The heavens burned.
Stars twisted out of their constellations as Kanji stepped forward, his presence alone bending reality. The air screamed under the weight of his completed aura—Starborn light wrapped in calm, controlled demonic power.
Across from him, the Prime Monarch steadied himself, wings flaring, abyssal flames coiling like wounded serpents.
"So," the Monarch growled, voice cracking the sky,
"you have embraced the curse instead of feeling from it."
Kanji lifted his sword, its blackened edge humming with constellations.
"It was never a curse," he said evenly.
"It was a choice."
The Monarch roared and vanished.
---
The Final Clash
Time fractured.
The Monarch reappeared behind Kanji, claw aimed at his spine—but Kanji was already gone. Space folded as Kanji appeared above him, sword descending in a blazing arc.
CLANG—!
The collision sent a shockwave that split the clouds into spirals and shattered floating landmasses into dust. The Monarch was driven into the ground, carving a canyon miles long.
Kanji didn't stop.
He followed.
Strike after strike rained down—each blow precise, controlled, devastating. Starlight carved through void. Demon fire burned away abyssal shadow. The Monarch howled as his armor cracked, ancient runes shattering under Kanji's blade.
"You've grown arrogant!" the Monarch snarled, unleashing a tidal wave of darkness.
Kanji planted his feet.
"Celestial–Demonic Art: ECLIPSE BASTION."
A sphere of fused gold and crimson erupted around him. The darkness crashed into it—then dissolved, erased completely.
Rin stared in awe from afar.
"He's not fighting blindly anymore…
He's commanding the battlefield."
Seiji whispered, "Like a king."
---
The Monarch's Desperation
Bleeding void, the Prime Monarch rose, rage distorting his form.
"Then I will END THIS WORLD WITH YOU!"
He tore open the sky itself.
A colossal abyss opened above—an endless maw devouring stars, pulling oceans upward, tearing mountains from the earth.
Kanji felt the strain immediately. Even his power groaned under the scale of destruction.
This wasn't an attack.
It was annihilation.
Kanji closed his eyes.
He remembered the monks.
Rin's voice.
The child he once was—afraid, hunted, alone.
Then he opened his eyes.
Calm.
Resolved.
"I won't let this world fall," he said softly.
He raised his sword vertically before him.
---
Judgment of the Starborn King
The constellations aligned.
The Thirteen Guardians appeared behind Kanji, kneeling in unison.
The sky turned white.
Kanji's voice echoed—not loud, but absolute:
"Royal Starborn Decree—
FINAL JUDGMENT."
He brought the sword down.
A pillar of pure existence tore through the abyss. Light and shadow fused into a single, absolute force. The void screamed as it collapsed inward, sealing itself shut.
The Prime Monarch was caught at the center.
"No—WAIT—!" he roared.
Too late.
The blade pierced his core.
The Monarch froze.
Cracks spread across his form—filled with starlight.
"You… were never meant to rule," Kanji said, standing before him.
"Power without balance always devours itself."
The Prime Monarch looked down at the sword through his chest.
For the first time—
Fear crossed his face.
His body shattered into fragments of fading darkness, dissolving into harmless motes that drifted into the sky like dying embers.
The abyss vanished.
The sky healed.
The stars returned to their places.
---
Aftermath
Silence fell.
Kanji stood alone, sword planted in the ground.
Slowly, his wings faded. His aura dimmed to a steady glow. Exhaustion finally reached him.
Rin and Seiji ran toward him.
"KANJI!" Rin cried, tears streaming as she caught him before he collapsed.
He smiled weakly.
"It's… over."
The Thirteen Guardians bowed deeply.
"All hail the Starborn King," their leader said.
Kanji shook his head faintly.
"I don't want a throne," he whispered.
"I just want… peace."
Above them, the stars shimmered brighter—as if agreeing.
But far beyond the healed sky, in a place untouched by light or shadow…
Something stirred.
And a quiet voice whispered:
"A king has risen…
now the cosmos will answer."
---