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Darkness rose from Kim's body like a ceiling devouring the sky, drowning cities in black fog where only the violet flames around him burned as beacons of dread.
People collapsed in the streets, their souls pulled out without being touched. The book in his hand turned its pages on its own, inscribing names one after another.
One of the Dimensional Guardians raised his hand toward the heavens:
— "Enough of this madness, intruder… you've surpassed the limits of existence!"
But before his words could echo, the sky itself split open. From beyond came forth a being unlike any hero or mere guardian.
He towered higher than skyscrapers, clad in armor woven of living stars, and his eyes shone like colliding galaxies.
A terrified hero screamed:
— "It's him… the Commander of the Guardians, the Gatekeeper Sovereign, Russell the Cosmic!"
Russell lifted his spear, forged from shards of an eternal meteor, and drove it into the void.
Instantly, time froze across the city. Everything halted… except Kim.
Kim's cold smile deepened, shadows behind him twisting into a hellish clock.
— "So… you'll be the one to walk with me into madness?"
The clock's hands struck. Time itself shattered like glass.
He unleashed the Scythes of Doom, unraveling reality around Russell. Yet the cosmic sovereign did not move.
With a voice that resounded like the cosmos itself:
— "Time? I was the one who set its boundaries, child of the Abyss."
With a single gesture, the black clock crumbled, its power rebounding violently.
Kim's chest exploded with blood; he fell to his knees, coughing black ichor—yet laughing:
— "Perfect… perfect! Finally… an enemy worthy of madness!"
And then, the curse whispered within him:
— "Release me… and I shall grant you an unbreakable form."
Cracks split across his skin, purple veins of flame surged through his body. His eyes became twin voids, and from behind him, a gaping abyss unfurled wings of darkness.
A new message appeared before him:
> "Fragment of Amon's Curse – Stage One Activated."
"Transformation: Half-Demon."
"Power: ×5 Amplification — but each minute devours ten years of your life."
Kim raised his head, his smile twisting into pure insanity:
— "If the price is my life… then I will burn all timelines for you!"
With his fractured body, he charged, smashing his bare fist against Russell's cosmic spear.
The city quaked as if caught in an earthquake. Heroes staggered in terror, people fell unconscious, and the heavens themselves seemed on the verge of collapsing.
At that moment… Kim was reborn as the Abyssal Demon for the first time.