Jay observed the entity with his cold gray eyes, devoid of any emotion.
Boom!
A single dry and brutal strike was enough to knock the creature down. The impact echoed through the alley like nearby thunder, slamming the entity against the opposite wall with devastating force.
The goat-headed figure slid slowly to the ground, leaving a dark trail on the stone.
"Hey… haven't you wondered why your wounds haven't healed?" Jay asked in a calm, mocking voice, pointing his metallic finger at the massive hole he had opened in the entity's torso during the previous fight.
An irregular, smoking hole pierced the creature's chest, from which a black, viscous substance oozed that refused to regenerate.
"You should surrender already."
The entity lifted its head with difficulty, its red eyes glowing with fury and confusion.
"Damn you, mortal!" it roared, spitting venom with every word.
Jay leaped backward several times with inhuman agility, almost disappearing completely into the shadows of the alley.
The entity only managed to see the small particles of sparkling dust he left floating in the air behind him.For a brief moment, everything fell silent.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Four devastating blows rang out in rapid succession, so fast they seemed like one continuous thunder.
Each impact was brutal, precise, and overwhelming. Jay's fists—one of flesh and bone, the other metallic and covered in runes—crashed against the entity like divine hammers.
The goat-headed creature barely had time to react. Its body was violently shaken from side to side, ethereal bones cracking under the crushing force. On the fourth blow, the entity fell to its knees, completely incapacitated, its torso caved in and its goat head hanging limply to one side.
The alley was enveloped in a heavy silence, broken only by the sound of the black substance dripping onto the ground.
Jay stopped in front of the defeated figure, breathing calmly.
His gray gaze remained cold and implacable.
"You know, I think you should have stayed on your farm being a good little goat," Jay said with a cold, mocking smile.Blegh!The entity convulsed violently.
Several spasms ran through it before it vomited a thick black blood that splattered the filthy ground of the alley.
"H-how… how is this possible?" it stammered, its voice broken and trembling.
"Do you want to know the real reason for my power increase?"
Jay slowly raised his metallic arm and pointed upward with his index finger. "Look up."
The entity, still on its knees and struggling to stay conscious, lifted its head with difficulty.
There, floating in the air above them, was a translucent and ethereal female figure.
Her body was formed by a beautiful cluster of bright stars and constellations that slowly rotated inside her.
Tiny galaxies shone in her eyes, and her hair seemed made of undulating nebulae.
A divine and ancient presence emanated from her, filling the dirty alley with a subtle celestial light.
The entity opened its eyes in horror and amazement at the same time.
"Thenna, you damned bitch! You've betrayed us!" the entity screamed with a broken, rage-filled voice.The echo of its cry faded into the filthy alley.
The creature breathed with difficulty, its chest rising and falling irregularly. It could barely keep its head upright."Why… Thenna?"
it asked in a sleepy, weak voice, almost an agonizing whisper.Jay took a step forward, his tall and sturdy figure casting a long shadow over the defeated entity. His gray eyes shone with absolute coldness.
"Because you are the last ingredient to begin my revenge," he answered calmly, without raising his voice.
The entity raised its gaze one last time.
In its red eyes, hatred, disbelief, and deep resignation mixed together.
It looked alternately at Jay and at the stellar goddess floating above them, but it no longer had the strength to fight.It could only accept its fate.
Resigned, the creature prepared itself to endure the suffering Jay was about to inflict.
BOOM!
A second explosion, stronger and more violent than the previous one, thundered through the narrow alley.
The entity's body exploded into a thousand pieces.
Shards of dark shadow and black blood splattered the walls and floor, leaving only a smoking crater and viscous remains scattered everywhere.
"That's what happens when you don't know how to respect ladies," Jay said with a mocking, cold smile as he slowly lowered his metallic arm.
The echo of the explosion still reverberated between the grimy walls when silence once again took over the alley.Jay stood still for a moment, observing the smoking remains with indifference. Then he raised his gaze toward the stellar figure floating above him.
He collected the red eyes of the fallen entity and returned to his goddess.
Jay knelt before her with reverence. The light of the stars seemed to bow as well.
"I offer you my will, I offer you my life, I offer you my dignity and my victory," he declared with a firm and devoted voice. "Everything I am and everything I have conquered, I place before you, my goddess of stars and cosmos: Thenna."With that, he kissed the back of her hand with devotion.
The goddess observed her loyal servant with infinite tenderness. She slid her warm hand across Jay's face, cleaning the blood and dust of battle, and spoke with a voice that resonated like the echo of distant galaxies:
"You will walk paths full of thorns, through valleys filled with corpses, and through universes inhabited by divine beings… Even so, you will be able to confront those who took everything from you, those who destroyed your life and turned your being into pure rage and pain.
"When she finished speaking, a vast veil of stars materialized around them.
Bright constellations slowly rotated, enveloping the entity's corpse, the red eyes Jay still held, and the warrior himself.Without hesitation, Jay stripped off all his clothes until he was completely naked.
He knelt beside the smoking remains of his defeated enemy and looked up with determination.
"I am ready, my Goddess,"
he declared firmly.The veil of stars enveloped him completely, bathing his naked skin with a cold and ancient light.
"And you," Thenna whispered, with a smile full of pride and darkness, "will be the one who kills the gods."