{NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!}
The creature's scream tore through the realm like a shattered mirror, splintering reality itself. Its shadowy mass writhed in agony, tendrils lashing out blindly as it searched for the remnants of the fruit—the thing it had waited centuries to consume. Just one bite, even a fragment, would have been enough. But no. He ate it all. Every last drop.
Atlas stood at the center of its rage, his body glowing with an intensity that burned brighter than the sun yet scorched him from within. The pain was excruciating—a molten fire coursing through his veins—but he didn't care. All that mattered was the entity before him, its infinite eyes glaring daggers into his soul.
{INSECT!} It growled, swirling closer, its formless mass twisting around him like a storm cloud ready to strike. {..I...WilL..CONDEMN Death.....On...You...thOusAnD...TimEs..}
Atlas glared, despite the torment ripping through his flesh. "Same goes for me," he spat, his voice hoarse but defiant. "Until I kill you, I ain't dying."
[Notification]
[New unknown Energy detected within Host]
[Too much concentrated Energy...Too much concentrated Energy.....Too much concentrated Energy....Can't digest....error.]
[Error...Error...Error]
The notifications rang incessantly in his ears, but Atlas tuned them out. What did they matter now? There was only one goal left—to destroy this abomination.
He gripped his makeshift sword tighter, dragging its jagged edge across his palm until golden-red blood dripped onto the blade. The liquid ignited instantly, coating the weapon in radiant light. His own blood seared his skin where it touched, but he felt nothing beyond the burning fury consuming him.
{Haaaaa!!!!}
"Haaaaaa!!!!"
With a roar rivaling the monster's, Atlas lunged forward, swinging his sword in wide arcs. Each strike carved chunks out of the entity's form, but for every piece he severed, ten more grew back. Tendrils erupted from the darkness, impaling him from every angle. Still, he pressed on, his 'Truth Eyes' revealing the truth beneath the chaos: the creature pulsed deep red within its gnawing maw.
His gaze flickered upward momentarily, catching sight of the tiny orange dot high above—the new fruit slowly budding on its branch. That was it. That was what he needed. Hope flared briefly in his chest, though it was quickly drowned by despair and wrath. Nothing else mattered—not the pain, not the odds, not even survival. Only vengeance.
"...Nothing else matters."
The dark entity loomed over him, its countless mouths spreading wide, eager to devour him whole. What could a puny insect ever hope to achieve against a being such as itself? Eventually, it would win. It always did.
But then something changed.
[Error fixed]
[Organs stats divided, All organs upgraded]
[All organs Stopped disintegrating from immense foreign energy]
[Immense Foreign energy getting absorbed within Hosts inner body.]
[Foreign energy regenerating Host's disintegrated portions]
[Temporary Regeneration Achieved.]
[Congratulations you have received 100 points as you achieve Regeneration (Temporary), which the MC never achieved.]
Atlas heard only one thing clearly amid the cacophony of alerts: 'Regeneration'. That single word burned brighter than any notification. It meant he could fight longer. Fight harder. Fight until the bitter end.
And so he set his sights once more on the task ahead. From this moment on, he 'was' the light. With deliberate cruelty, he drove his blade deeper into his own flesh, letting golden-red blood spill freely. The stench of iron filled the air, mingling with the scent of burning shadows. Wherever his blood splashed, the darkness recoiled, disintegrating under the weight of its brilliance.
{Insect....die....Now!}
Like a tidal wave of pure malice, the entity surged toward him, intent on swallowing him whole. But to what avail? Its darkness evaporated upon contact with his sword—and his blood.
Atlas growled, a sound both manic and triumphant. For the first time since stepping foot in this accursed realm, the pain didn't bother him but ignited him instead.
The entity recoiled momentarily, its form shifting as it abandoned its sprawling mass for something denser, sharper—deadlier. Like a thousand spears forged from the void itself, it converged on Atlas, piercing through his flesh with relentless precision. From neck to chest, legs to arms, dark tendrils impaled him, pinning him in place like an insect trapped under glass.
"...No," Atlas rasped, his voice raw and broken but defiant. "It's not... enough... The pain... it's not enough."
With a guttural scream, he tore himself free, slicing through the shadowy spikes with his glowing blade. Golden blood sprayed across the ground, illuminating the darkness like liquid sunlight. He staggered forward, then sprinted toward the writhing beast once more, splattering his own radiant essence onto its form.
Each drop burned like acid, carving away chunks of the creature's being. Wherever his blood touched, the shadows disintegrated, leaving behind only empty air. And yet, Atlas did not stop. His body regenerated almost instantly—new limbs sprouting where old ones had been severed, his once severed arm also returning to its glory—but he paid no heed to this miracle. Instead, he sliced off the same hand once more, throwing it towards the beast, spraying his luminous lifeblood like a mad artist painting a canvas of destruction.
"Haaaaaa!!!!!"
Atlas screamed, roared, as he was no longer human—or perhaps he was more human than ever before. His mind teetered on the brink of madness, every thought consumed by one singular goal: destroy the monster that dared to threaten what little remained of his world. Every ounce of pain, anger, and despair fueled him now, driving him deeper into the abyss.
Again and again, he hurled himself at the entity, using his own body as both weapon and sacrifice. The forest around them became drenched in his golden blood, each tree, each patch of earth glowing faintly in defiance of the encroaching darkness. No matter how many times the beast attacked, no matter how many wounds it inflicted, Atlas pressed on with increasing ferocity.
{ .....I...underestimated....!?..}
The infinite eyes that once glared down at him dwindled to a mere handful, their light dimming as fear began to creep into the entity's consciousness. For the first time in eons, it felt uncertainty—a flicker of doubt that threatened to consume it entirely. But still, Atlas showed no mercy. He sliced open his back, his chest, his thighs—spilling his essence everywhere, leaving trails of brilliance in his wake.
'....a little more,' he thought, his mind fractured but focused. 'Just a little more.'
[Absorption of foreign energy complete.]
[Regeneration will be deactivated soon.]
'....a little more...'
Slice! Pierce! Spray!
Another arm grew back after he hacked it off, another torrent of golden blood spewing forth. The entity tried desperately to fend him off, but its efforts were futile against the relentless tide of light. Its form shrank visibly, compressed by the sheer force of Atlas's assault. What had once loomed impossibly large now resembled something almost... mortal.
{.....Human....Dangerous..}
He pierced his own heart—just deep enough—as his concentrated golden blood dripped down his sword, all the way to the hilt, coating his gripping hand.
"SKY JUMP!"
With a leap that seemed to defy gravity, he soared toward the branch, his sword poised to strike. For the first time in eons, the entity felt panic. Fear crept through its being as it witnessed what this "insect" was capable of. In desperation, it concentrated its power—once vast enough to engulf an entire forest—and condensed itself into a new form, one that mirrored the very foe it now faced, abandoning its amorphous shape for a humanoid form—two arms, two legs, a head. It positioned itself directly between Atlas and the budding fruit hidden beneath layers of dark skin. If the human succeeded in cutting through, it would mean the end—not just for the entity, but for everything it represented.
Coming down hard on Atlas's chest, the creature drove him backward, its makeshift hands transforming into jagged spikes that pierced every inch of his body. Blood bubbled from countless wounds, but even as his organs failed and his vision blurred, Atlas refused to yield.
{....Aaaaaa...} The entity growled in agony, its spiked appendages burning away under the corrosive power of Atlas's golden blood.
'....a....little more.'
Summoning the last dregs of his strength, Atlas swung his sword one final time, sending it spinning through the air like a comet streaking toward destiny. The entity could do nothing but watch in horror as the blade arced towards the its skin covering the budding fruit, its edges gleaming with the remnants of his sacrifice.
{....Why...should not...be possible....}
Strike!
The sword cleaved through the entity's protective layer, shattering it completely. Light erupted in a blinding flash, the burgeoning fruit swelling rapidly, pulsating with newfound vitality. Illuminating the whole realm in its Blinding Light once more.
{NOooo.....}The entity let out a final, desperate roar before dissolving into nothingness, consumed by the very force it sought to control.
.
.
.
Silence.....
Atlas fell limply to the ground, his body riddled with holes unrecognizable beyond measure, collapsing beside Eli's lifeless form. His hollow face twitched faintly as regeneration worked tirelessly to repair the damage, but the gaping wound in his chest remained—a stark reminder of the cost of victory. The ever glowing golden light of the fruit gradually deemed and Slowly, painfully, his breathing gradually stopped with it.
[Regeneration Deactivated.]
On the bright new day of the fifth realm, Both lay motionless, their fates intertwined in death as they had been in life. Around them, the forest shimmered with residual light of ATLAS, the fruits of Yggdrasil glowing softly overhead. The battle was Over, Finally.....over.
****
Character pictures are available in the Discord server, and I'm there as well if anybody has any questions. Link below:
https://discord.gg/yrnQskUgPF