Chapter 52 – "The Chains of Creation"
The chains shattered.
Celestial bonds, forged to uphold the very laws of the cosmos, burst apart as if made of dust and faded light. A wave of energy surged, cracking the ground and warping the air.
The figure rose slowly, a predatory smile forming on his lips.
Elyonna, in her human form, stepped back, eyes narrowed.
— "Valen… this doesn't look good."
Valen, frowning:
— "Don't worry, I've seen worse. I think."
Elyonna:
— "Do you know him?"
— "First time I see him. But I already don't like his face."
The figure's voice echoed—deep, resonant, almost divine:
> — "Dear Valen… I am Valt. The incarnation of Vael. Today, I'll show you the true difference between us."
Zarion felt chills run down his spine.
His instincts screamed danger—not the usual kind, but the kind that makes you question reality itself.
The entity, eyes like twin black stars, slowly lifted his head. His white hair cascaded down, his aura unleashing in a whirlwind of ancient, chaotic energies.
> — "Want me to tell you something, Valen?" he said with a cruel smile.
— "You're just an incarnation. One expression among many. There are other versions of me out there… some awakened, others still asleep. But they're watching. And one day… you'll have to face them all."
A tense silence settled.
Then, a light of gold and silver suddenly tore through space.
An invocation circle opened in the air, etched with ancient symbols, slowly rotating in the void. A figure descended, bathed in a supernatural glow.
It was him.
The Architect Aeternus.
Master of Balance. Weaver of the structures of Creation.
His presence commanded immediate respect: half-black, half-white hair, golden eyes that seemed to read the foundations of the world, and an aura so pure even shadows hesitated to approach.
His white and gold attire shimmered softly, each movement tracing luminous lines in the air.
He looked upon the scene.
> — "Cursed entity… Those chains were crafted by me. They were meant to hold even the absolute."
He turned sharply.
> — "Zarion? What are you doing here? You weren't supposed to set foot in this space. Not without permission."
Zarion raised his hands, a nervous smile tugging at his lips:
> — "We got sucked in, okay? And this guy looks like… some kind of inverted version of Valen. And… I think we've met before, right?"
Aeternus narrowed his eyes.
— "Yes. But it's not time for you to remember yet."
Valen remained silent, fists clenched, heart pounding like a war drum.
Valt burst into a deep, distorted laugh.
> — "You knew very well those chains could never hold me, Aeternus. It was only a matter of time. You locked me away… here, in this zone where time itself doesn't exist, thinking you could contain me forever."
The Architect frowned.
> — "If you're free… then the other fragments of Vael may awaken."
Valen's eyes widened.
> — "The… others?"
— "Yes, Valen," Aeternus replied calmly. "You're not the only one. But you are… the most stable. For now."
Valt stepped forward.
His shadow swallowed the ground.
> — "And one day, you'll have to choose… Be him. Or be us."
Valen took a deep breath.
His voice rang out, firm and clear:
> — "I'll be neither you nor any of you. I'll be myself."
Elyonna, understanding the message, instantly transformed into a sword, her blade glowing with golden and blue light.
A rumble shook the air.
Valt laughed.
> — "Oh? And what do you plan to do with that twig?"
The blade vibrated, releasing a colossal aura.
> — "Who are you calling a twig?!"
Valen smirked.
— "Bad idea to provoke her, man. She even cuts inflated egos."
Zarion, whispering:
— "Yeah, you're screwed, bro. She hates that word."
Valt raised an eyebrow, amused, but his gaze gleamed with a dark light.
> — "Perfect. Show me, 'Valen', what your independence is worth. Make me laugh."
His aura expanded violently, tearing the ground beneath their feet.
Space bent, the stars above collapsed, and the entire temple morphed into a dimensional battlefield.
Aeternus, in a grave voice:
> — "Be careful… if Valt fully awakens, even reality will struggle to endure him."
Valen raised Elyonna, a sly grin on his lips.
> — "Good. It's been a while since I punched a mirror."
Elyonna:
— "Then don't miss your reflection, hunter."
Valt, laughing:
> — "Very well. Show me… if your humanity is worth more than my perfection."
The clash of auras made the void tremble.
The battle could begin.
Chapter 53 – "The Architect and the Chaos"
Valt burst into a dark laugh.
— "Oh, I'm terrified… You really think a twig could scare me?"
A wicked smile twisted his face.
— "I'll deal with all three of you."
Valen frowned, Elyonna vibrated in his hand.
— "Yeah? Come try your luck, budget clone."
Valen charged.
A flash of energy split the air as he swung his sword.
Valt caught the blade with his bare hand — the stars in his eyes spinning at a furious pace.
> — "Told you that twig wouldn't do a thing."
Then his fist sliced through the air.
Valen barely dodged, his eyes glowing, pupils shaped like stars.
— "Oh yeah? Let's see if you're still laughing after this!"
He spun, ready to counterattack, but Zarion surged in a burst of blue and delivered a kick so fast it made the ground tremble.
Valt blocked with crossed arms, slid back a few meters, then flipped backward and placed his hand on the ground.
Space warped around him, a low rumble echoed.
> — "Impressive. But now it's my turn."
Valen gripped his blade.
— "I don't like the way he talks. It's like… too theatrical."
Elyonna: — "And you think you're subtle?"
— "Hey, at least I'm funny."
Valt took a single step.
Just one.
But everything vibrated. Air, light—even gravity seemed unsure of its own existence around him.
The stars in his eyes spun like raging galaxies.
A cold smile stretched across his lips.
> — "Looks like you're all here… You, Valen… you, Zarion… and you, Aeternus."
He pointed a finger at the Architect.
> — "I'll start with you. You who sealed me. You who played god. Today, you'll taste the shame of an architect whose structure collapses."
Aeternus remained unmoved.
His voice, calm, echoed like thunder in the void.
> — "You're free, Valt. But don't rejoice. Your freedom means imbalance… and I am the cure to that chaos."
Valt spread his arms:
> — "Oh, but I am chaos! And I've waited for this moment through centuries frozen beyond time!"
His black aura erupted, pulverizing the stones beneath him.
Space cracked, a rain of white sparks falling like fragments of reality.
Zarion stepped back, teeth clenched.
> — "This pressure… he's on another level."
Valen, however, remained calm. Too calm.
His gaze locked onto Valt.
— "It's strange… I understand this guy. He's me… but a worse version."
Elyonna: — "Strange or suicidal, I'm not sure. He called you a twig, remember?"
— "Exactly. Time to remind him why I'm the whole damn tree."
Valt laughed—a twisted, heatless sound.
> — "You? A failed version, a pawn playing hero? Get lost."
He raised his hand.
A black wave tore through the air, screaming across the dimension.
But before Valen could react, Aeternus lifted a finger.
The attack disintegrated into a shower of golden sparks.
> — "Enough talk."
The Architect stepped forward.
The ground began to vibrate. Golden patterns spread beneath his feet, forming a perfect circle.
> — "If you want to test your strength, come. But remember: I am the one who builds… and the one who destroys anomalies."
Valt smiled—a smile that could freeze a volcano.
> — "Then build me a tomb. If you can."
Valen clenched his teeth, raising Elyonna.
— "He just threatened the Architect? This guy is officially an interdimensional psychopath."
Elyonna: — "You just described most of your friend group, Valen."
— "Fair point."
Zarion:
— "You're really going to provoke him now?"
Valen: — "What do you want me to do? Offer him coffee?"
Valt erupted in maniacal laughter.
> — "Perfect. Three against one. Let's see how many realities I can shatter before your bodies collapse."
Aeternus raised a hand.
A golden energy sphere appeared, stabilizing space—for a moment.
Valt raised his own.
The universe trembled again.
Two absolute forces collided.
Space groaned.
Colors blended.
And at the center, Valen murmured, a nervous smile on his lips:
— "Alright… Elyonna, you ready?"
— "Always. And this time, I'm aiming for the head."
— "Perfect. Because I'm aiming for his ego."
They both charged.
Their clash detonated the dimension.
Chapter 54 – Judgment of Chaos
Valt stood before Valen, Zarion, and Aeternus.
The air vibrated, saturated with raw energy. Space itself twisted, as if reality feared witnessing what was about to unfold.
Zarion spun his ring, which transformed into a long black sword etched with runes.
— "I'm going to make you see the truth," he whispered, a murderous gleam in his eyes.
Valen, arms crossed, smirked.
— "I feel sorry for you, honestly. I'm crying inside."
Elyonna sighed in his mind.
— "You're weird, bro. Stop clowning around before he crushes you for real."
— "It's my special technique: emotional provocation."
— "You mean assisted suicide."
A vein pulsed on Valt's temple.
— "I don't need your pity, you arrogant fool."
A heavy silence fell.
Even time seemed to pause, as if the universe itself was holding its breath.
Aeternus slowly raised his hand, his golden gaze locked on Valt.
His voice echoed like a divine decree:
> — "Valt, incarnation of corruption… I will erase you—not for what you are, but for what you dare to threaten."
Valt let out a cold laugh.
> — "You think you can contain what you've never understood? You're obsolete, old architect."
Without warning, he charged, his body morphing into a swarm of shadows before reforming in front of Aeternus.
His fist, charged with black energy, tore through the air with cataclysmic force.
Aeternus raised two fingers.
A golden wall of energy rose, inscribed with ancient glyphs.
The impact shook the entire dimension.
> — "Stability Theorem: Paradox Nullified."
The shockwave hurled Valt backward, but he rose instantly, laughing.
> — "That's what I wanted! Let's go all out!"
Valen appeared behind him like a shadow.
A horizontal slash tore through the void.
Valt dodged with a leap, but Valen teleported instantly in front of him, blade already poised.
Valt blocked with a punch saturated in dark energy.
The impact shattered the ground into thousands of shadow fragments.
He retaliated with a flurry of lightning-fast kicks.
Valen parried each strike, his movements tracing arcs of light.
Zarion lunged from behind, his black sword carving a line through the air.
— "Dark Zephyr!"
Valt instantly summoned a blade: the Nexus Sword, a relic of Vael.
The two swords clashed in a stellar explosion.
But Valen seized the opening and delivered a kick that sent Valt crashing through a dimensional rift.
> — "And that one was free!" Valen laughed.
Aeternus extended his hand.
A staff of pure gold appeared, sculpted from primordial light.
At its tip glowed a crystal containing a thousand miniature universes.
> — "Harmonic Judgment."
He struck the ground.
A wave of golden light surged forth, transforming into a purifying beam aimed directly at Valt.
Valt calmly looked up, the stars in his pupils spinning wildly.
The beam vanished… as if it had never existed.
> — "That's your attack? Pathetic."
He charged again, his sword forming a black vortex.
Aeternus countered, wrapped in a radiant golden halo.
Their collision detonated reality.
Constellations were born and died in a fraction of a second.
Physical laws disintegrated, replaced by pure chaos.
Zarion, from a distance, raised his sword.
An invisible slash tore through the void and severed Valt's arm.
Valt staggered, grimacing—but his arm regenerated instantly, rebuilt by strands of cosmic energy.
— "Tch… You're persistent."
He was immediately flanked: Aeternus from the front, Valen from behind.
Aeternus became a torrent of pure light, unleashing strikes as fast as lightning.
Valt blocked each one with his twin blades—until Valen struck from his blind spot.
A storm of blows rained down.
In a furious reflex, Valt summoned a second Nexus Sword to block attacks from all directions.
Elyonna shouted in Valen's mind:
— "Now!"
Valen gripped his sword tightly. A divine light burst from the blade.
— "Decretum… Divinum!"
He brought the weapon down.
A wave of celestial energy swept across the battlefield, fracturing the entire dimension.
Valt screamed, his energy armor cracking under the blast.
Fragments of light and shadow collided in a silent cataclysm.
Aeternus extended his hand, channeling the remaining flux to prevent the dimension from collapsing.
Zarion drove his sword into the ground to stabilize himself.
Valen, panting, stared at the swirling cloud of energy before him.
A laugh echoed.
Valt emerged slowly from the dust, his body half-regenerated, his smile wider than ever.
> — "Not bad… Really not bad. But you haven't seen anything yet."
Valen smirked.
— "If that was your warm-up, I'm gonna need a second Elyonna."
Elyonna: — "No way. One of me is already too much for your brain."
— "Touché."
Valt's body fully regenerated.
His aura erupted, warping reality around him.
The sky of the dimension cracked, revealing fragments of inverted stars.
> — "You want to play?" he said with a manic grin.
— "Hahahahahaha! Then… let's play."
His aura exploded—a fusion of black, gold, and stellar energy.
Every particle of light screamed, every shadow trembled under his power.
Elyonna: — "Uh, Valen… you got a plan? Because I didn't sign up to fight a walking Big Bang."
Valen: — "Yeah, I've got a plan."
Elyonna: — "Go on, impress me."
Valen: — "Hit harder."
Elyonna: — "Brilliant plan, Einstein."
Valt slowly raised his hand, his two swords fusing, devouring the surrounding light.
Aeternus gripped his staff.
— "He's activating Phase Two… Astral Resonance."
Zarion cursed under his breath.
— "Great. We just survived Phase One."
Valen cracked his neck, an amused smile on his lips.
— "Alright then… Round two. And this time, I might actually cry."
Chapter 54 – Judgment of Chaos (Part II)
The air vibrated, saturated with power.
Bursts of golden, black, and scarlet energy collided, tearing through the skies of a dimension already on its last breath — as if the universe itself wanted to change the channel.
Valt slowly raised his hand, a predatory grin on his lips.
His two swords fused with a cosmic rumble, forming a titanic blade, pulsing with a power so intense even light hesitated to stick around.
— "This time… we're playing for real," he murmured, his stellar eyes spinning at a disturbing speed, like divine fans on turbo mode.
He leapt.
A moment later, he was in front of Aeternus.
He grabbed the god by the head and slammed him into the ground, triggering a dimensional quake.
The shockwave sent Valen and Zarion flying like poorly glued action figures.
Aeternus tried to rise, but Valt raised his sword, ready to finish the job.
> — "End of divine structure. Dissolution of concept."
His blade came down —
— CLANG!
Valen blocked the strike at the last second.
The impact shattered the ground, creating a crater so deep you could see the reflections of the void… and maybe an old cosmic subway ticket.
— "I said it's not your turn, damn it!"
— "Always getting in the way, Valen," Valt growled.
— "Yeah, kinda my thing. Being annoying."
A vein pulsed on Valt's temple before he vanished, reappearing behind him.
But Valen anticipated, spun around, and parried the counterattack.
The two exchanged a flurry of sword strikes, their silhouettes flickering in every direction, too fast for even a caffeinated divine eye to follow.
Each impact erased a chunk of reality.
(The cosmic equivalent of a graphical glitch.)
Aeternus, now standing, extended his hand.
Golden energy chains erupted from the ground, closing in on Valt.
> — "Cosmic Seal: Bonds of Pure Void."
But Valt chuckled, his aura bursting like a steroid-infused black sun.
The chains crumbled into dust.
— "You think you can bind corruption? Keep dreaming, you shiny old ornament!"
Zarion appeared to his left, his shadowy aura rising in wisps.
He raised his sword, channeling abyssal energy into its tip.
> — "Ultimate Technique… Oblivion Sever!"
The blade sliced through the air, unleashing a black wave that devoured everything in its path — including the laws of physics.
Valt barely blocked it, but the force of the impact launched him skyward like a cursed projectile.
While he floated, Aeternus raised his golden staff toward the heavens.
A divine chant echoed through the dimension, a sound even the stars seemed to listen to… and probably Shazam.
> — "Sacred Cannon: Choir of Origins."
Concentric rings of light formed around Valt before exploding in a deluge of pure energy.
But Valt opened his eyes — his stellar pupils spun — and the explosion vanished… erased from history itself.
(Check the cosmic archives — it's like it never happened.)
He landed slowly, his aura now unleashed.
> — "Your attacks no longer matter. You're predictable… weak… boring."
He lunged, his blade slicing through the dimension toward Zarion.
The two warriors clashed in a duel of divine intensity.
Each strike shattered sound, light, gravity… and probably the nerves of a few spectator entities.
Zarion looked calm, but his arm trembled under the pressure.
— "Is that all?" Valt mocked.
— "No. That's just… the appetizer."
Suddenly, Valen charged, his aura erupting like a divine volcano.
Elyonna screamed in his mind:
— "Now!"
Valen raised the Judgment Blade, which pulsed with celestial light.
The blade multiplied into a myriad of luminous fragments, swirling around him like a swarm of stars ready to strike.
> — "Judgment of a Thousand Blades!"
Elyonna added mockingly:
— "An omnidirectional attack impossible to dodge for an impure soul! (And also for arrogant blowhards.)"
The thousand blades descended.
Valt tried to repel them, but each carried the combined power of Valen and Elyonna — a blend of chaos, light, and pure sarcasm.
A colossal explosion ravaged the battlefield, illuminating the entire dimension with divine brilliance.
(The kind of brilliance that makes a supernova look like a nightlight.)
When the light faded, Valt was on his knees, his armor cracked, his eyes spinning wildly.
He panted, a mad laugh escaping his throat.
> — "Not bad… But if you thought that was enough…"
He burst into laughter — a laugh that echoed like a cosmic glitch.
— "Ahaha… now we're gonna have fun."