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The Quantum Quake remained perfectly still, unmoving, as if the world around him had no effect. The Hero swung his blade, and an invisible arc tore through his leg and arm in one flawless motion.
Yet he didn't flinch. He balanced effortlessly on one foot, unshaken, making no effort to regenerate or counter the strike.
"Stand down."
Quantum Quake said, his voice articulate and calm.
"I'm not here for you."
"So you can talk smoothly."
The Divine Hero replied, his voice steady, though his eyes remained sharp.
Neither of them noticed the portal that had silently opened nearby. In the blink of an eye, two beams shot forth, travelling faster than the eye could track. The first passed cleanly through the Hero's chest, searing as it went, while the second sliced across Quantum Quake's neck, narrowly missing his head. The attack was instantaneous, precise, and devastating.
"He's here."
Antares murmured, his voice low and tense.
The Hero dropped to his knees, his body corroding from the assault, and Quantum Quake gripped his neck, lavender energy spreading, countering the corrosion.
Through the portal ahead, a figure sat in absolute stillness. The silhouette was unmistakable, yet wrong. White hair fell around a form that exuded power and malice, seated atop a throne with an imperious calm.
Every line, every shadow suggested danger. This was not the Asteri I knew. This was the Evil Asteri, the one summoned by Magos, sent to enforce her end of the bargain. His eyes, cold and unyielding, fixed on them with a calculated, malevolent patience, and he didn't move an inch from his seat, letting his presence alone dominate the battlefield.
[[IMAGE]]
[[IMAGE]]
"Y.. you..."
The Hero fell silent in an instant. An unseen strike cut through his neck before he could even react, and his head was severed with surgical precision. His body crumpled, dissolving into black ash that scattered across the void as if it had never existed.
"I didn't give you permission to speak."
The Evil Asteri said, his voice cold and sharp, carrying a weight that made the air itself shiver.
Quantum Quake felt it immediately. His aura flared violently, erupting outward in a way that made the surrounding environment ripple.
But this time, it wasn't the familiar Darkness or Destructive energy he had used before, it was something far deeper. His long-accumulated void surged around him like a living, restless tide.
"V… void?"
Hinata whispered, eyes wide with awe and fear.
"However, his opponent isn't worthy of his void."
Antares murmured, his gaze unwavering.
The Evil Asteri rose from his throne with deliberate grace, a faint smirk crossing his features.
"My, my… do I deserve all this?"
He asked, stepping forward from the portal, his presence alone bending the space around him.
"I'm not going down without a fight."
He declared, summoning a circle of aura swords that hovered around him like predatory stars. One of the swords descended into his palm, resting there as though it had always belonged, ready to strike at a moment's notice.
He flashed forward, the black sword aimed for the Evil Asteri's head, but the blade froze mid-swing, held back by an unseen force. In the next instant, one of the swords hovering around the Evil Asteri twisted, melting into a seething mass of darkness before exploding outward, throwing the Quantum Quake violently backward.
"Field of Darkness."
The words were barely out when a preternatural cocoon of shadow wrapped around him, layers of impenetrable darkness sealing him in.
Almost instantly, the shell cracked, as a dark amethyst sickle shot forth, tearing through the layers of shadow at impossible speed. One sickle, then two, split and hurtled straight toward the Evil Asteri simultaneously.
He raised both arms, releasing a wave of void energy that devoured the incoming sickles entirely, erasing them from existence. That was the signal. Another sickle appeared before him, instantly reshaping into a scythe. In perfect synchrony, Quantum Quake materialised, the scythe resting effortlessly in his palms.
"Void Eater."
The words rang out like a death knell as he struck. The attack severed the void born entity itself as well as the arms that brought it, leaving the Evil Asteri frozen, eyes wide in disbelief.
"The coordinates."
The Timeline Disruptor asked, his voice steady and calm.
"Void cutting through voids. How's that possible?"
Hinata asked. It's illogical, but we're stepping higher.
"It's simple. His void is on a different level than Asteri's. Void, similar to the real Quantum Quake."
Asteri discarded his injured arm without hesitation, summoning one of his blades in its place.
"Too soon to reveal that."
He declared, his tone calm but carrying an edge of determination, before propelling himself forward to meet Quantum Quake head-on.
The clash was brief but decisive. Every strike Asteri made was met with the dark amethyst scythe, which moved with an almost sentient precision. His weapons seemed to dissolve against it, their power and finesse rendered utterly ineffective.
"Interesting… interesting."
Asteri murmured, his voice carrying across the battlefield like a low, resonant roar.
"Show me your superiority!"
There was no fear in his tone, no anger. Even in defeat, even against an opponent so overwhelmingly powerful, his words held a measured, almost exhilarating curiosity, as if the loss itself was nothing more than a prelude to something greater.
"Alright, I'll show you. It might as well help me too."
He responded, and the scythe twisted and split into twin blades in an instant.
In a single, merciless motion, both edges swept through Asteri's limbs, severing them cleanly with precision that left no room for hesitation.
Before a drop of blood could even fall, the twin blades fused back into one, plunging deep into Asteri's solar plexus. A violent eruption followed, obliterating his abdomen.
Quantum Quake reached forward, his hand extending toward Asteri's head. From the blade, a thread of void stretched outward, solidifying into a new katana forged entirely from dark amethyst void. With a swift, silent stroke, he beheaded Asteri and caught the severed head by the hair, holding it effortlessly.
"Satisfied?"
He asked, his voice calm, almost clinical. All that remained of Asteri was the head; the rest of his body had vanished as if erased from existence.
"Geez… you took it too far."
Asteri said, his smile uneven but unbroken, even in defeat.
"Do I have to ask again?"
"Maybe, you know I'm not gonna talk, right?"
From his fingers, dark amethyst void seeped into Asteri's severed head.
The scream that tore from him was raw, agonising, a sound that seemed to shred the very air. Pain beyond comprehension consumed him, twisting his mind until reason shattered and psychosis took hold.
Moments later, the head could contain no more, the mass of void within it detonated violently, scattering remnants of its existence into nothingness.
"Alright."
Quantum Quake turned, his gaze piercing the depths of Antares's hidden space.
He reached up and removed his mask, revealing a face that was a flawless mirror of Antares, every line, every contour identical, except for the irises and pupils, which burned a void-black that seemed to absorb all light around them.
"It's safe."
He said simply, his words calm, unhurried, before he vanished without another trace, leaving only the echo of his presence behind.
"That was…"
"Entares."
Antares replied with a knowing smile.
"You let him out?"
"Yeah, he's my trump card.... against them."
He replied with a smile.
To be continued...