The Absolute White Domain didn't just crack. It began to bleed.
Fang stood over Null's broken form, his presence no longer that of a companion or a soldier. The air around him distorted as if the universe were struggling to render his existence. His hair, once dark, began to bleed into a blinding, ethereal light, glowing with the intensity of a dying pulsar. On his right arm, black dragon scales obsidian and ancient began to knit themselves into his skin, pulsing with a rhythm that matched the heartbeat of the world.
"Null," Fang said, his voice now a layered resonance. "Close your eyes. You shouldn't see what happens next."
Null didn't respond. He lay in the white sand, staring at the grey crown floating above his head. I was never a God, he thought. I'm just an orphan. A mistake. My father died to criminals. My mother was the lowest of elves. I am nothing. Aris, the Executioner, didn't look at Null. He looked at Fang, and for the first time, the King of Stone's strongest blade felt a chill.
"The Primal Shepherd," Aris whispered, his solar blade screaming as it absorbed the white light of the domain. "I've heard stories. They say you were the one who taught the first King how to breathe."
"Stories are usually kinder than the reality," Fang replied. He didn't draw a second sword. He simply stepped forward.
I. The Death of the Vacuum
The two collided.
There was no sound. When their blades met, the concept of sound was erased from the area. The "Absolute White" was instantly replaced by a void so dark it felt like the universe had been turned off.
Fang swung his shadow-blade, but it wasn't just a sword. It was a localized collapse of gravity. Aris mimicked it instantly, creating a counter-gravity well. The two forces met and canceled each other out so violently that the distant stars visible through the cracks in the domain blinked out of existence.
[Elemental Law: Zero-Point Torrent]
Fang raised his scaled arm. Fire, ice, lightning, and wind didn't manifest as separate attacks—they merged into a single, grey beam of pure elemental chaos. Aris didn't dodge. He swung his broken solar blade, copying the chaos and throwing it back.
The collision of two identical, infinite powers caused the fabric of space to tear. Around them, the Human World began to glitch. Buildings in the city flickered between being standing and being rubble. The sky turned from night to day to a purple hue that hadn't been seen since the dawn of time.
II. The Dragon and the Mirror
"You can copy my power, Aris," Fang growled, his light-filled hair whipping in the vacuum. "But you can't copy my endurance. I have lived through the collapse of seven universes. Can your soul handle that much memory?"
Fang lunged. His hand, covered in the black dragon scales, gripped Aris's throat. Aris's armor hissed, his mimicry trying to copy the scales, but the "Dragon Code" was too ancient. Aris's arm began to crack under the pressure.
Aris roared a sound that shook the moon.
[Total Mimicry: Universal Reset]
Aris used his missing arm to grab Fang's chest. He didn't punch; he rewrote. He tried to turn Fang's heart into a black hole. Fang countered by turning his own blood into liquid starlight.
The two became a blur of cosmic violence. They traded punches that didn't break bones they broke Laws. A punch from Fang sent Aris through the barrier of the domain, through the atmosphere, and into the dark side of the planet. A second later, Aris returned, his speed so great he was dragging a trail of ignited oxygen behind him like a comet.
They met in the center of the white void again. Fang unleashed the Shadow-Axiom, turning the very light of the domain into thousands of obsidian spears. Aris copied them, turning the floor into a mirror of spears.
They stabbed each other. Simultaneously.
III. The Human at the Bottom
Below them, Null watched.
He saw the universe flickering. He saw the stars being extinguished by the friction of their battle. He saw Fang the man who had protected him, lied to him, and loved him bleeding silver blood.
He's doing this for a failure, Null thought. The 49% power was still there, but it felt heavy, like a suit of lead. I'm the son of an elf slave and a dead human. I have no right to this throne. Aris is right. I'm just a child playing with tools I don't understand.
The grey crown above him dimmed. His jet-black hair lost its shine. He was sinking into a mental abyss deeper than any domain.
IV. The Tie
Fang and Aris were now locked in a struggle of pure will. Fang's light-hair was dimmed, and Aris's obsidian armor was almost entirely gone, revealing the jagged scar on his stomach.
"One... last... move," Aris wheezed.
"Agreed," Fang whispered.
They both charged their final energy. Fang pulled every shadow from the Earth's surface, condensing it into a single point on his blade. Aris pulled every ray of sunlight from the solar system, focusing it into his broken Sol-Sunder.
They struck.
The explosion didn't produce light. It produced Erasure.
The White Domain shattered. The Silver District's crater was wiped clean. For a moment, the entire planet Earth went dark, as if a candle had been blown out. When the light returned, both warriors were standing twenty feet apart.
Aris's sword was gone. His remaining arm was charred to the bone. He coughed, spitting out gold-flecked blood. "A tie... I haven't tied... in years."
Fang was on one knee. The dragon scales on his arm were cracked and falling off like dry leaves. His hair had returned to its dark state, and he was gasping for air. He had used everything.
Aris looked at Null, then back at Fang. "He's broken, Shepherd. You saved his life, but his soul is gone. He won't hit the 50%. He's given up."
Aris turned into a flurry of white petals and wind, vanishing back to the King of Stone's realm. He was too injured to continue, but he had won the psychological war.
Fang crawled over to Null. The city was silent. The knights had retreated. It was just the two of them in the ruins.
"Null..." Fang reached out a trembling, bloodied hand. "Get up."
Null didn't move. He just stared at the empty space where the stars used to be. "Why did you save me, Fang? I'm nothing. I'm just a human."
Fang grabbed Null's collar, his blue eyes filled with tears and rage. "You think being human makes you small? You idiot. Humans are the only ones who can reach the 50% because they are the only ones who know how to suffer and still keep walking! Get. Up."
But Null's eyes remained hollow. The Crown of the Orphan lay in the dust, cold and dark.