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I no longer need to harness Energy and Ether through Star Dust or Silver Dust. Now that I'm Ether, I can do so through my Etheric essence. It condenses into a medium called Eth-Lys.
It translates to The Light of Ether or The Clarity through which Ether becomes manifest. A name almost identical to my beloved daughter, Aenara.
Eth-Lys has no pigment but radiates a faint, soft brilliance like light seen through clear crystal.
Unlike Silver Dust, Eth-Lys is the medium of Ether itself, the only state that can channel it's Aspects without collapsing it into Energy or it's Fragments. It's the clarity of Existence before differentiation, where nothing is divided into matter, spirit, or concept, only absolute transparency.
Given the fact that Ether is taking this form in Etherium as it should, being beyond visibility or reflection. So it's medium, Eth-Lys must preserve that purity and absoluteness.
Just then, I picked up someone invoking Ether. I turned and Acamar was standing next to me, Aurether swirling around his fingers. Seeing that, I smirked.
'Inferior to mine but superior to the others.'
"Are you ready, Voidkin?"
Acamar asked, also coming to the conclusion that Kusho was merely talking to us through Algol.
He can't manifest. He can only use vessels to make a move. The thing before us is Algol. His appearance was merely altered thanks to the Great Void, giving us the glimpse of what Kusho once was.
Think of it like my relationship with Entares, but balanced… in perfect harmony.
Algol smirked as the Pseudo Void ignited across both his hands, its energy folding inward like it was learning how to exist.
"Come, incompetent wills."
There was no hesitation. We moved at the same time, colliding in a 2v1 that would decide whether the Archè Verse could even take its next step forward.
The moment our momentum met, Nameless Realm itself tightened as if bracing for impact, and the battle began without ceremony or delay.
As expected, Aurether is superior to Star Dust and Silver Dust, yet far inferior to Eth-Lys. Thanks to Precedence & Immutability of Essence, my vessel can not be affected by Algol's immature void. I can't say the same for partner Acamar, though.
While his True Body is being affected by Algol's rudimentary void, Aurether is stitching him back up, utilising Possibility to keep himself alive.
Algol, on the other hand, wasn't winning. By harnessing Mutability & Possibility, Eth-Lys was able to interfere with this Void far beyond Nihilglyphs.
'It should be impossible, yet…it's me. I can do it.'
"So that's how it is."
Acamar spoke with a calm smile, raising his hand as though beckoning an ancient truth itself.
White responded. I knew what it was, yet how could he possibly know?
White mist poured outward, thick and endless, spiralling around him until a Book emerged from its heart. It was vast and translucent, its pages glimmering with a faint, celestial glow that thrives in the Unknown.
Then came the cost, Acamar's arm tore away, his body fracturing into pure essence as the Book drifted toward him, drawn not by will, but by inevitability.
'At this rate, he'll break down before holding the book.'
White said. But I knew better, Acamar wouldn't dare attempt something so reckless. If he's into something, he knows it'll work.
Without warning, his Astral Seal fractured, a hairline crack splitting across the unseen barrier. He immediately invoked Aurether, channelling its vast currents into his right arm to stabilise the break, keeping the Seal only partially open.
Light rippled through him as his Astral Body fully manifested along his arm, radiating an ethereal brilliance that seemed to distort reality itself. The Book descended, settling gently onto his newly formed arm and not a single backlash followed.
'The third thing to ever call upon the Akashic Records.'
This is no ordinary record-keeping like Akasharytes. This was far superior in all possible ways. The Akashic Records is one of the few ways Ether and Karma interact with each other over all of CREATION.
Acamar raised his left arm, his middle finger intertwining with his index finger.
"Page Zero, Page One, Page Negative."
He went for the top tier itself. The book didn't flip any pages. It didn't need to, but his summons were answered.
What he did just gaves him full access to the Akashic Records themselves. Currently, Acamar can read not just what has happened, but what could happen, what might happen, and what will happen (in all branches).
He not only reads the archive but writes it. With that, he immediately uses the Records to restructure his essence, recombining Aurether with the Star God's pre-annihilation essence. An essence superior to Orivielle herself.
With this, the tables turned significantly.
Algol, who's been relying on punches with his immature Void, was being pushed back. Knowing well Acamar needs back up for his Book to work properly, I took the advantage and ejected us to the Space between beyond the Shells.
Acamar can use the Akashic Records without any problems, so I left the future in his hands.
"Was this your plan?"
He asked, his all-seeing gaze fixed on the aftermath of my actions.
"I have much on my mind now. Defeating him isn't one of them."
This wasn't defiance or refusal, my thoughts were elsewhere, distant, anchored to something far beyond the battle.
'There was no anger in his eyes, no judgment, only distance. He wasn't rejecting me. He was simply… elsewhere.
His thoughts had drifted home, to laughter, to warmth, to the fragile, fleeting peace he called family. How low you've fallen, Antares.'
Acamar thought. I heard, but I wasn't bothered. For one thing, I was glad I made it to the Cardinal World to learn.
"Still, you can't defeat him. He's too unstable and that's not good."
White's all-knowing voice echoed quietly, without judgement, only certainty.
'I know. I'll leave it to him.'
I replied fully aware of my actions. Algol tilted his head slightly, almost amused.
"You do understand the space beyond the Shells is still an extension of the Great Void?"
Void Energy from his Aspect was accumulating as he spoke, thickening the Space around him.
The balance shifted in an instant, like a predator stepping into its own domain. A king within the jungle meant nothing in waters ruled by a great white shark.
"I am the highest authority."
I replied, my voice steady, calm, and absolute.
"All my actions carry the perfect outcome."
The moment those words settled, IT came.
Tearing through Tàixū like a divine bullet, it denied even omnipresence the right to stabilise itself, just as I had done before. It blitzed past Algol, halting mid-trajectory as dark purplish gas spiralled violently around it, compressing the surrounding Void into unstable folds.
Within the haze, purple eyes opened, cold and unmoving, carrying a weight that did not belong to emotion but to authority itself. Even the Great Void seemed to hesitate, as though uncertain whether it had the right to continue existing in its current form.
And there he stood, Algol, headless, yet unmistakably aware. His existence persisting beyond the logic that defined awareness itself, his head floating below his feet.
"You're the one… the usurper of the Abyss."
His voice carried through the distortion, heavy with intent, as Void spilled outward from him in slow, deliberate waves.
'Usurper of the Abyss. After my birth, Entares left me a clone before going to the Abyss to kill something. That 'thing' has been giving the Dark Stars power and ambition since the day it drew Kenos.'
Omniscient throughout this Shell, I know exactly what he had been doing.
"So what if I am?"
Entares asked.
"You…you're Antares's evil half, aren't you? That Thing form those days."
That question, it's Void Ling. It's using Algol to communicate with Entares.
"You've awakened far too incomplete… perhaps the journey through this Shell fractured what wholeness you had left."
Kusho spoke softly, his tone carrying neither anger nor pity.
Entares moved before the Void could blink, his hand closing around Algol's neckless form, fingers tightening with chaotic precision. The headless being convulsed, the purple gas writhing violently as Entares' grip sank deeper into the source of his Anti-Being itself.
"Don't mistake me for Antares."
Entares said, his voice deep and resolute, his grip tightening.
"I am whole, no matter where I am. I choose what and who to be willingly."
With that, his hand closed around Algol's neck, crushing with absolute force. The pressure should have ended everything in an instant.
Yet even as his body began to fracture and crumble under the weight of it, Algol's voice remained steady, unshaken. His essence did not falter.
"Complete or not… the End is inevitable."
In a final act of defiance, Algol's arm wrapped around Entares, the gesture both intimate and fatal.
Then came the eruption, a suicidal convergence that tore through the Void, consuming both in annihilation's silent bloom.
Sensing the inevitable pull closing in, I took a measured step backwards, casting Eth-Lys before us. Its brilliance rippled across the collapsing Void. Part of me was caught in the distortion, my form wavering to ashes but I stayed calm. It'll be over soon.
"Call off the Akashic Records. It's no longer needed."
I said.
Acamar hesitated for a moment, but the future was going as he saw. And in that future, it ended with the Book gone before Algol's disappearance.
"Keeping it will only branch into another future. It's your call."
He saw them all, the straight paths, the twisted branches of possible futures. In the end, we prevailed and Kusho was defeated.
He uncrossed his fingers, and the Records dissolved into Eth-Lys. With no need for the Astral Arm, he sealed the Astral Seal breach with Aurether and turned toward what lay ahead.
Then, in an instant, Entares broke free from Algol's suicidal grip. Fragments of the Nether Void scattered around him like shattered glass. His hand shot forward, fingers streaked in purple, and clamped around the unyielding headless head of Algol.
"That's not your Aspect,"
He said coldly, his voice steady amid the ruptured silence.
"Even if it were, you simply cannot take me out."
With effortless strength, he lifted Algol with one hand, fingers digging into the unseen. Clarity buckled under his grip as the invincible head began to materialise, forced into visibility by sheer domination, an existence dragged into form against its own will.
Out of nowhere, Entares's lips twisted into a malicious grin, one born from knowledge only he could fathom.
"Now that Valentra is gone, Algol will become your Secondary Fragment. Who knows, maybe IT will even choose him to replace you."
He said, voice dripping with venomous amusement. His grin lingered, sharp and knowing.
"It's unlikely, of course. The Rootless Beyonders can never be matched. But Primodius disrupted the balance when you fought him. And now Nether is losing ground, thanks to your mindless act."
Entares continued, spitting something even I with my omniscient couldn't quite tell what he was talking about.
"Maybe I shouldn't blame you. You were born incomplete, after all, and can never match the First Ruler. Anyway, two new Aspects have emerged, but they will never overthrow Archon, not like this, not while Antares has entered the game."
He paused, as though he had just said something he shouldn't have. The silence stretched for a moment, uneasy and deliberate.
Then his smirk returned, widening slowly as he tilted his head, feigning innocence as if nothing he had said carried any weight at all.
"Oops… slip of the tongue."
The air thickened with meaning; his grin widened further, no longer mischievous, but prophetic, like one who had already seen the ruin yet welcomed it.
Algol's eyes widened, yet within them, Kusho watched silently, witnessing the inevitable.
"Killing an asset like you would be a waste…"
Entares said, his tone calm and final.
"But you've lost. Goodbye, Kusho."
Then, without flourish or hesitation, he challenged the very Void through Algol's body. Yet his own essence is deeper, older, and far more primordial than the one Algol could even hope to use. The clash was silent yet absolute.
In an instant, the Secondary Fragment unravelled, its Anti-Being collapsing into drifting purple ashes. Entares looked down at his hand, brushing off the fading remnants as though wiping away dust from existence itself.
With Algol gone, the inevitable End was not prevented, only delayed, and I released the Eth-Lys barrier without resistance.
Entares turned to face us.
"Congratulations, Acamar. You have won the war."
"I can't believe we were fooled from the moment you first appeared."
He replied.
"He knows."
Enta let out a quiet chuckle, gesturing toward the Supreme Star with a lazy tilt of his thumb.
"He does."
I replied, giving a calm nod.
"I realised it at the last moment, just before Algol returned."
"Too late now. It doesn't matter."
Entares said simply.
"Let's go."
I spoke without hesitation. In that state of omnipresence, I moved alongside Acamar, with Entares remaining in silent company as we left.
We drifted into the Star Realm, now completely empty. Not a single Star remained.
To be continued...