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Their eyes met, and all the anger Entares had bottled up for so long erupted uncontrollably. He ground his teeth so violently that the bones cracked, blood flowing freely.
"0! I've been waiting for you!"
He roared.
"Have you?"
Zero replied calmly, his free arm swinging with terrifying precision. The blow struck Entares squarely in the chest, shattering his armour and hurling him through the air like a ragdoll.
"Release the seal, 1,"
0 commanded.
Spectre flinched, hesitation flashing across his features. "Are you sure? Can't we defeat him like this… the three of us?"
"2 will fall with each blow. You've used God's Eye of Detection even though you still have one way to defeat him. We can't lose you before the War resumes."
0 stated facts. Entares can't be defeated with ease. To do so, the have to go all out.
'This feeling. The Edict is reacting to something, someone.'
"I agree, I want to fight you all in earnest. So hit me with all you've got."
Entares spoke, holding the debris masking his presence.
"Jagarette, come."
Her death twisted into an illusion, and in an instant, she materialised beside the other two.
"Void, Illusion, Acid. Trinity. Seal. Release."
Spectre's incantation filled the air, and black smoke began escaping from their body, curling outward and expanding with a will of its own. The haze swallowed the space, vibrating with a shockwave that shook the very foundations of the world.
The smoke thickened, carrying a strange, unsettling resonance that clawed at the senses, followed by a low, menacing growl that echoed from nowhere and everywhere at once.
Within the blackened haze, six crimson eyes appeared, slicing through the darkness like sharpened blades, two on the right, two on the left, and two in the centre. Each gleamed with a malevolent hunger, promising nothing but death to anyone foolish enough to meet their gaze.
As they transformed, so did Entares.
"We've seen and we've adapted."
He muttered to himself as the dark amethyst aura from his armour surged back, circulating through its structure.
The dull, scaly plating shimmered and refined itself, each piece locking into place with precision. As the final segment settled, the armour seemed to exhale, and a solid void aura, once dark amethyst, shifted into a deep violet, coalescing in his hand.
Behind him, two violet void blades solidified, hovering as silent guardians to protect his rear.
"I'm not done with you."
He said, calling White. A fraction of his consciousness flowed into the blade, positioning it just above his left forearm, ready for the moment it would prove indispensable.
From within the swirling smoke, sparks of blue fire, black flame, and greenish mist ignited, flickering violently before erupting all at once. Each blaze burned with a strange, alien nature, and nothing that came into contact with them survived.
As the smoke and dust cleared, a three-headed Void Dragon emerged, its body sheathed in dark crimson scales.
The left head bore piercing green eyes, fangs dripping with Void Acid. The right glimmered with azure eyes beneath a radiant halo, while the central head loomed larger, jagged horns crowning it, black markings crawling across its scales like living veins.
"Phase Three: Cerberus of Void!"
It roared, the palace trembling under the sheer force of its voice.
"Merge!"
The central head commanded, and a new, denser smoke erupted. The transformation was instantaneous: the natural smoke bled into pure darkness, ripped away by a single, colossal beat of its wings, unveiling the Dragon's newly awakened form.
The other heads were gone and jagged horns still crowned the main head like a broken halo of ruin, and for a fleeting moment, an azure burning ring flared above it, blazing brilliantly against the void before shattering into nothingness
From the abyss, its eyes ignited, burning with malevolent intelligence, and they fixed upon Entares, who now stood fully reborn, his own transformation complete and radiant in its terrible perfection.
The void armour exhaled once more, and he tightened his grip on the twin solid auras, ready for battle.
'Why did we merge?'
Spectre asked Erebus telepathically.
'Let's waste no time and put this foul where it belongs.'
He replied shortly, ending the conversation.
"Be ready. Even Belenos was forced to intervene when Alter faced this calamity: Phase Two, the Unmaker of Gods."
The Dragon's jaws remained perfectly still, yet Jagarette's voice carried effortlessly through the air, sharp and clear.
'So Phase Two was used during the Great Dragon War.'
Entares noted internally.
"Ah, what should I say… I'm doomed?" he muttered, laced with biting sarcasm.
The Void Dragon growled, a low, rumbling sound that vibrated through the hall, and as its jaws slowly parted, sparks of energy ignited within, flickering like stars about to explode.
To be continued...