As his hand reached for her head, Stella came back to her senses and quickly pushed backwards, leaving the X seal in the middle once more. The void snarled in frustration at seeing that same irritating technique again.
The little light began to expand in front of him, and he dashed out quickly before it erupted, tearing through everything around it, followed by that same haunting crying sound that echoed across the place.
The void touched his cracked skin, reminded of the damage she had inflicted earlier .
Stella looked at the direction of where the void stood, with anger in her face and clenched teeth. She borrowed strength she didn't know she still had. Ignoring the seal placed on her, she stretched her hands forward, and her palms glowed green.
Suddenly the ground beneath her split open, erupting with a yellow light that shot in a horizontal line, moving fast, tearing through everything in its path as it raced toward the void.
But as she did that, the seal began to work against her. The more she used her power, the more the seal tore her apart.
Tiny branches spread out from the seal still on her, crawling across her, locking down her power source and slowing her movements. Her heartbeat grew faint, each thump heavy, echoing in her ears. She could feel it in her chest, in her throat, even in her mouth. Death wasn't too far.
She fell to her knees, blood spilling from her mouth as she coughed. Her vision blurred, but she could still make out the blood dripping across her trembling hand.
Her Izigan tattoo flickered weakly, glowing in faint green pulses. Her will to fight hadn't broken yet. Forcing one knee back up, she tried to stand, ready to regain her balance.
This stunned the void. For a moment, he hesitated, watching her. She even smiled, though weak, as he approached.
"I know what it's like," he said. "The dying warrior who doesn't want to fall like a coward. You'd rather stand while you die than collapse. But there's no need. You have my respect. You are the strongest of them all."
But before he could reach her, in just a few meters away, something else stirred. Unnoticed but powerful, fast yet strangely slow, it was like time itself had bent. Tiny sparks of lightning lifted the rocks around them.
Dust twisted in the air, turning sharp, toxic, dangerous. The whole place was bathed in a faint blue hue. The lightning pressure increased, crackling violently, sprouting from every metal shard, rock, and broken glass. And then, in an instant, a lightning strike shot down, piercing the void.
It happened within seconds, too fast for him to react. The strike hit with a sharp explosion, ripping apart the ground and throwing a storm of dust and debris into the air. From the smoke, the void was blasted backward, crashing into the rubble.
But that wasn't the end. From where the lightning had struck, strands of lightning coiled and twisted together, moving like veins of living plasma.
Out of that storm, Kenneth's form emerged. His entire body burned in lightning, like his flesh had become raw plasma itself. In his hand, he carried a bolt, a long, violent spear of blue lightning. Without hesitation, he hurled it at the void.
The void dodged at the very last moment, but even so, the blast tore through everything it touched, leaving blackened, charred debris across the ground. It didn't stop there.
The lightning storm continued, each strike chasing the void as he darted with incredible speed, barely slipping away from the endless bombardment.
Still, he couldn't escape unscathed. The tear at his shoulder widened, the crack across his skin spreading. That earlier strike from Kenneth had left its mark, and the void could feel it, his body wouldn't hold much longer.
Kenneth landed on the ground, his eyes glowing bright blue, the same with the tattoo across his body. His face was cold, unreadable, as he stared down the void from a distance. He knew this had to be the attack that finished it.
In a flash, he moved. His speed left streaks of light across the ground as he shot forward, right hand aimed to pierce. He struck, the void barely raising his barrier in time.
The moment they collided, everything slowed, the impact shrieked with a painful sound, like glass tearing. The ground beneath them split into thousands of pieces, rocks and ruins ripped apart in an instant.
The force was overwhelming. Kenneth's attack tore through the void's barrier, smashing it apart. When the dust settled, the void was left broken, his right arm severed and burnt, half his body charred to ash. But he still stood.
Kenneth, however, lay on the ground nearby, drained. The void staggered toward him, burnt face revealing bone, even down to his teeth. He reached down with his only remaining arm, lifting Kenneth.
"Now you are mine."
Before he could begin the possession, Kenneth's body dissolved into a black, shadowy mass, slipping free from his grip. The ground beneath them darkened, turning to shadow. The rocks around them sank into black pits. Above them, the barrier Izigans who had been holding the shield finally collapsed, drained to exhaustion, unable to hold it any longer.
In Galaxia, alarms rang. The gauge of cosmic energy reached its highest point, the holographic screen flashing red.
[600,000 Meganuwits].
Kate's eyes widened. It was the highest reading ever recorded. Around her, the others stared in disbelief as everything began turning black.
On Earth, the clouds twisted into a massive, dark sphere, climbing into the sky until it swallowed the sun. The land below was cast in shadow, like an eclipse. The void tilted his head, watching, knowing something dangerous was coming.
Henk stared at the screen. He looked down, then raised his head slowly, taking a deep breath.
"The Death Eclipse…" he whispered.
"Construct reality. Merge in reality. Art of Cosmic Alliance: Death Eclipse."
Lord Tim's voice declared.
The void looked again, surprised at the figure that appeared. His battle suit was gone, replaced by a body covered in rocky, metallic skin, glowing with cracks of lava-like light. His face was hidden beneath a black metallic mask.
"I can't believe it… is that....?" Brian stammered, his eyes wide, shock written across his face.
"The lava skin of the Lava Clan," Henk explained. "Yes, he learned it from them long ago. But this… this is the first time he's used it."
"Lord Tim has made a desperate bargain with his own life. The Death Eclipse and the Lava Skin combined, that's his last strength. He would attempt the sealing ritual of the old days, to draw the Cosmo Cell directly out of the void. If he fail, his energy would burn out, and he would die" Henk added.
The void chuckled, amused, as Tim walked toward him. Each step was heavy, like a soldier marching to his final battle.
Dark energy swirled around him, but the void felt his own power weaken. Looking up, he realized, the black mass above, blocking the sun, was suppressing him.
He laughed bitterly, then eyed Tim's approach.
"This technique… it's different from your construct reality," the void thought. "This is your last card. The power you hold is impressive… but how far will you go just to stop what is right?"
He tried to attack, but two rods shot from Tim's direction, piercing both his shoulders. The impact slammed him against a black wall. In rage, the void released a corrosive beam of purple light, but Tim raised his arm. The beam struck, only to bounce off the lava skin.
The void growled, breaking the rods, but the damage was done. His body cracked further, crumbling at the edges. Suddenly, black hands clawed from the ground, grabbing and dragging him down.
He roared, releasing a shockwave that forced them back, then dashed forward, aura sharp like blades. He slashed at Tim, but his armor held.
Desperate, he condensed his aura into a single dagger, glass-like, tipped in purple, and struck, only for Tim to catch it and crush it into shards.
The void fell, his body failing. A hand clamped around his neck, lifting him high. He stared into the black, eerie mask of Lord Tim.
Tim raised his other hand, which dissolved into smoke, and pressed it to the void's chest. Slowly, he began to push inside, reaching for the Cosmo Cell, the source of every cosmic being.
The void struggled as Tim's hand sank deeper, slowed by the dense resistance of his core. Tim's mask cracked on one side, revealing his face beneath, sweat dripping, his strength fading fast.
Their eyes locked. The void smiled faintly, but Tim stayed focused. Around them, the world shifted back to normal. The black sun faded into clouds once more.
"He did it," Henk said quietly, smiling as he stepped away from the screen.
"Captains, deploy," he ordered. The captains rushed into their mini-ships, descending from orbit toward Earth.
Until…