Chapter 113 – "Oblivion Strike"
Zarion's sword vibrated in the air… before being firmly caught in Ivan's bare hand.
Bare-handed.
As if it were nothing more than a plastic toy.
Ivan squeezed slightly.
The sacred metal groaned under the pressure.
Then, with a backhanded punch, he struck Zarion.
The impact was so violent that Zarion was hurled through three dungeon columns before crashing into a wall of warped stone.
Zarion stood up immediately, brushing dust from his face with a nervous smile.
— Hmm. Just tell me… did you get a power-up or something?
Ivan turned his multicolored gaze toward him.
— Not your concern. I'll say it again.
Zarion shrugged faintly.
— Alright. If you want to play mysterious, I'll play mysterious too.
---
**At HQ – Control Room**
Liora and Elyon stared at the screens, watching unstable signals and terrain vibrations.
Liora paled.
— This is… really bad.
She zoomed in on the image.
— He's been empowered… by the number one bastard in the universe.
A voice echoed throughout the Palace of the Void:
— Thanks for the compliment.
Liora paled further.
— Vael… shut your mouth.
---
**Back in the Dungeon**
Zarion raised his sword again.
As Ivan advanced, a glowing circle appeared at his feet.
Then, with a gesture, Zarion opened four teleportation circles beneath Lya, Nova, Valor, and Ryn.
Lya jumped.
— Hey! Hey! What the—
Zarion raised his hand.
— It's too dangerous for you.
Valor protested.
— Wait! We can't just run away like cowards!
— You're not running.
Zarion activated the circles.
— I'm sending you back to HQ. Not the other way around.
A flash of light engulfed them.
— And besides, Zarion added, this is between him and me now.
---
Face to Face
Zarion stood tall, like a wall.
— Tell me. Who gave you that power?
He narrowed his eyes.
— Was it him who slaughtered the two Pillars?
He clenched his teeth.
— I think my parents gave him far too much freedom…
Ivan burst out laughing.
— I don't know if it was him or not.
He stepped forward slowly.
— But don't kid yourself, Zarion. I don't know who your parents are, but do you really think they could stop him if they could?
Zarion lowered his head slightly.
— You talk like that because you don't know them.
His eyes gleamed.
— Enough talk. It's time to clean up this mess. Humans have nothing to do with this.
Ivan took a step.
His very presence made space tremble.
The ground rippled beneath his feet, as if refusing to touch him.
Zarion swallowed.
— So this is… what humans call fear?
He shivered violently.
— First time I've felt it. Interesting.
He raised his hands.
Around him, twelve multidimensional barriers overlapped, each marked with a different seal.
— Alright, he said calmly, I'll take care of you.
Ivan vanished.
Reappeared right in front of him.
— Get ready… to taste oblivion.
Oblivion Strike
His blow struck all of Zarion's barriers with the sound of cosmic glass shattering.
Each layer exploded into a rain of fragmented reality.
The final barrier buckled—
Zarion was hurled hundreds of meters away.
He caught himself by driving his sword into the ground, skidding for over a hundred meters before stopping.
He spat blood.
— …
He looked at his hand.
A red droplet slid down.
— This is… the first time I've bled.
---
**At HQ**
Alarms. Distortion sounds.
Elyon slammed the console.
— We just lost the signal with Zarion!
Valen frowned.
— Looks like they're in trouble.
Liora bit her lip.
— Someone strong enough to stand against Zarion… that's rare.
Elyon crossed his arms.
— Honestly, I never thought he was that impressive…
Liora raised a finger.
— That's because you didn't know him back then.
Suddenly, the four circles opened, and
Lya, Valor, Nova, and Ryn appeared at HQ.
Naël came running.
— What's going on? Tell me everything!
Nova took a deep breath.
— Zarion had already erased Ivan. The dungeon boss. But he came back… like nothing happened.
And he's WAY stronger now.
Elyon blinked.
— What could explain that?
Liora tapped her chin.
— A few possibilities:
• Either he evolved…
• Or he was helped.
Valor cleared his throat.
— I vote "helped." He said: Thank you, Lord Vael.
A wave of cold passed through Liora.
— Vael…?
She turned pale.
— Oh no… we're screwed.
Valen narrowed his eyes.
— Vael… that name sounds familiar.
He placed a hand on his head.
— I heard it in my nightmares. When he slaughtered gods… architects… He terrified me…
And Valt… yes, Valt said that name too…
Miniature Elyonna floated in front of Valen.
She placed a glowing hand on his cheek.
— Valen… you know him very well.
Through thought, she added:
— You once asked me why I hated Vael. I never answered.
You forgot, but… you are an incarnation of Vael.
Just like Valt.
Valen shivered.
— I… remember now.
He took a deep breath.
— Liora… what do we do?
Liora stood tall.
— We monitor the situation. Try to reestablish contact with Zarion.
And hope… he's not dead.
---
Back to the Fight – Zarion vs Ivan
Zarion rose slowly.
Part of the ground around him had become a crater of shadow.
— I managed to protect my internal organs… by reinforcing the impact zone.
He groaned.
— But damn… that stings.
Ivan appeared behind him, a dark smile on his lips.
— So, Zarion?
He raised his hand, void energy pulsing around it.
— Shall we continue?
Zarion turned, ready to fight.
The battle was just beginning.
Chapter 114 – "Judgment of the Void"
Zarion stood with arms crossed, a cold smile on his lips:
> "Oblivion Strike, huh? Not bad.
But how do you plan to defeat me with that? Hahaha."
Ivan's eyes gleamed with arrogance:
> "Are you blinded by fear?
You were two breaths from death after my last strike."
Zarion raised an eyebrow:
> "Don't flatter yourself.
I was never going to die to a weakling like you.
Especially one who spams the same move like a glitched NPC."
Ivan vanished in a burst of shadow.
He reappeared in front of Zarion:
> "Oblivion Strike — Multiple!"
Dozens of strikes rained down on Zarion.
But he coated his body in his own energy, crossed his arms in a defensive stance, absorbed the blows…
Then, with a fluid motion, delivered a kick:
> "Oblivion Kick."
The impact sent Zarion flying through several dimensional pillars.
Ivan caught him mid-air, grabbed his foot, and slammed him violently into the ground.
— Not so cocky now, huh?
He tried to crush him again, but Zarion teleported backward using the Void. His eyes turned completely black.
Then, with a glance:
> "Eyes of the Void: Rupture."
A slicing wave —
A blade of pure void —
Split space itself.
Ivan was cleaved in two.
But his body regenerated instantly.
> "Ah… so you still have tricks left."
Zarion, calm, his eyes glowing with abyssal black, stared at Ivan.
With a single look, he teleported him into his grasp.
He seized Ivan by the throat, lifted him, and whispered:
> "You thought you could do something… against the Prince of the Primordial.
Even sealed, I'm leagues above you. Hahaha."
His blade sliced the air, chopping Ivan into neat slices. Plop. Plop. Plop.
Zarion blew on his blade, satisfied.
The pieces hit the ground, sizzling.
Zarion rubbed his eye, smiling:
> "You should thank the plot for letting you monologue this long."
But a murderous aura surged behind him.
Ivan… already regenerated.
> "You thought you could defeat me like that?
Pathetic."
Zarion, without turning:
> "I'm certain I nullified your regeneration and powers the moment I touched you."
Ivan chuckled darkly:
> "That's what you thought.
But you understand nothing.
You're playing a game whose rules you don't even know."
— Hahaha… poor fool, Ivan sneered. You don't get it. You can't seal or cut Oblivion. You can seal what you comprehend. But Oblivion… is what you cannot reach.
Zarion, eyes half-closed:
> "All you've done is spam Oblivion Strike, Oblivion this, Oblivion that.
You're afraid of being consumed by Vael, aren't you?
I knew it.
Even if you received the powers of the strongest gods…
You wouldn't know what to do with them.
You're too weak.
You're the pathetic one."
Ivan, enraged:
> "Shut up! You don't know what you're talking about!"
Zarion, smirking:
> "I do.
And judging by your face… I know I'm right."
Ivan vanished again, reappeared before Zarion.
But Zarion tracked him with his activated Eyes of the Void.
Ivan launched another Oblivion Strike.
Zarion blocked it with his arm coated in Primordial Void.
> "Alright… I've played with you long enough.
And the others are probably worried. I don't need Nova giving me another lecture about 'reckless risk-taking.'"
He delivered a kick charged with Primordial Void energy, sending Ivan flying.
Then coated his blade in the same energy — the void around them recoiled from its presence — and slashed without restraint.
Ivan screamed.
Zarion stepped forward, placing a foot on his head:
> "You're screaming?
Your body can't handle Vael's power.
You were just a vessel… and even that, you failed at."
Ivan writhed.
His body began to mutate — unstable, cracked, as if imploding from within.
Zarion leapt back, arms crossed, watching the scene:
> "There.
Now you look like what you truly are: a cosmic draft."
Chapter 115 — Ivan's Metamorphosis
The ground trembled.
No — it groaned, as if the earth itself refused to witness what was happening.
The air vibrated, then twisted, like someone was tugging on the invisible threads of reality.
Zarion watched the scene, arms crossed, a vaguely bored expression on his face.
— Well… either you evolve, or you explode. Either way, works for me.
In front of him, Ivan's body convulsed.
His limbs bent at impossible angles, his skin cracked, releasing fragments of infinite black.
It looked like he was trying to contain an ocean… in a shot glass.
His hair turned white in an instant, as if time had aged him just for fun.
His veins darkened, forming circuits of pure darkness.
His aura became… something that wasn't an aura.
Not energy.
Not pressure.
A chasm.
A call from the void.
Then a distorted, multi-layered voice vibrated through the air:
— Oblivion Form… Incomplete Awakening…
A wave of energy exploded like a black tide.
Zarion was thrown backward, sliding several meters.
He stabilized by planting his sword into the ground, the stone screeching like a scream.
— Oh. That's a bit more interesting, he admitted.
He raised a finger.
— Just a bit, though.
Ivan lifted his head.
His pupils were gone — replaced by a multicolored spiral that devoured light itself.
— I… remember…
Zarion: — Remember what?
Ivan, in a breath that vibrated like a low note across all worlds:
— What Vael… gave me…
Zarion cracked his neck, ready to go again.
— This is gonna be a circus, I can feel it.
---
At HQ — Panic Level 12 (or 13, according to Valor)
Lya frowned.
— Ivan's aura just spiked. And not a little bump — an Olympic leap. I'm not even sure that's legal.
Valor stared at the screens.
— What is that energy spike?! It's like a nuclear bomb on espresso!
Ryn, arms crossed:
— Zarion's gonna come back with pieces of the universe stuck in his hair… again.
Elyon raised his hands:
— So what do we do? Watch? Commentate? Make popcorn?
Liora sighed, visibly tired of existence.
— Yes. We watch. Because intervening there is basically getting erased before you can scream "help."
(And mentally: Even the hunters aren't strong enough. Not yet.)
Valen inhaled deeply, like before an existential crisis.
— No but… that's literally the same aura from my nightmares when Vael slaughtered gods! Ivan's touching something he shouldn't—
A small mental voice interrupted:
— Valen… you ARE an incarnation of Vael. You should be used to these disasters by now.
Valen mentally exploded:
— USED TO IT?! Me?! I didn't sign up for anything! I'm not even getting paid!
Nova slammed the table with his fist.
— Does anyone know what Zarion's doing? Why isn't he responding?
Liora swallowed.
— Because he's literally fighting a guy boosted by Vael.
She clenched her teeth.
— It's already a miracle he's still in one piece. A statistically improbable miracle, even.
---
Back to the Fight — Zarion vs Ivan (Phase2)
The ground beneath Ivan fractured, as if the earth was retreating to avoid touching him.
Then he moved.
No. He vanished.
Zarion instantly activated the Eyes of the Void.
The universe slowed around him.
— I see. You've gained speed. Good for you.
Ivan reappeared above him, hand coated in unstable, pulsing energy.
— Oblivion Collapse!
— Oh yeah, a new move, Zarion noted.
The impact erased color itself.
The world turned gray.
Then black.
Then… nothing.
Zarion reappeared, one knee on the ground.
His left arm was burned, smoking, the skin cracked like glass.
He calmly examined his arm.
— Oh… you actually hurt me.
He sighed.
— You're borrowing WAY too much power. Didn't Vael warn you? Oblivion can be consumed… but it also digests you.
Ivan screamed, his aura growing unstable.
— I MUST… HOLD IT! I CANNOT… DISAPPEAR!
Zarion stood.
His gaze turned cold — like stellar void.
A heavy, ancient energy enveloped him.
An energy he'd kept sealed from the beginning.
The air tore around him.
— Alright. If you want to play with that… then I'll release one seal. Just one.
He smiled joylessly.
— You're getting annoying, Ivan.
His hair turned white — like the ash of destroyed worlds.
But his eyes remained… black.
Not normal black.
Abyssal. Bottomless.
Ivan instinctively shivered.
— You… you hadn't used your true power…?
Zarion replied calmly:
— No. Because I didn't want to kill you.
He stepped forward.
Reality cracked beneath his foot.
— But now… I've changed my mind.
He raised his blade.
A massive invisible fissure tore through space, disturbing even light itself.
— Primordial Void: Local Collapse.
Even Ivan's Oblivion recoiled.
Ivan growled, his form distorting.
— I WILL NOT… YIELD TO YOU!
Zarion smiled — too calmly.
— Who said you had a choice?
They lunged at each other.
And the blast that followed… wasn't an explosion.
It was reality… too weak to withstand them.
Chapter 116 — "Void Overload"
The explosion was so violent that even the sky seemed to… blink.
A shockwave swept across the horizon, erasing colors for miles before they hesitantly returned, as if traumatized.
Finally, the dust settled, revealing two figures in the center of a massive crater:
Zarion — standing, calm, not even ruffled.
Ivan — on his knees, trembling, his power on the verge of detonating inside him.
Ivan gasped, panting:
— This… this is impossible…
Zarion raised a finger:
— No, you're just terrible at energy management. Not everyone's born with a manual.
Ivan shook:
— YOU'RE… TOO WEAK TO SAY THAT!
Zarion:
— Oh? Interesting. A new stage of denial.
Yet you're the one on the ground.
Ivan lifted his head, furious:
— SHUT UP!
His body began to vibrate.
Black filaments of light — like living fractures — escaped his skin.
Vael's power… was devouring him from within.
Zarion cracked his shoulders, as if this was just a failed warm-up.
— Told you: borrowed power isn't mastered with grimaces and shonen screams.
Ivan let out a muffled scream.
His legs gave out.
The ground beneath him melted like a miniature sun was burning below.
— I WILL… NOT… DISAPPEAR!
Zarion replied flatly:
— That's what they all say. Right before they vanish.
Ivan's aura suddenly exploded, a titanic wave sweeping across his domain.
Rocks disintegrated.
Mountains crumbled.
Reality itself wavered.
Zarion narrowed his eyes.
A single glance compressed the blast…
Then he crushed it with a backhand.
— Still trying to cause chaos… Honestly, it's exhausting.
Ivan stood up.
Or something that resembled Ivan.
His body was half-crystallized, fractured by the Void.
His face was an unstable mosaic of Oblivion and flesh.
His hair floated in nonexistent gravity.
And his eyes…
No longer eyes.
Just two spirals devouring the light around them.
— …Vael… gave me… this power… and I… will use it…
Zarion rubbed his temples.
— First of all, Vael doesn't "give" anything. He's not Santa Claus. He's a psychotic tester.
Ivan screamed:
— I WILL DISINTEGRATE YOU!
He teleported instantly in front of Zarion, hand charged with cataclysmic energy.
— Oblivion Implosion!
Space folded in on itself, a black point was born… then died instantly.
Zarion?
Gone.
Silence.
Half a second.
Then a voice behind Ivan:
— Cute attempt. But using Oblivion against me is like trying to teach me my own signature.
He paused.
— Even if Oblivion is different from the Void… it's still my playground.
Ivan turned his head.
Horrified.
Zarion stood behind him. Unscathed.
Not even a speck of dust.
— Impossible…
Zarion raised his hand.
— Primordial Void: Return to Origin.
Ivan's arm disintegrated, vanishing into a rain of particles that no longer existed.
— AAAAAHHHH!
— Yeah, it stings, Zarion confirmed. Told you.
Ivan tried to regenerate…
But this time, it took an eternity.
A disturbingly slow process.
Zarion raised an eyebrow, stepped forward, and calmly placed his foot on Ivan's face.
— Your body's rejecting the power, huh? You hit your limit ten minutes ago.
Ivan attempted a desperate attack.
Zarion dodged without moving.
Just a slight lean.
The air around Ivan compressed, choking his motion.
— You can't touch me anymore, Zarion declared. This fight… ended long ago.
He tapped Ivan's chest with a single finger.
Ivan's aura deflated like a punctured balloon.
His body slammed into the ground.
He coughed up blood… or rather, a sticky black liquid that shouldn't exist.
— Are you… going to kill me…? Ivan whispered, voice broken.
Zarion crouched beside him.
— No. That's not why I'm here.
He placed his hand on Ivan's chest.
— But I DO have to stop you from doing anything stupid again.
A black mark formed.
A primitive seal.
— There. No more infinite regeneration. No more random boosts. No more uncontrolled supernova mode.
He shrugged.
— You're back to… almost normal. With a "fragile" bonus.
Ivan tried to stand, but his body collapsed instantly.
— You… traitor…
Zarion stood, sheathing his sword.
— If telling the truth is betrayal, then yeah. I'll own it.
He took a step.
Then froze.
Because an aura had just appeared behind him.
Even the particles around them shivered.
A soft, sarcastic, familiar voice:
— Having fun without me? Did I miss an episode?
Zarion slowly turned his head, like a man watching his worst migraine materialize.
An elegant figure stood in the crater:
Long black hair tied back,
an impossible presence,
multicolored eyes that defied logic.
**Vael.**
Zarion exhaled:
— Oh no… not him…
Ivan, on the ground, turned pale:
— M… Master… Vael…
Vael observed the scene like he was judging a very mediocre performance.
— I step away for five minutes.
He raised a finger.
— Just five minutes.
He pointed at Ivan.
— And I come back: you've turned into a living glitch… and Zarion sliced you like failed sashimi. Seriously, what is this circus?
Zarion sighed:
— Honestly… why are you here? Didn't you have something better to do? Massacre a pantheon? Scare minor gods?
Vael smiled, too calmly:
— I came to retrieve what's mine. And also…
He nodded toward Ivan.
— You touched my toy without permission.
Zarion remained silent.
— …your WHAT?
Vael tilted his head:
— My toy. Are you jealous?
Zarion:
— I'm going to throw up.