There he stood, towering, staring down at me like a god surveying a mortal. I guess it's true because the tables have turned. He's power is rising exponentially.
"Yes."
I replied, not bothering to look up.
"Do you need to move to get there? Can't you fly, perhaps, teleport? I'd say there are a lot of ways to get there."
"You're here, do it then."
"Oh, I'm sorry but I'll have to refuse. You call yourself the Evil Side of The Root yet you can't get your hands dirty for It?"
He asked, crouching to stare closer into my eyes.
"You know how valuable that destruction is to the plan don't you?"
"Where is this load of rubbish coming from?"
I asked, irritation creeping into my voice. We shared thoughts, yet he gave no reply, he waited for min.
And when I had none, he answered instead, as though he had spoken them for me.
"You do."
"After all, you are the one who set it into motion."
He continued, a faint smirk forming.
"You said it yourself, without a care, that wherever you set foot, doom is inevitable. If that is truly the case…"
He paused, then rose to his feet and turned towards my throne.
Seated upon it was a silhouette, its form barely defined, yet its burning purple eyes cut through the space with an oppressive weight.
"Then I am asking you to simply set foot in that space, and everything will be taken care of."
For reasons I could not grasp, the words settled over me and held me in place. I could not respond, nor push back against the direction he was leading me towards.
"What did you intend to do, at the very beginning, with such an insurmountable force of Energy?"
He continued.
"You manipulated Void Eater into draining the life from two entire worlds. Do you even understand how many lives were lost because of that single, selfish act?"
"Why should I care?"
I replied, my voice flat, unmoved.
"Your answer does not matter to me."
He said, the faintest hint of dismissal in his expression.
"I have been containing the rampant Energy within you for quite some time now. I will leave the switch with you. The decision is yours, but I doubt you would want that plan to fail."
With that, he placed the switch and turned away, his presence fading as he stepped out of the Mind, leaving me alone with the weight of what came next.
'He knows. Did the Mad Scientist leak it or did he see it through Ether? This is bad.'
The force was building by the second, coiling within me like a storm ready to break.
I traced the coordinates I had obtained from the Evil Asteri and teleported to the location, the air humming with anticipation.
The space I arrived in felt eerily familiar, reminiscent of where I had battled the Dragon Vessel.
'So it wasn't that far.'
My body landed atop a towering mountain, the multicoloured Energy aura surrounding me spilling across the peaks, illuminating the landscape in a spectral glow. All eyes turned toward me. And trust me, these were no ordinary eyes.
Dark Stars, Void Dragons, Dark Gods, and even scattered Nebulas assembled across the endless expanse, their gaze heavy with the power to crush realities without effort. A flicker of pity brushed through me for anyone foolish enough to oppose them.
Even atop this mountain, the sheer scale of what I faced became undeniable. Stretching into the infinite void, their numbers were boundless, an unending tide of cosmic annihilation, impossible to quantify or resist.
I had thought I had witnessed the extremes of power, until immeasurable signals erupted from every dimensionless corner of Nihil Space. I looked up, and there they were: colossal, spherical worlds, each brimming with these dark entities. For a moment, I wondered if they were poised to overthrow Existence itself.
I sensed the inevitability and seized it. In mere seconds, the worlds would align with the abyssal core. I waited in my pathetic stage, patient, while the cosmos itself trembled on the edge of subjugation.
Atop the mountain, the twins, Tsuin Kyodia, the strongest Nebulas after Magos, along with Aka Ryu coordinated the army with sharp precision.
"That is not a Dark Star."
One of them muttered, scanning the horizon.
"It is the enemy."
The other replied, voice low.
"But for them to present themselves here, in front of the army… it is foolish."
"I wonder… could it be the Golden One?"
They exchanged a brief, calculating glance.
"Should we charge?"
Aka, the red haird twin asked.
"What are we waiting for? Attack!"
Kurai gave the order, and the twins surged forward, moving in perfect synchrony.
"Just a little more… just a little more. Damn you, Antares. I will personally make sure you pay for this one day."
I muttered under my breath, the mention of his name igniting a spark of resolve. The twins, hearing the weight behind it, confirmed him as a true enemy and pressed onward without hesitation.
Within two seconds, the worlds snapped into alignment, forming a perfect straight line before beginning to orbit the core of Space itself. The magnitude of what was unfolding was staggering, and if I were to strike, now was the only moment I would be given. I was glad I had not triggered anything the instant I arrived.
"I will land the finishing blow."
"It's a competition then."
Aka replied, racing forward, unaware of the full scale of what was about to transpire.
"This will be grand. I might as well make a name for it… Hypernovae."
I whispered to myself, letting go lf the little strength I have, unleashing the devastating force.
"This should be enough to wipe out a few worlds. Are you satisfied now, Antares?"
I asked, my consciousness slipping into darkness.
His body fizzled, crackle in a violent flare of multicolours as the energy surged beyond control.
From Entares's perspective, it was a single, decisive strike, but in reality, the Hypernovae erupted with unimaginable power, illuminating the entirety of Nihil Space.
Within the Abyss lay an absent expanse, lost in the womb of its mother, the Nihil Space. Scattered across it were Dark Dimensions, homes to Dark Stars and Dark Gods, each more terrifying than the last.
Beneath it all, the fearsome World of Darkness sprawled, the seat of the Abyssal Calamities and ruled by the Dragon Vessel, whose command was second only to the Dragon God of Destruction.
The World of Darkness itself was divided into ten realms, the utmost world the strongest, housing the gate to what lay beyond, the battleground where Entares had faced the Phantoms.
Yet all of that paled in comparison to the deepest, final layer of Nihil Space: the Underworld. Here existed creatures and monsters that defied reckoning. Rumour whispered of the Nulldome of Vhaegon and Baeleryon, occupied by their first True Descendants, a place no weak Omnis, let alone Hypergods, could survive.
(Nulldome = Kingdom.)
The light of the Hypernovae burned with such brilliance and destructive force that the Underworld, the World of Darkness, and multiple Dark Dimensions succumbed to it. Entire stretches of Nihil Space dissolved, the Abyss itself scarred. In total, more than ninety percent of Nihil Space was erased in a single, incomprehensible moment.
"You did well, Entares. That will be a massive leap for us."
Antares said, a rare smile breaking through.
"I will tend to you once you have recovered."
I replied, lying on the sickbed within Mind, the remnants of the Hypernovae's fury still echoing in every corner of my consciousness.
It was almost a joke, if not for the crushing reality of it. Entares had decimated the Phantoms and the army of Dark Stars, the very reason Antares had released him in the first place.
With the side quest concluded, the Evil Side of The Root, the Great Void, would once again walk freely within the Matrix, its presence inevitable and absolute.
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To be continued...