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The creature's roar disfigured the world.
Kharazeth, the Necro-Soul Dragon, advanced through the skies—deformed, nauseating, made from the union of a hundred curses sealed in the far reaches of existence.
It grew like a living shadow, with bones screaming for freedom in its skin.
Its wings, if fully extended, could cover the horizon.
Its eyes… dozens… hundreds… pulsed and shifted places, like conscious parasites.
But Mei?
Mei just stared.
Cold.
Annoyed.
— So ugly it's offensive.
The dragon charged like a living storm.
Its tail sliced through city blocks, destroying what remained of the city.
Its claws dug into ruined buildings.
Its mouth opened—multiple mouths, one inside the other—vomiting a torrent of corrupted spiritual energy.
The attack swallowed Mei.
For a moment… silence.
Everyone watched.
Tekio clenched his fists.
Aisha snarled.
Stella whispered:
— That's not enough… for her.
BOOOOOOOM!
The attack was torn apart.
In the center of the putrid explosion… she was there.
Mei Nuhay. Untouched.
Her flames had become ethereal—a living aurora in shades of orange, gold, and violet.
Her hair floated like solar tentacles.
Her eyes, now purely white, shone like two small moons.
— There. I'm already tired of your aberration.
She closed her hand.
The flames compressed into a point between her fingers.
— Planetary Nebula.
A point of light the size of a tennis ball.
She hurled it toward the dragon.
It seemed small.
But when it touched the creature's chest…
The world exploded.
The entire creature shattered in a blast of concentrated plasma.
No time to scream.
No time to exist.
The impact created a rift in the sky.
The clouds bent outward.
The ground shook for miles.
Ruined buildings simply evaporated.
When the light faded, nothing remained of the dragon.
Not dust.
Not shadow.
Only silence.
Mei blew on her fingers as if extinguishing a candle.
— Now then… less visual pollution.
But something was wrong.
Aisha took a step forward.
— …She was distracted.
Fenra felt it.
— …Dante didn't stay idle.
Tekio's eyes widened.
— It's a ritual… He used the dragon to buy time!
In the middle of the destroyed city, Dante was kneeling.
His hands dug into the molten concrete.
Black runes burned around him.
Magic circles spun, one inside the other, like gears of an infernal clock.
From his body, colorless flames rose.
The shadow around him seemed denser, as if absorbing light.
The temperature suddenly dropped.
The sky… cracked.
Purple and black fissures opened in the clouds.
Dante whispered, black blood streaming from his mouth:
— …The offering has been made.
May the Crown of Void hear me.
May the Abyssal Brothers open their eyes.
May the World witness the true abyss.
The runes exploded.
Mei turned too late.
— …Huh?
A vortex appeared behind Dante.
As if the universe itself opened a scar.
From it… something took form.
A figure made of liquid darkness and gravitational density.
Ancient, erased faces flickered within the creature.
Its gaze had no eyes—only a purple glow that whispered memories of pain.
And in the center…
Dante floated.
He had fused with the creature.
He was no longer Dante.
Not entirely.
He was something between man and entity.
His voice, now in three simultaneous tones, echoed like metal tearing through glass:
— Judgment Form: Crown of the Abyss.
The world… stopped breathing.
Mei arched an eyebrow.
Still smiling.
But inside… she felt the gravity of something that went beyond power.
She snapped her fingers.
The flames around her grew.
— If you're going to turn into a monster…
I'll turn into a star.
— Then let's dance, deformed little king.
The duel of gods was about to truly begin.
The Stellar Empress against the Crown of the Abyss.
World-burning light against endless void.
The clouds were still.
As if the sky… were silent, watching.
In the center of the ruined city, Dante floated, but still maintained a human form.
His feet didn't touch the ground—the gravity around him seemed optional.
His body was static… but his aura vibrated like a muffled scream in the universe.
Dark, dense flames rose from his shoulders.
The coloration was something that shouldn't exist: a black that absorbed the colors around it, sucking even the light from Mei's flames.
It was as if everything about him was made of a material that hated existence.
But what drew attention was the crown above his head.
Floating. Deformed. Alive.
Five curved spikes, fused like bone tentacles, slowly rotated in the air, held by threads of purple energy.
Inside the crown, ancient symbols moved like eyes—opening and closing with each beat of Dante's heart.
His eyes, once red…
Were now completely black, with circles of smoke moving within them.
Pupils? None.
Only the void of the abyss, conscious and hungry.
Tekio, at a distance, fell to his knees.
Stella took a step back.
— This… this isn't just power anymore.
— It's something else — Aisha murmured. — It's as if… that thing is looking at us too.
Fenra looked at the sky.
— He didn't fuse with the abyss.
He invited it to dance.
Mei, on the other hand… rolled her neck, a cheeky smile on her face.
— Nice little show, … but did you really have to call daddy to fight for you?
She pointed her thumb mockingly at the sky.
— How embarrassing. The whole world is watching this, you know?
The drones' cameras trembled.
Transmissions across the entire planet were frozen on this moment.
— This woman… is smiling at that thing?
— Is she seriously the famous Mei Nuhay?
— Is it a monster? A god?
— I think… I think she's having fun.
Dante responded with his distorted, triple voice:
— The entire world will see the star fall.
— Let the eclipse begin.
The crown spun and emitted a silent signal, like a note without sound.
From the cracked earth, three black spears emerged and flew toward Mei at an absurd speed.
But she had already vanished.
ZUUUUM.
— Stellar Pulsar!
Mei appeared to Dante's right, with a flaming elbow.
BOOM. Hit his rib.
ZUUUM.
Appeared above him.
Two flaming punches to the back.
ZUUUM.
From below.
Knee to the spine, explosion.
Each impact sounded like thunder at close range.
— Let's see if your daddy can keep up with my rhythm!
She vanished and appeared again.
Fifty blows in less than ten seconds.
The ground cracked. The city sank.
But Dante raised his hand.
The crown spun.
From the ground, black tentacles emerged and enveloped the surrounding space, like a dimensional prison.
— Domain: Chamber of the Dead King.
The world turned black and purple.
The skies were swallowed.
All that existed now was the chamber: a closed space with floating pillars, dried blood on the ceiling, and mirrors where Mei saw her reflection dying in a hundred different ways.
— Try to shine without a sky.
Mei closed her eyes.
— Heheh...
She snapped her fingers.
— I am the sky...
BOOM!
An explosion of solar flames burst from her body.
The pillars melted.
The reflections vanished.
Mei appeared in the center of the chamber and pointed two fingers.
— Imaginary Technique: Thrown Aurora.
She made a gesture as if throwing a flaming rope into the void.
She spun, and the energy expanded in a spiral, destroying the imaginary space of Dante's technique.
The domain began to collapse.
— You still don't get it, do you?
— I don't follow rules. I invent them.
Dante reappeared in the physical world, his chest bleeding and one eye leaking shadow.
He roared—and the crown began to conjure without him moving.
Three swords appeared in the air.
Made of abyssal energy.
They cut through dimensions.
The first advanced.
Mei dodged.
The second slashed her shoulder.
The third struck her in the stomach—but she caught the blade with her bare hands, bleeding.
Smiling.
— Now we're talking.
— It's getting fun.
Across the entire world… people held their breath.
Some cried.
Others prayed.
Some screamed Mei's name as if she were a goddess.
— This woman... is hell dressed in fire.
— She's holding a sword of darkness with her bare hands.
— HOW?!
She pulled the sword, spun in the air, and hurled it back at the crown, making it vibrate violently.
— Come on, little king.
— It's not over yet.
Mei activated another technique.
The flames spread like wings.
Two solar formations spun on her back like rings.
— Forbidden Technique: Solar Fusion: Crimson Quasar.
The world grew hotter.
Much hotter.
To be continued...