The air was still thick with the residual mana-dust of the Morning Star. The ground, scorched and cratered, told the story of a hero's final stand. Shinji Saitou Tsukishima stood at the edge of the blast zone, his body trembling, not from the lingering shockwaves, but from a grief so profound it felt like a physical wound. He saw the black mark on the ground where his master, All Light, had made his last sacrifice. He felt the cold truth of it, a truth the Sorcerer's Council had so arrogantly dismissed. The light had fallen.
And Shinji… he hadn't been there. He was too late.
A cold, mocking voice cut through his despair.
Veynar Umbros: "The student arrives to find the master's ashes. A touching tragedy. He died a hero, for a kingdom that sent him to his grave."
The Pact of Obsidian appeared on the horizon, their forms silhouetted against the smoldering ruins. Dartivus Vaderius, the Scourge of Crowns, stood at the forefront, his armor a jagged testament to his own pain.
Dartivus Vaderius: "He was a fool. Like me, he gave everything for a government that would not remember his name. He was sacrificed for their comfort. And now, you will be too."
Shinji's grief gave way to a cold, all-consuming fury. The world around him faded, replaced by a singular, burning hatred. He wasn't the boy who looked up to his master anymore. He was the vessel of an absolute, primal rage.
Shinji: "You… you killed him. You extinguished his light. I will make you pay. All of you."
A laugh, distorted and manic, escaped his lips. The shadows at his feet began to writhe, twisting and stretching. His own body, thanks to his Void Adaptation, began to shift, his limbs extending and contracting like a rubbery, liquid form. A punch from an enraged Maiju sailed past his face, its force absorbed harmlessly as his neck stretched out of the way. He had no plan, no strategy. Just pure, unadulterated rage.
Shinji: "You think you've won? You've only just made me angry. Welcome to my world."
He closed his eyes, and a darkness, a suffocating, living void, erupted from him. The ground beneath the Pact of Obsidian dissolved into an inky blackness. A personal, shadow-infused dimension, the Abyss Realm, manifested with terrifying speed. The sky, once a swirling mass of clouds, was now an endless, starless void.
Shinji: "Inside the Abyss Realm, I am a god!"
The members of the Pact recoiled, their auras flickering. The laws of reality within the Abyss Realm were warped. Noctis's black flames seemed to be swallowed by the ever-consuming shadows. Selvara's miasma dissipated into nothingness.
Veynar Umbros: "A domain… a powerful one. But it is not a world. You are still just a child!"
Shinji's form, once small and unassuming, now radiated with power. His strength, speed, and durability multiplied exponentially. He moved faster than Noctis's mind could track, a blur of motion.
Shinji: "You mocked his sacrifice. You mocked his heroism. Now I will show you what a true monster looks like."
A surge of energy coursed through him, a devastating power that felt like a star being born inside his chest. The Abyssal Surge. He aimed a punch at the ground. A shockwave of pure destructive force erupted, tearing a fissure through the shadowy domain and sending the Pact members staggering.
Dartivus Vaderius: "A child's tantrum! Your mana is raw, untamed! You will burn out!"
Dartivus raised his blade-like staff, and the Ashen Phalanx of his fallen soldiers appeared, their forms spectral and hateful.
Dartivus Vaderius: "My rage is an army. Your pain is singular. You will be crushed by an ocean of vengeance!"
Shinji simply grinned, a terrifying, manic expression. The pact he had forged, the Oblivion Accord, stirred to life within him. The souls of his defeated enemies, the spirits of the fallen he had absorbed in his travels, answered his call.
Shinji: "You have an army of ghosts. I have a legion of demons."
A storm of dark mana and spiritual energy erupted around him. One by one, the 8 Primordial Yokai Knights manifested, their forms materializing from the shadows of the Abyss Realm.
First, Shiragami, the Pale Warden, a towering knight in cracked white armor, appeared at the edge of the Abyss Realm, his presence a wall of stillness. He raised a hand, his Soul Anchor freezing any attempt at escape or teleportation. The Pact was trapped.
Next, Kurogitsune, the Black Fox Emperor, appeared with a cunning, fox-like mask. His nine flaming tails flickered as he created up to nine perfect clones, their shadowy forms moving to confuse and distract the Pact.
Aokami, the Verdant Wolf Sovereign, landed with a howl that shook the very foundation of the Abyss Realm, his jade spear at the ready.
Akahime, the Crimson Blade Princess, emerged with her floating blood-red katana, her eyes locked on Dartivus, a worthy opponent for a duel.
Onibashira, the Demon Pillar, a massive Oni of stone and black armor, slammed his colossal spiked club into the ground, its presence a physical weight in the Abyss Realm.
Yureihime, the Phantom Mist Empress, drifted into existence, a translucent, melancholic figure who began to weave a soul-draining fog around the battlefield.
Raiōmaru, the Thunder Sovereign Beast, crackled with energy, his blade of pure lightning at the ready.
And finally, Walther, the Silent Moon Butler, appeared with an elegant bow, his impeccable attire a stark contrast to the chaos. His pale-blue eyes glowed as he took out a silver pocket watch, his Lunar Seal Arts beginning to hum.
Shinji: "You brought an army, Dartivus. I brought a pantheon of vengeance. And unlike yours, my army is here because they choose to be. They will not be extinguished."
The battle began. The 8 Primordial Yokai Knights moved as one, a symphony of destruction. Shiragami held the line, an immovable bastion against Dartivus's spectral soldiers. Raiōmaru clashed with Noctis, their lightning and black fire turning the shadows into a volatile, chaotic maelstrom. Akahime and Kurogitsune went after Selvara and Kaelthorn, forcing them to fight with a speed and cunning they weren't used to.
Shinji, fueled by the Abyssal Surge, moved like a force of nature. His Void Adaptation allowed him to absorb blows from Onibashira and Draegorn, their powerful strikes doing nothing but rippling harmlessly across his fluid form.
Shinji: "Give it up! Your mana is useless here! Your pain means nothing to me!"
Dartivus Vaderius: "Your arrogance is your downfall! You are a boy playing god!"
Dartivus unleashed his Crownbreaker's Wrath, a greatsword of obsidian fire that descended upon Aokami. The Verdant Wolf Sovereign howled, but the powerful blow still struck true, forcing him to his knees.
But as Dartivus moved to finish him, a blur of elegance and silver threads shot past. Walther, in his Eclipsing Waltz, appeared next to the weakened Aokami, placing a single, precise seal on his back, a silent testament to his promise to protect his allies.
Then, he was gone, a phantom weaving between the Spectral Phalanx, his blade a flash of moonlight. He was untouchable, his movements too precise for the rage-fueled specters to counter.
Shinji: "Now you face me."
Shinji lunged at Dartivus. But as he did, he felt a chilling cold. Yureihime had started her Wailing Dirge, her mournful song echoing through the Abyss Realm. Shinji felt his rage, his focus, begin to waver.
Shinji: "Stop… that song…"
His Void Adaptation momentarily faltered, his body losing its cohesion as the despair of the song took root.
That was all the opening Dartivus needed. He raised his staff and slammed it into the ground.
Dartivus Vaderius: "You think your despair is absolute? You have no idea what it is to be a ghost in your own home!"
He activated Eclipse Pyrrhic, a battlefield annihilation technique. The shadows and light within the Abyss Realm began to collapse into a burning eclipse sphere. Shinji's domain, his reality, was being consumed by a counter-force of equal and opposite power.
The sphere detonated, and with it, the Abyss Realm shattered.
The world reverted to its reality, the smoldering ruins of Limana Kingdom. The 8 Primordial Yokai Knights screamed as the link between their dimension and reality was severed. They were not destroyed, but the shock of being ripped from their domain sent them reeling, their forms dissipating, and their power drained.
Shinji crumpled to the ground, his body convulsing in agony from the backlash. He had overextended. He had used a power born of grief, not control. His ultimate move, the Abyss Cataclysm, had been interrupted before it could even begin.
Dartivus stood over him, his armor chipped, his spectral phalanx weakened but still present.
Dartivus Vaderius: "You see? We were not just playing god. We were preparing for a war. You fought for a lost cause. Just like your master."
Kaelthorn, the Soul Butcher, approached, his chains rattling.
Kaelthorn: "He is broken. The boy-king is nothing without his toys."
Shinji tried to stand, but his body wouldn't obey. His Void Adaptation was in tatters, his body a trembling, semi-fluid mess.
Dartivus Vaderius: "You chose to live in the shadow of a dead hero. Now you will join him."
Dartivus raised his blade-staff, its obsidian tip glowing with an eerie, finality. He brought it down, not to kill Shinji, but to strike at his very essence. The blade plunged into Shinji's chest, searing his skin with a soul-deep pain. The Obsidian Pyre ignited, but this time, it didn't burn mana. It sought to extinguish it.
Shinji's arcane, the Abyss Dominion, was a brilliant, burning star within him. And Dartivus was a black hole of vengeance, designed to consume it. The Obsidian Pyre burned hotter and hotter, a silent, agonizing fire that consumed the very source of Shinji's power. The veins of obsidian on Dartivus's body pulsed with the stolen energy.
Shinji screamed, a sound of pure agony and despair. The light in his eyes, the remnants of his master's legacy, flickered and died. The obsidian veins on Dartivus's body flared violently, a final, horrifying testament to the power he had stolen.
Veynar Umbros: "The light has been extinguished. The last of the Sorcerer's heroes… is no more."