"You fought desperately and yet you bask in my eternal glory."
Aurora turned to the Absolute God and said, "Father, if he truly is the one who existed before creation itself came to be, why kill him?"
The Absolute God reached his arm out toward Darkness's head and replied, "Have you forgotten what he has done? He killed your brother and took the lives of billions of my creations. Now death will claim you."
Darkness grinned. "Death only exists because I allow it."
Darkness — a God born of the empty void of space, a being that lived before creation itself existed.
He walked through the vastness of space, and with a simple flex of his arm, an entire multiverse was born. The first in existence. Life bloomed within it.
Four multiverses, each born from his power, began drifting toward one another. Darkness watched in silence as they slowly intertwined. Then a brilliant light tore across space, and from it, a being emerged — its body wrapped in white radiance. The humanoid cradled one of the multiverses in its hands, studying it, then began creating its own.
Darkness watched it for a long moment. It has the power to create multiverses, he thought. I will leave it. The weak displease me.
He moved to the edge of space, where no light could reach, and there he entered his eternal slumber.
Thirteen point six billion years passed. His power drifted away from him slowly, like smoke bleeding into the dark, as light crept into his place of rest.
Darkness opened his eyes.
He rose, towering above the multiverses, and watched as one slowly drifted toward him. With a single swipe, he destroyed it. He looked around at the bright stars, galaxies, and burning suns surrounding him and said to himself, "Is this your creation? You infect my world."
As Darkness began shrinking in size, the Absolute God — seated at the center of the multiverses — looked out in disbelief.
Calling out to his children.
Gunner appeared first, the God of War.
Aurora the Goddess of peace followed, her body shining with divine light.
Then the others came
They appeared before him.
"My children," the Absolute God said, "your brother has fallen at the hands of a destroyer. This being wants nothing but destruction — to tear apart everything I have built. I will not allow it to exist any longer. Go. Avenge your brother. Destroy the destroyer."
Darkness looked down at a planet below when he sensed them. Gunner, Khan, Genesis, Glitmere, Nyx, and Aurora had found him. He sighed.
"There's more."
Gunner's voice rang out across space. "You're supposed to be Darkness, aren't you?"
Darkness glanced at him. "Now why would a corpse be asking?"
Glitmere stepped forward, his expression hardening. "You should watch your tone. We are the pinnacle of power. We are—"
Darkness laughed. "I could kill you all in an instant. Your God infects my world and sends his foot soldiers to do his dirty work. How pathetic."
All six Gods looked down at him, fury burning in their eyes. Gunner raised his hand, a blinding golden light gathering above him. An axe the size of a planet tore through space, hurtling toward Darkness as Gunner commanded.
"WAR HEAD!"
Darkness grinned and raised his left arm to block it. Then his grin faded. The axe began cutting through his celestial body. He stumbled back, a single thought piercing through the shock.
His attack... damaged me?
Before he could recover, Glitmere and Khan charged. Darkness turned and two massive arms made of darkness surged forward, seizing them both. He began to squeeze slowly, watching the fear creep into their eyes. Then Aurora raised her hand.
"DIVINE WRATH!"
A force like the weight of creation itself came crashing down on him. Darkness struggled to hold his ground. Khan, Genesis, and Glitmere poured their strength into Aurora, and her power surged beyond anything he had felt. Then Gunner transferred his strength to Nyx. Her eyes went wide as the pressure built inside her. She commanded.
"JUDGMENT!"
Two gigantic skeletal arms tore out from behind her, reaching into the fabric of space and ripping it open. She looked at Darkness, her voice quiet and absolute.
"Let hell judge you."
A blood-red beam erupted from the tear and struck Darkness dead center, driving him straight through the planet below. The explosion sent nearby stars trembling. When the light faded, Darkness hung in space, panting.
I don't have my full strength, he thought, his eyes scanning the Gods above him. Is this how it ends?
He looked up at them and grinned despite himself. Then a hand passed straight through his chest from behind.
He turned slowly.
The Absolute God stood behind him, eyes calm, expression unreadable. He spoke quietly.
"Your reign ends here, Darkness. Death will now claim you."
Darkness laughed — a deep, echoing sound that rolled across space. "All I see is a new beginning. Scatter the planets. Look to the stars. And stand ready for my arrival for Death is not the end."
The Absolute God tilted his head. "I look forward to it."
As Darkness faded, the Absolute God turned to his children. "You have done me proud. Now go. Live without worry, my children."
They left. And when he was alone, the Absolute God allowed himself one quiet thought.
That wasn't your real body, Darkness. You're hiding somewhere. And I will find you.
He turned away from the empty space where Darkness had stood and reached out toward the stars — pulling space itself, and the power of a thousand exploding suns, weaving them together into something new.
He leaned close and whispered.
"Kill whoever shows immense power."
Then he was gone.
Arcturus was born.
Arcturus opened his eyes.
Chunks of the destroyed planet drifted silently around him. He looked out across the void until his gaze locked onto a distant star. He flew toward it — and the debris field exploded outward from the sheer force of his departure.
He crashed into a field. The shockwave rolled across the land, sending a nearby farmer tumbling backward through the dirt. Arcturus stood, looked down at the soil in his hands for a moment, then turned toward the farmer who was slowly creeping behind a tree.
"I need your clothes."
The farmer ran.
Arcturus watched him go, then looked down. A severed head lay in the scorched earth — a casualty of his landing. What was strange was that its eyes were still moving.
He crouched down. "What race are you? Your head has been severed from your body for quite a while now, and yet you still live."
The head said nothing useful. Arcturus extended his arm and reduced it to ash.
He flew toward the castle on the horizon.
A guard spotted him approaching and activated a force field. The king and his son stepped out onto the ramparts, looking up at the figure descending from the sky.
"Who are you?" the king called out.
Arcturus was quiet for a moment. Then — "Who is the strongest on this planet?"
The king's expression darkened. "I asked you a question and you ignore me? I am a king. I rule all these lands."
Arcturus moved toward the force field. It held — then began to crack. He looked at the king through it.
"What is a king to a God?"
Every guard raised their weapons. Arcturus's eyes glowed. His aura shot outward in an instant, and every guard dropped — cut clean through before any of them could react. The king looked around at his fallen servants, his breath growing heavy. Slowly, he looked back up at Arcturus.
His son moved first. He summoned two blades and charged, slashing with everything he had.
Both blades shattered on contact.
Arcturus turned his gaze to the king. "You're the strongest here, aren't you?"
The king lunged. Arcturus was already in front of him. He seized the king by the head and began to squeeze. The king's son threw himself forward — Arcturus caught him by the throat with his free hand, holding them both effortlessly.
He looked at the king. "Do not worry. Your servants will come and worship you in hell."
He crushed the king's skull.
The son stared at his father's body. Arcturus tore out his throat. The boy crawled forward anyway, gasping, one hand reaching out toward his father. Then his body went still.
Arcturus rose into the air. He looked down at the planet beneath him and stretched out his arm.
"RAPTURE."
A black beam erupted from his palm and struck the surface. The ground heaved. Flames tore across the land in every direction, consuming everything — cities, forests, oceans — until the entire surface was burning. The planet became a second sun.
Arcturus watched it without expression.
Then he turned and left, already searching for the next powerful being worth killing.
Five thousand years had passed.
On a distant planet — a haven for the galaxy's most wanted — six of the most feared warlords in existence sat together in uneasy silence.
"Are you really serious about this?" Vel asked, her eyes cutting to the warlord at the head of the table.
"Of course I am," he replied. "He has destroyed countless planets and he will keep destroying them unless we stop him."
Den leaned back, arms crossed. "He's too powerful. The wind moves with him. He could kill us all without lifting a finger — and some of us have armies."
The warlord looked around the table, his gaze finally settling on Scream. "That's exactly why we combine our armies. Together we can kill him."
Scream scoffed.
Then the door exploded open.
Arcturus walked in. Nobody moved. Nobody breathed. He looked around the room slowly, his expression somewhere between amusement and contempt.
"Is this the place you cower and hide in? I didn't realize my mere existence petrified you all this much."
The warlord's palms were slick with sweat. "If you kill us, our armies will hunt you down."
Arcturus looked at him. "The only thing they will do is stain my clothes with their blood."
Vel's hand crept slowly toward her weapon. In one motion Arcturus stepped onto the table, towering above them all, and looked down.
"I came here looking for someone who goes by the name of Scream. And you will tell me where—"
The room filled with thick black fog. When it cleared, Scream was gone. Arcturus stared at the empty space where she had been, something like intrigue flickering in his eyes. Then he was gone too.
Vel looked at the warlord. A slow smile spread across her face.
Then everything in the room was cut to pieces. Her head hit the floor.
Scream reached the field where her ship was docked and stopped cold. Bodies everywhere — her comrades, cut down before they ever saw it coming. Her stomach turned. She pushed the sight away and ran into the forest, weaving between the trees, not looking back.
She stopped. Looked behind her. Nothing.
Then she looked forward.
Arcturus was already there, watching her.
I can't escape him, she thought. He's too fast.
His feet touched the ground. The forest went quiet.
"Why run?" he said. "You're the strongest living thing on this planet. I know that. And yet here you are, running. Why?"
Scream grit her teeth. She gripped her sword and charged — the ground cracking beneath every step. Arcturus stood perfectly still, waiting. The moment her blade swung he stepped aside and drove his fist into her gut. She crashed through the trees, stumbled back to her feet, and barely had time to dodge his next lunge. She spun and threw a kick at his head.
He caught her leg.
Scream grinned. The skull on her sword's guard slowly opened its mouth. She commanded —
"SCREAM!."
Every voice of every victim Arcturus had ever killed erupted outward in a single wave of sound. The force sent him crashing into a tree. He stood. Brushed himself off. Began walking toward her.
Then he stopped. Touched his nose. Looked at his fingers.
Blood.
He looked up at Scream, and for the first time in five thousand years, he smiled.
"You. You are the first living thing to ever harm me." He looked almost grateful. Then he dropped into his fighting stance. "Which means killing you would be a waste."
Scream readied herself. Arcturus vanished.
She turned — scanning, searching — and he was already in front of her. His fist drove into her gut and she crashed through a hillside, landing hard against a rock formation. She coughed up blood, looked up at him approaching slowly, and felt something she hadn't felt in a long time.
Fear.
"Why?" she yelled.
Arcturus stopped.
"You kill the strong — for what? There are six multiverses, each one with a God in it, all of them his creations — and here you are. A instrument sent to destroy the gifted. His instrument."
The words landed somewhere deep. Arcturus said nothing. The wind moved between them.
"For over a thousand years," he said quietly, almost to himself, "I've killed the strong." He looked up at the sky. "For what? You made me do this. You call yourself a God but you're just afraid — afraid of someone whose power might one day rise above yours."
He grit his teeth.
"I will rise above you."
He turned back to Scream. She braced herself. But instead of attacking, he extended his hand.
"Join me. Help me kill the Absolute God."
Scream stared at his hand for a long moment. Then, slowly, she reached out and took it. Warmth spread through her body as her wounds began to close.
Arcturus looked up at the sky one last time.
"Prepare yourself. Your days are numbered."