ...Then tell me.
Cosmic: Later. First... I have to deal with these two.
Dantero swallowed hard, sweat prickling his skin as he glanced between them.
Dantero: (thinking) He reads thoughts. Just like that. No filter. ...What the hell is this guy?
Dark gave a curt nod, jaw clenched.
Dark: ...Alright.
That was when the laughter came.
Copi's grin split wider, the sound cutting sharp and jagged through the air like glass breaking.
Copi: Daaaark... hahahahaha... you still clinging to her? To Lara? You remember, don't you? How she screamed? I bet—
Dark snapped.
No hesitation. No thought. Just pure, unfiltered rage. His form warped, his claws igniting with abyssal fire as he dashed forward, the floor fracturing beneath each step. His voice wasn't his own anymore — deeper, distorted, the kind that belonged to devils who knew only vengeance.
Dark: I. WILL. KILL. YOU.
And then—
Cosmic.
He didn't move fast. He didn't blur. He simply was.
One hand rose, pressing softly against Dark's shoulder. Not forceful. Not violent. Gentle. And yet, Dark's charge ended as though the universe itself had locked him in place.
The fire in his horns dimmed. The abyssal aura recoiled against his will, his body refusing to move forward no matter how much rage burned in him.
Cosmic: Enough, Dark.
Dark's eyes burned red, his teeth gritted so hard blood lined his gums.
Dark: Move.
Cosmic's voice stayed level, calm.
Cosmic: No.
Dark: He mocked her. He—
Cosmic: I know. That's why I'm here.
The tone shifted — still calm, but with something underneath. A quiet, unstoppable finality.
Cosmic: You think I came here to watch him break you?
Dark's chest heaved, his demonic breath shaking the stone.
Cosmic: I came to end it.
He lowered Dark gently onto the cracked stone beside Dantero. The weight of the touch wasn't physical — it was spiritual. A father's quiet force, the kind no child could deny even if he wanted to.
Dark spat blood to the side, his eyes still locked on Copi.
Dark: ...Then end him.
Cosmic's gaze shifted.
He didn't need a gesture. Didn't need a flare of power. Just a single thought.
And yet — he raised one finger. Pointed.
A seal tore into existence over Copi's mouth.
Not chains. Not fire. A zipper of galaxies. Entire spirals of light and shadow stitching themselves shut across his grin. Suns flared. Stars collapsed. Whole verses tied themselves together to silence him.
Copi's laugh choked mid-breath, his grin twitching violently against the impossible seal. His teeth strained against it, blood seeping from his lips, but the galaxies held.
Dantero stumbled back a step, his eyes wide.
Dantero: (breathless) ...He just... zipped his mouth shut. With galaxies.
Cosmic lowered his hand, his expression never changing. Calm. Steady. Almost bored.
Cosmic: Now. Both of you. Together.
Sukojo's aura exploded, black fire spiraling outward, eating the light around him. His grin returned, wider, hungrier.
Copi's grin stayed, twitching against the seal, his body rippling like shattered glass bending against reality. His eyes burned brighter, wild with rage.
They looked at each other again.
Two devils. Two abominations. Two beings who had once sworn to erase the other from existence.
And for the first time — they both understood.
They couldn't afford to be enemies. Not here. Not now.
A nod. Small. Sharp. Silent.
That was all it took.
Sukojo's aura ignited first — black fire crawling up his arms, licking across his jaw like hungry shadows. His grin stretched, fangs flashing, the heat of his presence alone cracking the obsidian floor beneath him.
Copi's body flickered — his form splitting in and out of existence like glass reflections caught in different realities at once. The galaxies sealed across his mouth pulsed with light as he tilted his head back and laughed without sound, the silence of his grin louder than any roar.
The pressure doubled. Then tripled.
Dantero staggered back, shielding his face with his arm, teeth gritted as the air warped into waves of crushing force. Even the protective barrier Shou had placed around him strained like it might shatter.
Dantero: (thinking) ...This is insane. Just standing here feels like I'm being ripped apart.
Dark remained still. His eyes never left Cosmic. Not Sukojo. Not Copi. Cosmic.
And Cosmic stood at the center of it all. Calm. Untouched. His white robe shimmered faintly, golden threads shifting like constellations. His hair glowed with a soft white radiance, streaked with faint veins of black and gold, each strand flowing with its own gravity. His expression never changed.
Cosmic: ...So you've chosen unity. At last.
He closed his eyes briefly, as if acknowledging something inevitable. When they opened again, his pupils glowed with a brilliance too sharp to be called light.
Cosmic: Show me everything.
The words detonated the air.
Sukojo moved first. His body blurred into a streak of black flame, vanishing and reappearing directly at Cosmic's side, his fist aimed squarely at Cosmic's head. The strike wasn't just force — it was Domain-Breaking Speed, the kind that shredded entire verses into ribbons if left unchecked.
The blow connected.
And Cosmic didn't move.
Not even a blink. The fist stopped dead against the faint shimmer of light just an inch from his temple. The ground beneath them buckled, cracks webbing outward like spider legs for miles.
Sukojo snarled, pouring more into it, his arm twisting with layers of shadow flame.
Cosmic's eyes slid toward him, calm.
Cosmic: Fast. But loud.
And with a flick of his wrist, he brushed Sukojo aside. Not slammed. Not struck. Brushed.
Sukojo flew back hundreds of miles in an instant, tearing through mountains, his body skidding across stone until he clawed himself upright, his grin wider than before, blood dripping down his chin.
Sukojo: Kheh... finally.
Then Copi struck.
He didn't move like a fighter. He moved like a fracture. One instant he was there. The next he wasn't. His hand appeared at Cosmic's throat, fingers curling, his grin twitching beneath the galaxy seal. The air screamed — no, it ceased. The sound itself bent away from his presence.
Copi's body twisted, splitting into four overlapping reflections, each aiming at a different point of Cosmic's body.
Cosmic lifted a hand. Two fingers.
And suddenly, all four reflections froze. Locked mid-air.
Cosmic: Clever. But masks don't fool me.
Copi's grin faltered, the galaxies across his mouth tightening, glowing brighter to silence the unholy sound clawing out of him.
Then Sukojo was back, flames spiraling around his legs as he dove in from above, his foot descending like a blade meant to split the world. Copi broke free at the same instant, lunging low, both attacks converging on Cosmic in perfect synchronicity.
For the first time — Cosmic smiled.
Not mockery. Not malice. A faint curve of the lips.
Cosmic: Better.
They struck.
The impact annihilated the horizon. Entire continents crumbled into dust, the sky split open, and the seas boiled into steam.
Dantero threw up his arms, the barrier around him flaring white as the shockwave shattered mountain ranges miles away. He shouted over the roar, though no sound left his lips.
Dantero: (thinking) ...They actually hit him—
But as the dust cleared, as the light faded, Cosmic stood.
Unmarked.
Untouched.
Calm.
He adjusted the sleeve of his robe, the golden thread shimmering faintly in the aftermath.
Cosmic: Not enough.
Sukojo's grin twitched, his chest heaving as he licked the blood off his lip.
Copi's head tilted slowly, his eyes burning brighter, smile trembling under the galaxies.
They both knew it.
Even together. Even at their peak.
They hadn't made him move.
Not once.
Cosmic hadn't shifted his stance. Hadn't drawn a weapon. Hadn't even raised his voice. His robe flowed in the silence, white threaded with faint streaks of black and gold, as if it held its own universe in every fold. His face stayed calm — unreadable, but not mocking. Almost... patient.
Cosmic: This is what you call everything?
His words weren't loud. They didn't echo. But they slammed through the air, pressing down harder than any attack Sukojo or Copi had unleashed.
Sukojo snarled, wiping the blood from his jaw, his flames flaring higher until the very fabric of the dimension cracked, leaking streams of raw void-light.
Sukojo: Don't you dare... look down on me.
His body ignited, disappearing into a blur of black fire. In less than a blink, his fist drove into Cosmic's chest with the force to pulverize galaxies. The impact was deafening, splitting the land beneath into canyons that stretched beyond the horizon.
Cosmic didn't move.
Not even a ripple of dust lifted off his robe.
Sukojo's eyes widened — for a breath. Then he roared and swung again, this time with his entire aura spiraling into the strike.
Cosmic raised a single finger.
The strike stopped. The flames dissolved. The void-light guttered out like a candle drowned in the ocean.
Cosmic: Too loud.
And then — with nothing but that one finger — he tapped Sukojo on the chest.
It wasn't fast. It wasn't violent.
It was final.
Sukojo's body detonated into ash. No scream. No struggle. Just gone.
Dantero's eyes bulged, his entire body shaking even inside Shou's protection.
Dantero: (thinking) He... he just killed him... with a tap...
Dark's eyes stayed locked on the scene, unreadable, but the faintest tension flickered in his jaw.
Copi didn't flinch. Didn't even blink. Instead, his grin widened, trembling at the edges. His eyes burned like suns, teeth gnashing against the galaxies sealing his mouth.
And then—
Sukojo reformed. Instantly. Not over seconds. Not over breaths. Instantly. His body snapped back together in a spray of shadows and flames, his grin manic, blood dripping from his lips as if even death itself couldn't keep him down.
Sukojo: Kheh... cute trick.
He licked his teeth, flames swirling into his fists.
Sukojo: But you'll have to try harder than death.
Cosmic's eyes slid to him. Calm. Still.
Cosmic: And you'll have to try harder than life.
Before Sukojo could move, Copi struck. His body fractured into a dozen reflections, each one appearing at Cosmic's flank, all grins stretching impossibly wide. Blades formed in their hands, not steel but concepts — the kind of edges that cut meanings.
They all swung at once.
The sound of it was silence.
And yet — none touched him. Every blade froze an inch away, as if the space itself had betrayed them. Copi's head tilted, his reflections twitching violently. His grin cracked, teeth pressing until blood seeped between them.
Cosmic lowered his hand slowly, brushing away the blades like dust.
Cosmic: You wear a smile, but it hides only fear.
For the first time, Copi's grin faltered. A fraction.
And in that fraction, Cosmic's other hand flicked upward.
Copi: (thinking, slow motion) H..huh?... when did he?...
Copi's reflections shattered. His body slammed into the ground hard enough to invert the terrain, cratering a mile-deep abyss beneath him. The galaxies zipping his mouth glowed brighter, silencing the scream clawing up his throat.
Sukojo, laughing wildly, lunged back in, his body cloaked in a darker flame than before.
Sukojo: You can't erase me!
Cosmic closed his eyes.
Cosmic: Then you've already lost.
He snapped his fingers.
And the entire battlefield inverted. Sky folded into ground. Oceans poured into the air. Mountains hung upside down, crumbling into ash. Time itself stuttered, fragments of seconds breaking apart and repeating in jagged, twisted loops.
Dantero dropped to his knees, clutching his head as the distortion hammered against Shou's barrier.
Dantero: (thinking) ...This... this isn't a fight. This is... something else...
Dark didn't move. His stare never left Cosmic.
Cosmic: (without looking at him) You understand, don't you, Dark?
Dark: ...You're not fighting them.
Cosmic: Correct.
Cosmic's calm expression never broke.
Cosmic: I'm teaching them.
Sukojo roared, flames collapsing inward before erupting outward in a claw of black fire, so vast the very fabric of the sky ripped apart, constellations vanishing as if devoured. The claw's shadow stretched endlessly, dragging the weight of a being who had once terrified gods themselves.
Copi rose from the crater in silence. His grin stretched, cracking at the edges. Galaxies spun in his palms, shattering as he squeezed them into jagged shards of light. His presence warped the air, bending it like broken glass.
Together, their power was monstrous. The kind of power that had shattered verses in the past.
But against Cosmic—
Nothing.
Their combined storm struck him, and in that instant, all force, all destruction, all fury, dissolved into stillness. The claw fragmented into dust. The galaxies flickered out like sparks dying in rain.
Cosmic's robes shifted faintly, glowing white with streaks of gold and black. His hair shimmered as though the void itself bowed to it, radiant and calm.
Dantero fell to one knee, sweat dripping from his chin.
Dantero: (thinking) ...They just unleashed hell itself... and he... didn't even blink.
Dark's eyes tightened, his fists curling at his sides. He said nothing. But deep inside, he remembered.
Cosmic's voice. That warning.
Cosmic: (thinking from the past) One day, you will stand against me. And when that day comes, I pray you'll be ready.
Dark: (thinking) ...So this is the scale. This is what he meant.
Cosmic finally raised a single hand, two fingers extended.
Cosmic: Too slow.
The world structure of this novel split with the motion.
Sukojo's body cleaved in half instantly, his roar cut short. Copi's chest collapsed inward, galaxies imploding in his grasp as his grin twitched violently, teeth cracking under pressure.
The ground didn't shake. The air didn't move. It was too clean. Too absolute.
Dantero gasped, chest heaving.
Dantero: (thinking) ...He didn't even touch them.
Cosmic's gaze shifted briefly toward Dark.
Cosmic: This is why I came. So you would understand.
Dark's jaw clenched.
Dark: ...I get it.
Cosmic: Not yet. But you will.
With a flick of his wrist, the battlefield reversed.
Sukojo's ashes swirled back into a body, flames reigniting as if death had been nothing more than a blink. Copi's form snapped upright, spine realigning with sickening cracks, grin reforming even wider.
Sukojo: (snarling) Damn you...
Copi: Heh... kheh... fun.
They lunged again. Faster. Angrier.
Cosmic didn't move his feet.
One hand parried Sukojo's infernal strike, the flames extinguished before they touched his robe. The other hand simply waved through Copi's galaxies, erasing them like chalk wiped from a board.
Cosmic: And still.....you think you can climb.
Dantero's throat went dry, eyes flicking between the three.
Dantero: (thinking) ...They're fighting for their lives.
Cosmic's gaze slid toward Dark, his calm expression unshaken.
Cosmic: Do you remember... the trick Tracy taught you?
Dark's eyes narrowed.
Dark: ...The one to summon Kyuketsu.
Cosmic nodded once, the faintest smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
Cosmic: Yes. Take it out.
Dark raised his arm. Shadows twisted, coiling upward like serpents devouring the light. The Kyuketsu formed in his grip — the blade blacker than void, devouring every reflection, its edge warping reality as though refusing to acknowledge its own existence.
The air bent around it. The plain fell silent.
Cosmic's eyes softened — not with weakness, but with something almost resembling pride.
Cosmic: Beautiful. Just as it should be.
He tilted his chin slightly toward the battlefield.
Cosmic: Now... point it at the Vessel's host.
Dark's brow furrowed.
Dark: The host...?
Cosmic exhaled quietly, a patient sigh.
Cosmic: Sukojo.
At the sound of the name, both Sukojo and Copi froze mid-assault. Their strikes — the trillion-fold onslaughts they had unleashed against Cosmic for what felt like eternity — had all dissolved into nothingness, not a single one connecting.
Cosmic hadn't shifted a step.
Sukojo's grin faltered. His jaw clenched.
Sukojo: Hm...?
He tilted his head, crimson eyes narrowing.
Sukojo: (thinking) What trick is this now?
From the other side, Copi's grin widened further, teeth glinting under the shattered sky. He raised a hand and waved lazily at Dark.
Copi: Darkkkkk... I'll kill you. Then wear your skin. Become you. And you'll watch it all happen. BAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Dark took one step forward, his aura erupting into fire. His eyes burned with a crimson flare that could melt heavens.
But before he could move another inch —
Cosmic was there.
His left hand lifted, calm and deliberate, stopping less than half an inch from Copi's face.
The motion was so small. So slow.
And yet Copi's grin shattered. His eyes widened, every trace of mockery ripped from him. For the first time, silence cracked his smile.
Cosmic: Dark.
His voice carried no weight, yet every syllable pressed down like law.
Cosmic: Invoke it.
Dark's grip tightened on Kyuketsu. His chest expanded with a long, heavy breath.
His voice dropped low. A resonance. A law older than language.
Dark: Deeper than void.
The blade pulsed, the black swallowing what little light remained.
Dark: Darker than death.
The sky above fractured, constellations dimming. Even the air seemed afraid to move.
Dark: Blacker... than the end.
Time slowed.
Sukojo's eyes widened. His grin collapsed, replaced with something he hadn't felt in millennia — fear.
Sukojo: (thinking) No... no, not that... that's the same invocation... the same one Cosmic used when he sealed me... for millions of years...
In less than a blink, Sukojo vanished. His speed shattered the plain, reappearing behind Dark, his hand aimed to pierce straight through his spine.
But he froze.
A sphere hovered before him, silent and perfect.
Smooth. Gloss-black. Its surface was littered with eyes — infinite, layered, each one staring into him. Not blinking. Not moving. Just watching. Every eye reflected not his body, not his aura, but his very soul. His fears. His hunger. His failure.
The Dominion Sphere.
Born of Cosmic himself. A prison older than the verses. Not of chains. Not of fire. Not of walls. Of inevitability.
It pulsed once. The air folded in. Sukojo's breath caught, his entire body trembling against its presence.
Sukojo: (whispering) ...Impossible...
Cosmic's voice cut through.
Calm. Cold. Absolute.
Cosmic: Not impossible.
His glowing eyes locked onto Sukojo.
Cosmic: Inevitable.
The plain groaned. Shadows bent toward the sphere. Even Copi's grin twitched, his teeth grinding audibly against the galaxies stitching across his lips.
Dantero's body stiffened, his voice a broken whisper in his head.
Dantero: (thinking) ...What the fuck am I watching?
The Dominion Sphere pulsed again. A low hum rolled across the plain — not sound, not vibration. It was truth. The kind of resonance that made existence itself bow in silence.
Sukojo's arm trembled, suspended mid-strike behind Dark. His veins burned black, shadow-fire licking out across his skin. He snarled, forcing his body to move, forcing his will to rebel against the sphere's pull.
Sukojo: (through clenched teeth) I... am not... your prisoner.
The Sphere opened.
A seam split down its center, endless eyes widening at once, staring directly into him.
Every memory. Every rampage. Every slaughter. Every scream he had carved across the verses poured back into him. Not as triumph. Not as pride. As chains.
Sukojo roared, his aura flaring. Black flame exploded outward, enough to swallow whole galaxies. The ground beneath his feet cracked, reality shattering in spiderwebs across the wasteland.
And still — the Sphere floated there.
Watching.
Cosmic: (calmly) Struggle. That's all you've ever known.
Sukojo's grin returned, stretched wide with rage.
Sukojo: Better to struggle... than kneel!
He lunged forward — faster than light, faster than time, Sukojo moves at a speed that defies Domain Speed, he moves so fast that it bends the immeasurable speed, his fist a blur of raw annihilation.
The Sphere consumed it.
Not blocked. Not parried. Consumed.
His entire arm vanished inside the blackness, ripped from existence before he even realized it was gone. He looked down — half his body already dissolving into the Sphere's surface, his shadow-flames screaming but powerless to escape.
Sukojo: (roaring) NO—!
The Sphere's eyes widened further.
Cosmic raised a single hand, palm open, steady.
Cosmic: Enough.
The Sphere slammed shut with a soundless finality.
Sukojo's body shattered into fragments of black light, every piece dragged into the Sphere until nothing remained but the silence of his absence.
Dantero stumbled back against the railing of Shou's barrier, sweat running down his face in thick streams.
Dantero: (thinking) ...He sealed him. Just... like that.
The Sphere floated down to Cosmic's side. For a moment, it hovered still — and then cracked, a single fissure running down its surface.
Cosmic glanced at it, calm as ever.
Cosmic: Of course.
The Sphere burst.
Shadows erupted outward as Sukojo reformed instantly, rising from the fragments with a mad grin, his eyes wide, chest heaving with laughter that burned like fire.
Sukojo: KHEHEHEH—! You think a trick like that can keep me? I am SUKOJO. The Devourer OF ALLL!!!! . The END.
His body blazed brighter than before, black flames spiraling upward like a storm meant to consume even the stars.
Copi's grin twitched wider, galaxies burning behind his sealed lips.
Cosmic's expression never changed.
Cosmic: Faster than death. But not faster than inevitability.
Dark's eyes narrowed, Kyuketsu still in his grip, the blade trembling with a hunger he'd never felt before.
Dark: ...He really is unkillable.
Dantero: (thinking) ...And yet Cosmic doesn't even look worried.
The plain cracked beneath them. Not from battle. From silence.
Sukojo's body trembled, black fire clinging desperately to his frame as the sphere tightened around him. It wasn't fire. It wasn't shadow. It was something older. Cosmic's construct — a Dominion Seal. A prison built from threads of existence that no hand could break.
The sphere's surface shimmered with a thousand watching eyes, opening and closing in unison, tracking Sukojo's every twitch. He roared, flames clawing at the edges, but every strike melted into nothingness before touching the walls.
Sukojo: (snarling) ...You think you can chain me again?
The seal pulsed. His flames flickered, choking, shrinking tighter to his body. His grin faltered for the first time.
Cosmic: You mistake this for chains.
His voice was calm, steady, as though he were commenting on the weather.
Cosmic: Chains break. This does not.
With a final pulse, the sphere shrank, swallowing Sukojo whole. His roar echoed once — then silence. Only the faint hum of the seal remained, hovering in the air like a sun no one could approach.
Dantero staggered back, eyes wide, throat dry.
Dantero: (thinking) He... he sealed him. Just like that.
He turned to glance at Copi.
Copi hadn't moved. Not forward. Not back. But his grin had shifted. It wasn't mocking now. It wasn't playful. It was tight. Dangerous. The galaxies stitched across his lips pulsed once, straining against the seal Cosmic had placed earlier.
Copi's eyes glimmered — not with humor. With something sharper.
He took a single step back.
Cosmic's gaze lingered on him, calm, unreadable.
And in that silence, something shifted.
For the first time since his existence began, Copi felt it. The weight he'd carried for eons — a weight he hadn't even acknowledged until now — was gone. The shackle of Sukojo's presence.
Copi's grin widened slowly, trembling at the edges.
Copi: (thinking) ...So it's true.
He tilted his head, the galaxies stitched across his mouth glowing brighter as his aura swelled.
Copi: (thinking) For so long... I thought I was limitless. But it was a lie.
The ground beneath him split as his presence doubled, then tripled, then roared outward into a tidal wave of chaos. The sky bent, stars twisting into spirals.
Copi: (thinking) It wasn't until now.
Dantero stumbled, clutching the railing of Shou's protection, his eyes wide as the pressure smashed against the barrier.
Dantero: (thinking) ...What the fuck is this?
Dark's gaze narrowed, eyes locked on Copi. His jaw tightened.
Dark: ...He's changed.
Cosmic's eyes stayed on Copi. Calm. Patient.
Cosmic: So. You've realized it.
Copi's grin split wider, his teeth glinting sharp through the galaxies sealing him. The stars stitched across his lips trembled, cracks forming in the light. His eyes burned brighter, wild and unhinged, but beneath that mania was clarity.
Copi: (voice muffled through the seal) At last... it's mine.
Cosmic: Chaos. Entire.
The words weren't loud. They didn't echo. But they slammed through the battlefield like thunder in silence.
Dark's chest tightened.
Dark: (thinking) Entire chaos...?
Copi's body flickered, fracturing into a thousand afterimages that overlapped, each one grinning, each one shifting like broken glass. His presence tore through the sky, shattering constellations.
Dantero dropped to both knees, clutching his chest.
Dantero: (thinking) I... I can't... breathe...
And still, Cosmic didn't move.
He looked at Copi. Just looked.
Cosmic: Then show me. Without him holding you back.
For a moment, the world froze.
Then Copi broke.
The galaxies sealing his mouth shattered in an explosion of starlight, his grin stretching wider than his face should allow, eyes burning with chaotic brilliance.
Copi: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!
The laugh tore across the wasteland like the scream of dying stars.
Dantero: (thinking) ...Oh, fuck.
The plain exploded.
Copi's fist collided with Cosmic's jaw, the sound like a thousand thunderclaps condensed into one. Bone cracked — not Copi's. Cosmic's head jerked slightly, blood spraying from the corner of his lip.
Dark's chest seized.
Dark: (thinking) ...He actually landed it.
Copi didn't stop.
He swarmed.
Claws raked across Cosmic's torso, tearing through flesh, shredding white robes into ribbons. Each slash carved gouges into his skin, blood spraying in arcs that painted the air crimson. The ground beneath them split with every strike, earth boiling from the sheer velocity.
Cosmic blocked with his forearm. The bone cracked. Copi's grin split wider, teeth stained red.
Copi: KHHHHHAAAAAHAHAHAHA! You feel that?! The great Cosmic! You're mine now!
He slammed a knee into Cosmic's ribs. The crack echoed like breaking mountains. Blood poured from Cosmic's mouth, spattering across Copi's chest.
Dantero gagged at the sight, bile rising in his throat.
Dantero: (thinking) ...He's... breaking him apart.
Cosmic stumbled back. His feet dragged trenches across the plain, blood dripping from his mouth, soaking into the shattered ground. His glowing hair clung to his face, streaked with red, golden threads dimmed by gore.
Copi appeared again — faster. His clawed hand punched clean through Cosmic's shoulder, bursting out the other side in a shower of blood and shredded muscle.
Dark flinched, shadows writhing violently around him.
Dark: (thinking) ...His body...
Cosmic's teeth ground softly as the claws twisted inside his flesh. But his expression...
Calm.
Unbroken.
He raised his other arm and drove a fist into Copi's ribs.
The crunch was sickening.
Copi spat blood, his grin twitching, but instead of faltering, it widened. His eyes glowed, galaxies swirling faster. He brought his elbow down hard into Cosmic's temple, splitting skin, blood pouring down his face.
Copi: HHHRHHHHAAAAHAHAHAHAAA! I'VE GOT YOU!
He ripped his claws free, tearing chunks of flesh with them. Cosmic staggered, his chest heaving, white robes drenched in scarlet.
Dantero slammed his fist against the barrier, eyes wild.
Dantero: (thinking) ...He's losing...
Copi didn't wait. He pounced again, fists flying, claws digging, blows landing in a storm. Each strike broke something new — ribs splintered, knuckles fractured, flesh split. The ground beneath them cratered deeper, blood pooling in rivers.
Cosmic's face was a mask of crimson, his eye swelling shut. Still, his expression hadn't changed.
Calm.
Steady.
Copi slammed both claws into Cosmic's gut, lifting him off the ground and slamming him down so hard the plain inverted, creating a mile-wide crater. Dust and fire roared into the sky, blotting out the stars.
He crouched over him, teeth bared, eyes wild, blood dripping from his chin.
Copi: Say it. Say you can't stop me. SAY IT!
He raised his fist — galaxies swirling, glowing hotter, cracking under the strain. His grin stretched impossibly wide, the skin of his cheeks tearing at the corners.
Cosmic looked up at him through the blood in his eyes.
Still calm.
Still unreadable.
He whispered.
Cosmic: ...Better.
The punch dropped.
The crater detonated, the shockwave flattening the horizon, turning mountains to dust, oceans to steam.
Dark threw his arm up, shadows coiling like a shield as the barrier Shou left groaned under the pressure. Dantero screamed without sound, his body pinned against the wall of shadow.
The dust cleared slowly.
Copi stood there, chest heaving, blood covering his arms.
Cosmic lay in the crater. His robes shredded, body broken, blood pooling beneath him. For the first time... he looked beaten.
Dantero's breath caught.
Dantero: (thinking) ...No... no way...
Copi staggered back a step, his grin trembling, twitching wider. His body flickered, galaxies bursting across his skin like scars.
And above his head — unseen by anyone but us.
96%.
Dark's eyes widened slightly, his chest tightening. He didn't know why, but he could feel it.
Copi tilted his head back and laughed, blood spraying from his mouth.
Copi: HHHRHHHHHAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA! THE GREAT COSMIC! BROUGHT TO HIS KNEES!
Cosmic stirred. Slowly.
Blood dripped from his mouth as he raised his head, golden-streaked hair falling into his eyes.
He stood.
Bones cracked back into place. Wounds stitched themselves shut with light too faint to name. His robe, torn and drenched, shimmered — and without a word, became whole again.
Cosmic wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. The faint trace of red smeared across pale skin before disappearing entirely, consumed by a glow that hummed beneath.
His eyes lifted. Calm. Still. But sharper now, the kind of gaze that split through pride and tore at the soul.
Cosmic: ...This is what you bring to me? This loser shit?
The words weren't loud. They didn't need to be. They cut cleaner than Copi's galaxies, sharper than Sukojo's claws.
Cosmic: You actually thought you could beat me with this pathetic display?
He took one step forward. The ground didn't quake — it obeyed, folding smooth under his heel as though reality itself dared not resist.
Cosmic: I'm supposed to believe you're chaos incarnate? That you're my limit? You're not even close.
Copi staggered back, blood dripping down his chin, grin twitching but refusing to break. His body flickered violently, galaxies tearing themselves apart across his arms.
Cosmic tilted his head, brushing his glowing hair back with one hand. Threads of white shimmered with faint streaks of gold and black, gleaming like constellations burning in still water.
Cosmic: You call that domination? I call it warm-up.
Dark's fists clenched as he watched, breath tight.
Dark: (thinking) ...He's not bluffing. Not even a little.
Copi's grin widened, splitting his face, blood pouring between his teeth. His body shook, galaxies spiraling faster around him, cracking under the strain.
Above him — unseen but heavy.
99%.
Copi: (through blood) Hhhahhhhahahahahaha... warm-up? Then let's see how you like the main event.
Cosmic didn't even raise his voice.
Cosmic: Then stop wasting my time.
The ground trembled. Not because Cosmic moved. But because Copi changed.
The grin on his face twitched, then split wider than humanly possible. His body cracked with sounds like bones breaking and glass shattering, though there were no wounds. His veins glowed red-black, spiraling into shapes no language had names for.
And then — he laughed.
Copi: You wanna know why they call me Copi?
The sky bent inward, colors bleeding away until only white and black remained. The stars above flickered out one by one, replaced with endless mirrors — each showing a different version of reality.
Copi: Because I don't just steal. I perfect.
Because when I take your shit I make it mine.
And when I make it mine it becomes better. Stronger. Limitless.
He tilted his head, grin twitching like it was stapled to his face.
Copi: And you... Cosmic... are about to find out why I'm not the failure they told you I was.
Dark's chest tightened. His fists curled.
Dark: (thinking) ...He's different. He's not holding back anymore.
Copi vanished.
The impact came first — Cosmic's body bent backward as a fist tore into his jaw with enough force to flip continents like cards in a deck. Blood sprayed across the horizon, shimmering silver under the fractured sky.
Cosmic slid across the ground, his robes tearing, white fabric now painted with his own blood.
Dantero's eyes bulged.
Dantero: (thinking) ...He hit him—
Cosmic stood before the dust settled. His calm expression never broke.
But Copi was already there.
A kick smashed into Cosmic's ribs, caving them in with a crack that echoed across the wasteland. Cosmic's body folded sideways, blood painting the air in thick arcs.
Copi didn't stop. He appeared above, hammering down with both fists. Cosmic's chest collapsed inward, bones snapping like branches under stone. The ground cratered, swallowing them both in an ocean of shattered rock.
Cosmic's bloodied face lifted. His pupils glowed faintly white.
Copi grabbed him by the hair and slammed his head into the ground again and again, each strike detonating shockwaves that erased mountains in the distance.
Copi: Look at you now. The great Cosmic. Bleeding like the rest of us.
Cosmic's eye twitched — only once.
Then his fist shot up, shoving into Copi's stomach so hard that his body twisted ninety degrees mid-air. Blood exploded out of Copi's mouth, spraying like a fountain before he staggered back, wiping it away with that same grin.
Copi: ...Hah. That's it. Hit me. Bleed for me.
Dark's breath caught.
Dark: (thinking) ...He's making Cosmic fight.
The battlefield collapsed under their speed. Fist against fist. Elbow into rib. Forehead into nose. Their bodies tore into each other with animal ferocity, skin splitting, bones cracking, blood painting every strike.
Cosmic's hand speared through Copi's chest. Copi coughed blood into his face and bit down on Cosmic's throat. Cosmic ripped him off and hurled him into the sky — only for Copi to reappear instantly, smashing his knee into Cosmic's jaw, breaking it sideways.
Cosmic stumbled. For the first time.
Dantero gripped the railing so hard his knuckles bled.
Dantero: (thinking) ...No way. He's... he's winning.
Copi's grin split wider, teeth stained crimson.
Copi: See it now? I'm not the "failed perfection" you have all always mocked me, took me for nothing just because my ideals are different than yours.
He raised both hands, entire verses, stories, timelines, worlds swirling into his palms, shattering apart into raw chaos energy. His entire body glowed like a collapsing star, veins bursting, skin splitting.
He whispered through bloodied teeth. Smiling as always.
Copi: One hundred percent.
Scene switches to Shou in his young boy form, sitting on Dark's throne, looking at you. Again, yes you reader.
Shou: To Be Continued.
End Of Arc 6 Chapter 22.