Lightning split the sky as Kanji floated into the air, his aura blazing like a newborn star. Mountains rippled from the pressure of his awakening. Oceans quaked. The clouds were torn apart by pure energy.
The Prime Monarch stared at him, the eternal darkness swirling behind his eyes suddenly wavering.
"This is not possible…"
His voice echoed like a dying universe.
"No mortal… no hybrid… should wield that light."
Kanji pointed his sword at him, molten starlight dripping off the blade like liquid gold.
"I'm not mortal," Kanji said calmly.
"I'm not hybrid.
I'm the Starborn."
The Monarch hissed, wings expanding to eclipse the world again.
"Then DIE as the Starborn!"
He lunged.
The sky shattered.
---
Clash of Creation and Oblivion
The Monarch's fist, wrapped in void energy, descended like an asteroid.
Kanji met it with a single swing.
BOOOOOOOOM!
The collision created a shockwave visible from space. Entire mountain ranges flattened. Rivers reversed. The sky turned white.
The Monarch staggered back.
Kanji didn't.
Rin, watching from miles away, gasped.
"He… he pushed the Monarch back!"
Seiji clenched his fists in disbelief.
"But that's—the Monarch's full force—!"
Kanji vanished.
Appearing INSTANTLY behind the Monarch.
One whisper of movement.
One swing.
A crescent of molten starlight carved through the Monarch's obsidian armor, slicing a wing clean off. The severed wing crashed into the ocean, creating a tidal wave that swallowed entire coastlines.
The Monarch roared, shadows whipping wildly.
"You dare wound a god?!"
Kanji's eyes glowed brighter.
"I'll do more than that."
---
The Monarch's True Wrath
The Monarch clapped his hands together.
Reality buckled.
A sphere of absolute darkness—gravity condensed into a miniature black star—formed between his palms.
"If I cannot break your body…" the Monarch growled,
"…I will crush your entire existence!"
He threw it.
The black star surged toward Kanji, devouring light, swallowing the air, collapsing the ground beneath it.
Kanji didn't move.
He closed his eyes.
Breathed out slowly.
Rin screamed, "KANJI, MOVE!"
But he didn't need to.
His starlight aura expanded—
then flared.
The black star stopped inches from him—
shaking violently—
then shattered into a billion fragments of harmless dust.
Kanji opened his eyes.
They glowed like twin suns.
"You can't erase me."
---
Kanji Ascends Beyond Limits
Kanji's aura exploded, forming a massive pair of luminous wings made of stars and molten gold. They spread across the sky, casting light over the entire realm.
The Thirteen Guardians knelt instinctively.
"This… this is the birth of a true Starborn King," whispered their leader.
The Monarch trembled.
"No… this light—this is the power that ended the First Age!"
Kanji raised his sword skyward.
The blade elongated, swirling with starfire and shadow.
Every constellation lit up at once.
A giant sigil formed in the heavens—
ancient, beautiful, impossible.
Kanji's voice thundered:
"Celestial Technique—
ASTRAL DOMINION."
He slashed downward.
The heavens answered.
A pillar of molten starfire engulfed the Monarch, crushing him under cosmic force. The ground cracked, split, then shattered like glass. Chunks of land floated upward as gravity warped.
The Monarch screamed—
a sound that shook the universe.
But Kanji wasn't finished.
---
The Monarch's Last Gamble
His charred form rose from the crater, smoke trailing off him.
Half his face was missing.
His armor cracked.
His aura unstable.
But his smile remained.
"You are strong…
The strongest Starborn yet.
But do you know your greatest weakness?"
Kanji narrowed his eyes.
"You hesitate," the Monarch whispered.
"You fear your own darkness.
And now… I will show you why."
He pressed his hand to his chest.
A seal broke.
A red-black flame tore open behind him.
Kanji's heart froze.
Rin fell to her knees.
Seiji's breath caught.
The Monarch laughed.
"Behold… the soul of your DEMON lineage!"
The flame swirled, growing larger, forming a monstrous silhouette of pure, ancient demon energy. Horns curled like galaxies. Eyes burned like dying suns.
The Monarch pointed at Kanji.
"Face your greatest nightmare, boy—
your TRUE heritage!"
The demon silhouette lunged.
Kanji raised his sword—
and his eyes widened in horror.
This wasn't an enemy.
This wasn't a monster.
It was…
his father's demon form.
Kanji's grip faltered.
The Monarch's laughter echoed through the shattered sky.
"At last, Starborn…
let me break you from the inside."
---