Life is born from the stars—that is the gentleness of a star.
But the Day of Destruction is the side of the stars that embodies annihilation.
And the most destructive force a star can wield lies in its energy and heat.
On a star's surface, temperatures can reach tens of millions of degrees—enough to obliterate all forms of life.
Even the War Foundries that forged the Antimatter Legion barely reach the temperatures of a star's outer shell at their core.
Yet the Day of Destruction didn't stop there—it brought forth the heat from a star's very core, temperatures soaring to hundreds of millions of degrees.
At such extremes, no living creature could possibly survive.
And yet, within that incinerating sea of starfire, under the unfathomable heat of the Day of Destruction, a massive silhouette shimmered in brilliant white light as it soared.
It was a Doomsday Beast—a creature once known for its power to obliterate entire civilizations.
Its armor was in tatters, wings riddled with holes, yet it drifted through the inferno without faltering.
The reason it could move within the Day of Destruction was due to the power of another Aeon.
The cataclysm had been forged by Nanook; only by channeling the power of a rival Aeon could anything hope to endure it.
The silver-white radiance that wrapped around its body clashed starkly against the blazing orange energy of the Day of Destruction.
It was the light of the Hunt—Lan's power.
A will born not from vengeance, but from a desire to carry its comrade away from this place.
The force once known solely for narrow vengeance now had a new purpose: to protect, to save.
Inside its claws, wrapped in pitch darkness—unbreachable, like a shell—lay Hoshigaki Sora, now transformed into Fang Joker GoldXtreme.
The beast's claws formed a shield around him, blocking out the outside world. But Sora couldn't afford to focus on his surroundings.
A voice still echoed beside his ear.
[We'll get you… out of here…]
That unwavering resolve to fight alongside his allies had pushed Sora to this new peak. Fang Joker GoldXtreme—a form born from unity and will.
They had fulfilled their mission, resolved their regrets, and were now using the last remnants of their collective consciousness to send him away.
This was no mere tactic.
It was obsession.
A singular, burning will—to get him out of this place, even at the cost of their own lives.
Can they really do it…?
The sudden shift in events caught Sora off guard.
It seemed the Doomsday Beast, a creature of the Antimatter Legion, had some innate resistance to the energies of the Day of Destruction.
If that was true… then maybe, just maybe, the two of them could really—
But just as Sora began to envision the future, the Doomsday Beast violently jolted!
Like a plane hitting sudden turbulence, the force was so strong that Sora's feet briefly left the ground.
"What the—" he steadied himself, relying on Fang's instincts.
But this tremor… it wasn't a good sign.
Suddenly, it clicked.
Could it be—the second energy surge of the Day of Destruction has started?
Indeed. As Sora feared, the Day of Destruction had entered its second phase.
The energy wave expanded at terrifying speed, instantly sweeping across the entire area—and catching up to the flying beast.
The silver-white light from the Hunt that had shielded the Doomsday Beast was immediately weakened, over half of it stripped away.
Without that shielding, its massive body was exposed to the raw incineration of the Day of Destruction.
Shhhhhh—!
A faint sizzling filled the air.
The beast's vast frame began to steam under the heat, the protective glow dimming rapidly with no sign of recovery.
They were part of this planet. And now, as the Day of Destruction devoured Camille from its planetary core, that foundation was vanishing.
The radiance they depended on flickered like moonlight overtaken by clouds.
The second expansion wave of the Day of Destruction arrived in an instant.
Raging crimson-orange flames surged like the fires of hell.
The hundreds of millions of degrees inside a stellar core incinerated everything it touched.
Even the beast's once-impervious armor began to flake away.
But even then, it only trembled slightly.
No cries. It had to reserve all its strength for flight.
Its only mission now: get him out of here.
With a final flash, its speed surged again.
But amid the heat, its form began to distort.
This creature—once indestructible on other worlds—now began to warp under the heat.
Its glow dimmed, piece by piece. As Camille crumbled, the power of the Hunt faded with it.
Even its wings disintegrated into ash.
Its silver armor shed in fragments, revealing liquefying flesh beneath… until even the bones melted away, becoming nothing.
Only one part of its body remained untouched—
The arms.
The arms made for destruction—its strongest, most fortified limbs—were now the cradle for its precious friend.
---
From space, Planet Camille was unrecognizable.
All that remained was a blazing mass of orange-gold energy, endlessly expanding.
It burned so brightly it drowned out the nearby sun.
Even from five light-years away, it would be visible—this radiant, new "star."
The whole star system paled under its brilliance.
Yet amid the golden blaze, a shadow appeared.
Tiny. Insignificant.
But also jarringly out of place.
And it didn't fade—instead, it deepened.
Then, a figure burst free from the light.
Bu Yi's ship instantly picked up the signal.
Hoshigaki Sora's physical data was still intact. There was no doubt.
It was him.
But when the image appeared on the screen, Bu Yi couldn't say a word.
The screen showed only a blackened mass—its original form unrecognizable.
No light. Only charred remains, smoldering.
The chill of space froze its burning wings, which shattered into drifting fragments.
Yet even as a scorched husk, one part of it still glowed brightly—
The arms.
Still intact. Still shining.
There was no mistaking it—that was where it had protected Sora the most.
Bu Yi couldn't even pinpoint Sora's exact position—the creature itself still radiated the aura of the Hunt.
"No matter what… you're still our friend."
Bu Yi moved the ship forward to retrieve him.
But just then—the Day of Destruction expanded again.
This time, it was different. Faster. It swallowed entire asteroid belts in an instant.
The third expansion had begun.
The charred beast felt it, too.
Danger was approaching again. It tried to move toward the ship.
Safety was there. If it could just get Sora onto that ship, then everything would be okay.
But its body could no longer move.
Its wings were gone—burned away from high heat to freezing vacuum.
It… had lost the ability to fly.
The Doomsday Beast, strongest weapon of the Antimatter Legion. The planet-slayer.
Its body once blotted out the sky; its wings let it soar through galaxies.
Had it still had wings, even this vast distance would take just a single beat.
But now… it was insurmountable.
The searing blaze crept closer from behind.
It couldn't feel pain anymore—but the energy of the Destruction Aeon was all too familiar.
The ship couldn't come any closer. The magnetic field had been thrown into chaos by the Day of Destruction.
If it tried, it would just become more fuel for the expanding apocalypse.
Everything seemed to be at its end.
In this endless void, the Doomsday Beast—like the Aeon of Destruction it served—was about to be consumed.
The final destination of Destruction… is destruction itself.
But—
There was one last way.
Boothill stared silently at the Doomsday Beast before him.
If he could, he would've fired three shots to honor its passing.
But he couldn't.
So instead, he closed his mouth, afraid to stain the moment with any ill-chosen word.
"…It's a Galaxy Ranger," Bu Yi said softly.
He understood now—he understood what the Doomsday Beast was about to do.
[WARNING: Target's antimatter core entering high volatility. Detonation imminent.]
The ship's system delivered the report in its cold, mechanical voice.
The silver glow of the Hunt wrapped around Sora's body, forming a protective shell.
The beast slowly opened its arms.
And in the power of the Aeon, Sora survived in open space.
He saw the starlit sky.
He saw, far in the distance, a tiny ship—no bigger than a grain of rice.
"That far, huh? Partner… take me a little further…"
Sora readied himself to transform again and fly.
But when he turned and saw the beast's current state, he fell silent.
Except for those still-glowing arms, there was nothing left that resembled his comrade.
Yet in response to his gaze, the Doomsday Beast raised its right hand—designed for destruction—and made a distinctly human gesture.
✌️
Two fingers raised.
It was saying it had done it.
I didn't break my promise. I got you out.
The next moment, a blinding white light burst from the core of its antimatter engine!
Wooooom—!
There was no sound in the vacuum of space.
Only force.
Like a hand, gently but firmly pushing Sora toward the waiting ship.