Sukojo: I will rise as your Eleventh Champion.
The chains cracked, law splintering like old glass.
Sukojo lifted his head, eyes no longer mocking. No grin. Only weight.
Sukojo: ...Emperor.
Dark tucks his hands in his pockets. Then...
Dark: Okiru.
The Sphere shuddered as if the word had been written into its core from the beginning of time.
Shadows surged from the ground, not wrapping Sukojo like chains, but flowing into him, sliding beneath his skin, filling his veins, devouring everything that was broken and reshaping it into something greater.
His body arched, trembling, as centuries of scars across his chest and arms ignited black and then faded, the ruined flesh sealing over in perfect smoothness. Skin that had once looked pale and rotted took on a darker tone, a sheen that shimmered like polished obsidian, as if shadow itself had chosen to wear him as its vessel.
The red glow in his eyes flickered violently, then drowned under the tide of darkness flooding through him. When they reopened, they burned with abyssal black, outlined with faint silver rings that cut the air sharper than any blade. His gaze no longer mocked, no longer sneered. It stared forward with weight, calm and absolute.
His hair, once ragged and knotted, grew as if alive, falling in strands that lengthened and sharpened. They draped over his shoulders like rivers of midnight, catching faint edges of light, shifting as though shadowfire breathed within them.
The grin that had been his mask for eons vanished. In its place was stillness. His mouth, once curled with cruelty, pressed into a flat line. It was not sorrow. It was not joy. It was conviction.
His frame refined itself. Where once he looked stretched and twisted by cruelty, he now stood taller, every line of muscle carved into precision, lean but overwhelming. His movements carried no wasted energy. Each breath bent the void around him, not with aura, not with pressure, but with presence. The Sphere itself recoiled at his existence.
The shadows pulled back, withdrawing into the ground, leaving him standing renewed. What rose was no longer the Devourer, the caged monster of old. What rose was the Eleventh Champion of Dark.
Sukojo lowered his head, no mocking grin, no laughter, only the steady voice of a being rewritten.
Sukojo: ...Emperor.
Behind him, the abyss erupted.
Igor emerged first, towering, his blade gleaming with blood-red shadow. He dropped to one knee, voice steady and deep.
Igor: Emperor.
Biru followed, wings folding as his claws dug into the earth. His head bowed low.
Biru: Emperor.
One came after, demonic fire licking across his body, kneeling with his fist pressed into the ground.
One: Emperor.
Then Vel. Raz. Malik. Clum. Cal. Syv. Brak.
Each appeared in turn, each kneeling.
The army swelled in waves. Shadows without number lined the horizon, armored, faceless, all lowering their heads in perfect silence. Then the Hollows followed, their empty forms filling the space like smoke given flesh, countless, endless, waiting for nothing but command.
The Sphere shook as every knee struck the ground. The single word they spoke was not sound but law, echoing like eternity.
All: Emperor.
Dark stood at the center, his aura climbing like a storm made flesh. His eyes glowed brighter, casting light even across the endless void.
Dark: Rise.
And they did.
The legions rose, their shadows stretching across the void, a sea of silence bending in unison to their Emperor.
Dark's gaze swept across them. Champions. Shadows. Hollows. All standing, all waiting, all his.
Dark: Welcome your Eleventh.
His voice cut through the silence like law spoken into the marrow of creation.
Dark: Sukojo, the Devourer, now reborn in shadow. No longer chained. No longer forgotten. From this day forward, he kneels only to me.
The army moved as one. Igor's head dipped again. Biru's wings flared once. One's grin spread wide in feral loyalty. Each Champion bowed toward the newly risen, acknowledging his place. The shadows behind them shifted in formation, their silent reverence louder than thunder.
Dark: He is yours to follow. He is mine to command. And together, he is ours to wield.
Sukojo remained still, his eyes lowered, the abyss burning quietly in them.
Dark raised his hand, his aura swallowing the Sphere in silence.
Dark: But hear me.
Every head turned toward him.
Dark: Ten before him. Now eleven. Yet one day, there will be more. And from among you, one will rise.
The void trembled. The Champions lifted their eyes, shadows leaning closer as though the words themselves had weight.
Dark: Not just a Champion. Not just a shadow. The Supreme One.
Dark's voice deepened, steady and absolute.
Dark: The Supreme Champion.
Dark: A being who will not just kneel, but lead. Not as echo, but as will. Stronger than all of you together. A blade sharper than Igor, a loyalty deeper than Biru, a will harder than One.
His words pressed like chains across the legions, not to bind, but to brand.
Dark: That day will come. And when it does, that one will carry not only my command, but my empire. They will stand above even me, should I fall.
The army did not move. They did not breathe.
Only silence. Heavy. Eternal.
Dark lowered his hand.
Dark: Until then... we march.
The Champions bowed again. The shadows aligned. The Hollows filled the silence with stillness.
And Sukojo, Eleventh Champion, raised his head — his abyssal gaze steady, sharpened, loyal.
Dark turned. The Sphere opened for him, the wound in reality peeling wider at his command. He stepped forward, the void bending with each footfall.
As he walked, the power of his army flowed with him. The strength of Igor's blade, the loyalty of Biru, the ferocity of One, the cunning of Vel, the resolve of Raz, the precision of Malik, the chaos of Clum, the patience of Cal, the hunger of Syv, the brutality of Brak — all of it, all of them, moved into him as if drawn by law.
The shadows that lined the horizon collapsed into his steps. The Hollows dissolved into mist and surged into his veins. Even the silence itself seemed to enter him, filling him with weight.
Dark emerged from the Dominion Sphere reborn. His aura no longer spilled like a tide — it crushed like gravity, pulling the battlefield toward him. His eyes glowed deeper, brighter, as if every soul that served him had become a star in his gaze.
For a moment, Cosmic and Kaelion's clash slowed. Their battle scarred the world, but their eyes turned to Dark as he returned.
Kaelion's blade wavered for a fraction of a second, his breath catching at the pressure.
Cosmic, calm as ever, narrowed his eyes. His voice came steady, lower than the tremor of collapsing stone.
Cosmic: ...You've grown.
Dark's footsteps pressed against the broken earth. With each step, the ground stitched itself black beneath his boots, as though reality was too fragile to carry him unmarked.
His Champions' strength. His Shadows' obedience. His Hollows' emptiness. His Eleventh's rebirth.
All of it was his.
Dark: (calm) No.
Dark: I've awakened.
The wasteland groaned under the weight of his aura, the horizon bending like glass ready to shatter.
Cosmic's eyes narrowed, but for the first time, his calm face shifted ever so slightly. The curve of his lips bent upward — not mockery, not disdain, but something almost rare.
Cosmic: Good.
Kaelion staggered forward, his blade Kasēnshō trembling in his hand. His coat was torn, his breathing shallow, his body a vessel of wounds that should have ended him long ago. Yet he still stood, his gaze locked on Cosmic.
Cosmic's hand lifted slowly, a gesture steady enough to end oceans.
Dark moved.
One instant he stood at the far end of the battlefield. The next, he and Kaelion were gone.
The broken horizon healed itself where they had stood, leaving Cosmic standing alone, his hand still raised, his face unreadable.
—
They reappeared in silence. A plain of black stone, untouched by the battle, carved out of emptiness itself. Kaelion collapsed to one knee, his blade anchoring him to the ground.
Dark stepped in front of him, shadows already gathering at his hands, healing searing through the air.
Kaelion's body trembled, his blade Kasēnshō clattering against the black stone as he dropped to one knee. Dark caught him before he could collapse entirely, shadows rising instinctively to heal him.
Kaelion raised a weak hand, pressing it against Dark's chest to stop him. His voice came quiet, steady despite the blood in his throat.
Kaelion: No healing.
Dark: ...You don't have to—
Kaelion: Listen.
His eyes locked with Dark's. Even broken, even drained, his gaze carried the authority of oceans.
Kaelion: I was the first. The First True Emperor. I saw what it meant to hold dominion, to rule not men, but entire elements of existence itself.
Kaelion coughed, his hand slipping but Dark held him steady.
Kaelion: And now... I see the Seventh.
Dark's eyes narrowed.
Kaelion: You, Dark. You have surpassed the six who came before you. Surpassed me. Surpassed the others. Even without what waits for you, you already stand above us.
Dark: ...
Kaelion smiled faintly, almost proud.
Kaelion: When you claim what is yours, when you seize the power that sleeps in your shadows and in the blood that binds you, you will not just be an Emperor. You will be something greater. Something none of us could reach.
His grip tightened weakly on Dark's chest.
Kaelion: But not Shou. Never Shou. To him, you are... an atom. Half an atom. That gap cannot be crossed.
Dark's jaw tightened, but he said nothing.
Kaelion: And that is why it must be you. Because you are not Shou. You are Dark. You will lead in a way none of us ever could.
His voice faltered, breath leaving him in short gasps.
Kaelion: You are... the Seventh True Emperor. The strongest among us.
His hand fell away, his body finally going still as shadows wrapped around him like a tide swallowing the shore.
Dark lowered him gently, his face hidden in the fall of his hair. His aura swelled, heavier than oceans, sharper than storms, crushing the air with a grief too vast to hold.
Dark: ...Seventh Emperor.
Kaelion's lips curved faintly, his chest heaving with shallow breaths. His hand pressed weakly to the ground, then to Dark's chest again.
Kaelion: Then take it. All of it. My storms. My seas. My crown. My will.
The black plain quaked as Kaelion's body began to glow, not with holy fire, not with divine light, but with something deeper — the primal tide that had once answered only to him. The sound of waves crashing filled the silence, echoing where there was no ocean. Thunder rumbled above where no sky existed.
Dark's aura swelled as the tide poured into him, flooding his veins, fusing with his shadows. His breath deepened, steady, as though the ocean itself had sunk into his lungs.
Kaelion's body withered as the power left him, his blade Kasēnshō dimming, its edge flickering like a dying flame before dissolving into particles of black water that flowed into Dark's hand.
Kaelion: ...Now you are complete.
Dark's eyes glowed brighter, the weight of his Champions, his Shadows, his Hollows, and now the tide of the First Emperor burning inside him. The aura that radiated from his body bent the plain, crushing it, rewriting its shape with every breath.
Kaelion slumped forward. His voice came weaker, but steady.
Kaelion: Do not mourn me. This is no death. This is a tide receding, so yours can rise.
Dark stared down at him, his expression unreadable, his mouth set in the same cold line.
Kaelion: Lead them. Lead us all. You... are the Emperor now.
His hand fell limp. His eyes closed. His chest stilled.
Kaelion, Emperor of Seas, First of the Six, was silent.
Dark held him for a moment, then lowered him gently to the black stone. No tears. No collapse. His face shadowed, his eyes glowing, his aura crushing.
Dark: ...Rest.
He turned. His coat shifted against the weight of his power. His shadows followed, stretching outward like an army ready to drown the horizon. His steps were steady. Unshaken.
No tears.
No grief.
Only resolve.
Dark stood. His coat shifted in the black wind, his aura bending the plain itself. The shadows receded as he turned his back on Kaelion's still form. He raised his hand once, and the Dominion Sphere peeled open.
The battlefield flooded back in.
Kaelion was gone. Only Dark remained.
The wasteland was still breaking. The sky above had become ribbons of glass, tearing under the clash of forces. Cosmic stood unmoving at the center, his calm face tilted slightly as Dark emerged. His eyes narrowed, not in anger, not in disdain, but in recognition.
Dark's steps pressed into the broken ground, each one leaving the earth blackened. The weight of Kaelion's oceans burned in his veins. His shadows rippled behind him like an army waiting to drown the world.
Cosmic's hand lowered. His breath left slow, deliberate. The air bent around him.
Kaelion's tide was gone. The curse that shackled Cosmic was gone.
Dark felt it instantly. The air thickened. His chest pressed tight. His shadows trembled.
This was Cosmic unbound.
The plain screamed as reality warped inward, folding into the pull of his presence. White cracks shot across the horizon. Entire sections of sky disintegrated, sucked into the void his aura carved.
Dark clenched his fists, steady.
Cosmic's lips parted. His voice, low and even, cut through the roar of collapsing worlds.
Cosmic: ...Save me.
The words struck heavier than the collapsing sky.
Cosmic: Stop me, Dark. Before I end everything.
His eyes flared — white, infinite, devouring. The ground split open, seas of light pouring upward as if creation itself were tearing out its core.
Cosmic: My curse has ended.
Cosmic: Now... so will all.
The wasteland shook, the verse itself trembling as Cosmic stepped forward, every movement breaking reality like thin glass underfoot.
Dark lowered his stance, Kyuketsu bleeding into his hand, his aura roaring higher.
Dark: Then I will.
And for the first time, Cosmic's calm expression cracked — a faint smile, not cruel, not proud. Almost human.
Cosmic: Good.
The sky split. The world screamed. The end began. The end of this story.
Cosmic's hand rose. His voice was low, steady, each word a blade.
Cosmic: Abyssfire.
Flames of pure void ignited across the battlefield, black and white at once, burning without heat, without smoke. The ground melted into rivers of collapsing light, reality itself bubbling like flesh seared too long.
Dark slashed Kyuketsu.
Dark: Shadowrend.
The blade carved through the flames, splitting them into storms of writhing darkness. The fire screamed, turned inside out, and collapsed into his shadows, feeding his strength.
Cosmic stepped forward.
Cosmic: Gravity.
The air bent. Dark's bones cracked instantly, his body dragged down as if the weight of planets had slammed onto his shoulders. His ribs buckled, skin tearing open, blood spurting in violent streams across his chest.
Dark gritted his teeth, shadows forcing his body upright, knitting torn flesh as it ripped.
Dark: Consume.
His shadows wrapped around the pressure, eating the gravity itself, devouring the weight until his body lifted again. He launched forward, claws bared.
He tore across Cosmic's chest, black fire burning into the wound, his hand sinking deep into muscle and ripping out entire slabs of flesh. Blood poured in rivers, staining the ground red.
Cosmic did not flinch. His hand shot up.
Cosmic: Silence.
Dark's shadows screamed — and then went mute. Every voice, every echo of his army, vanished. Kyuketsu's hum went still. Even Dark's own heartbeat disappeared, erased from sound.
He stumbled, disoriented, chest heaving without rhythm.
Cosmic's fist smashed into his jaw, shattering half his skull. Blood exploded from the wound, spraying across the battlefield in thick, black streams.
Dark staggered but stayed upright, shadows crawling over his bones, rebuilding his face, forcing his skull back together. His breathing returned, not in silence — but louder than before.
Dark: Resound.
His shadows screamed back into existence, louder than storms, their roar crushing the silence Cosmic had cast. His army's voices returned, booming in unison, shaking the ruined horizon.
Dark lunged again, wings exploding outward. His claws raked across Cosmic's throat, tearing half his neck open. Blood sprayed in geysers, soaking the ground in boiling crimson.
Cosmic lifted his hand through the wound, his voice calm.
Cosmic: Annihilate.
Dark's entire left arm vanished in a blink. Not torn. Not broken. Gone. Bone, blood, flesh, shadows — erased. Blood sprayed violently from the stump.
Dark snarled, his shadows erupting from the wound, knitting flesh, bone, and fire back together. His arm regrew, this time sharper, claws lengthened, dripping with venomous shadow.
Dark: Devour.
He slammed his hand through Cosmic's chest, ripping out fragments of bone, devouring them in his palm. The shards melted into black flame and burned across his claws.
Cosmic's chest rebuilt itself instantly. He grabbed Dark's head in both hands and drove it into the ground.
Dark's skull split open, fragments of bone flying across the battlefield. Blood flooded the crater in violent bursts, painting the stone black.
But Dark rose again, faster than before. His shadows poured into his wounds, his veins burning with Kaelion's tide. His blade shone blacker than void, his aura heavier than oceans.
Cosmic looked down at him, calm as ever. His eyes glowed brighter.
Cosmic: End.
The world shattered. The battlefield split into fragments of floating stone. Seas of blood boiled upward. Stars cracked overhead. The verse itself groaned, bending under the command.
Dark bared his fangs, blood dripping from his jaw.
Dark: Never.
He leapt. Shadows, oceans, Champions, Hollows, and his own fury fused into his strike. Kyuketsu split the battlefield in half, carving a wound so deep it cut into the bones of reality itself.
Cosmic met him head-on, their fists colliding.
The impact erased everything.
The clash detonated. Their fists split the battlefield into oceans of molten stone, mountains ripping apart as if sliced by invisible blades. Stars shattered overhead, raining fragments of fire that screamed as they fell.
Cosmic raised his hand, calm as ever.
Cosmic: Incantation of Eternal Collapse.
The ground beneath Dark bent inward. Valleys screamed as entire continents folded into black spheres and crushed themselves into dust. Lava poured upward, swallowing cities that no longer existed.
Dark howled, his shadows bursting outward, devouring the implosion, dragging the shattered fragments back into existence.
Dark: Invocation of Infinite Devour.
The spheres of collapse unraveled, sucked into his chest like rivers of ink, feeding his veins, making his muscles swell, his aura flare hotter.
Cosmic's eyes narrowed, his face unreadable. His other hand lifted, dripping with white fire.
Cosmic: Obliteration Seal: Throat of Heaven.
A colossal maw opened above them, a mouth made of starfire and bone. Its teeth clamped downward, ripping half the battlefield into its throat. Shadow legions screamed as they were torn limb from limb, their blood spraying like black storms before being swallowed whole.
Dark roared, wings exploding outward. His shadows spiraled into Kyuketsu, reforging it into a glaive burning black.
Dark: Domain Strike: Abyssal Rend.
He hurled it upward, splitting the maw clean in half. Blood rained from the wound — not liquid blood, but entire rivers of galaxies pouring out like shredded veins of existence.
The wound healed instantly, the sky stitching itself, but Cosmic's hand was already moving again.
Cosmic: Exile Ritual: Vanish to Nothing.
Dark's left leg disappeared in a burst of white light. Muscle shredded. Bone disintegrated. Blood spewed in violent fountains.
Dark fell to one knee, snarling, shadows erupting from the wound.
Dark: Rebirth Invocation: The Emperor's Flesh.
His leg rebuilt in less than a breath, black veins writhing until the limb was whole again, stronger, sharper. He rose, spitting blood, his fangs bared.
Dark launched forward, claws shredding the air, his wings battering the ground into dust. He slammed his fist through Cosmic's ribcage, ripping out chunks of bone and spraying blood across his own chest.
Cosmic did not move. He tilted his head, calm as ever, blood running down his chest like paint.
Cosmic: Curse Incantation: White Flame of Erasure.
His blood ignited, turning into fire so bright it melted Dark's face on contact. Half of Dark's skull peeled away, boiling into steam. His jawbone fell to the ground with a wet crack, dripping gore.
Dark staggered, shadows surging, his skull sealing, his jaw snapping back into place. He snarled, blood dripping from his lips.
Dark: Annihilation Rite: Feast of Shadows.
His aura erupted, shadows pouring across the battlefield, consuming corpses, blood, fragments of bone. They twisted into spears, whips, claws, erupting from the ground in endless waves, battering Cosmic from all sides.
Cosmic raised both hands.
Cosmic: Absolute Invocation: Unmaking Storm.
The air detonated. Winds sharper than diamond ripped outward, slicing the shadow spears into dust. Dark's Hollows were shredded into ribbons, their limbs torn off, their heads popping like overripe fruit. Blood sprayed across the black sky in rivers.
Dark hurled himself through the storm, Kyuketsu splitting into twin blades dripping venomous black.
Dark: Demonic Invocation: Twin Fangs of the Abyss.
He slashed in a cross, carving Cosmic's chest open from shoulder to hip. Flesh split. Blood gushed in torrents, boiling as it hit the ground.
Cosmic caught one blade in his palm. His fingers closed, shattering the weapon instantly. His calm eyes met Dark's, his voice low.
Cosmic: Final Seal: All Ends Here.
The battlefield screamed as white light flooded outward. Not fire. Not gravity. Not void. The end. The raw conclusion of all things, pouring outward in waves.
Dark staggered, his shadows ripping, his body boiling under the weight. His chest caved in. His ribs snapped again. Blood streamed down his legs.
Still he stood. His eyes burned hotter. His aura flared higher.
Dark: Final Invocation: Emperor's Defiance.
His shadows wrapped around the end itself, devouring it, consuming it, dragging it into his veins until his body swelled with power beyond recognition. His skin cracked, blood pouring in black rivers, but his voice cut through the storm.
Dark: ...I said I'll save you.
And he lunged.
Their clash lit the void brighter than creation.
Dark lunged first. Kyuketsu, split into twin blades, screamed black fire. He slashed low, his left blade carving across Cosmic's ribs, tearing open muscle and spraying blood in violent arcs. His right blade followed, angling up into Cosmic's jaw.
Cosmic tilted his head just enough. The blade tore half his cheek off, flesh dangling in ribbons, bone exposed beneath. Blood gushed, flooding his shoulder and dripping down his chest.
He didn't flinch. His hand shot out, seizing Dark's throat. His grip crushed, vertebrae snapping like glass.
Dark's eyes flared, his claws punching into Cosmic's chest. He dug deep, ripping through ribs, tearing his heart in half. Blood exploded outward, soaking them both.
Cosmic's other fist hammered down, shattering Dark's skull. The top of his head split open, brain matter and blood spilling across his face.
Dark roared, shadows erupting from the wound, forcing bone and flesh back together. He smashed his knee into Cosmic's chest, splintering ribs and driving him backward.
Dark: Abyssal Execution.
He spun, blades whistling, and carved through both of Cosmic's arms at the shoulders. They hit the ground with wet cracks, twitching violently.
Cosmic didn't hesitate. His stumps bled white fire, and new arms tore themselves from the wounds instantly, sharper, longer, glowing brighter than before.
Cosmic: Incantation of Severed Thrones.
He swung both hands, a wave of energy ripping across the battlefield. The strike split the ground into ravines, hundreds of kilometers wide, swallowing Dark's shadows whole. Hollows were torn apart, their bodies shredded into rivers of gore.
Dark blurred forward through the storm. His fist sank into Cosmic's mouth, breaking teeth, shoving shards of bone down his throat. He grabbed Cosmic's jaw with both hands and ripped. Flesh tore, bone cracked, half his skull splitting off as blood sprayed in fountains.
Cosmic's head healed mid-scream. His teeth regrew, his jaw snapping back into place, blood dripping. His expression remained calm.
He drove his fist straight into Dark's chest, punching through spine and heart, his arm ripping out Dark's back in a spray of blood.
Dark snarled, shadows flooding into the wound, dragging the arm inside him into nothing. Cosmic's limb burst apart in a storm of gore, severed by Dark's own body.
Dark slammed his elbow into Cosmic's throat, crushing his windpipe, then hooked his claws up into his eye. The orb popped, white liquid spraying across the battlefield like boiling milk.
Cosmic's hand caught Dark's wrist instantly, bones snapping with a single squeeze. His other palm slammed into Dark's face, flattening it against his skull, teeth exploding out in sprays of blood.
Cosmic: Rite of Endless Breaking.
Dark's body convulsed as every bone shattered at once. His arms twisted backward, his spine snapped in three places, his knees bent the wrong way. He dropped into a heap of gore and broken flesh.
But his shadows screamed. His body writhed. Bones snapped back, muscles pulled tight, organs rewove. Blood poured from his mouth as he rose again, fangs bared, eyes glowing hotter.
Dark: Invocation of the Emperor's Hunt.
He lunged like a beast, his claws carving Cosmic's torso into ribbons. Flesh peeled off in sheets, organs spilling onto the ground in rivers of blood. Cosmic's intestines coiled at Dark's feet before vanishing into flame.
Cosmic lifted his hand again, calm despite his torn-open body.
Cosmic: Absolute Invocation: Deathless Flame.
His entire form ignited, blood burning, muscle knitting, bone snapping back into place. The wounds Dark had carved healed instantly, his body perfect again, white fire dripping from his skin like liquid stars.
Dark roared, his shadows bursting into wings. He slammed into Cosmic, both of them flying upward into the shattered sky.
They collided again and again.
Dark's claws ripped Cosmic's ribs out of his chest. Cosmic's knee shattered Dark's sternum. Dark's blades severed an arm. Cosmic's fists caved in Dark's skull. Blood and gore poured in storms, raining down in rivers of crimson and black.
Each strike broke the battlefield further. Mountains collapsed. Oceans boiled. Stars above exploded. Their clash was no longer a fight. It was extinction. This novel's extinction.
To be continued.
End Of Arc 6 Chapter 24.