Entares moved first, his weapon reshaping mid-flight into a spear before he hurled it with full force at the Voidborn entity, but the impact meant nothing, the strike landing as lightly as a pencil against a wall, completely ineffective.
The Voidborn closed the distance instantly without moving. One moment it was across from him, the next it loomed right in front of him, its maw wide enough to swallow him whole. He vanished just in time, teleporting away, yet it made no difference, as it was already there again, waiting for him.
A massive claw crashed down and struck him cleanly, sending his body hurtling through the air and slamming into the realm below with devastating force.
From above, it followed through without pause, unleashing a breath of pure Black Void. The torrent fell like a tide of annihilation, erasing the entire realm in a single instant, leaving nothing behind as Entares was consumed within it.
"Adapt… adapt… adapt…"
His voice echoed, strained yet unyielding, rising into a desperate roar.
"ADAPT!"
A sudden violet light burst forth from within the burning black flames of the ruined realm, cutting through the darkness as his solid aura flared brighter than before. He poured everything into it, forcing an immense surge of void through his body and into the construct.
"Charge!"
He drove forward, carving a colossal arc upward, the void splitting as the attack surged towards the Voidborn.
The creature extended its arm, slicing straight through the arc as though it were nothing, and in the same motion, it closed its grip around him, capturing Entares effortlessly within its grasp.
'Violet is superior to Black, I'm running out..'
"Argh!"
He grunted as the pressure closed in, the creature's grip crushing down on his body. Bones snapped under the force, though the armour absorbed most of it, holding together even as the strain pushed it to its limits.
"Look at you now… fragile, pathetic."
The voice twisted through the air, warped and mocking, carrying a weight that pressed down on him.
"A bug with void is still a bug."
The Voidborn lifted him effortlessly, his body dangling as its jaws slowly parted, revealing a fathomless abyss of darkness within, a void so deep it seemed to swallow even the idea of light.
"Be silenced by this greater void for eternity!"
Instinct took over immediately. Violet spikes erupted from the armour, bursting outward and driving straight into the Dragon's arm.
The Voidborn recoiled, its grip loosening as the spikes pierced deep, and Entares dropped free. The violet aura spread rapidly from the wounds, eating into its skin, but the beast answered immediately.
Its own void surged forward, overwhelming his influence, nullifying it as the damage began to mend almost instantly. It roared, fury shaking the space around them.
"Ah… so that's it."
Entares muttered, having felt it directly, understanding settling in as his own body finished regenerating, leaving no trace of the damage he had just taken.
"Call off the swords. Bring in the scythe."
At his command, the hovering blades dissolved, their forms melting and reforming into something far more refined. The violet void energy condensed and reshaped into a single weapon, a scythe far superior to the one he had wielded before, its presence alone distorting the space around it.
"Come to me, Void Eater."
From within, something answered his call.
An entity formed out of pure obedience, its non-existence existence bound to a single purpose: to consume whatever its creator willed. It took shape as a shadowed will-o'-wisp, its faint form drifting beside him, purple eyes glowing with a sharp, unsettling clarity. As it appeared, his armour exhaled, its damaged structure knitting itself back together.
"Good."
"Good!? You think you can win!?"
The Dragon demanded, its voice laced with disbelief.
Entares barely spared it a glance.
"Void Eater… can we win?"
The will-o'-wisp let out a low, eerie chuckle before answering, its voice calm, almost amused.
"Difficulty mode: extremely easy."
That response drew a laugh from Entares, genuine and unrestrained.
"You're funny."
"I pity those who think we're taking this fight seriously."
The voice came again, but it didn't belong to Entares, nor to Void Eater. It resonated from the armour itself, cold and composed.
Void Eater turned, its glowing eyes narrowing slightly as it studied the armour.
"What… it can talk too?"
"Kuahahahaha. My thoughts are confidential, please." Entares said, a grin stretching across his face.
"I beg your pardon."
The armour replied, its tone sharp.
"Now that you've said it, we'll just have to show them."
The scythe ignited with a violent violet aura, and the armour forged two solid blades to guard his flanks.
Void Eater's eyes narrowed, and in the next instant, both surged forward in perfect synchrony, charging toward the Dragon with lethal precision.
The scythe showed no restraint, cutting through everything in its path, while Void Eater devoured whatever crossed its gaze, never missing a chance to strike. The armour was never left undefended, Void Eater shielded Entares as he, in turn, guarded it.
Entares and his creation moved as one, each protecting the other, each feeding the chaos. They were a perfect storm of destruction, a duo that would not stop until their goal was absolute.
At random moments, Spectre's interference whisked Void Eater away, but the will-o'-wisp always reappeared the instant Entares needed it.
Thanks to the Dragon's form and the God's Eye, Spectre's illusionary reserves were heavily drained, yet he had no choice but to risk it for the team.
Voidborn's void flames could erase entire Nests in an instant, but such devastation held no weight against Void Eater.
"Yummy, feed me more."
It taunted, eager for the next taste of destruction.
Void Eater fed voraciously on the Dragon's void, its essence intertwined with Entares, its power a direct extension of his own. Voidborn's regeneration and evolution seemed limitless, yet the duo matched it at every turn. What began as defiance had shifted into domination, and gradually, Voidborn found itself cornered.
It growled, a sound thick with wrath and disbelief, for not once had it landed a true strike since the union of the two. Its scales were etched with deep scars from the scythe, and one limb had been torn away by Void Eater, leaving a gaping wound where it had once been.
'I have to give up this physical nuisance.'
Its scales dissolved into a shroud of void that enveloped its entire body.
"You don't get it, do you? The stronger you become, the more I adapt, and vice versa. This battle will end only when one of us reaches a height we can no longer surpass."
"And that won't be us, for sure."
Void Eater added.
Voidborn ignored them, its evolution complete, and it unleashed a roar that reverberated across the worlds above and below. From the void, two pairs of violet eyes emerged, their glow cutting through the darkness with an unnerving intensity.
To be continued....