Vast and boundless, the universe remained as cold and dark as ever.
According to Earth's time, the battle had already raged for an entire day and night. The scope of destruction stretched across an enormous distance. Countless meteorites had been reduced to dust, and even four or five planets comparable to, or larger than Earth had been completely annihilated.
In the depths of interstellar space, a barren planet three times the size of Earth drifted silently. It held no trace of life, only endless desolation and vast Gobi-like wastelands.
Two streaks of light tore through the sky, colliding violently as explosions echoed across the void.
Suddenly, a golden-white streak accelerated and crashed into the planet's surface. Mountains and valleys shattered on impact, erupting violently as a massive mushroom cloud rose into the sky. The resulting shockwave churned the seas, overturned the atmosphere, and tore open bottomless abysses that spread across a quarter of the planet in mere minutes.
Odin stood above the devastation.
His armor was shattered beyond recognition, his beard soaked in blood, and his body was riddled with horrific wounds. His breathing was uneven, each breath heavy and strained.
Hovering above a massive abyss, his bloodshot eye locked onto the center of the explosion as the dust slowly cleared.
At the heart of the crater, Lucien lay at the very bottom.
His body was drenched in blood, torn and battered. The golden-white energy surrounding him flickered weakly, barely sustaining itself. Blood poured from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth without stopping.
Steam rose from his body, and faint, colorful strands of energy drifted around him, yet his wounds regenerated at an agonizingly slow pace.
Compared to Odin, his aura was clearly weaker.
Lucien slowly raised his blood-soaked, crystal-like hand and grabbed the slightly damaged Eternal Spear embedded in his body. With a brutal pull, he ripped it out, tearing flesh and spraying blood in the process. His body swayed violently as more blood spilled from his mouth.
A sonic boom split the air.
Odin charged without hesitation. He had no intention of giving Lucien even a moment to recover.
Dozens of shattered mountains rose and hurled toward Lucien. With his right hand, Lucien intercepted them, then instantly transformed into a streak of light and shot away. The Eternal Spear slipped from his grasp and returned to Odin's hand.
Lightning exploded outward as Odin roared. He stomped forward, twisting his body as the Eternal Spear transformed into a bolt of lightning. It tore through the landscape and shot straight toward Lucien, piercing directly through his forehead.
Blood and brain matter flowed down the shaft of the spear, instantly soaking Lucien's face and chest.
With his limbs broken and his body critically damaged, Lucien's already weak aura plummeted further.
"You should never have killed Thor and Frigga, nor destroyed my divine realm. Your sin cannot be forgiven!"
Odin's voice shook with rage. His remaining eye burned with hatred as he looked at Lucien, as if he wanted to tear him apart piece by piece.
He pulled the Eternal Spear free. Lucien collapsed to the ground, barely clinging to life, his head leaking blood and brain matter.
He looked utterly miserable.
His golden-white hair, eyebrows, and pupils had all faded back to their original state.
"It was the right decision to keep you alive."
Lucien tilted his head, blood and brain matter mixing grotesquely as a slow, chilling chuckle escaped his lips.
It was unsettling. Completely unhinged.
Odin's expression shifted.
"What do you mean?"
Lucien did not answer directly.
"It's too late."
A Senzu Bean appeared in his hand out of thin air. The moment he swallowed it, his aura, which had fallen to its lowest point, exploded outward with terrifying force.
Lucien moved.
His right hand, wrapped in vibrant energy, seized the Eternal Spear. The ground beneath him shattered as a violent gust of wind erupted outward.
A blur flashed.
Odin's body bent forward as blood burst from his mouth and nose. He was sent flying, crashing through mountains before finally being buried beneath a pile of ruins.
Lucien lowered his leg and slowly rose into the air, stopping above the massive basin.
He clenched his fists.
The entire planet began to tremble. The atmosphere vibrated violently as the land beneath him cracked and collapsed, forming deep cliffs and endless chasms.
"Haha…"
A wild, arrogant laugh echoed across the sky.
Golden-white light surged from his body once more. His hair, eyebrows, and pupils shifted again, glowing with that same radiant hue as arcs of golden lightning illuminated the heavens.
This was his sixth near-death activation.
His power surged dramatically once again.
Yet Lucien frowned.
This increase felt different.
Like the first four times, his strength had merely doubled. It lacked the overwhelming leap of the fifth activation, which had broken through his limits and triggered a true evolution.
The difference between them was overwhelming.
If his assumption was correct, then the fifth activation was a major breakthrough, while the others were only minor increases within the same stage.
His potential had not yet reached its peak.
Lucien's golden-white eyes burned with intensity as he looked toward Odin, who was slowly rising in the distance.
There was nothing left to gain from him.
Odin coughed violently, using the Eternal Spear to support himself. Blood stained his face, yet his expression hardened with resolve as he looked at Lucien, whose strength had not only recovered but grown even further.
Lucien raised a single finger.
A red light gathered at its tip.
In an instant, the beam shot forward, piercing straight through Odin's chest and continuing through the planet itself.
The Death Beam, fast, precise, and lethal.
Odin's body, once thought indestructible, was effortlessly penetrated.
"So-called gods are nothing more than mortals with titles."
Lucien raised his finger again, another red beam forming.
At that moment, his eyes flashed.
Future sight activated.
He tilted his head just in time as a beam of light grazed his face, slicing through his skin. Odin appeared instantly in front of him, divine power surging in his hand.
"Snap."
Lucien snapped his fingers.
Time stopped.
A massive portion of his Ki was consumed instantly, but one second was enough.
A red beam sliced cleanly across Odin's neck. At the same time, eight sharp bone-like spikes erupted from Lucien's lower back, stabbing into Odin's body. His right hand, wrapped in soul power, struck as well.
Three attacks, executed within a single frozen second.
Time resumed.
Odin's head separated from his body, flying through the air as his life force rapidly faded. His soul began to tear away from his body.
"I am Odin, King of the Gods!"
Even as his head spun through the air, his voice roared with madness and resolve.
"I curse you. With my soul, my life, and my divinity as the price, I bind you. You will fall into eternal damnation!"
Lucien's expression changed.
Odin sacrificed everything.
His soul, his life, his very existence.
Another snap.
Time froze again.
Lucien retreated instantly, creating distance.
But it was already too late.
Odin's body, soul, and divine power erupted into a blinding light, condensing into a blood-red chain that ignored time and space itself.
It wrapped around Lucien.
"Damn it!"
Lucien vanished, reappearing hundreds of kilometers away.
He activated everything.
Armament Haki hardened his body. Iron Body reinforced his defenses. His soul power surged.
Yet none of it mattered.
The blood-red chain sank into his flesh and soul as if nothing could stop it.
His aura plummeted.
His strength dropped by more than half in an instant.
His lifespan began to drain. His soul weakened. Even his cells started to age rapidly as his once overwhelming vitality withered away.
This was a curse born from absolute sacrifice.
Odin had given up everything, condemning himself to eternal oblivion just to bind Lucien.
And it worked.