The instant our fists collided, the universe died.
Not metaphorically.
Not poetically.
Actually died.
The planet beneath us imploded first, folding inward like paper crushed in a god's fist before erupting outward into a storm of molten debris and fractured continents. Oceans vaporized. Atmospheres ignited. The very laws holding reality together cracked apart under the pressure of our clash.
And still—
the phoenix kept smiling.
That pissed me off more than the punches.
I grabbed him by the throat immediately.
"QUIT LOOKING DOWN ON ME!"
My roar echoed through the collapsing cosmos as I hurled him through the shattered remains of the dying world. Entire planetary fragments exploded apart from the force of his body skipping across them.
Zenith and Edith twisted instantly in my grip, reshaping into a massive chain-rope wrapped in destruction magic.
I swung it violently.
The chain wrapped around a nearby planet.
Then I ripped it free from orbit.
The entire celestial body screamed apart behind me as I swung it overhead like a gigantic flail and launched it directly toward the peacock beastman.
The bastard didn't even move.
Silver ripples spread from his body silently.
The planet stopped.
Then decayed.
Mountains aged into dust.
Oceans evaporated into dry nothingness.
The core collapsed inward and rotted apart before the strike could even reach him.
Entropy.
Everything near him simply… died.
Weapons.
Matter.
Magic.
Time itself probably wasn't safe around him.
"Tch."
I blitzed forward anyway.
Dark-purple wings tore through the vacuum of space while destruction magic exploded around me violently. I appeared beside the peacock and slashed downward with both daggers—
—and time froze.
Not slowed.
Stopped.
The universe became silent instantly.
Then the phoenix appeared directly in front of me.
So did the peacock.
Both already mid-attack.
A fist slammed into my stomach.
An elbow shattered into my spine.
A knee crushed upward into my ribs.
Every strike bypassed my scales completely like my defenses didn't even exist.
Then time resumed.
I was launched backward hard enough to tear through two remaining planets in the collapsing universe behind us. Both celestial bodies detonated apart the instant my body pierced through them.
Blood floated from my mouth in long crimson strands.
My bones screamed.
But I was still alive.
Barely.
The phoenix chased after me immediately.
I twisted violently mid-flight and grabbed his leg before he could strike again.
Got you—
Time froze again.
Three kicks slammed into my face instantly.
One shattered my nose.
One crushed my jaw sideways.
The last sent me spiraling endlessly through space like garbage thrown into a hurricane.
I laughed weakly.
Of course.
The bastard wasn't just fast.
He manipulated combat itself.
Every time I found rhythm…
he erased it.
We crashed through universe after universe after that.
Entire realities shattered around us.
Stars imploded.
Galaxies burned apart.
The peacock erased anything I tried creating while the phoenix brutalized me head-on with perfect precision.
And somehow…
I was still smiling.
Not because I enjoyed losing.
But because for the first time in what felt like forever…
someone forced me to go all out.
My Body of Destruction barely held together now. Dark scales cracked apart across my arms while regeneration struggled desperately to keep up with the damage.
I knew the truth already.
I was outmatched.
Badly.
But I wasn't dead yet.
And as long as I could still move—
I could still kill them.
Zenith shifted instantly into twin submachine guns again while Edith reshaped into a floating ringblade behind me.
I unloaded everything.
Bullets.
Space distortions.
Holy magic.
Destruction waves.
The void itself lit up purple from the sheer amount of firepower flooding outward.
The phoenix danced through most of it.
The peacock erased the rest.
Annoying monsters.
Fine then.
I inhaled slowly.
Every remaining drop of magic inside me ignited at once.
Around us floated the remains of dead universes. Broken stars. Fractured timelines. The ashes of collapsed realities.
I gathered all of it.
Every fragment.
Every ounce of leftover destruction.
My dark-purple aura expanded endlessly outward until even the phoenix's expression shifted slightly for the first time.
Good.
I smiled through blood.
"Destruction Style…"
The surrounding void cracked.
"All Return to Nothing."
Everything vanished.
A catastrophic wave of annihilation erupted outward from my body in absolute silence. Entire realities disappeared instantly beneath the attack. Matter. Time. Space. Meaning.
Gone.
I teleported away at the last possible second.
Barely.
Even then the attack still tore through my body while I escaped.
My vision blurred immediately afterward.
My body drifted helplessly through cold empty space while blood floated around me in crimson clouds.
But then—
I felt it.
The slave seal.
Gone.
Broken.
Raiku's leash had finally shattered during the battle.
A weak laugh escaped my throat.
"Heh…"
Freedom.
That old monster was still alive somewhere.
But next time?
I'd kill him myself.
The phoenix and peacock were probably alive too. Monsters like that didn't die easily.
Good.
I wanted another round.
Eventually, gravity caught hold of me.
A nearby planet dragged my broken body downward through its atmosphere. Flames swallowed me as I crashed through the skies like a dying meteor before slamming into a frozen mountain peak hard enough to carve out an enormous crater.
Then—
darkness.
…
Warmth.
That was the first thing I noticed.
Warmth.
My eyes opened slowly.
A wooden ceiling greeted me first.
Then the smell of herbs.
Medicine.
Firewood.
I blinked weakly.
A cabin.
Quiet.
Isolated.
Bandages wrapped around nearly every part of my body while dull pain pulsed through my chest and arms.
Someone had healed me.
"…You're awake."
I turned slowly.
Amela sat beside the bed.
Her long white hair fell over one shoulder while those crimson eyes watched me carefully. Beside her stood another unfamiliar girl dressed in dark winter clothing, her expression nervous but relieved.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Honestly…
I didn't know what to say either.
I looked down at my hands silently.
Still alive.
Still breathing.
After everything…
I was still here.
Amela crossed her arms lightly.
"You fell from the sky," she said calmly. "Destroyed half the mountain on impact."
A weak smirk pulled at my lips.
"Sounds like me."
The unfamiliar girl let out a small startled laugh before quickly covering her mouth.
Amela rolled her eyes faintly.
"You're lucky we found you first," she said. "Another few hours and the frost beasts would've eaten you alive."
I leaned my head back against the pillow slowly.
Outside the cabin window, snow drifted peacefully through the air.
No screaming.
No fire.
No destruction.
Just silence.
For now…
that was enough.