After the planet imploded beneath us, the battle spilled into the cold, unforgiving void of space.
I grabbed the phoenix by the throat and hurled him through the fractured remnants of the dying world. My daggers twisted and reshaped themselves into a chain-rope. I lashed it outward, snagging a nearby planet, swinging it like a colossal flail toward the peacock.
But before the planetary strike could land, the peacock's presence caused the entire mass to decay in midair. The planet withered into dust—aged out of existence by the aura radiating from him.
His very essence was entropy. Everything near him degraded, corroded, and died. I couldn't get too close.
As I surged through the aftershocks of the explosion, time suddenly froze.
And there they were.
The phoenix and peacock reappeared in front of me like phantoms emerging from the eye of the storm—both winding up their next attacks. I couldn't even flinch before they struck: a brutal punch to the gut, a sharp elbow to my spine, and a knee slammed into my abdomen. Each blow rippled through me, bypassing my defenses like they weren't even there.
Time resumed.
I was launched like a ragdoll through the last two planets in this collapsing universe. They imploded upon impact, detonating into oblivion as my broken body ripped through them.
Dizzy, bleeding, but still conscious—I twisted mid-fall and grabbed the phoenix's leg as he chased me down. I was desperate to halt his momentum.
But again—time froze.
While I still held him, three crushing kicks landed cleanly on my face, each one sharper than the last. The bastard was manipulating time to perfection—stopping it the moment I tried to counter. No reaction time. No rhythm. Just dominance.
We fought across countless universes, each shattering and dying in our wake. I had taken most of the punishment. My "Body of Destruction" was the only thing keeping me alive. As long as they couldn't directly attack my soul, I wouldn't die—not easily.
I knew I was outmatched.
But I wasn't done.
My daggers shifted again—this time into submachine guns. I sprayed a storm of bullets, trying to create space, force them on the defensive. But it wasn't enough.
Out of time. Out of tricks.
I gathered the last remnants of my magic—the chaos left from the void of collapsing stars, imploding worlds, and scattered timelines. My dark purple aura ignited, volatile and violent, as I whispered my last incantation.
"Destruction Style: All Return to Nothing!"
A cataclysmic wave erupted from me, an ocean of annihilation tearing through everything it touched. I used the last of my strength to teleport far away—barely escaping the void I had summoned.
My body floated aimlessly through space. Broken. Bloodied. Alive, somehow.
Sometime during the chaos… the slave seal that bound me had shattered.
I felt its absence, even if my body was too wrecked to celebrate. That cursed villain—he was still out there. But now, I was free. And when I found him again… I would end him.
The phoenix and peacock? No doubt they were elite servants of the Fertility Goddess and the Spacetime Goddess. They would return. Stronger. Smarter.
But so would I.
As my consciousness flickered, I felt the gravitational pull of a nearby planet. I stopped resisting. Let the orbit take me. I plummeted to the surface, slamming into the summit of a mountain with a thunderous impact, carving a crater around me.
And then—darkness.
Light returned slowly. I awoke in a bed. Soft. Clean. Not what I expected after falling through worlds.
Amela stood beside me. Another girl, unfamiliar but radiant, was with her. Both had concern painted across their faces.
I was in a cabin—sturdy, quiet, and isolated. Someone had brought me here.
No... they had.
I looked down at myself—bandaged, burned, bruised, but still breathing.
They had found me—crossed the stars to reach me.
I closed my eyes again.
There would be more battles. There would be stronger enemies.
But for now... I could rest.