Chapter 56 — The Weight of Truths
Valen frowned, visibly worried.
"This doesn't feel right…" he murmured. "What could've pushed him into such fury?"
Zarion, already in a battle stance, replied:
"Stay sharp. This isn't just rage… it's like he personally hates Aeternus."
He glanced toward the Architect:
"Aeternus, can you explain?"
Aeternus, his face grave, answered bluntly:
"Not now. If we lose focus, he might annihilate us—with flair."
Valt stepped forward, his aura crackling, eyes red like dying suns.
"Aeternus… it's you. YOU are the root of all this."
He raised his arms, as if bearing the weight of the world:
"It's because of you that I became what I am. Maybe if you'd let me live with my mother… maybe I wouldn't have become a threat. But you… just because some ancient scroll said I would… you tried to kill me. You took my mother."
Zarion, confused, turned to Aeternus:
"What's he talking about? Enlighten us, because this sounds like the start of a cosmic family drama."
Valt added, his tone calmer but heavy with emotion:
"Even sealed away, I never stopped watching you, Valen. Because we're alike… more than you think."
Without warning, he lunged at Aeternus.
He grabbed him by the chest and hurled him through entire layers of reality.
Aeternus struggled to rise, coughing blood—but Valt was already there.
He struck him with such force that the Architect flew like a divine ragdoll.
Valt reappeared, hit him in the gut, then followed with a flurry: a hold, a storm of blows, a twisted arm, a knee to the skull.
Then a final uppercut that made the sky tremble.
Aeternus flew again, this time with a sound oddly resembling a "POF."
Valt spread his arms, furious:
"All of this… is for what you did to my mother."
Aeternus tried to rise, trembling. But Valt reappeared, ready to strike again.
This time, Valen intervened, his sword blocking the blow in an explosion of energy.
The shockwave obliterated everything in its path.
Valt, surprised, growled:
"Why are you getting in my way?"
Valen, stars turning in his pupils, replied calmly:
"Because what you're doing… it isn't right. And you know it."
Zarion stepped forward, arms crossed, half-serious, half-sarcastic:
"You know, Valt, instead of beating us like drums, you could just explain your hatred for Aeternus. Might save us the cost of rebuilding the scenery."
Valt looked away:
"That's none of your business."
Then added, darker:
"Remember, Zarion… the day Valen used the Sword of Judgment. I remember it—how could I forget? I think even my hair nearly disintegrated."
Valt gave a cold smile:
"You saw how people looked at him. Full of fear, dread, hatred. Valen was angry that day. Very angry. But Elyonna calmed him. And why do you think Liora told you to check on Valen afterward? There's a lot you don't know about him."
Zarion shrugged:
"Sure. But Valen doesn't know everything about me either. Doesn't stop us from being friends. Even if sometimes I want to throw a rock at him when he gets all mysterious."
Valt sighed:
"Seems I'm wasting my time trying to talk to you."
Then, without further warning, Valen and Zarion lunged at him.
Attacks flew, impacts echoed.
The air vibrated, the ground cracked, and even the sky seemed to want to keep its distance.
---
**Beyond Creation — The Architect's Call**
Meanwhile, Aeternus knelt in prayer.
His voice echoed across dimensions:
"My king… grant me your strength."
In a structure beyond creation, within one of the Primordial Pillars, a throne.
A king sat upon it. His long white hair veiled his eyes, tied behind his head with a frozen cord.
He smiled—a smile as old as time:
"Alright, my creation. But be careful… you do have a flair for drama."
Aeternus's eyes glowed with golden light.
His aura shifted—denser, older.
He rose slowly, chains of light swirling around him.
Zarion, mid-leap, froze:
"Uh… Valen? He just went full 'final boss mode.'"
Valen, sword in hand, replied:
"Perfect. It's been a while since we had a real challenge."
Valt, grinning madly:
"Then show me, Aeternus… the power of your God."
Chapter 57 — Heirs of the Void
Valt flashed a predatory grin.
— Ahhh… finally. You're bringing out the big guns, Aeternus. Took you long enough.
The guardian slowly raised his head. His hair lengthened, floating like strands of celestial light. His armor shifted, etched with golden runes that shimmered and moved. A colossal sword appeared behind him, hovering vertically like a divine cross.
Valt took a step. The ground collapsed.
Then he vanished.
CLANG!
The clash of their blades shook the entire dimension. Arcs of light and shadow collided, tearing through each other in a destructive ballet.
Valen and Zarion leapt back.
Zarion winced, hand on his sword's hilt.
— Tell me I'm dreaming… that aura, it feels familiar…
Valen, voice grave:
— Leave them be for now. This fight isn't ours yet.
---
Valt, consumed by rage, charged again.
— I'll make you suffer for what you did to my mother!
Aeternus, calmly, his voice heavy with remorse:
— Lost child… I understand your hatred. And it is justified.
— You dare say that?! Valt screamed, striking with all his might.
Aeternus gripped his sword with both hands, whispering:
— Then forgive me… my child.
> — "Divine Judgment: Tears of the Creator."
A wave of sacred energy burst from his blade, a breath of purity so absolute it erased the landscape for miles.
Everything was swept away — air, light, matter.
Even Valen and Zarion had to raise force barriers to avoid being consumed.
Valt, at the eye of the storm, laughed.
A broken, inhuman laugh.
— Not bad… but let me show you what a real apocalypse looks like.
He raised his sword. The sky cracked.
> — "Total Dissolution: Heart of the Void."
A monstrous sword strike, so violent it made the dimensions themselves tremble.
A titanic explosion erupted, devouring stars, stretching space in a roar of annihilation.
The entire world seemed suspended.
Then… silence.
---
Valt landed. He slowly sheathed his sword.
The sky turned black. Not ordinary black — a black that swallowed light, hope, and sound.
His aura changed.
It was no longer magic, nor power. It was something beyond.
> — "Feel that, Aeternus? That's the breath of the void. The gift of the Primordial Nothingness."
He laughed, coldly.
— "Vael consumed it long ago… just one entity among many. And now… that essence is mine."
Around him, space tore into warped spirals.
A black aura, darker than death itself, coiled around him.
And suddenly… chains emerged.
Not metallic. Not physical.
They pulsed with impossible matter — living anti-matter, born from an Architect Vael had devoured long ago.
Each link whispered, a silent cosmic pain.
> — "Look closely, Aeternus. This is the legacy of the one you thought you could seal."
With a sharp gesture, he hurled the chains.
They lunged at Aeternus, binding him in an absolute shackle.
The guardian's golden runes dimmed.
The chains crackled, the symbols crumbling under the pressure of the void.
> — "You're done for, old man."
Aeternus dropped to his knees. His breath shattered. Luminous cracks spread across his skin, as if his very essence was fracturing.
Valen clenched his fist, his jaw.
— That power… it's not normal.
Zarion, eyes wide:
— It's like even the void fears him.
Valen felt something stir within — a resonance.
A memory.
A pain.
An energy like Valt's.
He placed his hand on his chest.
— No… it can't be…
Then he looked up, locking eyes with Valt.
— Valt! Stop! You've gone too far!
Valt turned slowly, a mad smile on his lips.
— Too far? No, Valen… I'm just doing what you never had the guts to do.
He extended his hand, and the chains tightened around Aeternus.
— I'm destroying this world to end its lies.
Aeternus, barely breathing, whispered:
— …Valt… you still don't understand… what the Void gave you… isn't a gift. It's a curse.
Valt raised his eyes, his star-white iris gleaming with insane brilliance.
— Then let the world be cursed with me.
Chapter 58 – The Silence of Death
Aeternus could no longer move. His aura, once as radiant as the sun, was fading—swallowed by darkness.
Valt looked at him, a cruel smile slowly forming on his face.
— "You feel that?" he said, his voice echoing like a broken whisper. "That's despair… hah!"
Zarion clenched his teeth, then raised his hand. The energy of the Primordial Void pulsed around him. The antimatter chains binding Aeternus disintegrated like ash in the wind.
Valt stepped back, surprised.
— "You too… you're playing me?"
Zarion's pupils lit up with an abyssal violet glow.
— "You said it yourself. I have my secrets too."
He calmly lifted his head.
— "I am Zarion, Prince of the Primordial Void. And I can't let this go."
Aeternus, still on his knees, raised a trembling hand.
— "Prince… you don't need to intervene. I'll deal with him myself."
— "And how, tell me?" Zarion replied. "His energy comes from the same Void as mine. You can't counter it without losing your essence."
Aeternus closed his eyes, clasped his hands, and whispered a silent prayer.
> My king… lend me your strength, I beg you. The Void rises against me.
A voice echoed in his mind, heavy and imperial.
> This energy… is a stain upon the pillars of creation. I will grant you a fragment of my power. Show them the light of the Architects, my child.
Then, an explosion of light engulfed Aeternus.
His aura surged, pure and indomitable. The cracks in his body closed, and his eyes took on the hue of a rising sun.
Zarion stepped back, mouth agape.
— "This isn't normal… The body of a created being can't withstand the power of the King of Architects. Unless…"
He frowned.
— "Every time he prays, the King answers. There must be a link between them."
Valen placed a hand on his shoulder.
— "You'll have time to investigate later. Right now, we better step back."
---
Aeternus slowly lifted his head. He radiated no hostility, no hatred, no anger.
Only… a crushing serenity.
Valt smiled.
— "Besides glowing, I don't see what you've gained."
Aeternus remained silent. Then, with divine precision, he drew his sword and struck.
Valt blocked, his starry irises spinning rapidly.
— "That's your 'boost'? Disappointing."
Their swords clashed with a thunderous roar. Each blow shook the dimension, the air rippled, mountains crumbled under the pressure.
Aeternus propelled himself backward, his wings of light unfolding with a deep beat.
— "Judgment of Origins."
An explosion of pure energy, golden and white, burst from his blade, forming a colossal cross that split the sky.
Valt, hit full force, was violently thrown to the ground.
But Aeternus wasn't finished.
His hands traced golden circles around him.
— "Sacred Sealing: The Twelve Arches of Silence!"
Twelve glyphs appeared, spinning around Valt, forming a cosmic prison.
The ground began to tremble, and a burning wind swept through the dimension.
Then suddenly…
The wind stopped.
And an overwhelming pressure fell upon them.
A pressure that was neither Void nor Chaos. Something more… absolute.
The air turned cold. Space began to crack, slowly.
Zarion felt his heart stop.
— "This… this can't be…"
A silhouette emerged from the darkness.
Tall. Cloaked in black. Skin, spectral white. Face hidden beneath a hood.
Two red glows floated in the shadow of its face.
A scythe formed behind its back, and its voice… wasn't heard.
It was felt.
> — "Leave him."
The entire world froze.
Even Aeternus, empowered by the King's light, felt his knees tremble.
Valt, kneeling, breath short, slowly looked up.
A smile appeared on his face.
— "To whom do I owe the honor?"
The silhouette stepped forward. The ground disintegrated beneath its feet, only to reform instantly.
> — "I am Death."
Valen murmured, eyes vacant:
— "… Death. I… I can't even move. Her presence crushes me."
Death's gaze fell upon them. No words. No threats. Just an undeniable truth: she was the end.
She stopped before Valt.
> — "Come. It is not yet your time."
Valt nodded, without resistance.
— "Yes…"
Aeternus tried to intervene:
— "Wait! He—"
Death's gaze turned to him.
Aeternus felt his very existence waver, as if the universe itself hesitated to keep him alive.
> — "We will meet again, Aeternus."
And in a breath, Death's avatar vanished, taking Valt with her.
Silence fell.
The world slowly regained its color.
But no one spoke.
Because they all knew…
What had appeared was not a threat.
It was a finality.
Chapter 59 – The Trace of Death
The silence that followed the departure of Vael's Avatar was… deafening.
Even the wind seemed afraid to blow.
Aeternus, still frozen in place, slowly lifted his gaze toward the fractured sky of the dimension.
The spatial fissures still shimmered faintly—remnants of the Absolute's presence.
> "That was… just a warning," he murmured, his voice heavy with millennia of fatigue.
Valen collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.
— "Finally… we can breathe." He let out a nervous chuckle. "Seriously, that thing was terrifying."
Elyonna, now back in her miniature human form, floated beside him and nodded slowly.
— "You're telling me. I felt my soul trying to flee my body."
Valen gave her a curious look.
— "Tell me, Elyonna… do you know her? Death? You seem oddly calm about it."
She looked away, her expression neutral.
— "We've crossed paths… once, maybe twice. I respect her, but I wouldn't say I like her. She speaks little. Judges everything. Comments on nothing."
Valen frowned.
— "And Vael? Why do you hate him so much?"
At those words, Elyonna clenched her jaw, a flicker of emotion flashing in her eyes.
— "Just thinking about him pisses me off. That being… thinks he's above everything, even creation itself. He's arrogant. Treats me like a tool. It infuriates me."
Valen stifled a laugh.
— "Well, technically, you are a sword…"
— "Don't you start too," Elyonna snapped.
A silence fell. Zarion placed a hand on Valen's shoulder.
— "Valen…" he said softly.
— "I… felt something, Zarion," Valen replied, his gaze hollow. "It was like my very essence wanted to flee."
Where Death had stood, nothing remained. No dust. No light.
Just… a hole in reality. A void so perfect it hurt to look at.
Even Aeternus, embodiment of balance, kept his distance.
> "That trace…" he whispered. "...cannot be erased. Not even by me."
Zarion crossed his arms, his expression grave.
> "It's Death's imprint. A tear in the laws themselves. Even the Void dares not touch it."
Valen sighed.
— "We were this close to getting obliterated… why didn't she finish us?"
Zarion answered without looking at him.
— "Because she wasn't here for us. And… she didn't seem like one of Vael's incarnations."
Aeternus turned his head.
— "No… That wasn't an incarnation like Valt or Valen. That was her. The true entity. Death herself—the Avatar of Vael."
A shiver ran through the entire dimension, as if her name alone summoned her presence.
Zarion continued:
— "If that was really her… then everything we've faced so far—the Void Dragons, the Fallen Architects, even Valt—was nothing."
Aeternus closed his eyes.
— "Which Fallen Architect did you even fight?" he asked.
Valen muttered,
— "I think Mr. Zarion's memory is acting up."
— "Not the time," Zarion grumbled.
Aeternus added:
— "Exactly. Valt was just a pawn. His sealing was never a true attempt. It was a test. A message."
Zarion raised an eyebrow.
— "And that message is… Vael is beginning to move."
Everyone fell silent. Even the light seemed hesitant to exist.
Valen slowly stood, eyes fixed on the breach left by Death.
— "We need to prepare. This isn't just a war against entities anymore…"
He raised his sword, the stars in his pupils gently spinning.
— "…it's a war against the end itself."
Zarion sighed.
— "Great… we've gone from a cosmic war to a war against the end of everything. What's next, the Void?"
Valen gave him an amused look.
— "Careful saying that out loud. You never know."
Elyonna shook her head, half-tired, half-sarcastic.
— "You two are the most insane duo I've ever met."
Zarion regained his composure.
— "We should head back to Earth. This dimension is unstable."
Valen nodded.
— "Better if no one else knows. Panic would be inevitable."
The three exchanged glances.
Aeternus raised a hand, opening a glowing portal.
> "Go. I'll stay a while. I need to understand why she came."
Valen hesitated.
— "Take care, Aeternus. If you see Death again, tell her she owes us an apology for the trauma."
Aeternus gave a faint smile.
— "Still joking, even after all this?"
— "Gotta keep the spirits up, right?" Valen replied with a wink.
Elyonna sighed.
— "It's official. You're hopeless."
Zarion extended his hand, and the two vanished in a silver light, returning to Earth.
Aeternus, alone, gazed at the void left by Death.
A breath, barely perceptible, passed through.
> "We will meet again."
His eyes narrowed.
— "Yes… I have no doubt."