★63
ASTERI'S POV
It flew faster than before closing the distance, smacking me away with its tail.
'On guard, yet I took this damage.'
I slammed into the edge of the barrier. My body was burning, not with fire, but with the black mist. It seared straight through my flesh. The pain was unbearable, but I refused to cry out.
When I looked up, I saw it, a single black feather, floating at the centre of the barrier. An eerie violet eye blinked at its core, staring directly at me.
I surged upward, swinging my sword with all my strength.
'This must be the source.'
But my strike were completely harmless as if hitting nothing. The man and the wyvern didn't move to attack. They simply watched, unblinking and patient. Every technique I tried, every spell, every slash, met the same impenetrable resistance. Nothing worked.
The feather was untouchable. The beast darted faster than ever, closing the distance in an instant. The tail struck me squarely, hurling me backward with a bone-jarring impact.
"You think a mere star like you can destroy the Violet Vortex's feather?"
'Violet Vortex? Lady Elara once told me that name. Who bore that title?'
I tired to recall anything but nothing came up. Such information weren't available in this vessel.
"Never heard of the bat's name."
I replied, trying to provoke him.
"This won't go unpunished. I, Wrym Lord, a Dark God, will deliver the punishment myself. Release."
As if deciding to end it all right here and now, the misty wyvern suddenly detonated, its form erupting into a violent storm of black vapour.
The Wyrm Lord stood at the heart of the explosion, unflinching, as the raging mist coiled around him and began to sink into his body.
He absorbed it all, every drop of that corrupt essence. The world trembled under the pressure. Though his appearance didn't change much, the aura he released was staggering, vast enough to crush the air itself.
'A Dark God keh?'
"This will be fun."
Sword in hand, I shot into the air and swung, unleashing the same strike, but this time, he caught it effortlessly with one hand. His other fist slammed into me a heartbeat later, the impact hurling me through the air like a rag doll.
Before I could recover, he was already there. His left arm rose, and a massive magic circle flared to life, spinning once before unleashing a storm of lavender bolts. I threw up my hand to counter, but I was too late.
One of the bolts struck dead-on, driving me into the ground and pinning me there as the earth cracked beneath me.
'An attack I can't nullify? Shooting stars!'
I cursed.
"Not only did you seal my Mega Arts, but all my instincts Arts aren't working."
'My mastery over the Dark Art is extremely low... but that's the only choice.'
"I'll take the risk!"
I roared, unleashing a surge of dark aura that tore through the restraints instantly. The explosion of power shattered the ground beneath me, and the searing energy burned through everything in its path.
My wounds closed in an instant, flesh and bone knitting together under the overwhelming force. The grey armour clinging to my body couldn't withstand it and melted away, disintegrating as my aura raged unchecked.
"A star wielding both darkness and Mega Arts...? A Twin Star?"
For the first time, fear flickered in his expression before he masked it with a smirk.
"If Magos couldn't finish you, then I will."
My body pulsed as a chaotic aura erupted from within, warping the air around me. I lunged forward and drove my fist into him. He raised his arms to block, but the impact shattered the ground beneath his feet and sent him flying across the battlefield like a broken meteor.
Before his body could stabilise, I vanished, space folding in on itself, and reappeared behind him, my knuckles crashing into his spine with a deafening shockwave.
(Cliche move.)
In answer, the air screamed. Glowing amethyst magic circles blossomed around me in layered formations, spinning and overlapping with precise hostility.
From them, spectral chains burst forth, snapping through space like predatory vipers. I ripped through the first wave, shards of light scattering, but they kept coming, endless and merciless. They wrapped around my limbs, pierced through flesh and bone, locking me in place.
Every movement sent white-hot agony through my body as the chains tightened, forming a suffocating lattice around me.
He snapped his fingers. The chains flared crimson, their runes igniting at once, and detonated. The world collapsed into blinding light and raw pain. My nerves screamed, my body convulsed, and sensation drowned into static as my consciousness began to slip, fraying at the edges. Another moment like that, and I would lose myself completely.
I slammed into the ground, the impact carving a crater beneath me. The sky spun violently as I forced my eyes open.
Above, he was, suspended in the air, amethyst flames spiralling together in his palm, condensing into a razor-sharp spear that radiated annihilation.
"Begun."
His voice was flat, absolute. He hurled it downward.
The spear struck, and the ruins were erased in a cataclysmic blast, fire and force swallowing everything. When the dust finally settled, I was still standing, shaking, bloodied, barely held together. My vision swam, but a smile crept across my face.
I couldn't see him anymore. But I could feel him.
He conjured another spear, his eyes burning with disgust.
"Still holding on to that aura even though your defeat's already written? Wipe that smirk off your damn face!"
The spear whistled through the air. I barely sidestepped, the blast scorching past my cheek. My legs moved on instinct, running in a wide circle, dragging the air with trails of smoke as I charged what little aura I had left.
I fired arrow after arrow, each one a concentrated beam of destruction. But the moment they met the black mist swirling around his body, they withered erased without sound or light.
"Useless... just useless."
He mocked, voice echoing through the ravaged land.
I ignored him, channelling everything into a single motion. A black sword materialized in my hand. I hurled it with all my strength. To my surprise, it wasn't corroded. It was absorbed. My lips curled into a faint knowing smile.
'Greed.'
Appearing behind him, I unleashed eight daggers infused with Enta's aura, each one screaming through the air.
"Useless!"
He roared again, his energy flaring. The blast of his power sent the daggers spiralling away like dead leaves before he blurred from sight.
The next instant, a crushing uppercut met my chin, launching me skyward. The world spun in silence before his shadow loomed below, his mouth opening, spilling forth a torrent of lavender flames.
I had no time to react. The inferno swallowed me whole, hurling me to the ground. The impact split the scorched terrain, a crater blooming beneath my body.
Smoke rose from my body. My hands trembled as I tried to push myself up, each breath shallow, raw. My aura flickered, fading into silence.
"Can't… let it end here."
I muttered, blood dripping from my lips.
"My journey… is yet to begin."
He slowly walked toward me, each step echoing with disdain. A flaming sword formed in his grasp, its heat distorting the air.
"Still clinging to life?"
He sneered.
"Is this the best a Twin Star can do? The so-called pinnacle of all Stars?"
He mocked.
I lifted my head, eyes dim but defiant, yet unyielding.
...
...
...
THIRD POV
With Asteri absent, Hinata spent most of her time watching the children play or with the Dragons. Although she was worried as Asteri planned to return in three days.
'Did something happen to him? No.'
She shook her head.
'He's strong.. No one can win against him.'
...
...
...
Asteri's hand pressed against the scorched ground, lifting his head with a calm, almost playful smile.
He snapped his fingers. The jagged rocks and shattered earth around him began to stretch and twist, bending unnaturally under his command.
Before the motion could fully manifest, a single, effortless swing from Wyrm cleaved through the distorted terrain. The stretched, twisted rocks shattered instantly, scattering like dust in the wind.
...
...
...
ASTERI'S POV
I braced myself, expecting the fatal blow, but he kicked my head, sending me hurtling through the air. I snapped my fingers and smiled again, the expression unchanged, yet carrying something different this time.
Before the snap, I muttered softly, deliberate and cold.
"Artificial World."
The black daggers on the ground converged, forming an octagonal barrier that enclosed us both. My body began to hover, detached from consciousness, radiating a dark silver light.
'I could've activated it with the points, but this way keeps me on the safer side. An anti-magic barrier holding absolute negation field infused with pure authority.'
"The tables must turn… because I say so."
I opened my eyes, and the moment they met his, a chilling silence fell. Wyrm froze mid-motion, sensing the storm of power about to descend.
I landed on my feet, the ground cracking beneath the impact. My body was whole again, no scars, no trace of the agony from moments before. Only the torn remnants of my clothes whispered that I'd ever been wounded.
The Wyrm's slit-pupiled eyes narrowed; its instincts screamed that something had changed.
"Eradicate!"
He roared.
The feather above pulsed like a dying star before bursting, countless lightning bolts cascaded down in blinding fury, tearing through clouds and stone alike.
But the storm met an unseen wall. Each bolt shattered upon the octagonal barrier surrounding us, the air erupting with the sound of collapsing thunder. The field flared with a cold, divine light, annihilating everything around us everything us.
"Impossible! A low-cost barrier resisted the power of a Dark Nebula?"
My muscles twitched at the mention of a Dark Nebula. Yet, this was an opening I couldn't let go.
With a smirk on my face, I attacked.
"Babylon."
Countless portals tore open across the battlefield, layered and overlapping, each one locking onto Wyrm with lethal precision.
Blades and spears surged from every angle at once. Yet the moment they converged, his form dissolved, collapsing into a drifting mist.
The attacks passed through harmlessly, shredding only empty space. The mist flowed effortlessly between the portals, reforming and dispersing at will, untouchable.
"I don't know how you get to use your Arts, but nothing will work."
He said.
'This is a cheap world to overcome compared to the Cardinal World.'
I snapped my fingers. The Wyrm erupted, its mist-like form scattering violently, only to coalesce moments later into a solid shape a humanoid figure.
"Is that right?"
I asked, the words sharp as the edge of a blade.
A golden Mystic-Class sword shimmered into existence in my palm, its edge humming with celestial star power. Without a word, he lunged. We collided in a violent storm of steel and energy, each strike shaking the air itself. Sparks burst with every exchange, the ground beneath us fracturing under the pressure.
Within moments, the weight of my blows began to tell. His stance faltered, feet's skidding back as he struggled to hold ground, the force behind my swings steadily overwhelming him.
'Nothing has changed about him… yet he's already gaining the upper hand.'
The realisation settled uneasily.
He spread his palm, eyes hardening as countless magic circles bloomed into existence around him. A relentless barrage erupted, spells tearing through the space between us from every direction. I moved without urgency, stepping forward as if the attacks did not exist.
Weapons manifested around me one after another, intercepting the spells mid-flight, some shattering the circles before they could fully form.
"Is this all a Dark God is capable of?"
I asked, my tone calm, almost teasing, as if the chaos around us were nothing more than background noise.
His expression twisted.
"Fine. I'll end this!"
"Thought you'd do that sooner,"
I replied, tightening my grip on the sword as the pressure in the air sharpened.
A low growl rumbled from him. From his mouth, a single sphere began to form, drawing in energy from the surroundings, swelling with every passing second. It compressed abruptly, stabilising atop his tongue. The moment he opened his mouth, a black beam erupted forth, erasing distance as it tore through space.
Amused, I activated Ultimate Skill: False Administrator, rewriting the very flow of speed itself. The sword I brought down carried no energy, no force, yet it split the beam cleanly, carving a silent path through the raging inferno.
At the same time, an unstable black orb flickered into existence on my index finger. I flicked it forward. Wyrm dissolved into mist to absorb the impact, reforming instantly into his humanoid shape.
"Nothing can damage me..."
I closed my fingers.
"Skewer."
My palm remained empty, yet from within Wyrm's body, black spikes erupted outward in a grotesque bloom, impaling flesh and mist alike. His form locked in place, paralysed as the spikes continued to multiply and consume him.
In that instant, countless portals tore open across the sky. Wyverns poured out in droves, hurling themselves at the barrier in a frenzy, their roars shaking heaven and earth.
'They must've noticed his condition and came to help. Well, it's too late anyway.'
I walked through the chaos, step by deliberate step, my presence silencing the storm as my voice cut cleanly through the cacophony.
"I have questions, and I demand answers. Why attack this world?"
Wyrm didn't answer as he was unable to due to the excruciating pain he was experiencing. I touched the spike, and he calmed down a bit.
"I wo... ughh!"
He cried as the pain increased.
"Wrong answer. The pain will only keep increasing. I won't ask a second time."
"I..it's Violet Vortex ..."
"That's not a name."
The pain kicked again, and he let out an agonising cry.
"I...I don't know...the Abyss only uses it's titles. We don't know it's real name..."
'Either way, I'll ask Lady Elara.'
"What's your business with Athena? It doesn't seem like you wanted to kill her."
"I was too tasked eradicate the world and take her to him..."
"To the Violet Vortex?"
"Yeah."
"And you did all this alone?"
"Y... with power to control the wyverns, I picked the strongest and came along."
'Power to control wyverns? According to the new data, wyverns are experimented species drived form dragons. I'd rank them D-Tier within the Void Dragon hierarchy.'
I raised my finger, power coiling at its tip, poised to strike, when Wyrm suddenly shouted back in response, his voice tearing through the moment and halting my attack mid-motion.
"R–rumours say the Violet Vortex is a dragon. I've seen it myself, some of his subordinates are Dragons. True dragons, whose power makes Ancient Power look insignificant. To them, wyverns are nothing more than insects…
After honing my skills, enduring countless evolutions and battles, I finally reached this point. I became what I am now, a Wyvern Lord."
"The concept of dragon's superiority over dyvern is correct. And is Magos also his subordinate?"
I asked with a piercing gaze. Bringing up that name.
'If Magos couldn't finish me off, I will,' he said. So there's a probability Magos is the Dark Star in the Base World.'
"N–no… Magos is on a completely different level from us."
He stammered, the name weighing heavily on his tongue, as if merely uttering it invited ruin.
"Then why claim you could finish me?"
I pressed, my voice calm, unmoved.
"I… I overestimated myself. All wyverns are under my control. I thought that alone was enough."
"Who is Magos working for?"
The question landed like a verdict.
His body began to tremble violently. The air around him distorted, fear leaking from every pore. His jaw quivered, teeth clattering as if resisting an unseen force.
"And describe them,"
I continued, unwavering.
"All of them. The Violet Vortex, Magos, his lord."
The moment stretched. His breathing grew ragged, each inhale sounding like it tore his lungs apart. Pain carved itself into his form, invisible yet absolute. He screamed, the sound raw and desperate, but even agony bent before the terror of speaking too much. His mind was shackled tighter than his body.
"H–his… his name is… Di—"
The feather moved. It had been floating silently until now, a quiet, meaningless feather, until it wasn't.
In an instant, it plummeted like a comet, its descent tearing through layers of space. The Artificial World cracked apart as if struck by a divine hammer, shattering into countless shards of glass-like reality.
Instinct screamed at me to move. I recoiled, every sense flaring at once. But survival was never an option. Not when a Dark Nebula artefact is attacking. It's too late.
The feather struck. The wyverns disintegrated first, erased before they could even react. The Wyrm followed, his existence collapsing inward without resistance. The Kiryu World folded in on itself, crushed into nothingness. Hyper Space ruptured, its vast structure unraveling and imploding as if it had never existed.
Everything, matter, energy, concept, dimension. was reduced to null. When the collapse ended, there was nothing left. No world, no enemy, no light, no darkness. Only me.
I remained suspended in an infinite void, alone, surrounded by absolute emptiness, an aftermath so complete that even the echo of destruction had been erased.
'An attack from a Dark Nebula. There's no way I'd survive. So it's keeping me around? I thought they wanted to take me down?'
That has to be the only option. Both Antares and Asteri had nothing in their arsenal to survive what just happened.
"Such power from a single feather?"
Unable to gauge the immeasurable power of my new opponent, a voice echoed through the void.
"So the rumours were true. A new Twin Star was born."
He chuckled, light and youthful, the unmistakable tone of a ten-year-old carrying a confidence far beyond his years.
"Not that I care, but—did you just take down a Dark God with a vessel? Now that is absurd."
The voice added a teasing lilt as I turned, my gaze locking onto the feather hovering before me. Its single violet eye glimmered, unblinking.
I bit back a shiver and steadied myself, forcing my voice into a calm question.
"And… who are you?"
"The moron said it already. I'm the Violet Vortex."
"That's not a real name."
"What's wrong with using a code name? My name doesn't matter, actually. Violet Vortex, Dragon God of Destruction, World's End Dragon, Prime Tyrant Void Dragon, and many more. I got a lot of names, you know."
He said proudly. A common traits for stars in general.
'Dragon God of Destruction? That's the dragon that claimed the lower layers of Kalidor instantly.'
This wasn't an opponent I can face. Not now, not forever.
"A name is a name. What's yours?"
Antares pressed, using me as catalyst to learn their real name. Aware this kid surely posses feats to interact with him directly.
"Jeez, you Twin Stars are really boring. Well, see ya later, Little Antares. Go home soon before it's too late."
The voice vanished along with the feather, leaving me with unbearable thoughts.
'What is going on in Star Realm? I have to make contact to know the current situation. That's by the way... That's Antares's problem. I'm Asteri, I have something to take care of.'
I closed my eyes and let go. My seriousness dissolved, replaced by a calm detachment as my body was swallowed whole by the vast expanse of Hyper Space.
To be continued...