While Artemis and Warp clashed in sector 5, another terrible battle was gearing to take place in the sky above sector 4. Two sets of champions faced off against each other as chaos reigned below and people ran helter-skelter in search of safety from the horde rampaging below.
Elites and security officers battled furiously against the ghastly beasts, and the screams of thousands reached up to the sky like an incense of burnt offering, tickling Zero’s ears in a not entirely unpleasant way. He grimaced still, forcing himself to remember that the lives of mortals were just as important as his own, if not more. It was so very easy to forget that.
Luminus and an unfamiliar champion floated before him and Cyridian Lightweaver, jeering as they watched the destruction they had caused unfold.
Shaking his head with faux sympathy, Luminus said. “All those poor mortals, oh, why do they die so fast?”
“Surely, you’re not feeling pity for mortals.” His partner chuckled, and Zero had to physically restrain Cyridian from attacking her right away.
Luminus was dressed in a white armor covered entirely in anti-nullification runes, which meant he had come specially prepared to defend against him. His partner was also dressed in white armor, but unlike Sunstone’s standard design, her armor was a metallic robe similar to that of a priest or priestess in her case.
The woman was the literal definition of a Valkyrie. Tall, beautiful, and deadly. An aura of conflict and war surrounded her, and from the streams of golden energy flowing into her from ascendants, she knew where her affinity for faith was obvious. The sunburst tattoo on her head only confirmed his suspicions, and Zero just knew they had to have a change of plans.
Luminus was already prepared to fight him, and the Valkyrie was obviously too strong for Cyridian, who was a very recent addition to the champion circles. She would be eaten alive if she faced the Valkyrie, but against Luminus, considering they shared the same affinity, she might at least have a chance.
A single glance at Cyridian was enough to convey the new plan, and without hesitation, they both switched opponents. Zero laughed as he watched Luminus’s face crumple in outrage and said. “Spoilt brat, I’m too old to be foolish.”
Flying towards the valkyrie, Zero swept out a hand and filled the sky with a host of null anchor points until they were completely surrounded. The valkyrie was swift, sweeping out her spear in an arc and instantly drenching the area in faith essence.
Faith battled against nothingness, and Zero knew his anchor points wouldn’t survive for long. Still, he wouldn’t be a champion if he was so easily countered.
Whispering a Unorian spell under his breath, Zero used the anchor points scattered around him as coordinates to create a large ritual circle, fueling the hexagram with both chaos and willpower as he hissed, “NOTHINGNESS.”
It wasn’t a rule, but a cosmic activation, and in response to his call, thunder boomed loudly, the sky darkened, and the space within the ritual circle collapsed, creating a huge tear in the veil of reality. The world screeched as the origin plane of nothingness breached the fabric of reality, converting the ritual circle completely into a pseudo-null domain
The streams of faith leading towards the valkyrie cut off, leaving her trapped alone within his space, surrounded by nothingness.
This was Zero’s ultimate technique. Rather than open his spirit up to the origin plane of nothingness, the technique granted him the ability to tear the veil of reality and open up the world itself to the origin plane of nothingness, creating a sealed space where only his death meant freedom.
It didn’t take long for the valkyrie to come to that realization, and Zero tsked. “In your next life, if they ever send you to Ragnarok, you’ll flee for your life, for only death awaits you here.”
The valkyrie gripped her spear tightly, her movements slowing as the secondary effects of null essence began taking their toll. Roaring in anger, she rushed towards him, but with such an abundant amount if his own essence surrounding him, Zero was completely unfazed.
He simply waved out a hand, and a much larger hand formed from nothingness and materialized to slap her. She crashed against the walls of the subspace with a resounding crack but was back up the next instant, knowing that the more time she spent within the subspace, the weaker she would become. She was getting desperate, and Zero loved desperate people the most. After all, they were the easiest of targets.
The valkyrie rushed towards him once more, and this time Zero disappeared, phasing through nothingness to appear behind her. Smiling, he tapped her shoulders, and she swiveled, tracing a precise arc of faith energy with her spear.
The spear passed right through Zero without effect, and he laughed. “Oh, poor thing. Don’t you know you can’t harm nothingness? It is nothing after all.”
She attacked again, stabbing desperately at him, and in her desperation, she must have unlocked a better understanding of her faith because a sudden glow of faith began escaping from her skin.
Zero couldn’t have that, and with a grimace, he uttered. “{MY DOMAIN, MY RULES: WITHIN NOTHINGNESS, THERE CAN BE NO FAITH.}”
The valkyrie screamed as the little gathering of faith she had conjured was snuffed out, overwhelmed and overshadowed by an oppressive pulse of nothingness that forcefully drained the essence from her core.
Panicked, the Valkyrie screamed. “{FAITH IS THE SUBSTANCE OF THINGS HOPED FOR. I HAVE FAITH THAT THERE IS AN UNQUENCHABLE SEA OF FAITH ESSENCE AROUND ME.}”
It was an awfully long rule, and surely just as willpower intensive, but it worked, much to Zero’s annoyance. A river of faith converged around the Valkyrie, restoring her strength and speed, and with a roar, she launched herself forward.
However, despite regaining her strength, the Valkyrie had made a mistake. She had forgotten where she was and who had trapped her.
Smiling, Zero settled in to watch as the pressure of the origin plane cracked down violently on the forced reality the valkyrie had created. An all-encompassing consciousness loomed, bearing down on the foreign essence with vengeance, and in an instant, the river of faith winked out, disappearing as if it were never present.
Still, she persisted, fighting desperately for her life, but the sad truth was that she was only extending the time of her death, drawing out a battle that should have ended in seconds to nearly half an hour.
However, the pressure of nothingness soon overwhelmed her. Every shred of faith essence within her was obliterated, and with a groan, she staggered, coughing out blood as both her energy and willpower bottomed out, drained away by the ever-present stench of nothingness.
Grinning, Zero unsheathed a null blade and blinked forward, stabbing it directly into her brain before she could regain her bearings. Twisting the null blade sharply to the side, he stabbed another blade into her heart, and with a third, he slashed her belly open, letting the blood and viscera flow out without care.
The Valkyrie choked in his arms, and Zero smiled, shutting her eyelids gently. “Remember what I said earlier, only death awaits you in Ragnarok.”
>>>
Outside the subspace of nothingness, high above the chaos reigning below, two streaks of light clashed violently, painting the world in an array of colors whose beauty mocked the bloody streets below.
Cyridian and Luminus fought on a massive platform of solidified radiance that Cyridian had created to avoid the side effects of their battle crashing down onto the innocent civilians below.
Luminus should have destroyed the construct, obviously, but he was too outraged to think straight. He had been cheated out of an opportunity to redeem his name after his dishonorable and pathetic showing during the plague wraith battle, and now he was forced to face a rookie champion, more than three tiers below him.
It was the highest of disgrace, and Luminus intended to put the girl in her place before launching himself against his real opponent.
Roaring, he somersaulted through the air and unleashed a conceptual blade of brilliance that tore through the air with a resounding crack and smashed into Cyridian with so much force that the platform cracked, releasing a ripple of light that illuminated the countless high-rises below in a flash of blinding incandescence.
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Cyridian spat out blood, her focused demeanor unshaken despite her wounded state. Ever since the beginning of their battle, Cyridian had been fighting for her dear life. One wrong move and she would be obliterated by the brilliance of Luminus’s conceptual energies.
She was getting better, though. She could feel herself learning, getting faster and better as {Brilliant Mind} sharpened her perception.
Luminus attacked again, and this time Cyridian didn’t take the attack head-on. Instead, she created a towering spear of blinding light and aimed it at Luminus. The spear shot forward like a blazing comet, and against most other champions, it would have been a finisher.
However, Luminus barely even spared the attack any attention. He slapped the spear away with a wave of one arm and snapped his fingers, shattering the world into a million pieces.
A thousand illusions of Luminus surged out of the shards of broken realities and raced towards her with expressions of malice. Cyridian responded with a grimace and hurled herself into the fray with an intensity that belied her growing panic.
Hundreds of light spears materialized around her, revolving in a formation of increasing danger, and with a flick of her hands, they spun into a vortex of blades that skewered the illusions to pieces like a blender.
Only one illusion survived, and Cyridian sent half the spears at the illusion, not foolish enough to leave herself defenseless or risk it all for one move. The spears smashed into the illusion, and it shattered into a thousand sparks of light.
Without hesitation, Cyridian dove away from her location, and thank the Ascendants she did, because the next instant, the world exploded with so much clarity that her eyes bled and her mind screeched in pain.
The place she had been standing only a moment ago had been completely destroyed by a beam of such conceptual brilliance that it erased everything in its path, simply deleting them from existence.
Not daring to remain still for too long, Cyridian struck again, revolving her array of spears into a vortex in order to fish out the real Luminus. She struck gold a moment later when one of her spears stopped in midair, and Luminus appeared, still decked in his anti-nullification runes, although now, his armor was marred with so many grooves and cuts that surely half the runes had stopped working.
Blood trailed from a gash on his cheeks, the only obvious injury on him, while Cyridian felt like she was bleeding from every open pore.
He glared at her, malice and frustration obvious in his expression. “Who do you think you are? Do you realize what you’re ruining for me? This is a chance for me to regain my honor, and you’re fucking things up.”
“I’m only doing my duty.” Cyridian growled back. “Surely, you don’t expect me to stand aside while you wreak havoc on my kingdom.”
Luminus raised a hand in frustration and gritted out. “I will kill you, rookie, if you do not get out of my way right now.”
The word ‘rookie’ angered Cyridian, and she growled. “Then kill me. Because if you intend to fight Zero, you’re going to have to go through me.”
“Pest.” Luminus spat, and with renewed vigor, he hefted the spear construct and attacked. Cyridian responded with another vortex of spears, and with a flick of her wrists, the spears surged forward, a relentless storm of piercing death all directed at Luminus.
Not even bothering to dodge, Luminus raised his arms, his voice echoing across the expanse as he uttered his first rule. “{MY DOMAIN, MY RULES: ALL LIGHT BENDS TO ME.}”
Reality rippled, and Cyridian gasped as her control of the spears was wrenched away from her. The spears curved mid-flight, twisting and turning to revolve around Luminus as if caught within his gravitational pull. With a snap of his fingers, the spears exploded outward, shattering into jagged shards that rained down on the city below with deathly intent.
The glass windows of nearby skyscrapers shattered, and streaks of light carved deep furrows into the surrounding structures. With each attack, the chaotic effect of the light shards multiplied, and Cyridian knew that if she did nothing soon, it would only be a matter of time before the chaos exploded into something far more sinister.
Opening her spirit up to the origin plane of light, Cyridian gathered her willpower and uttered a countering rule. “{MY DOMAIN, MY RULES: MY CONTROL OF LUMINESCENCE IS ABSOLUTE.}”
Reality rippled once again, and the broken shards of light wreaking havoc on the city below reassembled in midair, reforming into an array of swords, spears, and axes that converged on Luminus with devastating precision and resumed their dangerous dance of revolution, forcing him to weave and dodge with growing annoyance.
Alas, he couldn’t weave them all.
An axe slammed into his armor, carving a deep, jagged groove that pierced through just enough to spill blood. The pain caused Luminus to stumble, and Cyridian took brutal advantage of it. The other constructs converged and skewered him into oblivion, cutting furrows into his armor and biting deep into his skin.
However, it felt so easy. Too easy. With a sinking sense of dread, Cyridian dodged to the side, but it was too late. Blinding pain erupted in her chest as her ribs shattered, and the force of the attack sent her smashing through half a dozen buildings.
Coughing out blood, Cyridian tried to stand, but a completely unblemished Luminus placed a foot on her chest and pressed down, sending another wave of agony through her entire body.
He let out a malicious smile and said. “How do you intend to utter another rule with your ribs this damaged?”
Cyridian coughed out more blood, gasping both for breath and a release from pain. Her fingers clutched a shard of broken glass, and she lunged it at his foot, tearing a jagged groove into his exposed ankle.
Luminus barely flinched, and the wound healed almost immediately, thanks to Luminus’s conceptual understanding. Arching an eyebrow, he scowled. “I should kill you right here and now while I have the chance.”
“You wish.” Cyridian spat, coughing out blood as she forced the words out of her lips.
Luminus chuckled. “Do you really think you can escape death?”
“Of course.” Cyridian let out a bloody smile. “After all, I still have a few cards to play.”
Before Luminus could stop her, Cyridian harnessed half a dozen seals at the same time, screaming as an intense wave of heat exploded within her. Quintessence roared through her pathways, setting her nerves and synapses on fire even as it filled her with strength.
Pushing past the pain, she channeled the power of all six seals into the next rule. “{MY DOMAIN, MY RULES: A BATTLEFIELD OF LIGHT IS UNYIELDING.}”
Reality warped violently. A river of golden light descended, so bright that it overshadowed the sun. The river poured down, coating every single thing within the area in a light of reinforcement and unyielding stability. The rule strained her elemental understanding, but it worked nonetheless, and all the chaos around her stilled.
The platform beneath her stabilized, and her ribs snapped together in a way that was certainly not ideal but would work without causing her too much pain. Everything around them was coated in the liquid light, even Luminus, whose feet were encased in the same light.
Unwilling to lose the small window of opportunity that had been granted to her, Cyridian slashed forward, a spear of light materializing in her hands as she moved. But before she could skewer him to pieces, Luminus harnessed his own seals and uttered. “{MY DOMAIN, MY RULES: LIGHT IS FREEDOM}
The platform shattered, and all the UNYIELDING light she had conjured earlier dissolved into chaos.
Luminus leapt upward, wings of radiant energy bursting out of his back as he merged with his familiar. From his vantage point, he summoned a barrage of conceptual light, each one carrying the weights of truths too overwhelming for mortal comprehension.
Cyridian blocked most of them with a seal-infused shield of light, but a few truths slipped through, searing her flesh and tearing her armor to pieces.
The battle spiraled out of control after that as more seals and rules came into play. Cyridian conjured a veritable river of light that burned as brightly as a sun, but the cold truths of Luminus’s attacks overwhelmed her. When she conjured an army of light constructs—swords, glaives, and arrows, all converging on Luminus with deadly coordination—he countered with a burst of blinding brilliance that disintegrated her creations as fast as she could summon them. The sky itself seemed to split as their attacks collided, sending waves of destruction cascading down to the city below. Skyscrapers crumbled under the weight of falling debris, their steel frames twisted by the concussive force of their attacks.
Cyridian pushed herself to the absolute limit, using up all that she had to counter Luminus’s unceasing defense. However, as their battle stretched, Cyridian realized she couldn’t win, and neither could she continue for much longer.
Her willpower was low, her energy was sputtering, and her entire body ached from the numerous injuries she kept taking. She was nearing her end, and if nothing happened soon, she would most certainly die.
The thought caused her to redouble her efforts, but the moment Luminus uttered another rule, Cyridian knew it was over. Reality rippled, and she staggered, falling to her knees as her body lost all of its strength in a single move.
Shuddering in pain and panic, she rasped. “Kill me and be done with it.”
Luminus glared at her, blood dripping down his face and armor, but instead of taking her life that instant and being done with it, he said. “You still haven’t used all your cards. Why won’t you use it?”
Cyridian glanced at her icon and shook her head. “Because I won’t kill thousands of people just to get a chance at you.”
Luminus smiled and raised his hands. “Too bad I don’t have the same inhibitions.”
Before Cyridian could do anything to stop him, the sky split open, and a voice like thunder boomed across the sector.
{ICON MANIFESTATION: TRUTHS OF EVISCERATION}
A large rift opened up in the sky like an eye of golden light, and from within it emerged a sphere of searing brilliance, too pure to be good, too cruel to be divine. The sphere expanded, its radiance intensifying as it descended, its heat and power scarring the very air.
Just looking at it threatened to erase her from existence, and Cyridian realized that if this manifestation wasn’t stopped, the amount of devastation it would cause would be incalculable.
Drowning in pain and with tears streaming down her face, Cyridian poured all that she had left into her icon and activated it. Blood erupted from her lips, but she forced herself to keep her eyes open, taking in what might as well be the last thing she would ever see.
Once again, a voice like thunder boomed, shaking the entire city to its core.
{ICON MANIFESTATION: PILLARS OF INVERTED DAWN}
Immediately, the sky darkened, drained almost entirely of all light as six pillars of absolute destruction descended from the sky, colliding with the descending sphere of destruction in a cacophony of light and sound that split the already split sky into a dozen pieces.
The collision of both icons sent a cascade of destruction rippling out in every direction as the pillars fought to destroy the sphere. But Luminus was just too strong, and in the end, the pillars gave.
The sphere, now much reduced and weakened by the pillars, expanded to engulf the city below in a light of evisceration.
Despair coiled in Cyridian’s heart at her failure, and the last thing she heard before her life completely bled away was the chorus of screams and pain that erupted from the city below as the searing sphere completely engulfed them.
Darkness claimed her soon after, and with grief heavy in her heart, Cyridian Lightweaver died, her soul followed near instantly by the souls of a thousand innocents.
Zero
Cyridian Lightweaver
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