Vexar floated high in the tormented skies of Ebon, the Ninth Era world cracking beneath the onslaught like an ancient egg under a hammer.
Below, his shadowy legion—millions of Peak Void Emperors and Early Cosmic Overlords—moved like a living eclipse, devouring the Radiant Order's forces. Holy armadas shattered in bursts of fading light, warriors in solar plate screaming as void tendrils pierced their hearts, their radiant auras snuffed out like candles in a gale.
The air reeked of ozone and charred essence, the ground a churning sea of blood and shadow where the fallen rose anew, twisted into loyal darkness bound to Vexar's soul.
His smile never faded—bright, almost innocent—as he watched the massacre unfold.
The Radiant Order's millions of Void Emperors fought valiantly, light blades clashing against shadow claws in explosions that lit the darkening skies, but without their Cosmic Overlord, it was futile. One by one, souls fed his army, the shadows growing denser, hungrier.
"Enough watching," Vexar murmured to himself, eyes gleaming with psychotic delight.
He activated another talent—above Paragon rank, absurd and broken: Shadow Sovereign Borrow.
His will latched onto Vorath, the hulking Early Cosmic Overlord general below—borrowing his power temporarily, essence flooding Vexar like a dark torrent.
Strength surged as Vexar instantly stepped into Cosmic Overlord stage for three minutes, raw physical might, though no conceptual laws accompanied it. His body rippled, shadows coiling thicker, aura pressing the skies until clouds parted.
He descended like a falling star—crashing into the Radiant lines.
A group of Void Emperors turned—light spears launching in unison, holy barriers flaring.
Vexar chuckled, a casual swipe of his hand sending shadow-charged power through the air, shattering barriers like brittle glass and scattering bodies in bursts of light and blood.
He cut through the ranks like a scythe through wheat, fists smashing through armor, shadows swirling to snatch souls mid-fall. When a warrior charged with a glowing sword, Vexar caught the blade in his bare hand, crushing both steel and flesh before slamming the man into the ground, shattering the earth as the soul rose, dark and devoted.
"More!" he bellowed, a wild grin stretching across his face as he hurled himself into a phalanx of thousands—shadowy punches surging outward, bodies collapsing, light auras snuffed out in rolling waves.
His subordinates fueled the chaos—Nyxara crafting void-born tactics that funneled Radiant forces into deadly traps, Elyssar storing souls for future resurrection, and Vorath (his strength borrowed yet undiminished) shattering battalions with thunderous blows.
The Radiant Order collapsed—millions fading into shadows, the world sinking into darkness as light gave way.
Vexar drifted through the shattered skies of Ebon, the Ninth Era world's atmosphere tearing apart in ragged breaths while continents below collapsed like overripe fruit under crushing cosmic weight.
He was soaked in the white, luminescent blood of Radiant Order cultivators—glowing ichor splashed across his shadowplate armor, vivid against the green-veined skin that throbbed with stolen power.
The air stank of ozone, scorched light-essence, and the metallic bite of divine gore, while the ground churned into ash and dimming radiance as his legion harvested souls without hesitation.
His eyes—cold, calculating, their psychotic glint buried deep—lifted toward the void above, where warped starlight marked the battle in orbit. Nyxara, Elyssar, and Vorath—his Early Cosmic Overlord lieutenants—were locked against the Radiant Order's final stronghold: a Peak Cosmic Overlord Ancestor whose light could nourish galaxies.
His last rush of borrowed power had faded, dropping him to Calamity rank, but he kept himself in the fight by cycling through his Void Emperor subordinates, each three-minute burst fueling the slaughter. "Not this time, bastard," he muttered, voice low and venomous, a twisted smile forming as he extended his will.
He drew from Nyxara and Elyssar at once—two dark currents surging through him like twin black rivers, his power soaring to the Late Cosmic Overlord stage. His body shuddered—shadows thickening, veins lit with an emerald-black glow, his aura forcing the surrounding darkness to bow.
In the next instant, he disappeared—space folding quietly around the tear he left behind.
----
Outside Ebon's orbit, the void was a maelstrom of light and shadow.
The Radiant Order's Ancestor, Luminar Eternal, hovered like a living star with twelve wings of blazing solar fire spread wide, his armor gleaming like molten sunlight and his staff radiating galaxy-sustaining power. His face burned with desperate fury, holy light rippling in waves that bent space, eyes glowing white-hot as he fought the three shadows.
Nyxara, wove cloaks of darkness to hide her strikes, her voice a silken whisper laced with madness.
Vorath, struck with earth-shaking punches that cracked Luminar's defenses, each blow like a quake in the void.
Elyssar, lashed out with tendrils of darkness, their whip-like strikes swallowing every trace of light.
They barely held on—Luminar's Stellar Law: Eternal Radiant Dominion at Stage 4—light surging through him to black-hole density, each staff swing hurling Nyxara back in bursts like novas, wings blazing to cleanse Vorath's blows with searing brilliance, and chains of light snapping around Elyssar's tendrils mid-strike.
Nyxara grimaced, shadows fraying. "He's too strong—hold the line!"
Vorath roared, armor plates cracking under a blast of light. "Push!"
Elyssar's chorus murmured, tendrils snapping beneath heavy chains. "We have him!"
Luminar's face twisted with desperation, veins bulging as light surged. "Your shadows end here!"
He began to channel his Stage 3 Absolute Precept—holy essence condensing, mouth opening to declare it.
Before he could speak, space tore open behind him.
Vexar appeared, spear lancing forward like void lightning.
Beheaded....
Luminar's head was severed cleanly—eyes wide in shock, body convulsing as its radiance guttered out.
Vexar landed lightly, spear dripping white blood. "No reviving, buddy."
He motioned to Nyxara—freed from her pin, she rose.
"Hurry, use your precept and end this fool."
Nyxara nodded, shadows curling around her.... then she channeled her core aspect: Annihilation.
|Absolute Precept—Proclamation of Void Eradication|
Her voice, velvet over steel: "All that was… is no more."
A unique skill took shape—Annihilation Echo—shadow waves surging outward, erasing Luminar's body and essence entirely, wiping away even the memory of him from reality.
The battle was over.
Vexar smiled.
The Radiant Order lay broken.