Both Stella and Lord Tim wasted no time before reaching the Void. Kenneth took his own path, forcing the creature to split its attention and direct its power toward him.
Stella gripped her sword tight and swung at the Void, but the strike never landed, an invisible barrier shimmered and stopped it cold.
At the same time, Lord Tim drew on the rocks around them, reshaping them into thick, flexible black metal. He held four rods, two in each hand, and lashed them around the Void, binding him.
With a sharp heave, Lord Tim swung the creature and smashed it into the ground.
But he was too late to realize, the Void had already corrupted the rods. From the point of contact, the black metal shifted, bleeding into a sickly purple glow.
The backlash threw Lord Tim across the ground. He screamed in agony as part of the impact tore through his protective suit.
The material melted around his hand, hissing and bubbling, but with effort he quickly stabilized it before the damage spread further.
"Even in close combat, he's still dangerous,"
Lord Tim spat, forcing himself back on his feet.
The plan had been simple, get close, test for openings but every inch of the Void's body was wrapped in corrosive energy, a thin barrier shielding him from any direct strike.
Their only chance rested on Kenneth, who was still trapped beneath the rock formation.
"Ken! What's taking you so long?"
Stella shouted.
Terry's eyes stayed locked on the massive sphere of stone hovering above them. Stella, meanwhile, kept her distance, circling carefully.
The Void stepped forward, not noticing the traps she had set, light runes carved into the earth beneath his feet. The moment he touched them, explosions erupted, shaking the floor.
The Void drifted backward, dodging most of the blasts with precise movements, his form blurring in and out of sight.
All their attacks so far had done nothing more than push him back, teaching them how he wielded his power. But now, the real battle was beginning.
Kenneth's eyes lit up, his pupils crackling like bolts of lightning. A tattoo along his arm began to glow with a blue radiance.
Still wrapped in darkness, he broke free with a violent surge, the rocky prison shattering into the air around him. In a flash, he moved his body leaving streaks of light across the battlefield.
Houses, trees, and rubble in his path were torn apart by the sheer force of his passage.
He shot forward, light concentrated in his palm, and struck the Void head-on. The impact sent shockwaves through the air.
The Void tried to block it, but for the first time his barrier cracked.
His eyes widened. "Impressive… but still not enough."
With one swift motion, he grabbed Kenneth by the throat and slammed him hard into the ground. Dust rose. But just as he pushed down harder, Kenneth's body flared into pure plasma, slipping from his grip like lightning.
The Void froze in place, one knee pressed to the earth, his hand still outstretched as if holding onto someone who was no longer there.
"Sealing Art: Line Matrix!" Stella's voice rang out.
The ground split open with blinding light. Dozens no, hundreds of glowing rods shot upward, piercing through the Void's body and locking him in place.
They formed around him like a three-dimensional cube of pure radiance, pinning him at its center.
The Void let out a guttural roar, writhing as the rods burned through him, but his body refused to budge.
"What is this?!"
he screamed, his voice shaking the ground. A thunderous force exploded from him, the earth collapsing beneath his feet, but the cage of light held strong.
"Well done, Stella,"
Kenneth said, catching his breath.
It was a perfect sequence, Kenneth forcing him to weaken his barrier, Stella sealing him while he was exposed. For the first time, the Void was cornered.
Now it was Lord Tim's turn. He had been conserving his strength for this one moment, and the time had finally come.
Stepping closer, he pressed his hands together. Blood began to drip from his nose as a black aura radiated from his body.
"Construct Reality: Fortress of Lost Souls!"
The earth beneath the Void split open into a yawning black portal. From its depths, long shadowy hands reached out, clawing and wrapping around him.
A chilling chorus of cries and wails echoed from the darkness, their voices pulling him down.
The Void struggled, but within seconds he was dragged inside, swallowed by the abyss.
In Galaxia, the control room erupted in cheers. The sector unit jumped from their seats, hugging one another, shouting in triumph. To them, the battle was over.
Even the Council members, watching from their high balconies, smiled in relief. The Void was finally defeated.
Lord Tim collapsed to the floor, coughing blood. Stella and Kenneth rushed to his side, holding him up.
Through the pain, Lord Tim managed a faint smile, nodding to both of them, a silent acknowledgment that they had done it together.
But inside the dark dimension, the Void's eyes opened. He found himself in a barren land under a starless night sky, a huge yellow moon looming above.
Twisted metal trees surrounded him, their branches dripping black liquid. Thousands of razor-thin black lines extended from the trees, stabbing through his body and suspending him in the air.
His arms, legs, even his chest, none were spared. The rods drained his cosmic energy, leaving him weak.
"This is different from the last one,"
he muttered, glaring around. "Annoying… but it lacks permanence. There's one thing you must learn, even now"
his voice grew darker, sharper, "even your most desperate technique, even your Construct Reality… isn't enough to contain me."
He released a surge of cosmic energy. The trees absorbed it greedily until his body evaporated into mist. Then the forest began to tremble.
One by one, the trees melted into black sludge, swirling together until they reformed his body, stronger, darker, his skin now streaked with black and purple.
The corrupted essence spread across the land, pulling in whatever life it touched. Even the faint remains of humans that once roamed the earth were consumed, their forms swallowed into the darkness until the Void's figure stood whole again, unscarred.
He had turned his prison into a power source. Since Construct Reality itself was woven from cosmic energy, all he had to do was corrupt it and claim it for himself.
Meanwhile, back in Galaxia, Kate's smile faded. Her eyes fixed on the monitor.
At first, the readings of the meganuwits had frozen at 36,455, the expected drop after the Void's defeat. But then, the numbers began to shift.
Slowly at first, ticking downward, then climbing again higher and higher, faster and faster.
"What the…?" she whispered, panic creeping in.
On Earth, Stella, Kenneth, and Lord Tim staggered away from the battlefield, unaware. Behind them, reality itself began to bend, warping like torn fabric.
Something was pushing from the other side, tearing through space as if it were elastic.
Then a hand ripped through.
A massive explosion followed, the ground splitting wide as shockwaves blasted the air.
The Void stepped out from the shattered dimension, his body glowing with power, his presence heavier than ever. Energy crackled around him like a storm.
"Now," he said with a cruel smile, "it's time I show you what I truly possess."