[Last Episode: [He raised Shatter Nebula, and the blue light came back to the blade.]
Chapter 148, Episode 148
[The Valley of Dragons]
[The valley smelled like burnt stone and hot metal]
[A thin line of white light leaked from the crack in Velkara's wing. It dripped onto the ground and left small glowing puddles]
[She stared at the crack]
Velkara: He is extremely strong
Ashgor: His attacks are getting stronger
Velkara: Nobody has done that in ten thousand years. . Able to match us
Ashgor: Then the toys are over.
[Leo lifted Shatter Nebula and wiped blood off his chin with his sleeve]
Leo: Toys? I'm hurt. I brought my best stuff.
Velkara: You do not understand what you are fighting.
Leo: That's fair. Care to explain? Or is it a surprise?
Ashgor: It is a surprise.
[The two dragons rose into the sky wings spread and their claws curled]
[Their bodies lifted off the ground like they weighed nothing. The red clouds above them split open and spun into a wide ring, like a drain]
[Black light poured off Ashgor. White light poured off Velkara[
[They circled each other. Faster. Faster]
[The black and the white wrapped together into a giant spiral]
[Satanael]
「Leo. They're fusing.」
Leo: Is that a power-up cutscene?
[Satanael]
「Yes. Interrupt it.」
Leo: Way ahead of you.
"Leo - Heartbeat of the Galaxy"
[His heart synced with a spinning neutron star. A hundred beams of high-frequency radiation burst from his chest and shot into the spiral. Each beam pulsed in time with a beat that shook the valley]
[The ground jumped with every thump. The air rang like a struck gong. Rocks bounced off the floor and cracked in mid-air]
[The beams hit the spiral]
[They bent around it like water around a stone. Not one reached the center]
Leo: Okay. That's rude.
[The spiral stopped spinning]
[The light faded]
[What stood in the sky now wasn't two dragons]
[It was one body, stretched across half the horizon. Scales that looked like a night sky, full of tiny stars. Two long necks. One head black, one head white. Wings so wide they covered the sun, one black, one white, with the edges blurring into each other]
[The air tasted like cold iron. A soft ringing started inside Leo's bones, like a bell that wouldn't stop]
[His shadow stretched in the wrong direction. The gravity in the valley tilted sideways, then back, then sideways again]
[Twin Hyper Dragons]
[Their voices came out at the same time. Deep and bright. Two tones in one sentence]
Twin Hyper Dragons: Now we are whole.
[Leo stared up at them for a long moment]
Leo: You guys look good.
Twin Hyper Dragons: We have passed beyond law. Beyond Creation. Beyond the Primus World itself.
Leo: That's a lot of 'beyond.
Twin Hyper Dragons: There is no ceiling above us.
[Satanael]
「Leo.」
Leo: Yeah.
[Satanael]
「Their signature isn't inside the Primus World anymore. They're stronger than every subordinate you have. Together.」
Leo: Laxcarseel too?
[Satanael]
「Laxcarseel too.」
[Leo went quiet]
Leo: So I should probably stop joking.
[Satanael]
「That would help.」
[The Twin Hyper Dragons opened both mouths as black and white light poured out. It didn't shoot. It spread]
"Twin Hyper Dragons - Birth of Infinite Worlds"
[The air in front of them tore open, and tiny bright spots appeared. Each spot was a universe. Marble-sized. Full of stars, planets, and light. Then another. Then ten. Then a hundred. Then a million]
[They bloomed like soap bubbles in a sink. Every second, more appeared. The sky filled with glowing spheres, drifting like fireflies]
[Then they all turned toward Leo]
[The universes shot forward]
[Each one hit with the full power of a real universe. When the first bubble struck the valley floor, a crater a hundred miles wide opened]
[The second one split a mountain in half. The third one set the sky on fire. Every impact sent a wave of white energy rolling across the land]
[Leo ran]
"Leo - Satanael Genesis Flash Step"
[He skipped across the valley, leaving afterimages behind him. Universes slammed into the places he had been a half-second earlier]
[The explosions chased him like a thrown pack of dogs]
[One caught his shoulder]
[The burst threw him fifty feet through the air. He hit a boulder, bounced, and rolled across the dirt]
[He pushed himself up. His shirt was in ribbons. His arm was bleeding]
Leo: They're making universes like it costs nothing.
[Satanael]
「It does cost nothing. To them.」
Leo: Right. Time to stop playing.
[Leo closed his eyes]
Leo: Satanael. Open the gate.
[Satanael]
「Perfect Afterlife?」
Leo: Perfect Afterlife!!
[Satanael]
「You'll need to last.」
Leo: I'll last.
[Satanael]
「Opening.」
Leo - True Cosmic Satanael Wrath (Perfect Afterlife)
[The air around him went silent]
[A thin white ring opened above his head, like a halo. Black and gold light spiraled down from it and wrapped around his body. His hair grew longer, floating around him like smoke. His eyes turned pure white, ringed in black]
[The ground under his feet turned into clear glass. Beneath it, he could see rows of silent lights, like a vast field of lanterns, each one a soul passing from this life to the next]
[His power rolled out in a slow, even wave. It didn't push. It didn't roar. Wherever it touched, the universes in the air slowed down]
[Some of them stopped. A few of them blinked out on their own]
[The Twin Hyper Dragons stopped moving]
Twin Hyper Dragons: What form is this?.. It's energy is overwhelming
Leo: Let's get started shall we!
[Satanael]
「Perfect Afterlife has infinite strength, infinite speed, infinite durability. He exists in reality and in space at the same time. Death doesn't apply to him.」
Twin Hyper Dragons: That is also infinite...
[Satanael]
「Yes. That is the problem.」
[Leo raised one hand]
"Leo - Vacuum Decay"
[A pale blue bubble opened in front of him. It looked like a soap bubble, but its skin shimmered with a lower energy state]
[The bubble swelled quickly, swallowing the field of floating universes. Wherever it expanded, the old laws of physics died. New ones took over. Light moved differently. Gravity pushed instead of pulled]
[Even the shape of space changed]
[The tiny universes inside the bubble trembled as some of them folded into blank dots and vanished]
[Most of them held for a few seconds, then popped one after another like boiling water]
[The bubble rolled across the sky, eating thousands of universes at once. The red clouds scattered around it. The sound it made was like glass breaking a long way off]
Twin Hyper Dragons: He erases our creations.
Leo: They are getting annoying!!
Twin Hyper Dragons: We create faster than you erase.
[They breathed out again. A new wave of universes poured from their mouths, bigger than the first. Hundreds of millions, flooding the sky.]
[Leo's bubble shrank]
Leo: Okay. Counterpoint. That's annoying.
[Leo raised his sword. White fire gathered along the blade]
"Leo - Hymn of the Blazing Void: Absolute Annihilation of the Seven Heavens"
[He spoke the first line of the chant. The air itself stopped to listen]
[A pale white flame lit at the tip of the sword, a fire from a dimension that didn't exist. It didn't give off heat. It gave off absence. Where the light touched the ground, the stone became blank space]
[The fire grew. Seven rings of white flame opened around the dragons, one for each heaven]
[Leo swung]
[The rings closed]
[The white fire swallowed the Twin Hyper Dragons whole]
[The sky went blank for a hundred miles. The universes in the area vanished. Even the light stopped for a second]
[When the fire finally died, the dragons were gone]
[The air was quiet]
[Leo lowered the sword]
Leo: Did that work?
[Satanael]
「No.」
[The silence cracked]
[A tiny black-and-white spark appeared in the blank space. Then a thread. Then a shape]
[The dragons grew back. First the claws. Then the long necks. Then the wings. Scales rippled into place, one by one, like fish scales in a river]
[They looked at Leo. Unharmed]
Twin Hyper Dragons: We are absolute immortals.
Leo: Okay.
Twin Hyper Dragons: You may erase us from nothingness. We return.
Leo: So I noticed... they can ressurect...
Twin Hyper Dragons: You may cut us in half. We regrow.
Leo: Also noticed.
Twin Hyper Dragons: There is no ending for us.
Leo: That's a bold claim for something with a crack in its wing.
[The Twin Hyper Dragons glanced at their left wing. A thin white scratch still glowed there]
Twin Hyper Dragons: That was a scratch.
Leo: It was a scratch you couldn't regenerate.
[For a moment, neither dragon head spoke]
[Then both heads turned toward him at once]
Twin Hyper Dragons: Enough talk!
[They vanished]
[Leo felt something wrong. A pressure behind his ribs]
[CRACK]
[He looked down. A dragon claw the size of a skyscraper was buried in his chest. It had hit him before he saw it move]
[The Twin Hyper Dragons had never left the sky. They had arrived in the future, hit him, and returned to the past, all in the same instant]
[His body was still trying to understand which moment it was in]
[The claw yanked free]
[Leo flew backward at a speed too fast to measure. He crashed through the first mountain, then the second, then the third. Rock turned to dust around him. His ribs cracked. One lung folded. Blood flew from his mouth]
[He skidded across the valley floor and finally stopped in a crater of broken stone]
[Leo coughed]
Leo: Okay. Ow.
[The Twin Hyper Dragons landed on the far side of the crater]
Twin Hyper Dragons: We move outside of time.
Leo: That seems unfair.
Twin Hyper Dragons: We are not bound by linear time. By law. By space. By reality.
Leo: That seems extra unfair.
Twin Hyper Dragons: You will not touch us.
[Leo spat blood and slowly stood up]
Leo: Sure. But I'd like to try.
[He took a step]
[The dragons struck again]
[A paw hit Leo across the face. Another hit his stomach. A tail swept his legs. A wing slammed into his side. A fang closed on his shoulder and tore]
[All of it landed at the same time]
[Every hit carried absolute strength. Nothing in the valley could take that kind of force]
[The ground under his feet turned to powder. The air around him compressed into a solid wall. The sky overhead cracked into jagged lines]
[Leo's right arm snapped in three places. His left leg bent the wrong way. A rib poked through his skin]
[He hit the ground and rolled]
[Satanael]
「Leo. You have to match their speed.」
Leo: I know. I'm trying.
[Satanael]
「Don't try. Step out of time yourself.」
[Leo laughed, coughing. Blood sprayed on the dirt]
Leo: You always give me the easy jobs... but this is gonna be toug
[Leo closed his eyes]
[He let go]
"Leo - Almighty Time"
[He stepped out of the flow as the valley froze for him and the falling dust stopped in the air, while the roar of the wind became a low hum]
[Perfect Afterlife poured through him, filling the gap]
[His broken bones hummed with white light. His arm snapped back into line. His leg straightened. The wound in his chest slowly closed]
『PERFECT AFTERLIFE』
[When he opened his eyes, the Twin Hyper Dragons were mid-strike. Frozen. Claws inches from his face]
[Leo grinned through the pain]
Leo: This should slow them down.. in this form
[He moved]
[The fight exploded]
[Leo hit the dragon's chest with a fist]
[The impact echoed through three seconds of the past and two seconds of the future at once]
Leo: What... it did nothing
[The dragons' reply came before he finished punching. Claws, fangs, and wings clashed with his sword in the same instant]
[Sparks showered across the valley. Each spark lasted a thousand years, then flickered out. Mountains grew old, crumbled, and rose again around them. Rivers formed, dried up, and flooded again in the space of a heartbeat]
[They crossed the valley a hundred times in a single blink. Three hundred times. A thousand times. They left only streaks of gold, black, and white across the red sky]
"Leo - Shatter Nebula: Galaxy Divide"
[His slash cut a long line across the world. It split the dragon's left wing clean off]
[The wing fell. It hit the ground and shattered into glittering dust]
[A second later, a new wing grew in its place]
Twin Hyper Dragons: Cute... it's useless.. no matter how you try we will regenerate
Leo: Even in this form, they are incredibly strong, almost stronger than Karnak and Tiamat, their strength aren't far apart
[The valley couldn't hold them anymore]
[Every collision cracked the world. A mountain split and even canyon opened]
[The red sky turned white at the edges. The ground started peeling upward in huge sheets, like paper catching fire]
[The Twin Hyper Dragons lashed their tail. It struck Leo in the back and drove him up through the clouds]
[He tumbled through the sky, out of the atmosphere, and into black space]
[The dragons followed]
Leo: What... already, moving beyond my power
[Leo panicked as he didn't have the time to breath]
[The fight moved beyond the planet. Beyond the system. Beyond the star at its center. They crashed across the dark between worlds, trailing fire and light]
[Elsewhere: The Others Feel It]
[On a ruined temple in the Primus World, Siriusniyo and Loki were locked blade to blade]
[Suddenly, the whole sky shook. A shockwave rolled across the horizon]
Loki: What was that?
Siriusniyo: That's Leo... I can feel his power
Loki: The Dragons shouldn't be having a hard time with a mere mortal
Siriusniyo: I wouldn't say that if I were you pal
[He looked up with a smirk. The stars had started to tremble]
[On a burning plain, Meltryllis paused mid-swing against Zuvarage]
Meltryllis: That's him. He's using Perfect Afterlife.
Zuvarage: An Afterlife??
[On a quiet courtyard, the Manipulator felt the ground vibrate through the soles of his shoes]
The Manipulator: He's overspending. That form drains him fast.
Zaphiri: You sound worried.
The Manipulator: I'm calculating.
[On a canyon wall, Zeovar looked up and felt his dragon blood answer]
Zeovar: Those are Ivarak's creations. Two dragons fused into one.
Zrag: You can feel them?
Zeovar: They're older than I am. By a lot.
[On a lonely mountaintop, Ralphasias paused in his fight with Kronos]
Ralphasias: That's a big one... seems like his fight is escalating across the Primus world
[Ralphasias said as he smirked]
Kronos: Your friend's in danger.
Ralphasias: He's always in danger.That's what makes him interesting.
[He watched the shaking sky.]
[Space: The Fight Continues - Leo vs. Twin Hyper Dragons ]
[Cold darkness. No sound at all]
[The Twin Hyper Dragons filled half the sky. Their scales glittered with a thousand stars. Their eyes burned like twin suns]
[Leo floated in front of them, a tiny figure in glowing black and gold. His chest rose and fell fast. Blood floated around him in little red beads]
Twin Hyper Dragons: Your running out of energy
Leo: This form won't last long, dammit
Twin Hyper Dragons: We can feel your heartbeat. It is slowing.
Leo: Nope. Just warming up.
Twin Hyper Dragons: You are only a reincarnated boy.
[Leo blinked]
Twin Hyper Dragons: Our Majesty, Ivarak sent us on a mission. We shall get this mission done. He gave us life from nothingness and gave us immense power, a kid like you don't even stand a slight chance against our Majesty, we shall erase you from existence
Leo: Well, this should be your last good buy, as I never give up!
Twin Hyper Dragons: That is what we are fighting. A small, lonely child with a borrowed sword
[Leo didn't answer right away]
[He looked at his hands. At the blood floating around his fingers. At the light blue of Perfect Afterlife flickering at the edge of his sleeves]
[He thought about the Chaos Universe. A kid sitting behind a market stall, hungry. A kid with a torn shirt, trying to learn a language nobody had bothered to teach him. A kid who woke up every morning wondering if today would be the day he got used to being alone]
[He thought about the Eastern World. A little town that grew into a city. A bakery. A school. A hospital. A line of goblins and slimes and beast-folk bowing to a boy who only wanted them to stop bowing]
[He thought about Luna's laugh. About Isaac's fist bump. About Jeannette telling him to stop stealing dessert from children]
[Leo smiled]
Leo: Yeah. I'm a reincarnated boy... I would admit that..
[He lifted his head]
Leo: A twelve-year-old who lost everything and decided to build something instead.
[His white eyes glowed brighter]
Leo: I'm not alone anymore. And I'm not wasting this
"Leo - Taiji Collapse of Authority"
[His voice rolled across space like a drumbeat]
Leo: Your right to touch me is revoked.
[A pulse of black-and-white light spread outward]
[When it touched the dragons' claws and fangs it froze and stopped. For three whole seconds, the Twin Hyper Dragons couldn't move at all]
[Then the light cracked. The claws twitched. The fangs closed on empty air]
Twin Hyper Dragons: Three seconds.
Leo: Three seconds is all I need.
[He rose toward the dragons' heads and held up his left hand]
"Leo - Endless Spatial Absorption"
[A giant black shadow spread under him like a hole in space. It stretched, rose, and opened its mouth around the Twin Hyper Dragons]
[Inside the shadow was a pocket world with no time. Anything swallowed there would sleep forever]
Leo: DIE!!!
[The shadow closed around both dragons]
[The space went silent]
[Leo exhaled. His shoulders dropped]
Leo: Okay. That's one way.
[Then a thin white crack split the shadow from inside]
[The crack spread. The shadow shook. A roar muffled through the walls of the pocket world]
[BOOM]
[The shadow burst. The Twin Hyper Dragons flew out, unharmed, wings flared, eyes blazing]
Twin Hyper Dragons: Nice try.. kid
Leo: Impossible, they escaped from my pocket world!!
[Leo lifted his sword again]
"Leo - Requiem of the Starless Night"
[He recited the second chant. The nearest stars flickered and died as every photon in the galaxy bent toward him and vanished. A long, soft darkness spread across space as it ate hope itself]
[The dragons' glowing eyes dimmed. Their wings slowed for a heartbeat, the Twin Hyper Dragons looked uncertain]
[Then they roared]
[The black-and-white light of their scales pushed the darkness back. The stars flickered on again]
Twin Hyper Dragons: We are the source of light, and of dark and with the combination of those magic we will form a power that can eradicate existence itself, laws are defied, reality are damaged...
Leo: What kind of animal did this bastard ivarak create.. they never die, regeneration seems infinte to them
[He raised his sword a third time]
"Leo - Omen of the Crashing Moon"
[A tiny point of gravity opened above the dragons' heads. It pulled harder, harder, until the pressure matched a collision between two planet]
[A shadowy moon the size of a continent dropped from the blackness, crashing into the dragons' backs]
[The Twin Hyper Dragons slammed into the dark with their bodies sank into the planet-sized weight]
[For a moment, they looked crushed then their muscles rippled]
[They shoved the moon aside. It broke into pieces and floated away like dust]
Twin Hyper Dragons: Is that all?
Leo: They are confident in themselves..
[Leo moved toward them with sword in hand. The air rippled where he passed]
"Leo - Finite of the Zero Creation"
[A field of silver light opened around him. Inside it, gravity stopped working, friction stopped working, and every outside power turned into ordinary energy]
[Only Leo could move freely]
[The tiny universes the dragons had left floating around them turned into plain heat. The stars dimmed. The dragons' attacks started to lose their edge]
Twin Hyper Dragons: He erased our tiny universes with that power..but, it's useless
[But the dragons weren't bound by law]
[They tore through the silver field without effort]
Twin Hyper Dragons: We are above your rules.
Leo: What!!
[The Twin Hyper Dragons lunged]
[Their jaws closed on Leo's left arm. The bite tore it off at the shoulder. Blood sprayed into space and froze in red crystals]
[Leo screamed]
Leo: AAAGH!
[Their tail swept across his chest, crushing three ribs. A claw struck his back, spinning him through the vacuum]
(His body slammed into a floating rock. It shattered with him kept tumbling]
[Satanael]
「Leo! Your arm!」
Leo: I noticed... there is small time left
[He gritted his teeth]
Leo: I should be able to regenerate from the wound itself in this form
[The black and gold fire licked at the stump of his shoulder. A new arm slowly formed from white light, bone and muscle and skin spinning back into place]
[It took five seconds]
[Leo flexed his fingers]
Leo: Okay. It hurts. But I'm still here.
Twin Hyper Dragons: How many times can you do that?
Leo: Let's find out.
[He charged]
"Leo - Karma Damage: Mirror of the Law"
[He flew straight at the dragons' claws. They struck him. His body shattered like glass, scattering into a hundred bright shards]
[The dragons' attack tore through the empty reflections]
[Every shard reflected the dragons' own strike back into them, magnified by Leo's chaos energy]
[The reflected force hit the fused body like a hammer, their scales cracked and their ribs bent, Both heads cried out]
Twin Hyper Dragons: What, he turned our strength against us!
[Leo reappeared above them, unhurt]
Leo: This shouldn't work against them
[But the cracks closed. The scales sealed. The ribs straightened]
Twin Hyper Dragons: Regeneration... is part of our power, we have infints regeneration, any attack or conceptual attacks is unaffected towards us
Leo: Yeah. That's the part I hate.... even attack erasures are completely useles
[Leo flew back, panting, and wiped his forehead]
[Satanael]
「Leo. Listen.」
Leo: I'm listening.
[Satanael]
「Their immortality isn't a trait. It's a loop.」
Leo: A loop???
[Satanael]
「A wound, then a heal. Damage, then repair. It's a duality. That's why they can't die.」
Leo: So?, what's the plan Satanael?
[Satanael]
「Duality is exactly what Taiji Collapse breaks.」
[Leo's eyes widened]
Leo: Oh... hmm really??
[Satanael]
「Collapse the pair. The heal has nothing to answer.」
Leo: That's actually clever.
[Satanael]
「I try.」
[Leo raised his sword. It trembled with light]
Leo: I need time.
[Satanael]
「How much time you need?」
Leo: Ten seconds.
[Satanael]
「That is a long time.」
Leo: I know. I'll make it.
[He raised his free hand]
"Leo - True Reality Styx"
[The dark behind him lit with a thousand pale lights. Shapes rose from the void. Kings in broken crowns. Warriors in rusted armor. Spirits of every age, every world it was an army of the fallen, each one carrying a faint glow]
[They charged at the Twin Hyper Dragons with silent roars]
[The dragons slashed through them. Each swing dissolved a hundred ghosts. But the ghosts kept coming, grabbing wings, clinging to claws, hanging on fangs]
[They didn't hurt. They only delayed]
"Leo - Constellation Chain: Bindings of the Zodiac"
[Twelve glittering chains stretched down from distant constellations]
[They wrapped around the dragons' necks, legs, and tail as the weight of an entire galaxy pulled against their bodies]
[The Twin Hyper Dragons roared with the chains tightening. The ghosts held on]
[One second. Two seconds. Three]
"Leo - Heart of the Star"
[His heartbeat synced with the rotation of the cosmos. A pulse rippled out from his chest, resetting the cooldown on every ability he had]
[The dragons slowed to half speed. Everything else around them moved like honey]
[Four seconds. Five]
Twin Hyper Dragons: What!, he slowed our speed deying our physics
"Leo - Void-Walkers Aura"
[The pale spirits of the void rose around him, forming a ring of silent guardians. The next wave of the dragons' breath hit the ring. The spirits forgot it]
[The blast faded into nothing]
[Six seconds. Seven]
[The first chain snapped. Then the second]
[Eight seconds]
[Leo gripped his sword with both hands]
Leo: Come on!! LET'S GOO!!
[The blade glowed brighter. Black light curled up one edge of it. White light rolled up the other. The two colors twisted together along the metal, balanced, trembling, perfectly even]
"Leo - Taiji Collapse Blade: Perfect Harmony Collapse Strike"
[He brought the two forces of Taiji into balance on the edge of Shatter Nebula. It hummed like a held breath. Then he released it all at once]
[Nine seconds]
[He swung]
[A thin line of light flashed across the black. It didn't look like much. A single scratch of white against the dark]
[It crossed the space between them in no time at all]
[It cut through the Twin Hyper Dragons from head to tail]
Twin Hyper Dragons: What... Impossib...le
[For a long moment, nothing happened]
[Then the Twin Hyper Dragons split]
[The fused body fell apart in two halves, sliding slowly in opposite directions]
[A thin white line ran from the crown of their heads down their spine. Light spilled out of the cut like water from a cracked jar]
[They tried to regrow]
[Wounds reached for healing. Healing reached for wounds. Neither could find the other]
[The duality that had held them together collapsed into a single point and disappeared]
[The edges of the cut started to glow. Then flake. Then fade]
Twin Hyper Dragons: What... what is this?
Leo: The end of your loop... This is the end twins!!
[Their scales turned to dust. Their wings turned to light. Their claws dissolved like sugar in water]
[Ashgor's head spoke first, voice low]
Ashgor: We were made to end you... IMPOSSIBLE NOO!!
[Velkara's head followed]
Velkara: This kid is very strong!
[Leo lowered his sword. His whole body trembled. Blood ran down his chin]
Leo: You two were the toughest fight of my life... well with the exception of Voriath
Ashgor: You say that out of pity.
Leo: No. I mean it. You were stronger than anyone I've ever fought. Seriously.
Velkara: That is... kind.
Leo: It's true.
[Ashgor's eyes softened for the first time]
Ashgor: Then I will go with that...
[The light faded]
[The dust floated away]
[The Twin Hyper Dragons were gone, dissolved into nothing, leaving only a few quiet stars drifting in the dark]
[Leo floated alone in space]
[His form flickered. The halo above his head dimmed. The black and gold fire around him faded to a thin glimmer. His white eyes turned back to brown. His long hair shrank to its normal length]
[Perfect Afterlife ended]
[He drifted down onto a floating rock the size of a house and collapsed on his back]
[He couldn't feel his arms. His legs wouldn't answer. His chest rose and fell in short, ragged breaths]
[He stared up at the stars]
Leo: Huh.
[Satanael]
「Leo. You did it.」
Leo: Yeah. I did.
[Satanael]
「You're out of energy.」
Leo: I noticed. Can't even wiggle my toes..I wonderhow the other fights are going?
[Satanael]
「Rest.」
Leo: I wasn't planning on anything else.
[He started to laugh. Quietly. A tired, happy laugh, the kind that comes after an exam you thought you'd fail]
Leo: Reincarnated boy. Not bad for a name
[His eyes drifted shut]
[He smiled]
[The Chaos Universe: Force Light Guild]
[Wind. Dry leaves. The smell of ink and cold iron]
[The Force Light Guild courtyard stood quiet in the afternoon light. The rebuilt walls still looked new. A banner swayed over the gate]
[A woman walked in through the front arch was a long black hair. A black robe with silver trim. A red thread wrapped around her wrist. A calm smile, like she'd just arrived at a party]
[It was Karma]
[She stopped in the middle of the courtyard and looked around]
Karma: So this is the famous Force Light Guild...
[Nobody answered. The courtyard looked empty]
Karma: Not much to see.
[Three figures stepped out of the guild hall]
[Klaus Aiacos, tall, calm, a heavy gray coat hanging from his shoulders. Marx Crimson, long red coat, a thin smile. Leon Altair, short golden hair, bright eyes, a faint glow around his hands]
Klaus: You're trespassing... how dare you come to our guild!
Karma: intresting humans!
Klaus: Same thing.
[Karma laughed]
Karma: Oh, I like him.
Marx: You're the one who sent a woman named Nihiliya after our friends...
Karma: Not me. I only mind the ledger.
Leon: What do you want?
Karma: To see what's left... with our Majesty, we tend to annihilates every civilization, guild's, universes, Federations and group across the multiverse
[She paced around the courtyard slowly, hands behind her back]
Karma: Do you know what I admire about Ivarak?
Klaus: I don't care... and thats not my business
Karma: His clarity.... how dare you defy our Majesty
Marx: Sounds lonely.
Karma: It's elegant.Your friends are away, aren't they? Leo. Isaac. Even the time girl.
[She smiled]
Leon: They're busy and you wouldn't stand a chance against them
Karma: How convenient of you to say that.. Which means it's just you three.
[She spread her arms]
Karma: I'm almost insulted!!
[Marx stepped forward with his hands in his pockets]
Marx: Funny thing.
Karma: Hm?
Marx: Leo, Isaac, Luna, and Angela are gone. Which means this is our time.
[He smiled wider]
Marx: Time for us to shine.
Klaus: Don't get cocky.
Marx: I'm being efficient.
[Leon cracked his knuckles. A soft glow gathered around his hands]
Leon: Ready.
Klaus: On three.
[Karma tilted her head. She looked genuinely amused]
Karma: Go ahead... My power is far greater than yall three..is futile
[The three of them moved]
[They moved faster than light itself almost surpass time and law]
[Klaus appeared above her. Marx appeared behind her. Leon appeared in front of her]
[All three arrived at the same time as the thought of starting]
[Karma's smile froze]
Karma: Oh... such speed
[Leon's fist hit first]
"Leon - Photon Pulse"
[A burst of photons packed into a single blow. It struck her chest like a hammer made of sunlight]
[The ground cracked in a circle around her and the air smelled like burnt dust and hot glass with a shockwave blew leaves off the trees a mile away]
[Marx's palm touched her back at the same instant]
"Marx - Soul Crusion"
[His hand reached through her body, searching for her soul. An invisible force tugged at it, trying to rip it out. The air around his hand shimmered like heat over stone]
[Klaus's heel came down on her head]
"Klaus - Graviton Lock"
[A circle of heavy light dropped over her. Gravity doubled, tripled, then multiplied a thousand times]
[All three attacks landed]
[Karma flew backward through the courtyard wall, through a second wall, and into the guild's old fountain. Water exploded into the air]
[For a moment, silence]
[Karma sat up in the shattered fountain. Her hair was damp. Her robe was torn]
[She started laughing]
Karma: Oh, that was good... now is my turn
Klaus: after all that power she still remains standing
[Karma stood up slowly, wiping water from her face]
[A faint red glow pulsed along the thread on her wrist]
Karma: You hit hard. Genuinely. I felt that.
[She lifted her hand]
"Karma - Red Thread Ledger"
[The red thread on her wrist stretched into the air like a string of light. It split into dozens of thinner threads, each one finer than a hair]
[They floated across the courtyard and brushed against Klaus, Marx, and Leon]
[Where the threads touched, a soft red mark appeared on their skin]
Karma: Every blow you landed, I record
Marx: Recorded?
Karma: And now I collect.
[She snapped her fingers]
[The three of them felt it at once. A heavy, sharp pain, exactly like the blows they had struck]
[Marx's chest ached where he had touched her. Leon's knuckles bled. Klaus's heel felt crushed]
[They staggered]
"Karma - Debt Return"
[The pain wasn't a single hit. It was double. Every strike they'd thrown came back with the same force, then once more, twice as hard]
[The air rang like a bell. Cracks raced across the courtyard floor with the three of them flew apart, crashing into pillars and walls]
[Leon coughed. Blood dripped from his lip]
Leon: She doubled it.
Marx: Just like Sagris warned us
Klaus: Don't hit her directly.
[Leon pushed himself up and raised both hands]
"Leon - Light Array Vision"
]His eyes glowed gold. Thin lines of light spread across his sight. He saw the red threads andthe ledger. He saw every connection between Karma and the world around her]
Leon: I see them.
[He snapped his fingers]
"Leon - Dispel "
[A wave of white light swept across the courtyard. Where it touched the red threads, they snapped and faded]
[Karma blinked]
Karma: Oh. He can cut my ledger.
Leon: I can cut anything I can see.
[Karma smiled]
Karma: That makes things interesting.
[She flicked her wrist. New threads rose from her sleeve]
[Leon dispelled them again and she flicked again]
[He dispelled again]
[They stood facing each other, her threads against his light, like a pair of fencers dancing. Each time she made a move, he canceled it]
[For a few seconds, the fight looked even]
[Marx joined in]
Marx: Let me help...
[He raised both hands. The air around his fingers shimmered with a pale blue glow]
"Marx - Aether Weave"
[Thin spiritual threads spread through the courtyard]
[They connected every person, every wall, every bird in the sky. Marx read the shape of Karma's intentions like a map]
Marx: She's going to hit Klaus from the left.
Klaus: Thanks.
[He turned just in time. A red thread whipped past his ear and cut a fence post in half]
[Karma's eyes narrowed]
Karma: You can see my plan.
Marx: I can see everyone's. It's a nice hobby...
[Klaus lifted both palms]
"Klaus - Black Star Descent"
[A tiny black star formed above Karma's head. Its pull crushed the air around it. Stones, fountain pieces, and loose tiles floated upward and spiraled into its center]
[The sky above the courtyard bent toward it like water down a drain]
[The black star dropped]
[It hit Karma square on the head]
[The ground collapsed into a deep crater. A cloud of dust shot up a hundred feet. The sound rolled across the Chaos Universe]
[When the dust cleared, Karma was standing at the bottom of the crater]
Karma: Gravity?..what!
Klaus: It should be crushing you.
Karma: My ledger is balanced. I owe nothing. So nothing weighs on me.
[Klaus stared]
Klaus: That doesn't make sense.
Karma: It does if you think about it long enough
[She raised her hand]
"Karma - Final Balance"
[Every thread of red light on the courtyard snapped taut at once. The guild hall behind the three fighters trembled. A deep groan rose from its foundation]
[Then it collapsed]
[The roof caved in. The walls folded inward. Dust and splintered timber shot out in every direction. The banner fell. The doors blew off their hinges]
[The Force Light Guild, home to the strongest members of the Chaos Universe, collapsed into a pile of rubble in less than a heartbeat]
[Karma lowered her hand]
Karma: Sorry. I thought it was in the way.
[Nobody spoke]
[Leon's hands shook. A single drop of blood fell from his knuckles. His golden eyes burned]
Leon: That was our home.
Karma: It was a building.
Marx: It was a lot more than that.
[Klaus said nothing. His jaw was tight. His eyes were dark]
[Then all three of them charged]
[They moved together like a single storm]
[Klaus swung a fist loaded with gravity. Leon followed with a spear of golden light. Marx wove spiritual threads around both of them, strengthening every blow]
[Karma stopped smiling]
Karma: What.. he used a spiritual power to strengthen their attacks
"Karma - Debt Return: Fatal"
[She lifted both hands. Dozens of red threads shot out in a ring, whipping across the courtyard at nearly almost infinte speed. Each thread hit a different spot]
[One cut through Klaus's shoulder]
[One stabbed into Marx's side]
[One sliced across Leon's chest]
[They flew backward. Blood splashed across the stones. Klaus hit the ground on one knee. Marx coughed up red. Leon slid into the rubble of the guild hall, a long smear of blood trailing behind him]
[The courtyard went silent]
Karma: That should do it...
[She turned away]
[A voice came from the rubble]
Klaus: Not yet.
[Karma stopped. She turned around slowly]
[Klaus stood up. His coat was torn. His shoulder was bleeding. But his eyes were calm]
Klaus: We don't fall that easily.
[Marx wiped blood from his mouth and stood beside him. Leon pulled himself out of the rubble, breathing hard, golden light flickering around his hands]
Leon: I'm not done.
[Karma sighed]
Karma: You are very stubborn.
Leon: We're Force Light... we never give up
[Leon's anger boiled over]
Leon: You destroyed our home. You hurt my friends, Your gonna pay!
[His light flared brighter. The air around him turned white]
Leon: I'll outshine you.
"Leon - Lumen Infinitus"
[He created infinite amounts of light at once. A wave of brilliant white poured across the courtyard and the sky above it with the sun in the Chaos Universe seemed to dim beside him]
[Every shadow vanished. Buildings turned into outlines and the air hummed with a bright, painful sound]
[He fired a beam of pure light at Karma]
[The beam crossed the courtyard in no time at all traveling beyond death itself]
[The rubble of the guild hall glowed and cracked]
[Karma raised a hand]
[She stopped it]
[The beam bent around her palm, curling into a harmless ring of light. It splashed against the sky and faded into sparks]
Karma: That was beautiful... I hate to admit but your tough to defeat
Leon: What... that was a speed surpassing death itself
Karma: I ignored it themselves
[She smiled at him, cool and patient]
Karma: But I can keep up with your light.
[Marx stepped forward again, blood still dripping from his side]
"Marx - Echoform"
[He pressed his palm against his chest. A pale blue glow spread across his body, then flowed outward to Klaus and Leon. Their wounds slowed. Their bleeding eased]
[The spiritual threads inside their bodies pulled tight, holding their souls in place]
Marx: I'm anchoring your souls. Don't let go.
Klaus: Thanks.
"Marx - Vitalis"
[He pushed his life force into their bodies. Warmth spread through them. Their breathing steadied. The pain faded to a dull ache]
Marx: It's temporary. Use it well.
Leon: We will.
Klaus: Together!!
[The three of them raised their hands at the same time]
"Klaus - Weight of Ten Thousand Suns"
[The air above the courtyard thickened. Ten thousand tiny suns appeared in a ring, each glowing white-hot]
[Their combined gravity pulled everything inward, crushing stone into powder]
"Leon - Solaria"
[He harnessed the power of the sun itself. A column of fire dropped from the sky. It lit the courtyard in a blinding glow]
Karma: You got to be kidding me a whole sun!!
"Marx - Essence Reign"
[He grabbed the threads of Karma's essence and pulled. A shiver ran through her body. The ground trembled. For the first time, Karma winced]
[The three attacks hit all at once]
[The explosion shook the entire Chaos Universe]
[Clouds scattered]
[The sky turned red, then white. Windows in distant towns shattered)
[A shockwave rolled across the multiverse. The courtyard turned into a smoking crater a mile wide)
[Klaus, Marx, and Leon collapsed to their knees. All three were bleeding from their noses and mouths]
[They had poured everything they had into the strike. Their hands trembled. Their breath came in short gasp].
Marx: Did we get her?
Leon: I think so.
[Klaus stared into the smoke]
Klaus: No.
[The smoke cleared]
[Karma stood in the middle of the crater. Her robe hung in ribbons. A thin line of blood ran down her cheek. One of her sleeves was missing]
[But she was standing]
Karma: That was good...
[She wiped the blood off her face with her thumb and looked at it]
Karma: That was very good.
[Her smile slipped]
Leon: What.... she survived a destructive power that shook the entire multiverse
Karma: Now time to end this!!
[The red threads along her arms flared bright. Her eyes burned]
[She vanished]
"Karma - Ledger Blitz"
[She crossed the crater in less time than it took to blink. The air tore in her wake. A trail of red light stretched behind her like a ribbon]
[She appeared directly in front of Klaus]
[Klaus saw her too late]
[Her palm struck his chest]
[The blow carried the weight of every power she had ever collected. A deep, dull boom rolled through the earth]
[Klaus flew backward at the speed of a falling star]
[He crashed through the ruins of the guild hall, through a stone wall, through a tree, through another wall, and finally slammed into a row of old pillars]
[He lay still among the rubble]
[His coat was torn open. Blood pooled around his chest. His eyes were closed]
Marx: KLAUS!
Leon: No...
[Marx sprinted to him and dropped to his knees]
"Marx - Echoform"
[He pressed both hands against Klaus's chest. A pale blue glow flooded the wound. A thin thread of light held Klaus's soul to his body]
Marx: Come on. Stay with me.
[Klaus's chest barely moved. His pulse was faint, but it was there]
Marx: He's not conscious. I can hold him, but he can't fight.
[Leon stood slowly. His hands shook]
Leon: Then it's you and me.
[Karma stepped out of the dust, smoothing her ruined sleeve. Her face was calm again, but her eyes were hard]
Karma: One down.
[Marx stood up, still wiping blood from his hands]
Marx: That was our captain.
Karma: He fought well!!
Marx: You should stop talking.. you talk too much
Karma: Why?
Marx: Damn you!
[His grin faded. For the first time since the fight began, Marx's eyes turned cold.]
[Leon raised his hands. The golden light around him flared, weaker now, flickering at the edges]
Leon: We're not finished.
[Karma sighed. She lifted her hand]
[The red threads rose again]
Karma: Then come...
[The two of them stood in front of Klaus's fallen body, breathing hard, bleeding, shaking, and still refusing to move aside]
To be continued...