The Absolute Realm had fallen into chaos.
What had once been a pristine palace suspended outside the boundaries of time now looked like the aftermath of a cosmic apocalypse.
The dome had shattered.
The pillars had collapsed.
Fragments of the Absolute Palace drifted through the void like broken stars.
And in the center of it all—
War had begun.
Nine Absolutes remained.
Each of them a being born from the First Light, capable of creating or destroying entire multiverses.
Yet the presence standing before them forced even these primordial beings into battle formations.
Ashura Bellet.
The Sovereign of Black Light.
Floating in the void above the broken palace ruins, Ashura stretched his neck slightly like someone preparing for exercise.
Below him, the Absolutes gathered.
Agoth stood at the center.
Around him were:
Elaris — Absolute of Cosmic Harmony
Valkar — Absolute of Collapse
Eidros — Absolute of Primordial Flame
Athena — Absolute of Strategy and Law
Malakai — Absolute of Devouring Eternity
Bonx — Absolute of Gravity Dominion
Gradius — Absolute of Celestial Blades
Seraif — Absolute of Radiant Judgment
Each one radiated enough power to erase a multiverse with a casual gesture.
But even together—
They felt the pressure of Ashura's existence.
Agoth stepped forward.
His voice echoed across the broken dimension.
"Absolutes."
Golden light ignited around them.
"Embodiment."
The Absolutes' bodies began to change.
Their forms expanded.
Their laws manifested physically.
This was their ultimate transformation.
The Embodiment of First Light.
Similar to the Sidax forms of the Outer Gods, but far more refined.
They were not borrowing power.
They were becoming their laws.
Elaris transformed first.
Her body turned into a massive constellation of living stars.
Valkar's form became a collapsing singularity that devoured space.
Eidros ignited into a titan of primordial flame.
Athena grew radiant wings made of spinning golden laws.
Malakai's body became a vortex swallowing entire dimensions.
Bonx expanded into a gravitational colossus.
Gradius transformed into a warrior composed entirely of infinite floating blades.
Seraif manifested six burning halos of divine judgment.
And Agoth—
Agoth's transformation had not yet begun.
Because he was saving it.
For Ashura.
While Ashura stood calmly in the center—
Three Absolutes turned away from him.
Bonx.
Gradius.
Seraif.
They faced the silent warrior standing nearby.
Armageddon.
Bonx spoke first.
"Servant."
His gravitational body warped space.
"You will die before your master."
Armageddon slowly lifted his head.
White hair drifted through the void.
His calm eyes looked at the three Absolutes.
Then he spoke softly.
"I am not merely a servant."
Black lightning began crawling across his armor.
"I am the sword that executes his will."
His body began transforming.
Armor cracked open.
Dark wings of condensed Black Light erupted from his back.
White lightning mixed with black energy.
A crown of jagged lightning formed above his head.
This was his true form.
The Harbinger of Black Light.
Armageddon's voice dropped into something deeper.
"You may come."
Bonx attacked first.
Gravity crushed inward.
Entire solar systems worth of pressure collapsed onto Armageddon.
The void folded.
But Armageddon simply raised his hand.
Black lightning erupted outward.
The gravitational field shattered.
Bonx's embodiment staggered.
"Impossible—"
Gradius moved next.
A storm of celestial blades filled the void.
Millions.
Billions.
Each capable of slicing through universes.
They descended like a divine execution.
Armageddon stepped forward.
And disappeared.
The next moment—
He was behind Gradius.
One slash.
Black lightning followed the blade.
Gradius screamed.
Half his embodiment shattered.
Seraif descended next.
Her halos expanded into burning rings of judgment.
"Divine Punishment!"
Six beams of pure First Light fired simultaneously.
Armageddon didn't dodge.
Instead—
He raised his sword.
Black energy gathered around it.
"Black Light Annihilation."
He swung.
The universe shook.
Thousands of black lightning bolts exploded across the battlefield.
Each bolt struck like the wrath of the end itself.
Bonx screamed as gravity fields shattered.
Seraif's halos cracked.
Gradius—
Was not so lucky.
Armageddon appeared directly in front of him.
His blade flashed once.
Gradius' head floated silently through space.
One Absolute—
Dead.
Armageddon flicked the blood from his sword.
"Two remain."
Meanwhile—
Ashura stood surrounded by five Absolutes.
Elaris.
Valkar.
Eidros.
Athena.
Malakai.
Each attacked simultaneously.
Star systems collapsed.
Flames that could burn dimensions erupted.
Law constructs sealed space.
Devouring void storms surged.
The battlefield became a catastrophic collision of cosmic authorities.
And Ashura—
Stood in the center.
Unmoving.
The attacks reached him.
Black Light expanded.
Everything stopped.
Then reversed.
The Absolutes watched in disbelief as their own attacks were erased from existence.
Ashura sighed.
"You're loud."
Then he moved.
His fist struck Valkar.
The Absolute of Collapse was launched through three dimensions instantly.
A kick shattered Eidros' flaming embodiment.
Ashura grabbed Malakai's devouring vortex and tore it apart with his bare hands.
Athena attempted to bind him with strategic laws.
Ashura snapped them like threads.
Elaris unleashed a starstorm.
Ashura simply walked through it.
Holding off five Absolutes simultaneously.
And still looking bored.
Then—
Agoth moved.
The leader of the Absolutes stepped forward.
Golden light erupted around him.
Ashura turned toward him.
Agoth smiled.
"So this is the power that stands outside the hierarchy."
Then his body changed.
This was his embodiment.
The Embodiment of First Light.
His authority manifested.
"Law of Simultaneous Suspension."
Time slowed.
Reality froze.
Constructs appeared and vanished instantly.
Agoth could create, suspend, and destroy constructs simultaneously.
The reason he ruled the Absolutes.
Then a weapon appeared in his hand.
A blade forged from condensed First Light.
A forbidden weapon.
"Blade of the Light."
Agoth raised it.
His eyes burned with excitement.
"It has been eons since I fought like this."
Ashura smiled.
Finally.
"Good."
Black Light gathered in his hand.
Kuroha appeared.
The blade of the end.
Ashura spun it once.
"Let's put in some effort."
Agoth attacked first.
His speed exceeded light.
He swung the Blade of the Light horizontally.
Ashura responded instantly.
Kuroha moved vertically.
The blades collided.
Silence.
Then—
Reality exploded.
The shockwave erased the dimension.
The remaining fragments of the Absolute Palace disintegrated.
Entire cosmic layers collapsed.
Even the Absolutes paused in terror.
Agoth began laughing.
Loud.
Wild.
Hysterical.
"YES!"
Golden light erupted from him.
"This is it!"
He swung again.
Ashura matched him.
The two exchanged blows faster than light itself.
Blade against blade.
Law against authority.
Creation against the end.
The void trembled under each clash.
Meanwhile—
Armageddon's lightning storm still raged.
Bonx and Seraif were permanently injured by the Black Light bolts.
Gradius' head drifted silently through the void.
Armageddon stood above the corpse.
Lightning crackling around him.
Two Absolutes remained before him.
And neither looked confident anymore.
Back in the main battle—
Agoth and Ashura clashed again.
Their swords locked.
Agoth grinned.
"You see it now?"
"The power of First Light!"
But Ashura's expression remained calm.
"I think you misunderstand something."
Agoth frowned.
Ashura pushed slightly harder.
The pressure exploded.
Agoth was forced back.
Ashura spoke casually.
"Those shockwaves earlier?"
He lifted Kuroha.
"They weren't caused by you."
Agoth's eyes widened.
Ashura swung.
Downward.
Agoth raised the Blade of Light to block.
The impact detonated.
Agoth was launched downward at impossible speed.
Through the shattered remains of the palace.
Through the dimensional floor.
Straight into a nearby moon.
The impact created a massive crater.
Ashura followed.
Descending like a black meteor.
He grabbed Agoth by the throat.
And slammed him deeper into the moon's surface.
The crater expanded for hundreds of miles.
Ashura stood above him.
Black Light radiating like the end of all things.
Agoth stared up.
Breathing heavily.
And Ashura smiled.
The war—
Was only getting started.