The wasteland stretched endlessly before Paulo, a scorched desert of bone-white sand and shattered relics.
The Obsidian Gate shimmered in the distance.
A towering arch of celestial metal that pulsed with radiant energy.
Beyond it lay the Skydome, a sanctuary of light, knowledge, and power.
Paulo's destination.
His mission.
His only chance to warn the other Monarchs.
He ran with purpose, his aura flaring with cosmic radiation, each step leaving behind a faint trail of glowing particles.
The wind howled around him, carrying whispers of ancient battles and the scent of decay. Time was running out.
Then the ambush came.
From beneath the dunes, shadows erupted, humanoid figures cloaked in bone armour and stitched flesh, their eyes glowing with necrotic fire.
Momo's elite vanguard.
Each one a twisted masterpiece of death magic, forged in the crypts of the Shadow Realms.
Paulo did not slow.
He raised his hand, and a pulse of radiation burst outward, vaporizing the nearest attackers.
The others charged, blades drawn, spells crackling. But Paulo was a Monarch, not just any Monarch, but the Cosmic Vessel, the embodiment of stellar fury.
He moved like a supernova.
One swipe of his arm sent a wave of gamma energy through the battlefield, disintegrating two more foes.
He ducked beneath a spear, countered with a burst of ultraviolet light, and shattered the attacker's form into dust.
A necromancer tried to bind him with chains of soulsteel, Paulo melted them with a glance.
In less than a minute, the ambush was over.
The sand settled. The air grew still. Paulo stood alone, surrounded by the ashes of his enemies.
Then the temperature dropped.
The sky darkened.
And the gate, once glowing, flickered.
She arrived.
Momo Yokoyama.
The Monarch of Death.
The Female Grim Reaper.
Her presence was like a void in reality, a tear in the fabric of existence.
She floated above the dunes, her skeletal wings spread wide, her scythe trailing wisps of soul energy.
Her robes billowed unnaturally, stitched from the shadows of forgotten souls.
Paulo's heart pounded. Not from fear, but from the sheer gravity of her power.
"Momo," he said, his voice steady.
She smiled, her lips pale and cracked, "You have grown strong, Cosmic Vessel. But strength means nothing in the face of entropy."
Paulo raised his hands, energy crackling around him, "You won't stop me."
Momo descended slowly, her feet never touching the ground. "I already have."
She raised her scythe, and the bones beneath the sand began to stir.
A massive skeletal serpent erupted from the earth, its eyes glowing with cursed fire.
The gate behind Paulo dimmed further, its energy siphoned by Momo's presence.
Paulo did not flinch.
He launched himself forward, a comet of radiation, striking the serpent's skull with a blast of neutron fire.
The beast reeled, but Momo was already casting, a wave of death magic surged toward Paulo, warping the air, aging the sand, withering the bones.
He countered with a shield of cosmic light, the two forces colliding in a storm of brilliance and decay.
The ground cracked.
The sky screamed.
And the duel began.
***
Without warning, Momo lunged.
Her Blood Scythe cleaved through the air, sending a wave of blood-forged energy toward Paulo.
But he vanished, reappearing behind her in a blink, his katana slicing a trail of cosmic light.
She barely twisted in time, the blade grazing her ribs. Blood sprayed, but she grinned.
"Good. Make me bleed," Momo laughed mockingly,
She activated Blood Manipulation, her veins glowing crimson.
Her speed surged, matching Paulo's copied light-speed movements.
The desert became a blur of red and silver as they clashed, each strike sending shockwaves that shattered the obsidian spires around them.
Elsewhere, Riku Masusa lay half-buried in the sand, his body broken, his light daggers shattered beside him.
His battle with Aliya Akamine, the Mistress of Shadows, had left him barely breathing.
He watched the distant flashes of light and blood, whispering Paulo's name, "You have to make it… Leader…"
Back at the gate, Momo's scythe locked with Paulo's katana.
She twisted, forcing him back, then unleashed Death Scythe, a soul-rending arc of energy.
Paulo's body flickered, his Copy ability mimicking the attack just long enough to redirect it skyward. The clouds split open, raining black lightning.
Suddenly, the shadows around them thickened. A cold laugh echoed, "You didn't think I'd let you two have all the fun, did you?"
Aliya Akamine emerged from a pool of darkness, her Shadow Katana drawn. She stepped beside Momo, her presence doubling the pressure in the air. The two women stood united, death and shadow incarnate.
"Two on one," Aliya smirked, "Even for you, Paulo, that's suicide."
Paulo's eyes narrowed, "Then I'll die standing."
The battle exploded.
Aliya's shadows lashed out like serpents, trying to bind Paulo's limbs. Momo charged with a blood-fuelled roar.
Paulo blurred between them, his Three-Section Staff spinning in a cosmic cyclone, deflecting attacks from both sides.
He copied Aliya's Shadow Manipulation for a second, using it to vanish into the darkness, only to reappear behind Momo and land a devastating Death Slice across her back.
She screamed, collapsing to one knee. But her Ultra Regeneration kicked in, her wounds sealing with a hiss of steam.
Aliya struck next, her katana infused with pure shadow.
Paulo blocked, but the force sent him skidding back, feet carving trenches in the sand.
He was fast, too fast to hit but even he was beginning to tire.
His energy reserves were draining.
"You're slowing down," Aliya whispered, shadows crawling up her arms, "You can't keep this up forever."
Paulo did not answer. He closed his eyes, breathing deeply. Then, he vanished.
For a moment, silence.
Then a boom, Paulo reappeared above them, katana raised, glowing with the combined energy of Light Manipulation, Shadow, and Blood, all copied in a single, desperate burst.
"Cosmic Finality."
He descended like a meteor, slamming into the ground with a blinding explosion.
The desert floor cracked, a crater forming beneath them. Momo and Aliya were thrown back, their bodies scorched and broken.
But Paulo collapsed too, gasping. His energy was nearly gone. His Ultra Regeneration flickered. He crawled toward the gate, blood trailing behind him.
From the dunes, Riku stirred. He saw Paulo crawling, saw the gate pulsing.
"Get up… Paulo… you're almost there…"
Aliya rose, barely standing, her body wrapped in shadows. Momo followed, limping, her scythe dragging.
"You're not going through that gate," Momo growled.
Paulo looked up, eyes burning with starlight.
"Watch me."
He surged forward, katana in hand, one final charge. The three clashed in a final, blinding collision of cosmic, shadow, and death energy.