Previously on Dark's Aftermath.
Kaien: Impressive. Truly.
His aura surged, black flames curling around Lucen's wrist like chains.
Kaien: But you don't understand.
The air dropped, colder, heavier, until even the violet fire sputtered. His black eyes sharpened, pupils thin, cruel, and absolute.
Kaien: I'll give you one second.
The pause was deliberate, sharp as a blade across the silence.
Kaien: Move.
To Be Continued.
—
Current:
The scene resumed in silence.
Kaien was pressed against the wall, Lucen's grip still clamped under his chin. The violet fire burned around them, cracking the stone, but it was Lucen's trembling hand that betrayed the truth. His eyes widened, breath shallow. He had him pinned, yet for the first time since he awoke, fear found him.
Lucen ripped his hand away as if burned. He stumbled back, his boots scraping the broken stone. His chest rose and fell in harsh, uneven rhythm.
Kaien straightened slowly. Dust rolled from his shoulders as he brushed himself off, his long black hair dragging against the floor. His smile lingered, small and sharp, the kind that dug into silence deeper than any roar.
Kaien: Haaa... haaa... aaa... haaa...
The laugh spilled out, low and jagged. He tilted his head toward Lucen, but his words cut past him.
Kaien: Emperor Dark.
Dark's body stiffened. His teeth clenched hard enough to draw blood from his tongue. His shadow twisted, flames of black spilling out in violent waves. His chest heaved with breath after breath, each one heavier than the last.
Dark took a step forward. The ground split under his weight. His hand reached into the air, and from the void Kyuketsu slid into his grasp, blacker than black, its edge erasing the light that touched it. His white eyes burned with a fury that cut clean through Kaien's smile.
Dark: I will strike you down.
Another step. His aura flared higher, swallowing the air, until the room itself shook.
But a hand pressed firmly against his chest.
Dark turned his head. Cosmic stood at his side, shadows curling tight around his frame, his silver-lit eyes calm yet firm.
Cosmic: Enough.
Dark: Move.
Cosmic: No. There is no need for this. Not here. Not now.
Dark's voice rose, rough and cracking.
Dark: You do not understand, Father. He mocks everything I built. Everything I bled for.
Cosmic: I understand more than you think.
Cosmic's tone was steady, but his grip tightened as Dark tried to shove forward. Shadows surged to hold him back.
Dark: Let me fight!
His cry echoed raw through the chamber. Tears slid down his cheek, caught in the glow of his aura. His voice broke between rage and grief.
Dark: I cannot stand by while he laughs at me.
Kaien's chuckle cut through the clash.
Kaien: Haaa... haaa... haaa... You are weaker than I hoped. Emperor Dark, the shadow the verses whisper of. Is this all? Crying behind your father's hand?
Dark's head snapped toward him, eyes blazing white fire. His hand lifted, shaking with fury.
Dark: Domain Verse.
Cosmic's eyes widened. Igor's face hardened. Lucen took a step forward, his voice strained.
Lucen: No. Stop this, Dark. Do not.
Igor: My Emperor, please, you are not ready.
The chamber groaned. The stone cracked under the weight of the words.
Dark: Shiro.
Shadows writhed like serpents.
Dark: No yami.
The world darkened.
Dark: Sak—
Cosmic's fist struck his son.
The impact roared like thunder, the chamber splitting in every direction. The weight of the Domain Verse shattered in an instant, collapsing into silence. Dark's eyes rolled back. His body went limp.
Cosmic caught him before he hit the floor. His arms folded around him tight, his voice quiet, barely more than a whisper.
Cosmic: Rest, my son.
He pulled him close, shadows wrapping them both.
Igor stepped forward, his head bowed.
Igor: Perhaps our Emperor still bleeds from what happened four years ago.
Lucen closed his eyes, inhaled once, then let the violet fire erupt. His aura expanded with sharp precision, flooding the chamber with an impossible weight.
Lucen: Full release.
The words cut like blades.
The pressure slammed into all of them. Igor fell to one knee, his sword rattling violently in his grip. Cosmic gritted his teeth, his shadows quaking as he shielded Dark's unconscious body. Hollows broke apart instantly, dissolving into shadow. The Champions staggered, sweat beading on their brows, teeth clenched against the crushing gravity.
And Kaien stood still.
The ground beneath him shattered in a radius of hundreds of kilometers. Spiderweb cracks spread outward. Stone lifted and collapsed again. His hair swayed slightly in the storm. He leaned forward, smile never leaving his face.
Kaien: Haaa... haaa... aaa...
The laugh crawled out again. His shoulders twitched. The low rumble turned into a rhythm.
Kaien: Hehehehe...
He lifted his head, his black eyes gleaming with cruel light.
Kaien: HAHAHAHAHAHAAA!
The sound tore through the chamber like an earthquake. Dust poured from the ceiling. The cracks widened, swallowing chunks of the floor. His voice echoed endlessly, until silence returned as suddenly as it began.
Kaien lowered his head. His smile flattened. His eyes locked on Lucen.
Kaien: Did you truly think your Full Release would bend me?
He took half a step. In the blink of an eye, he was before Lucen. Their faces inches apart.
Kaien: Brother. I will give you one last chance. Know your worth. Leave while you still can.
Lucen's eyes burned. His jaw clenched tight. His aura flared violet once more, but Kaien's presence drowned it like a stone in the ocean.
Kaien turned. His voice carried across the silence, louder now, cold and mocking, yet laced with something close to respect.
Kaien: Emperor Dark. Sleep while you can. When you wake again, I will return, and when that time comes, I will kill you. Take this reprieve as my gift.
He tilted his head back, hair brushing across his chest. His laugh returned, sharp and endless.
Kaien: Haaa... haaa... haa...
He walked past Lucen, slow and deliberate, his bare feet cracking the floor with every step. The air bent with each movement until he reached the far edge of the chamber. Then his figure dissolved into the dark.
The laughter lingered long after he was gone, echoing through the ruined stone.
The silence after Kaien's disappearance felt heavier than any battle.
Dust hung in the air, shimmering faintly in the dying light. The cracked ground still pulsed with faint heat, a memory of violence that refused to fade.
Lucen stood still, chest rising and falling slowly. The purple glow around him flickered, then faded. Only his eyes stayed lit, their violet hue reflecting the wreckage.
He turned his gaze toward Dark.
The Emperor lay motionless in Cosmic's arms, breath faint, skin pale. His body looked calm, but everyone in the room knew what it took for him to reach this point.
Lucen stepped closer. His voice was quiet.
Lucen: Let him rest. He needs it.
He crouched beside them, brushing his fingers lightly across the ground. Cracks spread under his touch, then sealed themselves as violet light bled into the stone.
Lucen: When I'm back, I'll train him myself. He's strong, but he's still holding too much back.
Cosmic watched in silence, his expression unreadable.
After a moment, he gave a slow nod.
Cosmic: You always move ahead of everyone else.
Lucen smiled faintly.
Lucen: Someone has to.
He rose to his feet, his outline softening, the faint hum of his power returning.
Lucen: I'll be gone for a while. Keep the Empire standing until then.
Cosmic: I always do.
Lucen gave a small nod, then vanished. The air folded inward with a single pulse of violet light, and he was gone.
Cosmic exhaled, raising his right hand toward the broken ceiling. Silver ripples spread outward like waves across glass. The entire Empire stirred in response.
From the farthest towers to the shattered streets, everything moved.
Walls pulled themselves together. Cracks sealed. Bridges reformed. Even the distant villages that surrounded the capital straightened under the unseen force.
Within seconds, what had been ruin became whole again.
Cosmic lowered his hand.
He looked down at Dark again. His son's expression had softened in sleep, the fury gone from his face.
Cosmic: You've done enough for now. Rest.
The chamber filled with stillness again.
Then—footsteps.
Slow. Calm. Echoing softly across the stone floor.
Cosmic didn't move. He didn't need to look.
A familiar voice broke the quiet.
Voice: Yo, Cosmic.
Cosmic turned slightly, his eyes narrowing.
Dantero walked out from the shadows near the entrance, a grin cutting across his face like he had just woken up from a good dream. His coat was loose, his hair a little messy, eyes bright with that same reckless confidence he'd always carried.
Dantero: Long time no see, huh?
Cosmic: Dantero.
Dantero raised a hand lazily in greeting.
Dantero: Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm late. Got tossed across some weird cluster of worlds. Bunch of people living in glass cities. The moment they saw me, they started screaming "alien." Can you believe that?
He laughed, shaking his head.
Dantero: I mean, look at me. I'm probably the most normal guy they've ever seen.
Cosmic almost smiled. Almost.
Cosmic: Normal isn't the word I'd use for you.
Dantero: I'll take that as a compliment.
He walked closer, glancing at Dark lying in Cosmic's arms. His grin faded.
Dantero: Damn. So that's the state of the Emperor, huh?
Cosmic: He pushed too far. Even he has limits.
Dantero: Yeah... but he's Dark. He'll stand again. He always does.
He leaned back slightly, hands in his pockets, expression softening.
Dantero: You know, I really thought I was done for after that fight between you and him.
Cosmic looked down for a moment. His eyes dimmed, showing something that no one could read.
Dantero noticed, his grin fading a little.
Dantero: Hey... you good?
Cosmic didn't answer. He shifted Dark's weight in his arms and started walking. Every step he took repaired what it touched. The broken walls stood upright again. Dust pulled back into the air. The shattered ground reformed clean and smooth as light rolled across it.
Dantero followed a few steps behind, eyes wandering. The world around them wasn't still. It moved—alive, layered, breathing in ways that didn't make sense. Mountains floated like drifting glass. Oceans curled upward, suspended in the sky. Cities glimmered within cities, entire continents folded across one another like reflections trapped between mirrors.
Dantero: Damn... this place.
Cosmic: It's not a place anymore. It's all of them.
Dantero blinked.
Dantero: All of them?
Cosmic: Every world. Every reality. Every story ever written. They now exist side by side. What you see here isn't one world. It's countless—each with its own order, its own people, its own history. They orbit the same center, yet they never touch.
Dantero glanced up. The sky wasn't a sky. It was an expanse of motion—millions of luminous spheres spinning in silence, each one layered, alive, and endless.
Dantero: Those... aren't stars, are they?
Cosmic: No. Each one holds trillions of verses. Entire civilizations rise and fall inside a single spark.
Dantero whistled under his breath.
Dantero: So what, we're just one of them now?
Cosmic: One of many. But even many has no meaning here anymore.
Dantero scratched the back of his neck, trying to process it.
Dantero: Man, that's... insane. I leave for a few years and the whole thing turns into a museum of realities.
Cosmic didn't smile.
Cosmic: This is no museum. It's alive. Growing. Shifting. Each world breathes its own rules, its own law. You could take a single step and fall into a civilization that runs on thought alone. Another step, and you might stand where time eats itself.
Dantero: Great. Just great.
Cosmic stopped walking. He laid Dark gently on a raised platform of smooth stone. Shadows gathered around the Emperor's body like a blanket, calm and still.
Dantero stood beside him, watching as the last fragments of the courtyard rebuilt themselves.
Dantero: He's really out cold, huh.
Cosmic: He gave everything. The world still stands because of it.
Dantero nodded, quiet for once.
Dantero: You think he'll wake up soon?
Cosmic's gaze lingered on Dark's face.
Cosmic: He will. But when he does, nothing he remembers will be the same.
The air trembled faintly. Distant lights shifted across the horizon—massive, slow-moving spheres that glowed with inner worlds. Some pulsed with silver light, others burned red, others flickered like dying lanterns.
Dantero: So those are the new worlds, huh?
Cosmic: They are only the ones close enough to see. There are endless more beyond them.
Dantero exhaled, running a hand through his hair.
Dantero: Guess the universe got crowded while we were gone.
Cosmic: Crowded doesn't begin to describe it. Each one of those worlds carries its own civilization. Countless cultures, beliefs, and forms of life. Some welcome peace. Others live in chains. And some... devour everything they touch.
Dantero smirked.
Dantero: Sounds like my kind of chaos.
Cosmic: Do not mistake this for chaos. This is balance trying to survive without structure.
Dantero turned toward him, the wind catching his coat.
Dantero: So what now? We just wait for the Emperor to wake up?
Cosmic looked to the horizon again.
Cosmic: No. We prepare. The worlds have grown restless. Some already whisper his name. Others fear it. And somewhere out there... something waits for him.
Dantero tilted his head slightly, curiosity flashing in his eyes.
Dantero: Sounds like the fun's just starting again.
Cosmic didn't reply. His gaze stayed on the distance, where the horizon bent and broke, showing brief flashes of other lands—kingdoms suspended upside down, oceans made of clouds, cities moving like living organisms.
The horizon pulsed again, faint light rippling through the distorted air like a heartbeat.
The wind shifted. The temperature dropped, then rose again, never settling.
Dantero looked toward the distance, the grin fading just slightly.
Dantero: Feels strange. Like the air's alive.
Cosmic: It is. Everything is awake now. The ground. The wind. The light itself. They remember the wars that ended this place.
Dantero crouched, brushing his fingers against the ground. The soil shimmered faintly, cycling through color after color before settling on a dark amber glow.
Dantero: Even dirt's got memory, huh.
Cosmic: Memory. Fear. Maybe hope. It depends on who walks on it.
For a moment, neither spoke. The silence wasn't empty—it was layered. From far off came faint echoes, too distant to place: the rhythm of drums, the cry of something vast, laughter that wasn't human.
Dantero stood, brushing the dust from his hand.
Dantero: I'll scout ahead. If these worlds are all drifting into each other, I should see what's close by.
Cosmic gave a quiet nod.
Cosmic: Do not travel blind. The paths between worlds aren't fixed anymore. One step too far, and you may walk into something that was never meant to be found.
Dantero: Yeah, yeah. You worry too much.
He adjusted his coat and started walking toward the light. His steps left faint trails that glowed for a few seconds before fading, as if the world hesitated to let him go.
Cosmic watched him until he vanished into the haze. Then he turned back to the sleeping Emperor.
Dark's shadow moved faintly across the stone, flickering like it was breathing on its own.
Cosmic: They're already calling for you. Even worlds that never knew your name can feel it.
He lowered his head, eyes half-closed, the faintest trace of warmth in his voice.
Cosmic: Rest while you can, my son, or well, my Emperor.
He stood there for a while, silent. The wind brushed through the courtyard, carrying the sound of a world that no longer knew what silence meant.
Above him stretched a sky that was no longer one sky. It was an ocean of colors, rivers of blue and gold folding into each other, clouds moving in strange patterns like living things. Fragments of other worlds hung high above, glowing faintly. Whole continents floated upside down. Oceans flowed across the air. Cities from distant lands shimmered within clouds, their towers spinning slowly like clockwork.
The world had grown. No, it had changed completely.
Where once there had been a single land surrounded by dark seas, now there were hundreds of connected realms stitched together by streams of light and fragments of memory. The borders between them no longer made sense. A single step could lead from black stone to white sand, from frozen ground to fields of endless green.
The remnants of the Dark Empire rested at the center. The rebuilt towers glowed with quiet light, surrounded by plains that had once belonged to other worlds entirely. In the distance, forests burned with silver leaves. Rivers shimmered with reflections that weren't their own.
Cosmic watched as shapes moved along the horizon. They were not armies or creatures, but travelers. Groups of people, some human, some not, moving from one world to another. Their clothes were strange, their languages unfamiliar. Some carried banners of gold and white. Others wore masks made from crystal or bone. Every one of them looked like they belonged to a different age, a different story. Yet they all shared the same direction. Toward the center.
Cosmic: They come for him.
He lowered his gaze. His eyes followed the movement of cities far beyond the plains. Some were alive, built from living roots that shifted and grew with every breath. Others floated above the ground, tethered to nothing, drifting slowly like islands in the sky. He could see massive ships sailing through air, powered not by sails or machines but by thought and faith alone.
And beyond that, further than sight could reach, the light of millions of other worlds pulsed like stars. Each one was its own universe, each with its own life, its own story, its own rules.
Cosmic: This is what the new world has become.
He closed his eyes for a moment. The air shimmered, and for an instant, he could feel everything at once. The cries of merchants in floating markets. The hum of massive engines in the sky. The prayer of a soldier kneeling before a god made of glass. The laughter of children chasing shadow creatures that meant no harm.
Life had returned. But so had conflict.
Cosmic could sense entire kingdoms rising already. Faiths forming around new powers. Beings trying to rule what they did not understand. Civilizations promising peace while preparing for war. And somewhere among them, new names were already being whispered.
Cosmic opened his eyes again.
Cosmic: The cycle begins once more.
He looked back at Dark, still sleeping, the faint rhythm of his breath steady and calm.
Cosmic: When you wake, this world will not be the one you left. But it will still need you.
The wind picked up again, carrying dust and fragments of light across the courtyard. The sky shifted colors slowly, and far beyond, the merged worlds turned in silence.
And for the first time since the creation of this new reality, Cosmic looked uncertain.
Cosmic: ... What have you done... Shou?..
End Of Chapter 2.