Somewhere in the endless cosmos, the void stretched endlessly in every direction, swallowing the faint light of distant stars. In that silent darkness, a lone man floated, blood dripping from his torn body. His pale skin was marred by countless cuts, and his shredded clothes fluttered weakly around him. Behind his head, a massive Dharma chakra of red and gold rotated slowly, forged from metallic ki and burning like a miniature sun. A ribbon of red ki hovered around his waist, circling him like an obedient serpent. His long white hair drifted behind him, swaying with the faint, nonexistent breeze of the void. Even with his breathing uneven and his hands trembling around his spear, his eyes burned with defiance. He refused to bend.
Across from him floated a demon. Humanoid in shape, yet radiating an oppressive violence that distorted the very space around him. His skin was pale and soaked in blood, though it was impossible to tell whether it belonged to him or his enemy. His own Dharma chakra burned behind his head, a swirling crimson sun, while his violet ki ribbon twisted around him like wild lightning. Red hair flared above him, defying gravity, glowing with demonic energy. In his hand, he held a sword engraved with ancient runes that pulsed with forbidden power.
They stared at each other—two beings who had already fought past the limits of life. Both were at the edge of their death
The demon grinned despite the blood spilling from his lips. "Persistent little human. Even at the edge of death, you still dare to glare at me like that?"
The man wiped blood from his mouth and tightened his grip on his spear. "You speak too much. Save your breath. You'll need it when you're crawling in the abyss."
The demon laughed, the sound echoing unnaturally in the empty void. "You won't survive another exchange. Your body is already cracking."
"Come break it, then," the man said quietly.
They vanished at the same instant.
A moment later, their weapons collided with a thunderous explosion that shattered the void like brittle glass. Cracks spread across space, glowing faintly before bursting into fragments. Every exchange of blows created shockwaves powerful enough to vaporize drifting meteors and compress starlight into dust.
The man swept his spear in a blazing arc. The demon countered with a vertical slash that ripped open a long tear in the void. Each time their weapons met, stars flickered and died.
"Fall!" the demon roared, pouring all his strength into a downward strike.
"Not today," the man growled, deflecting the blade with a violent twist of his spear that sent the demon spiraling backward.
The demon steadied himself and immediately formed hand seals at terrifying speed. A titanic formation appeared above him, a runic circle stretching thousands of kilometers, glowing with crimson light that drowned out starlight. The man narrowed his eyes and began forming the same seals. An identical golden-red formation formed above him.
The demon snarled. "Still copying me, human?!"
"Yours looked defective," the man replied calmly.
At the same moment, both spoke the same words:
"The Heavenly Moon Fall."
Two massive moons materialized above them, each thousands of kilometers wide, glowing with destructive celestial ki. They were hurled forward, colliding at lightspeed.
The moment they touched—
BOOOOOM!
The explosion tore open massive spatial fissures that spread like cracks in the universe. The shockwaves vaporized everything nearby and bent space around them. Moon fragments and molten debris scattered like flaming stars.
The demon immediately formed a second seal. Another moon appeared and came crashing down at incredible speed.
"Try blocking this one, human!"
The man's eyes sharpened. He infused his spear with all remaining ki, making it blaze white. With one perfect strike, he split the incoming moon into two clean halves. Lava spewed from the severed core, spraying into the void like fiery oceans. Without wasting a breath, the man shot through the gap, spear thrusting toward the demon.
Their weapons collided again, their movements carving through the drifting moon debris. Each clash created sparks that glowed brighter than supernovas.
Then the man's spear finally landed a decisive strike, slamming into the demon's chest and sending him flying. The demon lost balance and began falling toward a nearby planet. He broke through the atmosphere like a meteor, leaving a trail of flames behind him.
He crashed into the planet's surface, creating a crater so deep it pierced layers of the planet's crust.
The man descended, his body aching with every movement. He landed at the crater's edge, breathing heavily.
But the demon was not inside. A faint fluctuation appeared behind him. The demon emerged in a blur, grabbing the man's leg. "Got you."
He swung the man violently and threw him into a massive mountain. The entire structure burst apart on impact, collapsing into dust and debris. The man coughed blood, his vision blurring, but he stood again, refusing to fall.
The demon hovered in front of him, panting heavily. "Why do you keep standing? Just die already!"
"Because you're annoying," the man said, raising his hand.
Ki gathered around his arm, forming a swirling storm of red and gold.
"Annihilation Palm."
A massive palm of energy, hundreds of kilometers tall, manifested above him. The demon scowled and raised his own hand. "Heaven-Destroying Palm!"
A colossal violet palm formed above him in response.
Both palms collapse. The collision tore the planet apart. The ground split open all the way to the core, unleashing torrents of molten lava that shot upward like burning geysers. Lava rained around them, but neither flinched.
As the fiery eruption cleared, both shot toward each other again. But just before they struck, a strange ripple distorted the space behind the man.
A spatial rift opened. Another one opened behind the demon. The man's instincts screamed danger, but he turned too late. A figure stepped from the rift behind him—a tall man with long black hair, wielding a broad sword. At the same moment, a demon with golden hair and black horns emerged behind the red-haired demon.
Both swung their broad swords in perfect synchronization.
The blades pierced through the man's and the demon's chests, emerging from the front of their bodies. Blood splattered across the shattered ground. The intruders dragged the blades downward, slicing their bodies open with cold precision.
The white-haired man gasped, looking down at the blade in disbelief. "…So… this is how I die?"
The demon beside him trembled, horrified. "T–this can't be… betrayal…?"
Their attackers withdrew the blades without emotion. With their final strength, both the man and the demon opened a spatial rift—an unstable gateway to somewhere unknown.
Their physical bodies collapsed. But their souls flew into the rift, vanishing into the unknown.
The rift shut with a soundless ripple. And silence returned to the cosmos.