Aiden summoned his special shadow, the shadow sword already resting in its grasp.
"My special shadow, buy me some time. Use the power of the Shadow Sword," Aiden commanded.
"Mode Change: Shadow King," the shadow declared.
Its presence warped the battlefield. Power surged off the charts as it intercepted every strike aimed at Aiden.
"Stop him at all costs!" Void roared.
Karnyx charged, his attack tearing through the air, but the shadow met it head-on. Steel screamed against shadow as the two forces collided, neither giving ground.
Behind them, Aiden raised his hand.
"Artificial Sun."
A blazing sphere of light ignited above his palm. It was unstable at first, raw and violent, but Aiden didn't release it.
Instead, he fed it mass.
The sphere grew heavier, denser. Space around it began to distort as its gravity intensified. Layer after layer of energy collapsed inward, the artificial sun swelling far beyond its previous form, its mass rivaling a star hundreds of times greater than Sol.
Aiden clenched his fist.
"Not enough…"
The sun grew brighter, heavier, more dangerous. Even Void felt the pressure and staggered back.
Then Aiden changed his approach.
The expansion stopped.
The light began to collapse.
Aiden compressed the artificial sun, forcing its unimaginable mass into a shrinking core. The blazing sphere folded inward, growing smaller and smaller, until what remained was a tiny, pitch-bright orb, no larger than a marble.
Yet the power inside it hadn't diminished.
It had multiplied.
The air screamed. Gravity bent. Reality itself strained under the weight of what Aiden was holding.
The Shadow King turned its head slightly.
"…This is beyond a supernova."
Darkness moved.
Before the release, the Shadow King struck its sword into the ground. A rift tore open beneath Aiden, and a Shadow Dimension unfolded around him like a cocoon.
Aiden's body and soul were fully pulled inside, existing entirely within the shadow realm. The battlefield remained visible, but the laws of heat, force, and energy no longer reached him.
He felt nothing.
No pressure.
No heat.
No backlash.
Aiden looked up, calm, unwavering.
"When this drops," he said softly, "it will release energy three times greater than the supernova of a star a hundred times more massive than the sun."
He opened his hand.
"Now—Supernova."
And let the condensed star fall.
The condensed star touched the ground.
There was no explosion at first.
There was silence.
Then the world folded inward.
Light tore through space in a blinding wave, hotter than creation's first breath. The Five Eternal Guards of the Void didn't scream. Their armor, forged beyond time, liquefied instantly, flowing like molten wax before their bodies followed, reduced to drifting ash and glowing fragments.
Eternity ended in less than a heartbeat.
Void stood at the center of it.
The wave hit him last.
His flesh burned, then split. Bones cracked like glass under pressure no body was meant to endure. Organs ruptured, tissues carbonized, scars etched themselves permanently into his form.
This was damage beyond healing.
Void fell to one knee, coughing blood that evaporated before it touched the ground.
"…So this is your answer," he rasped.
Dark energy surged from him as he made a forbidden choice.
"I sacrifice… seventy percent of my remaining lifespan."
Time itself recoiled.
The decay stopped. Not reversed. Stopped.
Void forced himself upright, though nearly a hundred bones were shattered, muscles torn beyond recognition, and vast portions of his body permanently burned. His regeneration was gone. His future shortened to a shadow of what it once was.
But he was still standing.
Barely.
The Shadow Dimension receded.
Aiden stepped back into reality, untouched.
His eyes met Void's, steady and unafraid.
Void's gaze hardened, filled not with rage… but something colder.
"Remember this," Void said, his voice fractured. "You didn't kill me."
He took a broken step forward.
Aiden watched Void take that broken step forward.
Then he exhaled.
The shadows around him began to thin.
"Enough," Aiden said quietly. "You've done more than enough."
The Shadow King turned toward him.
Its presence still bent the air, still screamed of overwhelming power, but now it lowered its sword.
"Command acknowledged," it said.
The shadow dissolved, retreating into silence, leaving the battlefield exposed once more. No shields. No dimensions. No distance between them.
Only two warriors remained.
Aiden tightened his grip on his sword.
Void laughed weakly, blood slipping from the corner of his mouth. "So you're willing to stand here… without hiding."
Aiden stepped forward. "This ends properly."
Void raised his blade.
And they collided.
Steel rang against steel, sharp and raw. No shockwaves followed the clash, no reality-breaking force. Just the brutal sound of swords meeting again and again.
Void fought like a dying god. Every swing was heavy, fueled by stubborn will rather than strength. His shattered bones protested, his burned muscles screamed, yet he refused to slow.
Aiden blocked, countered, pressed forward. Each movement was precise, controlled. His arms burned. His breath shortened. Pain found him where power no longer could.
Void slashed high. Aiden deflected. Void spun, driving his blade toward Aiden's ribs.
Aiden took the hit.
Steel bit into flesh.
He didn't retreat.
Instead, he stepped closer.
The two locked blades, faces inches apart.
"You could've ruled everything," Void snarled. "You chose this instead."
Aiden pushed back, muscles shaking. "I chose to end you."
Void roared and forced his sword down, but his body finally betrayed him. His knee buckled.
Just once.
That was enough.
Aiden broke the lock, turned with the motion, and drove his sword forward.
The blade pierced Void's chest cleanly.
Void froze.
His sword slipped from his fingers, clattering uselessly to the ground.
For a moment, he simply stared at Aiden, eyes wide, breath hitching.
"…So this is the last thing I see." Void whispered.
Aiden pulled the sword free.
Void collapsed.
No light. No resurrection. No time left to trade.
His body hit the ground, and the void within him finally went silent.
Aiden stood over him, chest rising and falling, blood dripping from his blade. Around them lay melted armor, scorched land, and the stillness of a battle that would never be undone.
He closed his eyes.
Not in victory.
But in finality.
Then Aiden turned away and walked forward, leaving Void behind.
The Void force started vanishing as soon as Void died. They were dependent on his power; with him gone forever, the force that had conquered planets now vanished.
Next Chapter: At Last