"Dark Realm"
As soon as he said those words, the air went silent.
Then—BoooM!
The whole domain exploded as massive dark flames erupted from all directions swallowing everything in their way.
Dark flames instantly devoured the golden-White flames making the entire place a world of darkness.
This place was no longer the old domain of sorrow, it was a realm made up of nothing but dark flames. The flames here were wild, untamed, and raring to devour everything.
The flames devoured Rein's attack. Now the golden bird form was not that massive and it's flames were constantly being devoured by the dark flames.
"Tsk. Still not down," Rein muttered while sitting on the bird, completely annoyed by the outcome come. He thought his last attack would be enough, but he was proven wrong. His enemy was perfectly fine and healed again.
"If it goes on like this, I will be the one to die."
"I need to end this before I lose all my mana," Rein thought, as he withdrew the golden flame.
The golden bird disintegrated leaving light and times psions falling down with remains of golden flames.
The Rein slowly landed gracefully, he was now injured and his robe was burned from many places.
The robed man looked at Rein as he asked, "You are strong. I admit but here... here you can't defeat me. No matter how many times I get injured or killed the flame will revive me again."
"Oh, Rein Shroud—The Strongest Hero, what will you do now?" He asked with a smirk playing on his lips.
"What will I do? Isn't it obvious I will destroy you including this whole realm," Rein replied calmly, staring directly at him.
"Rein Shroud, I swear to make you feel helpless today," He barked, his eyes darkened.
"Nah, I refuse," Rein replied instantly. "You are not worthy to make me feel helpless." His mana flared as he spoke.
The robed man didn't speak any further, streching his hand forward he summoned the obsidian chain with the spiky fallen orb again.
He gripped the chain from both hands, spinning the orb at an insane speed over his head as he ran towards Rein.
Rein also raised his hand to summon but not his sword but a staff— long, golden, like a cudgel. He moved the pole around his body like how a person moves nanchuk.
It was beautiful and deadly movement.
Rein ran at him while spinning his staff over his head.
As they drew closer, Rein jumped whole gripping his staff in both hands, mana surge inside it. He slashed the staff downward towards the robed man.
"Divine Staff : First Form"
A golden-almost godly arc drew in the air as Rein slashed his staff downward.
The robed saw the attack coming moved the chains, threw his spike orb pulsing with dark flame towards Rein.
"Fallen strike"
A spiky start glowed darker and grew larger in size and flames. It met with Rein's attack head on.
Their attack met.
Then—BooM!
A shockwave of golden and dark pulse spread through out whole realm skidding them backward. Their weapons tremble from the after shock of collision.
However neither of them stopped.
Clang, clang, boom!
They clashed again and again, some times Rein will twist in mid attacking twice at once, while the robed man counter his every attack.
Rein used his light and time authority to increase his speed and summon his clones from several timelines. They all attack together making him to escape using dark flame.
Rein remained standing on guard, his clones have been vanished now.
"Heh! Slippery bastard," Rein mocked him for running. "Are you done hiding now?"
"A wise man should know when to retreat as well," The robed appear few metres away behind him.
"Wise man? Where? All I see is only a coward using cheap tricks with no honor for a battle," Rein replied to expecting him to irritate him but he didn't.
"Honor means nothing if you die. Isn't that right?" A voice replied not the one I front of him but another from behind.
Rein looked back found another robed man standing there.
"Right."
"Yeah, it's useless,"
Then another, and another from different direction until there were ten robed man standing— fully healed, armed it the same weapon spinning in the hands.
"Attack," A voice broke and all ten of ran at Rein full speed wanting to crush him at all cost.
Rein took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he concentrated while gripping his staff. A huge torrent of golden mana flowed inside the staff making it shine tremendously.
Rein moved one leg forward, bending a little downward, he raised the staff forward not much far from his chest but enough to make space for movement.
Then Rein moved in a light speed enough to get past eyes. A golden ring formed around him due to his continuous motion. His movements are so fast that staff has become invisible now only a golden light is visible.
The robed man reached him fast and they all attack him with their spiky star orb from all directions.
"Flaming Star."
Their attack hit.
Clang..
"Huh? What?"
But their attacks never met him.
They met with ten golden shields rotating around Rein forming a protective barrier.
Then Rein smirked, he stopped moving.
"Second form."
He raised his hands and pour as much mana as he can and then with both hands he strike the ground vertically with the staff causing the ground to crack.
"Shield Blast."
Instantly all the shields blasted off in a massive explosion similar to a mana bomb level.
It send all the ten robed man flying back in the air crashing on their way. One by one the figure vanished leaving a trace of dark flame until only one remained — The original.
The robed man coughed blood, clenching his teeth from the pain due to explosion. He had been caught off guard. He didn't expect the shields to suddenly explode. He summoned dark flames to heal himself.
The Rein also knelt in one leg still gripping his staff that stand straight on the ground. The staff has formed a horizontal crack through the realm due to the impact when Rein strike it down vertically.
Both of them were left panting and gasping for breath.
The robed man was fine due to the healing of dark flame but Rein he was injured and tired of continuously fighting and resisting the dark flame together.
The after shock from the attack before still lingers inside his body.
Rein knew the gravity of situation he was in where the longer he fights, the more chances are he will die. There is no hope of getting a help from outside since no one can knew and can get inside this realm.
The Robed man stand stretching his fully healed body.
"Haha, you really are a monster Rein Shroud. The title of strongest was really not just for decoration."
"You have my respect but...let's end this battle with one of us die." He finished his talk as he prepared himself for the final clash.
"You aren't half bad either, any other would have been died or beaten to pulp until now but look at you—standing tall, healed, full of life, while I am one who needs healing."
"That flame of your is such a cheat, fighting you was quite fun."
"But it's getting tiring. So yeah, let's end this with one final attack."
"Let me warm you, if you want to kill me."
"Come with everything you've got," Rein warned him, his eyes now dead serious.
It won't be just a single clash. It will be a death execution to destroy their enemy completely.
The robed man raised his hand to the sky, eyes wide and maddened.
"Fall from the stars, burn the heavens themselves—"
The realm shook.
Suddenly, the sky trembled.
A strange, unholy hum began to echo — not from the robed man, but from the very air itself.
Then—
Five fragments of dark flame appeared, suspended high above in the void. They floated equidistant from one another, burning in complete silence like cursed stars.
Slowly, the five flames moved, tracing invisible paths in the sky.
Three of them stopped to form a perfect downward-pointing triangle, blazing with unnatural symmetry.
Then, the remaining two split off, dragging trails of dark embers, and stopped above the first — forming an opposing triangle, upright.
The moment the second triangle completed—
WOOMMMM…
A thunderous pulse rippled across the realm.
A six-pointed dark star—a corrupted Star of Doom—flared into existence, outlined by trails of black fire that crackled like chains snapping.
From each of the six star points, dark tendrils of flame erupted and began circling the shape, forming an ever-growing ring around the star — enclosing it in a dark halo that spun slowly, ominously.
The ring thickened.
Then—
Runes began to appear.
Not written — but burned into the sky one by one, in ancient forbidden language, each glowing with the agony of fallen gods. Symbols twisted and curled like snakes being seared alive, lining the circular halo.
More rings formed.
One… then another… and another — three rotating rings, all orbiting the central dark star like planetary seals unraveling.
Suddenly, a massive orb of black fire and cursed mana started forming at the center of the star — pulsating like a dying sun, its surface cracked, leaking rivers of ember-red flame.
The sky turned black.
The light vanished.
The air screamed.
It was no longer just a spell.
It was a celestial execution being drawn into reality.
The robed man raised his hand toward the dark star above.
His voice echoed like thunder through a dying world:
"Fallen Star: Judgement Eclipse!"
And the spell… descended.
The robed man's Fallen Star approached from above, but Rein didn't move.
He exhaled slowly.
Then… the world around him stopped.
Not metaphorically.
Literally.
Time bent.
Every flame in the realm froze mid-burn. Ashes stopped mid-fall. Even sound itself ceased to exist.
A soft golden light began to flicker around Rein's feet — tiny motes of light psions and time psions dancing together in harmony, swirling like a cosmic storm in miniature.
"It's time," Rein whispered, his voice calm… but echoing across eternity.
His body began to glow — not like light… but like existence unraveling.
The sky split above him.
From that crack — descended a beam of divine golden light, laced with ticking echoes and shimmering spiral glyphs, ancient and sacred.
As the light touched him—
BOOM!
His entire being exploded into particles — no longer human, but a manifestation of time and light itself.
"Dual Ascension: Chrono Radiance."
Rein stood at the center of the storm, no longer flesh and blood.
His body now a silhouette formed entirely of radiant psions, his veins glowing with golden rivers of temporal light.
His eyes were clocks, spinning gently. His hair flowed like light itself, endless and shining.
Then—behind him, rising like a titan—
A colossal figure, thousands of meters tall, began to manifest.
Made of nothing but psions and mana, it was a Celestial Avatar of Time and Light, its outline shimmering like a star fallen to the realm.
Its head was crowned with a broken halo, its body wrapped in swirling glyphs and flowing robes of radiant energy. It held in one hand a massive staff — Rein's own weapon, now amplified into the divine plane.
This was not a soul spirit.
This was a Heaven-Walker.
The robed man looked up — and for the first time — he took a step back.
The sky above shifted. The cities far outside the domain — felt it.
People across the continents stopped and looked up at the unnatural golden crack in the heavens.
Even distant dragons flinched.
"Divine Staff…" Rein's voice was layered now — like a thousand echoes of himself speaking in unity.
He raised his hand.
"Final Form…"
The massive staff behind him aligned with his own.
"CELESTIAL ANNIHILATION!!"
And with that—
Rein slashed.
The skies turned white.
Time shattered.
Light howled.
The Celestial Avatar moved in perfect unison with him, swinging the divine staff downward like a god passing final judgment.
A beam of pure radiance, so bright the realm itself recoiled, exploded from the staff's tip.
Not a narrow beam, but a wide column of golden judgment, filled with temporal echoes, holy glyphs, and particle-psions vibrating in harmony.
The very fabric of space bent around it.
And then—impact.
The Fallen Star met the Celestial Annihilation midair.
At first, there was silence.
Then— Ka-boom!
A sound like a planet dying.
Time fractured.
The sky turned white.
The ground beneath them cratered outward, mountains flattening, valleys splitting into endless abysses.
For a moment… the entire battlefield was nothing but light and darkness locked in eternal combat, trying to overwrite each other.
Chains of black flame whipped forward, trying to corrupt the light.
But golden psions surged back, purifying everything they touched.
Screams erupted from the dark sphere as the souls inside it began to evaporate—
While celestial glyphs cracked under the weight of the abyss.
And then—
SHHHHHHRRRRRRRRROOOMMMM!!!
A shockwave tore across the realm.
The skies were split in half—literally—one side turned pitch black, the other glowing golden.
And in the middle—
A pulse of white emptiness, where both powers canceled each other out, resulting in raw void.
After everything went silent.
Rein was found kneeling on one leg, his staff trembling, his celestial avatar was flickering. He was injured from the backlash of using such powers.
The robed man was found far away from him, chains breaking, blood spraying from his mouth. His body was split into two from the stomach, blood keep gushing out of it. The only reason he was still alive was because of the dark flame healing him continuously.
They both assessed each other situations.
Still breathing.
Still alive.
But barely.
The realm itself… wasn't so lucky.
Forests had turned to glass.
Rivers boiled into steam.
Even the core pulsed erratically, trying to survive the backlash of their divine war.
Rein saw the robed man getting healed again in an insane speed. If he let it continue, this man will not only kill him but also become a threat to humanity.
"...Why... won't you die...?" he muttered, dragging himself forward.
Rein had made his decision, "I am going to die anyway so better take you with me before you become a threat to others."
He reached the robed man, who still in the process of healing and raised his staff in air. He pour every ounce of mana in it leaving himself coughing blood.
But he endured.
"Just a little more, haa...haa."
The robed man, for the first time, looked terrified. He raised his trembling hand to the void above.
"Master… help me… please…"
Silence.
"If I die… the flame… it'll vanish…!"
Nothing.
"Then who will kill the Saintess!?"
That's when it happened.
The air died. Even the flames froze. Even Rein — whose staff hovered just a breath away from ending him — stopped. No matter how much he tried it didn't move at all.
Rein's eyes widened. His arms trembled.
He tried to finish it, to bring the staff down — but something crushed his will with sheer presence.
Still, he resisted. He pushed his body to its breaking point, forcing the staff downward to end the robed man once and for all.
"You… won't… live…!"
But then — the void cracked.
The world blinked.
Literally.
For a fraction of a second, the entire realm flickered, like an ancient screen losing signal.
A deep hum echoed—not through the air, but through the soul, like reality itself had just been watched.
Rein felt it first.
A bone-deep chill that paralyzed his cells, not with fear, but with something worse: recognition.
"What... was that?" he whispered, barely able to speak.
Then—the sky cracked.
Not like lightning.
Not like thunder.
But like glass.
The farthest edge of the dark realm split in a perfect vertical line—quietly, surgically—and a rippling void poured out, as if the sky itself had been peeled back like old skin.
And from within the tear…
It came.
An Eye.
But not a human eye.
Not draconic.
Not demonic.
Not even divine.
This thing… was something older than definitions.
It was massive, dwarfing mountains, its iris a swirling abyssal vortex, colored in shades the mind could barely comprehend—blacks darker than shadows, violets that shimmered with hatred, and reds that whispered memories never lived.
The sclera pulsed with ancient runes, constantly shifting, like the very language of existence was written there but refused to stay still long enough to be read.
It wasn't glowing.
It wasn't shining.
It was absorbing.
Light. Mana. Sound. Hope.
Everything.
He struggled looked up—
And the Eye looked back.
Not at the realm.
At him.
And in that moment, Rein understood something.
This wasn't the demon.
This wasn't even a god.
It was a part of something worse.
A tool, maybe. A camera, a cell, an extension.
And from it, a single, abyssal eye emerged.
Massive. Black. Alive. Watching.
Its gaze locked on Rein.
And then it pulsed.
BOOOOOOOOM!!!
An unseen force struck Rein like a divine hammer.
He was launched kilometers away, breaking through hills, sky, clouds, and finally—
CRASH!!
Into a thorned black mountain, impaled by jagged stone, blood spraying from his lips. Bones shattered, muscles ruptured, even his mana circuit were damaged.
His Dual Ascension shattered. Mana: gone. Body: broken.
He couldn't even scream.
Through half-lidded eyes, he saw it—
The eye, still watching. Cold. Dark. Timeless.
Then—
The Eye pulsed again, and with it, came the Serpents of the Abyss — coils of dark flame, thousands of them, slithering through space, carving crooked paths like snakes chasing prey.
Each serpent had jaws filled with weeping skulls, each hiss sounded like entire nations begging for mercy.
And they were all coming for Rein.
He didn't even move.
He couldn't.
"So this is fear," he muttered, collapsing onto his knees, body broken, mana drained, soul shaking.
For the first time in his life, Rein Shroud — The Strongest Hero — looked up at something and thought:
"Even if I gave everything… I still wouldn't win."
And so,
He just… closed his eyes.
And smiled softly.
"Heh… So this is how it ends…"
He closed his eyes.
And let the serpents come and devour him.
—[To be continued]—
A/N:
"Even the strongest heroes... Sometimes bow to the weight of the sky."
Source: –Trust me, bro❤️