Oblivion was not like the others.
Death ended lives. But Reincarnation was a Possibility!
Destruction shattered worlds. But All that is destroyed can be rebuilt!
Chaos unmade order. But In of itself...Chaos Can be Order!
But Oblivion?
Oblivion erased.
What it touched was not destroyed, but forgotten. There would be no rebirth, no reincarnation, no echo of memory. It was the silence before the first sound, and the silence after the last. Even the One Above All could make another multiverse, but it would be different—its people, its history, its truths utterly gone, their existence no more than a rumor in the dark.
And now, that silence was eating Aiden alive.
He stumbled, his left hand numb, his legs refusing to move. Scales flickered out of existence on his arm. Lightning sparks sputtered and died in his veins. His powers weren't failing—they were being erased.
Across the Arena, Knull walked slowly toward him, the Necrosword dragging behind him like an executioner's blade. Its aura was darker than shadow, but threaded with something older, greyer—the unmistakable essence of Oblivion.
Aiden's vision blurred. His thoughts wavered.
I was never meant to exist in this world anyway…I don't even know why Death summoned me…I'm worthless. Randomly chosen by her because of an accident…If I'm erased, well… it's not like they'd care. I'll be forgotten. Things will go back to how they were supposed to. I was the problem.
He closed his eyes as Knull raised the sword high.
It came down, and pain unlike anything he had ever known tore through his chest. The blade pierced him, drinking his essence, the aura of Oblivion crawling through his veins. He fell onto his back, breathless, his dragon wings spasming once before collapsing like burnt paper.
Above him, the Arena fell silent.
The Living Tribunal's three faces closed their eyes.Master Order spoke, voice flat: "A valiant effort for a mere human. Truly. But his demise was part of Order."Eternity's tone was heavy: "The battle has ended in the favor of Oblivion."Lord Chaos snarled: "Shame, eh… I liked the kid. But you, Order—how shameless can you be? Calling this 'Order'? This was pure Chaos! Putting a fully-grown Celestial with death powers and augmented by Oblivion against a mere human with not even an awakened Infinity? Shame on you!"
"Do I hear a sore loser now?" Oblivion laughed from his seat, rising. "Let's not cry about it! This was fun and all… but gentlemen, I must ask you to leave. Their existence I must erase. HAHAHA!"
On the ground, Knull screamed, voice ragged and triumphant: "I HAVE PERSISTED! I HAVE WON! VICTORY TO ME! ERASE IT ALL! THE PAIN, THE SUFFERING—RETURN IT ALL TO WHERE IT BELONGS! MAY OBLIVION TAKE THE WORLD!"
Oblivion clapped slowly, a sound like graves closing. "TRULY MAGNIFICENT! Isn't it? Now then—"
"STOP."
Death's voice cut through the Arena like a blade.
"Oh? What is it now, sister?" Oblivion sneered. "It is over. You and Infinity lost. Your clinging to these mortals is done. I have won. It is over. What will you argue for now?"
"Look," she said simply, pointing at Aiden.
Oblivion followed her finger. Knull stopped mid-rant, eyes narrowing.
Aiden was moving.
He was standing up.
The hole in his chest gaped, edges eaten by a grey aura. His left hand was gone. Blood ran down his face, his broken wing trailing behind him. Yet his eyes—those dragon eyes—still burned.
"I…" he rasped, each syllable costing him everything. "Ne…ver… sa…id… I'm… done."
He coughed, vomiting grey-black blood onto the Arena floor. The aura of Oblivion gnawed at his soul. And yet he stood, swaying, trembling, defying erasure itself.
Aiden staggered, his body still screaming from the wound, the grey aura of Oblivion crawling through his veins. He looked down at his trembling hand, then at the dark power eating him alive.
And yet, he smiled.
"Dragon Slayer…" he whispered, voice hoarse. "I always wondered what that meant. There were no dragons left to slay. And eventually, I became one myself."
His eyes lifted, burning now with clarity instead of despair.
"But I never truly understood my power. At first, it was simple. Absorb a dragon's element. Fire, frost, lightning. That was all. And yet… at some point, it became more." He clenched his fist, remembering. "I took in the Eldritch power of Doom. I wielded the Necrosword, stained with the death of gods. The Abyss became part of me. The Infinity Stones. And then Infinity herself… gave me her essence."
He laughed bitterly, shaking his head. "But how? Why could a dragon absorb all of these things? Dragons were never meant for that. They were bound to their element. Yet I was different. Special. I thought it was chance. An accident."
His voice grew stronger, echoing in the Arena. "But now… I get it."
Aiden closed his eyes, lifting his head to the vast skies above.
"Infinity didn't give me anything." His lips curved into a grim smile. "It was always part of me."
The air bent around him. His wounds knit shut. Power—all power—rushed into him, absorbed, devoured, made his own. Even the very air, the Arena itself, the thoughts of those watching—it all fed him, became him.
"I was always Infinite. I could absorb anything. Any energy, any source. I was only held back by myself. By believing there were limits."
He turned, his eyes locking on Death, who watched in silence. Then on the Abstracts, whose gazes weighed like entire universes.
"You called me the Inheritor of Infinity." His lips curled into a smile that was both human and utterly beyond. "But that's not true, is it?"
His body finished changing. The draconic wings and scales vanished. No monstrous form, no celestial grandeur—only Aiden Blake stood there. Human. Normal. White hair falling over his face. Except for his eyes. They were no longer human at all—rings of infinite color, shifting endlessly, a kaleidoscope of existence itself.
"I am not the inheritor of Infinity," Aiden said, voice shaking the Arena.
"I am Infinity."
The Abstracts stirred. Even Lord Chaos went silent.
Knull roared, veins bulging with hatred. "YOU REFUSE TO DIE! How many times have I killed you?! HOW MANY TIMES MUST I KILL YOU?!" He lunged, the Necrosword screaming as it cleaved through the air—straight for Aiden's neck.
It never connected.
Knull blinked, and Aiden was behind him.
"You still don't understand what Infinity is," Aiden said quietly.
Knull whirled, swinging again, slashing backward with all his might. But Aiden was already facing him, unflinching, as though he had never moved.
"Do you not see? I am everywhere. To kill me… you would have to erase everything."
Knull snarled. "THEN I SHALL!" He stabbed the Necrosword into the Arena floor, screaming with rage. Oblivion's essence erupted outward, a storm of annihilation. The Arena groaned, the impossible material fracturing under the strain. Universes of erasure bled out from the blade, a whirlwind of nothingness tearing at existence itself.
And yet… Aiden did not move. He stood calmly, the aura of erasure licking at his skin, passing through him as though he was untouchable.
"You can't," Aiden whispered. His voice was soft, but it drowned out Knull's screams. "Do you know why?"
The storm of Oblivion thickened, shredding the walls of reality itself, but Aiden raised his hand—slowly, almost gently—and placed it on Knull's head.
"Because Infinity includes Oblivion as well."
The storm stopped.
Knull's eyes widened in disbelief as the aura collapsed inward, funneling back into the Necrosword. The blade screamed as it dissolved, its form breaking down, pulled apart atom by atom.
"No… NO…!"
The sword shattered into nothing, returning to Knull, who dropped to his knees, gasping. But it wasn't salvation—it was dissolution.
His hands began to crumble. His legs. His chest. His screams became a gargle of panic and rage.
"You have…!" His voice broke as half his body disintegrated. "You have…!"
And then he was gone. Consumed. Absorbed. Erased, not by Oblivion, but by Infinity itself.
Only Aiden remained.
He sighed, exhaustion heavy, and turned his gaze upward. Around him, the Abstracts sat on their impossible thrones, silent, eternal. Aiden did not speak. He merely looked behind him.
Another throne emerged from the void. Black and white. Finite and infinite. A paradox given form.
He sat down upon it.
No longer mortal. No longer dragon. No longer a curiosity to be toyed with.
But equal. An Abstract among Abstracts.
The Living Tribunal rose, all three faces solemn, and declared:
"I declare Aiden Blake—Infinity—to be the winner of the Duel."