The night air was heavy, the stars above faintly pulsing as if they too sensed what was coming. Loryn stood in the scarred training ground, his sword still at his side, breath ragged after hours of endless practice. Alther's voice lingered in his mind:
"Before you chase the stars, learn to stand firmly on the ground."
But then it came.
A gaze. Heavy. Eternal.
It wrapped around him like chains of fire, suffocating yet cold as the void. His skin prickled, and the sword in his hand trembled. Even Alther, standing nearby, froze as if the weight of entire galaxies had pressed against his chest.
From the shadows, a figure stepped forward. His robe shimmered with constellations, every fold birthing stars and swallowing them again. His eyes reflected the infinity of creation, and his hair glowed with a blue flame that danced against the darkness.
The Omni King. His father.
"...Father." The word slipped from Loryn's lips, but his voice did not shake.
The King's tone was calm, yet it carried the authority of existence itself.
"You've grown restless, my son. Two months remain before the Academy's trials. You will enter."
Loryn's fists clenched around his sword hilt. His chest burned, but he spoke firmly.
"I will enter the Academy. But not as your son. Not as the heir of Infinity. I want to stand on my own."
The King's expression barely shifted, only the faintest trace of a smile flickering across his lips.
"Such arrogance… or perhaps resolve."
Then the world trembled.
With a mere thought, the Omni King released one percent of his power.
The result was catastrophic.
The ground split open, veins of light carving through the earth like molten rivers. The training ground's unbreakable marble—famed across the Omniverse for enduring eternity—shattered like brittle glass. Each fragment floated in the air, suspended by the weight of his aura before collapsing into dust.
The sky itself buckled, stars flickering as if about to be snuffed out. Even distant dimensions quivered under the pressure, their borders screaming in protest.
Alther, a Sixth-Rank Chakra Cultivator, staggered violently, his knees buckling. His sword arm trembled as he raised a defensive barrier around himself, but it shattered instantly. Blood seeped from the corners of his mouth as he gasped.
This is… only one percent?
Loryn dropped to one knee, his chest heaving as blood spilled from his lips. His bones creaked under the invisible weight pressing against him, every muscle screaming to yield. But he refused. His gaze stayed fixed on his father's, his will unshaken even as his body broke.
And then—
"ENOUGH!"
A golden radiance burst into existence, clashing violently against the King's aura. The shockwave that followed sent cracks racing across the earth, the entire training ground imploding inwards. The sky split open like shattered glass, exposing rivers of raw cosmic energy before stitching itself back together.
She descended like the sun itself.
Her hair blazed gold, each strand a river of light, and her eyes glowed with the same eternal brilliance Loryn carried. Her presence was fierce yet graceful, divine yet terrifying. The Omni Queen.
She knelt at Loryn's side first, lifting his chin gently. Her golden aura shielded him, and the blood at his lips made her expression harden like steel.
"You dare," her voice thundered, shaking the palace walls, "to wound my son?"
She rose to her full height, and with a single breath, released one percent of her own power.
The clash was immediate.
Two titanic forces collided, the Omni King's aura of infinite depth against the Omni Queen's blazing radiance. Reality tore apart where they met. Dimensions warped and folded, creating endless echoes of themselves before collapsing back into nothing. The ground became molten from the sheer energy, and even time stuttered—moments repeating, skipping, and breaking under the strain.
Alther fell flat to the ground, his arms shielding his face, his cultivation barely enough to keep him conscious. His voice was a hoarse whisper:
Monsters… they are monsters beyond comprehension…
The Omni Queen's voice rang clear, cutting through the chaos.
"You know well, husband, that in the entire Omniverse, I am the only one who stands on equal footing with you. And yet you dare unleash your power upon our son?"
The King's eyes narrowed, his aura steady, calm amidst the storm.
"It was a test. He seeks to stand on his own—then he must endure the weight of power itself."
But the Queen's fury blazed hotter. Her golden aura roared, pushing the King's back, tearing the sky in half.
"Test him again, and your opponent will not be the boy—" her gaze sharpened, her power surging until even distant realms felt it—"but me."
For a moment, father and mother stood locked, their power shaking the foundation of creation. Galaxies trembled. Realms flickered. Countless lives across infinity felt a chill without knowing why.
And in the center of that storm stood Loryn—bloodied, trembling, yet smiling faintly.
His body may have been crushed. His bones may have cried out. But his spirit… his spirit burned brighter than ever.