The echoes of destruction still reverberated through the vast expanse of Heaven. Shattered spires and floating fragments of celestial ground swirled in a storm of residual energy, floating in chaotic orbit as the aftermath of Lucien's clone's initial onslaught settled.
The million celestial guardians lay erased, scattered across Heaven's ruins, their screams and power extinguished in an instant. In their place, a silence hung heavier than the deepest void, broken only by the hum of residual cosmic energy. The only opposition left—the nine High Sons of Heaven, minus Serion, who had already met his erasure; the twenty Elder Celestials, including Buddha and Calystria; and the three ancient beasts: Cthulhu, Leviathan, and the Serpent of the Apocalypse—hovered in tense formation, their collective aura enough to make lesser mortals collapse.
Lucien's clone stood at the center of the shattered Colosseum of Heaven, his crimson Abyssal eyes sweeping the battlefield. His posture was deceptively calm, but the energy radiating off him warped reality itself. The air twisted, stars in nearby dimensions flickered, and fragments of Heaven's laws bent as if recognizing an unchallengeable authority.
Buddha's eyes, glowing with omniscient awareness, scanned Lucien's clone. "You wield the Heaven-Void… yet you remain restrained," he said, voice echoing like a cosmic bell. "Do you not fear your own potential?"
Lucien's clone smirked faintly. "Fear?" He tilted his head, letting the void of his gaze meet the combined eyes of the High Sons and Elder Celestials. "I know what I am. I know what I can do. This… this is merely playtime."
Calystra, the Elder Celestial, her form radiant with cosmic light, stepped forward, her aura shimmering like the birth of a galaxy. "Playtime ends now. You dare challenge the combined might of Heaven itself?"
Lucien's clone simply spread his arms, the energy around him coiling like serpents of dark fire. "Then let's see what Heaven truly is."
The first clash was instantaneous. Lucien's clone moved like lightning, faster than the eye could follow, and yet every movement carried the weight of planets. The nine High Sons struck simultaneously, each a living storm of energy capable of tearing continents asunder. Their attacks collided in midair with Lucien's clone, each blow shattering reality locally—spatial tears, energy surges, shockwaves that radiated light-years. Yet, with a flick of his wrist, Tian Quan's second form warped the attacks, deflecting the combined assaults without a single misstep.
The Elder Celestials added their strength, releasing metaphysical strikes and reality-warping techniques. Buddha's aura expanded like the death of a universe, pulling at the very laws of causality. Calystra's attacks radiated like collapsing stars, light and darkness entwined, threatening to crush Lucien's clone from multiple dimensions at once.
Lucien's clone only laughed, a sound that reverberated through Heaven like the tolling of a cosmic bell. "All this… and you still think you can stop me?"
He moved again, each step leaving rifts in Heaven's surface. His Tian Quan, Third Form—Macrocosmic Shatter surged outward, a kick that shifted planets in orbit around their own stars, sending the Serpent of the Apocalypse crashing into Leviathan. Even the High Sons had to stagger, their combined might barely enough to brace against the force.
The heavenly beasts roared, their combined wrath filling the air with tremors that shattered what remained of celestial constructs. Cthulhu's tentacles coiled around fragments of the shattered gates, Leviathan's jaws snapped at the void itself, and the Serpent of the Apocalypse struck with metaphysical venom capable of disintegrating dimensions.
Lucien's clone, however, moved between them as if dancing. His attacks with Tian Quan were precise, devastating, and yet deliberate—never truly killing the beasts, merely countering their power. Each strike of Tian Quan Form Six warped space around the attackers, sending energy flows snapping into themselves. Form Nine twisted the laws of time locally, delaying attacks, forcing the High Sons to anticipate attacks that had already happened. Form Ten struck as if the universe itself followed his will, turning even their combined might into echoes of a dream.
Buddha's eyes widened slightly. "He is not merely a clone… he embodies the paradox of Heaven and Void. He's… a Heaven-Void Paradox of extraordinary magnitude."
The battle raged across Heaven's shattered terrain. The nine High Sons were formidable individually, each one capable of conquering entire worlds with their sheer power. Together, they moved like a cosmic tempest, combining space-warping strikes, energy hurricanes, and destructive hand-to-hand combat that would have obliterated any mortal plane.
Lucien's clone, however, adapted in real-time. With each strike received, his movements evolved. He created new stances mid-fight, each a branch of Tian Quan tailored to counter a specific opponent's power. He named one technique the Celestial Step, a maneuver allowing him to dodge attacks before they were even conceived, moving in the infinitesimal space between cause and effect.
Another, Void Rend, tore at the fabric of reality where the High Sons struck, erasing the trajectories of attacks before they could manifest. Each movement, each kick, each palm strike carried the weight of a star, yet flowed with the grace of water.
Amidst the chaos, Buddha and Calystra combined forces, their metaphysical strikes tearing through rifts that Lucien's clone had created. Yet, every assault he countered left the heavens trembling. Mountains of pure energy rose and fell. Star fragments collided. The celestial light flickered, revealing the raw, terrifying scale of what had once been the unshakable Heaven.
The High Sons themselves realized that their usual tactics would fail. They began coordinating, combining elemental and metaphysical attacks, trying to corner the Heaven-Void Paradox. A wave of energy from one side would be complemented by a strike from another, forming intricate patterns meant to crush him in a coordinated maelstrom.
Lucien's clone tilted his head, almost contemplatively. "Such choreography… impressive, but still… inadequate."
He spun, releasing Isogi Dispatch, Tian Quan's first ultimate form. A concentrated burst of energy erupted from his hands and feet, creating a sphere of annihilation around him. The High Sons and beasts felt the immense weight of reality being rewritten around them. Even the Elder Celestials felt the strain, their forms flickering under the pressure of concentrated Heaven-Void energy.
Time seemed to slow. Every attack, every strike, every roar of a beast became a frozen tableau, each opponent caught in the inexorable flow of Lucien's clone's will. He moved simultaneously in multiple points of space, a paradox manifesting, rendering strikes ineffective before they had a chance to land.
Cthulhu lunged, Leviathan struck, the Serpent lashed—and each strike was dismantled, redirected, or completely nullified. The High Sons, realizing brute force would not work, began using metaphysical manipulation, attempting to alter the laws of Heaven temporarily to counter him.
Lucien's clone only smiled, his aura flaring brighter. "You change the rules of your universe… and yet, you still cannot win."
Then, with deliberate calm, he raised his palm and whispered a single word: "Ethereal Slash."
From random points in space, invisible yet all-encompassing blades manifested. Each cut bypassed defense, regeneration, and metaphysical constructs alike. The celestial beasts were the first to feel it—the Serpent's massive body slashed repeatedly, Leviathan's coils shredded as if cut by an incorporeal wind, and Cthulhu's tentacles fell apart midair.
The High Sons tried to evade, but the Ethereal Slash moved faster than thought, phasing through time and space, striking where no attack could predict. Even the Elder Celestials staggered, their forms flickering like faulty holograms under the weight of absolute erasure.
The battlefield became a symphony of destruction: space tearing, stars collapsing, energy bending, and Heaven itself reshaping around a single presence.
Lucien's clone's crimson eyes glowed, each gaze unyielding, assessing, calculating, and dismantling the opposition. He moved with effortless precision, using Tian Quan's multiple forms in tandem, blending reality-warping strikes, spatial manipulation, and void energy into a lethal dance.
Despite their immense power, the High Sons and Elder Celestials were being pushed to their absolute limits. The beasts of Heaven, even in their final forms, were reduced to restrained fury, unable to act freely against a foe who was simultaneously everywhere and nowhere.
The combat was cinematic, each move a collision of worlds:
A High Son struck with energy capable of incinerating planets—Lucien's clone countered with a single step, redirecting the strike to obliterate a fragment of Heaven's architecture instead. Leviathan lashed with coils that spanned light-years—countered with a macrocosmic sweep of Tian Quan that tore a star into fragments, redirecting the coils into the void. The Serpent's breath, a metaphysical poison, met Isogi Dispatch, annihilating its form midstream.
Through it all, Lucien's clone remained composed, smiling faintly, as if the chaos was nothing more than a puzzle to solve.
And even as the battle raged on, whispers of his name spread across Azure Blue and the neighboring realms. Mortals, cultivators, and gods alike felt tremors in their souls—an almost prophetic dread. The legend of Lucien Dreamveil, the Heaven-Void Paradox, grew with every strike, every step, every movement.
The High Sons, beasts, and Elder Celestials were being tested, not for victory, but for survival. Even as they combined their ultimate abilities, Lucien's clone anticipated, countered, and reshaped the battlefield, bending Heaven's structure to his will.
Every strike of Tian Quan, every Ethereal Slash, every move was both educational and terrifying, teaching those who witnessed it the very essence of the Heaven-Void Paradox.
And yet, Lucien's clone restrained himself—not killing, not fully destroying, but showing dominance, forcing Heaven to bend to his will while preserving the integrity of existence.
He hovered midair, crimson eyes scanning all nine High Sons, the beasts, and the Elder Celestials. A smirk touched his lips.
"Do you understand now… what it means to challenge Heaven?"
The answer was clear in the trembling of the cosmos, the chaos of shattered realms, and the fear in the hearts of immortals. Lucien's clone had already proven: even Heaven itself was a playground for him.
The scene froze in a moment of unimaginable tension, as Heaven teetered on the edge of annihilation. The nine High Sons of Heaven, the Elder Celestials, and the three Heavenly Beasts faced him together, and yet none could claim victory. Every strike, every defense, every strategy bent to the will of a single mortal—albeit a Heaven-Void Paradox.
The stage was set for the final reckoning, a moment that would rewrite the balance of Heaven, mortals, and all realms of existence.