The cliffside above the valley had always been a place of peace. Ava loved to watch the horizon from there, Chloe sometimes giggling as she reached for stars too far to touch. It was where Megumi went when his heart grew too heavy. Tonight, though, it was anything but peaceful.
The sky churned as though mirroring his turmoil. Thick clouds pressed together, hiding the moon, and lightning twisted unnaturally through the darkness. The air felt heavy, suffocating, as Megumi stood alone, his fists clenched so tightly blood slipped between his knuckles.
He had sensed them. Ava, Chloe… gone. His heart screamed betrayal. His body shook, the emotions clawing at him like wild beasts.
When Leonidas arrived, stepping through the shadows of his portal, he found Megumi's aura spilling out uncontrollably. Black and gold flared like clashing suns, red electricity cracking the air, the mountain itself groaning under the strain.
"Megumi!" Leonidas called, though his voice nearly vanished under the roar of power. "You need to listen to me."
Megumi turned, his expression twisted, his golden eyes burning with something rawer than rage. "Where… are they?"
Leonidas exhaled heavily. He had expected this moment, dreaded it. "They're safe. That's what matters."
"Where are they?" Megumi's voice deepened unnaturally, resonating like a divine chorus. The ground at his feet broke apart in jagged veins of light, splitting outward in all directions.
Leonidas squared his shoulders. "I sent them where even you cannot reach. It's for their protection. You're too dangerous right now."
The words struck Megumi harder than any blade could. For a moment, his chest tightened with despair. She left me. The thought clawed its way into his mind, tearing into old wounds that had never healed. Ava was his anchor, Chloe his hope. Without them near, the void inside widened.
And through that void, something ancient stirred.
Megumi screamed, a guttural sound that cracked the heavens. His aura exploded outward in a shockwave, throwing Leonidas back, tearing apart the cliffside. The very air warped around him, twisting, breaking.
The surge ended with sudden stillness.
Megumi's body snapped upright. His breathing slowed, unnaturally steady. His aura condensed until it was no longer wild but suffocating, a controlled annihilation pressing against the world itself. His eyes — once filled with fire and sorrow — became black voids with pinpricks of collapsing stars.
When he raised his head, Leonidas knew instantly.
This was no longer Megumi.
It was the King of Erasure.
⸻
The King Awakens
Silence blanketed the world. No insects. No wind. Even the lightning froze in the clouds above, arrested mid-strike.
Leonidas rose to his feet, summoning the abyssal flames that coiled around his arms. His chest was heavy, but his expression hardened.
"So… you've taken him."
The Erasure King tilted Megumi's head slowly, as if savoring the moment. His voice rolled out like an echo from a void, hollow and cold.
"Taken? No. Reclaimed. This vessel is mine by right. I am what he always was, what he always will be. The boy is a fragile shell, a mask pretending at humanity. But me? I am truth. I am his despair, his rage, his hunger to unmake the gods. I am the king who never died."
Leonidas flared his flames higher, the only source of warmth left. "You're restrained. I can feel it. His love, his bonds — they're holding you back."
The King's smirk widened. "Yes. Annoying chains. Her face. The child's laughter. They tether me, dilute me. But every wound widens the cracks, Demon King. And today you tore a canyon open when you took them from him."
Leonidas's jaw tightened. "I didn't take them. I saved them from this."
The King chuckled darkly, the sound reverberating through the valley. He raised Megumi's hand, curling the fingers like claws. With a flick, a massive boulder nearby dissolved into dust, not shattered, not broken — erased from existence entirely.
"Do you see? Even half-chained, my power erases creation itself. Imagine me unbound." He leaned forward, the void eyes narrowing. "You think you've seen the worst of gods and titans? I was before them all. I was the first. And I will be the last."
⸻
The Clash of Wills
Leonidas's flames coiled tighter, his muscles tense. He knew striking now would do nothing but provoke. Still, he couldn't simply stand idle.
"You won't have him," Leonidas said, steady and firm. "Not while I draw breath."
The King tilted his head mockingly. "Noble. Predictable. You Spartans—no, forgive me, Demons—are such loyal creatures. Tell me, Demon King, when you burn for him and he burns for her, how long until you all burn together?"
He stepped forward, each stride deliberate, carrying the weight of annihilation. The cliffside cracked with every step, stone collapsing into void where his feet touched.
Leonidas matched his movement, spreading his stance. "He will fight you."
The King laughed, raising his arms wide as though welcoming the storm. "He already has. And each time he fights, I gain more. Each struggle frays the rope thinner. And when it snaps—" His smile sharpened. "—there will be no more Megumi Valentine. There will only be me."
He thrust a hand outward. The air screamed as a wave of erasure surged forward, not fire, not wind, but nothingness made manifest. Leonidas braced, his abyssal flames roaring higher, colliding with the void wave. The clash split the night sky in two halves — one devoured in black, the other blazing with infernal light.
The valley below crumbled. Entire trees vanished mid-sway, their existence undone. Mountains in the distance cracked as the shockwave traveled outward.
Leonidas growled against the force. This isn't even his full strength. If he reaches that…
⸻
The Boy's Resistance
And then, a flicker.
The King staggered, ever so slightly, his smirk faltering. From deep inside, Megumi's voice echoed.
"No… you won't…"
The void eyes trembled. The King snarled, gripping his head. "Pathetic boy! You dare—"
Light burst from within. Gold, blinding and fierce, cracked through the darkness, bleeding from Megumi's chest, his hands, his eyes. His body shook violently as two wills collided, both divine and absolute.
Leonidas seized the moment, roaring as he poured everything into his flames, pressing the void back.
The King screamed, a sound that shook the heavens. "You cannot hold me forever!"
Megumi's voice broke through, hoarse, desperate. "I don't need forever. Just now!"
The void shattered like glass, collapsing inward. With one final scream, the King of Erasure was dragged back into the depths of Megumi's soul.
⸻
Aftermath
Megumi collapsed to his knees, clutching his chest, gasping like a drowning man pulled from the sea. Sweat and blood streaked his face. His golden eyes returned, though they trembled, haunted by what had just occurred.
Leonidas approached cautiously, his flames dimming. He stopped a few steps away, the weight of what he'd seen pressing heavy on his shoulders.
"That wasn't a glimpse this time," Leonidas said quietly. "That was him. All of him."
Megumi's voice shook. "I couldn't stop him. He—he was in control. I was just… watching. I thought… I thought it was over."
Leonidas's expression softened, rare sympathy breaking through the Demon King's sternness. "But you fought back. You pulled yourself out."
Megumi shook his head violently. "No, Leonidas. You don't understand. He didn't need full strength to overpower me. He was holding back. If he breaks free completely…"
He couldn't finish. His body trembled, not from exhaustion, but fear — fear of himself.
Leonidas placed a hand on his shoulder, firm and grounding. "Then we won't let that happen. Not while I'm here. Not while Ava's here. Not while any of us breathe. You're not alone, Megumi."
Megumi closed his eyes, swallowing hard, but the image of the Erasure King's void eyes lingered in his mind, a nightmare that wasn't going away.
Somewhere deep inside, the King whispered with cruel patience:
Soon.