An hour had passed since the world ended.
The arena no longer existed. It was only a basin of ash and melted stone.
The sky hung low, the color of dried blood.
Every breath in the Empire tasted of smoke and failure.
Dark lay at the center of it.
Both legs gone from the knee down. One arm severed at the shoulder. The other hand half-missing, fingers twitching in the dust.
His cloak was shredded, his body burnt black in places, but his eyes were still open.
He breathed through his teeth. Each inhale sounded like steel dragged across rock.
All around him, his Champions were scattered.
Igor's sword broken in half. Leona's staff snapped. Tier's armor flickered weakly. Gilmuar unmoving.
Even Cosmic, the Supreme One, was on one knee, chest caved in, gasping, blood glowing silver as it dripped onto the shattered floor.
The Empire's light was dying.
The towers had fallen. The people's prayers had turned to static.
And above it all, Sukojo stood.
Barefoot. Crown tilted.
His face calm, but his eyes drunk on ruin.
Every twitch of his fingers made reality scream.
Sukojo: So this is it. The great Empire of yours. AtReduced to insects and breath.
He looked down at Dark.
Sukojo: I killed you a thousand times across a thousand worlds, and you still crawl. Tell me, Emperor, what drives you to keep breathing?
Dark didn't answer. He couldn't. Blood filled his lungs.
Sukojo crouched beside him.
Sukojo: Pity. I almost admire it.
He placed a hand on Dark's chest.
Black light spread through the cracks in the stone. The ground started to sink, devoured from existence.
Cosmic tried to rise, voice breaking.
Cosmic: Don't—
Sukojo flicked his wrist. Cosmic fell silent, body crushed flat into the earth by invisible weight.
Sukojo: I said before...no gods, no saviors. Only the end.
The red sky began to pulse. The Empire's heart—its core—started collapsing inward.
Sukojo smiled wider, like a painter satisfied with his masterpiece.
Then the pulse stopped.
A quiet sound—so small it felt like nothing—cut through the silence.
Footsteps.
Soft. Bare.
Sukojo froze.
Sukojo: Huh?-
The dust around him shifted backward as if bowing.
A figure stepped through the gray horizon.
Light followed him, not in radiance but in correction, every color bending toward harmony around his body.
Golden hair fell over calm eyes.
His presence didn't crush or burn; it equalized.
When he appeared, the Empire's collapse paused.
Time stopped choosing sides.
He looked at Sukojo once.
Then at Dark.
Then at the dying world around them.
Raiku smiled softly.
Raiku: I was told mortals seek peace in chaos. Yet every age, they create a louder kind of silence.
His voice was calm, patient, almost tired.
Raiku: When a pond rots, you do not purify the water. You remove the fish that poisoned it.
He raised a hand. The motion was so small it could've been mistaken for mercy.
Light rippled outward. Every dying Champion breathed again. Wounds sealed. The air cleared.
Sukojo took a step back.
His grin returned, forced this time.
Sukojo: Another one who thinks balance is a weapon.
Raiku: Balance is not a weapon. It is a reminder that nothing escapes correction.
Sukojo laughed.
Sukojo: Then correct me.
Raiku's eyes didn't blink.
Raiku: That is why I'm here.
He turned slightly, looking at Dark lying broken at his feet.
Raiku: You've walked too far into the noise, Emperor. Rest. I will handle what follows.
Dark's eyes closed. His body went still—but he was breathing again, steady, normal.
Raiku straightened.
Raiku: Perfection is not born. It is reclaimed from ruin.
The world brightened behind him.
Each word rewove the Empire's remains into order.
Every fallen tower rose halfway before freezing in symmetry.
Raiku looked back at Sukojo one last time.
Raiku: The Devourer eats to feel whole. Yet even a void must submit to the truth, it was never hungry, only incomplete.
The air split between them.
The ground folded in perfect squares, aligning to Raiku's steps.
Every sound, every shadow, every broken atom waited.
Raiku: Shall we begin?
Sukojo: (thinking) How is he so calm? Just who is this guy?
Raiku placed both hands behind his back. His face was calm. Too calm. His eyes carried no light, no emotion, only clarity that made even silence feel nervous.
Raiku: Go ahead.
Raiku: If you wish to test the distance between us, then please. Attack.
Sukojo's grin twisted.
Sukojo: (thinking) Kheeehee... fine. Let's start with my Ultimato.
He spread his fingers.
The ground began to hum. Symbols crawled across the floor like living veins, glowing red. The air warped, pressing in from all sides.
Cracks opened through the sky. Clouds split. The light bled away.
Sukojo raised one hand slowly, palm open toward the heavens.
Sukojo: Domain Verse. Ultimato.
The entire realm convulsed.
Every direction bent toward him, like gravity itself had chosen a new center. Reality folded in half, and the world became nothing but red.
A pulse of force erupted outward, swallowing everything. The Empire vanished. The horizon dissolved. The arena became a hollow sphere of distorted space, spinning endlessly around Sukojo.
Sukojo's voice echoed from everywhere and nowhere.
Sukojo: Within my Ultimato, I am the law. The end. The origin. The only truth.
He clenched his fist.
The Domain twisted. Countless slashes tore through the air, slicing fragments of space into ribbons. Each cut erased what it touched.
He looked straight at Raiku.
Sukojo: Let's see you stay calm now.
But Raiku didn't move.
The storm raged around him, carving reality apart. Yet his figure remained still, untouched, light bending softly around his presence.
Sukojo's grin faltered.
Sukojo: (thinking) ...Why isn't it working?
Raiku's eyes lifted toward the collapsing sky.
Raiku: So this is what you built.
Raiku: A throne made from panic.
Sukojo: Panic?
Raiku: You destroy to remind yourself that you exist. You think power means erasure.
Raiku tilted his head slightly.
Raiku: But nothing fears you, Sukojo. The world only obeys because it pities you.
Sukojo roared and forced more energy through the Domain. His veins lit red, his aura expanding until his body began to burn from within.
Raiku blinked once.
The entire Domain shattered.
The red light died. The air returned. The world rebuilt itself as if nothing had happened.
Sukojo fell to one knee, gasping. His energy vanished like smoke in rain.
Raiku stepped closer, hands still behind his back.
Raiku: Ultimato. A fine concept. But you misunderstand scale.
He stopped beside Sukojo, his shadow falling over him.
Raiku: Perfection isn't about force. It's about silence that nothing can surpass.
Sukojo tried to rise, his voice cracked.
Sukojo: What are you...
Raiku: I am Raiku. Soul Emperor. The reflection of what should have been flawless.
He turned toward the battlefield.
Dark's body lay twisted on the ground. Both legs gone. One arm missing. Half a hand left on the other.
Raiku raised his hand slightly.
The wind grew still. The world pulsed once.
Dark's body began to glow faintly. Flesh returned. Blood evaporated. Breath returned to his chest.
Raiku: You've suffered enough, Emperor. Sleep.
Dark's eyes shut slowly, his face finally calm.
Raiku looked back at Sukojo, whose aura flickered weakly like a dying flame.
Raiku: You chased power until you became noise. You mistook eternity for purpose.
Raiku: Tell me, Devourer. When everything belongs to you, what is left to eat?
Sukojo's lips trembled, no words coming out.
Raiku stepped past him.
Raiku: When you can answer that, seek me again.
He began walking away.
Every step restored what had been destroyed.
The ground healed.
The sky brightened.
Life resumed.
Sukojo knelt there, silent, staring at the figure that the world itself bowed to.
And as Raiku vanished into light, the Empire finally breathed again.
A few moments later.
The sky was clear.
Too clear.
Not a single cloud. No trace of the battle that nearly tore the world apart. Only light, soft and calm, bleeding across the ruins.
The arena was gone. What remained was a crater wide enough to swallow cities. The stone still smoked. The air shimmered with leftover heat.
At the center of it all sat Sukojo.
He wasn't laughing. He wasn't raging. He wasn't moving. Just sitting there. One knee up. One arm hanging loose. Eyes blank, staring at the sky like it was the first time he'd ever seen color.
Around him, silence.
Dark lay nearby, barely breathing. His cloak was torn apart. One leg gone completely. The other shredded. His right arm was missing, the left only half a hand. Blood trailed down from his mouth, soaking into the dirt.
Leona crawled through the dust, coughing. Her voice shook.
Leona: Emperor... can you hear me?
Dark's head turned slightly.
Dark: ...Yeah.
Tier limped forward, one lens of his helmet shattered.
Tier: What the hell just happened?
Gilmuar stumbled after him, clutching his ribs.
Gilmuar: I—I don't even know. That guy in the light... he wasn't from here.
Cron stood silently behind them. His aura flickered weakly, his face unreadable.
Cron: Whoever he was, he ended it.
Leona looked at Dark.
Leona: He saved you.
Dark exhaled slowly, sitting up. His regenerated arm shook faintly.
Dark: No.
He looked at his hand.
Dark: He chose not to let me die. There's a difference.
No one spoke.
The wind returned, brushing through what was left of the Empire. Pieces of shattered walls floated like ash. The crowd that once screamed their Emperor's name was silent now, staring from the distance.
Civilian: Is it... over?
Another voice.
Civilian 2: Did the Emperor win?
Dark ignored them. His eyes were locked on Sukojo.
The Devourer sat motionless. Not a sound. His breath was shallow. His aura—gone. Not hidden. Not suppressed. Gone.
Dark pushed himself to his feet. His body still trembled, but his eyes stayed steady.
Dark: Get up.
No response.
Dark: Sukojo.
Sukojo blinked once. His head turned slightly.
Sukojo: ...It's quiet.
He said it like he'd never heard silence before.
He looked at his hands. Blood stained his palms. His knuckles were split. He flexed his fingers, but they shook.
Sukojo: I've destroyed cities, burned gods, erased entire worlds.
He looked up. His voice was rough but calm.
Sukojo: But I've never seen anything like that.
Gilmuar stepped forward.
Gilmuar: Who the hell was that?
Sukojo didn't answer. He just laughed once under his breath.
Sukojo: Someone I couldn't touch.
Dark's eyes narrowed.
Dark: You mean you couldn't kill him?
Sukojo smirked faintly.
Sukojo: I mean I couldn't even exist next to him.
The words hung heavy in the air.
Leona wiped the blood from her cheek.
Leona: You... sound scared.
Sukojo chuckled softly.
Sukojo: Scared? No. I'm something worse.
He lifted his face toward the light.
Sukojo: Curious.
Dark stepped closer, his boots crunching against broken stone.
Dark: Tell me. What did you see?
Sukojo turned his head slightly, eyes half open.
Sukojo: Perfection. Not power. Not creation. Not destruction. Just... something that didn't need to prove anything.
He tilted his head back, closing his eyes.
Sukojo: I've been called the Devourer of All. You know why?
Tier looked at him, voice low.
Tier: Because you eat everything in your way.
Sukojo laughed quietly.
Sukojo: No. I never ate anything. I didn't need to. When they said I devour all, they meant I leave nothing. No trace. No echo. No soul. Nothing to remember it ever existed.
He looked down again, eyes unfocused.
Sukojo: But he didn't erase me.
Dark said nothing.
Sukojo leaned forward, pressing his palm into the dirt.
Sukojo: That's the first time I've ever lost.
Leona whispered softly.
Leona: Then maybe you finally learned something.
Sukojo's head turned toward her. His face unreadable.
Sukojo: Learned?
He smiled faintly.
Sukojo: No. I realized something.
Dark: What?
Sukojo: That I can be beaten.
He laughed once more, quiet, almost a sigh.
Sukojo: And that means I can grow.
The ground cracked slightly beneath his hand. His aura flickered faintly—small, unstable, but alive.
Cron's eyes narrowed.
Cron: He's recovering.
Dark raised a hand.
Dark: Let him.
Leona: What?
Dark: If he tries anything, I'll end it.
Sukojo stood slowly. The air rippled faintly as he rose, his shadow stretching long across the crater.
He wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand.
Sukojo: You really think you can stop me again?
Dark met his eyes.
Dark: No.
He took a step forward.
Dark: I just don't think you'll try.
Sukojo smiled at that. For a moment, just a moment, he almost looked like himself again.
Sukojo: Heh. You might be right.
He looked at the sky one last time, that faint light still glowing above.
Sukojo: Whoever that was... he broke me without touching me.
He turned to walk away, his voice quieter now.
Sukojo: Maybe that's what it takes to remind a monster it's still alive.
Dark watched him go, his expression blank.
The wind picked up again.
The civilians began to cheer, confused but relieved.
And in that strange calm, for the first time in centuries, the Devourer of All walked away without leaving destruction behind.
Sukojo stopped mid-step.
The dust around him hung still, trapped in the quiet that followed ruin.
His shadow stretched across the cracked ground.
He looked down at his hands. Blood, ash, fragments of what used to be life. His fingers curled slowly, trembling once.
Then came a low laugh.
Sukojo: Haha... hahahahaha...
It rolled out rough, broken, not joy — memory.
Sukojo: "Get stronger."
The words came out of nowhere. He whispered them again, quieter.
Sukojo: I remember now.
He closed his eyes. The images bled back — a boy, small and silent, standing before a man with calm eyes. A wooden floor. The smell of smoke. The sting of a blade against his cheek.
Sukojo: That's what he told me... when I couldn't even hold my power straight. When I destroyed half the mountain trying to prove I wasn't weak.
He smiled faintly, the kind that never reached the eyes.
Sukojo: He said it like he cared. Like he thought I'd use it to protect something.
The smile faded.
Sukojo: So I got stronger. Strong enough to tear his head off with my own hands.
He looked at the ground, voice calm, cold.
Sukojo: Strong enough to kill him. Strong enough to kill everyone.
He raised his eyes to the sky.
Sukojo: And now, after all that, someone stronger appears.
He laughed again, low, almost tired.
Sukojo: "Get stronger," huh? Guess I finally understand what he meant. Not to survive. Not to protect. Just to see how far you can fall before there's nothing left to kill.
He dragged a hand through his hair, blood streaking across his face.
Sukojo: Heh... brutal advice.
He turned his head toward the distant Emperor standing in the rubble.
Sukojo: You know this isn't over, right, Emperor?
A faint grin touched his lips.
Sukojo: I'll come back soon.
He lifted a hand, slicing the air open. A red fracture spread outward, light spilling from it like molten glass.
Sukojo stepped forward, half of his body vanishing into the cut.
Sukojo: Let's see if I still remember how to get stronger.
He disappeared.
The wound in the world closed behind him, leaving silence and wind to fill the empty space where the Devourer once stood.
End Of Chapter 10.