CHAPTER 165

 CHAPTER 165: 

The battlefield was frozen in time, yet the world itself felt like it was holding its breath. Kouki stood still, his golden-ringed crimson eyes narrowing ever so slightly as Celestia's blade cut through the air, its edge glinting ominously under the fractured light. The cut had landed. He felt it. A sharp sting of reality surged through his body—a reminder that despite the power he wielded, despite the balance of Yin and Yang Omni Energy that coiled around him like a living entity, he was still not whole.

Celestia, standing before him with her golden armor glistening, smirked as blood dripped from her blade. She had felt the momentary hesitation, the lapse in his movements, the slight stutter in his absolute control. And she had capitalized.

But she wasn't the only one who noticed.

Inside him—within the deepest recesses of his mind—he stirred.

A voice, low and sharp, sliced through his consciousness.

"You're hesitating."

Kouki's breath hitched. His body was still here, standing on the battlefield, but his mind—his very essence—was somewhere else.

Everything went dark.

And then—

A world of endless white stretched before him.

A void.

An infinite abyss of nothingness and everything all at once.

And standing in the center—staring at him with knowing, burning golden eyes—was Hikari.

His reflection. His past. His other half.

Hikari was no different in form—his white hair, the same strong features that Kouki bore, but his presence… It was heavier. Colder. Sharper. Where Kouki radiated raw energy, unrestrained yet purposeful, Hikari was calculated. Absolute. A force beyond time itself.

Kouki's fists clenched. He wasn't in the real world anymore.

He was inside himself.

Inside the battle he had been avoiding.

Hikari tilted his head slightly, amusement flickering behind his golden gaze. "Did you think you could just take my power and claim it as your own?" His voice was smooth, calm, yet dripping with judgment. "You fused with me, Kouki. But you never dominated me. And now, you're hesitating in battle because you know the truth."

Kouki's muscles tensed. "Shut up."

Hikari smirked. "You're weak. Because you're a failure. Just like Noboru."

Kouki surged forward. Fast. Blindingly fast. He reappeared in front of Hikari, his fist crackling with Omni Energy as it slammed towards his counterpart's face.

Hikari barely moved.

"I have always been stronger than you."

With an effortless flick of his wrist, he deflected the punch, sending a shockwave through the mindscape. The very space around them trembled, distorting from the sheer force of their clash.

Kouki didn't stop.

He twisted mid-air, bringing his leg down in a devastating axe kick, aiming to crush Hikari into the very fabric of this realm.

Hikari stepped back.

Just a single step.

But it was enough.

Kouki's foot missed by a hair's width, and before he could react

BAM.

Hikari's palm slammed into Kouki's chest.

The impact was instant.

Kouki's entire body snapped backward, his breath torn from his lungs as an unseen force ripped through his very soul.

His back crashed against the endless void, but there was no ground. Just an infinite abyss.

"Pathetic." Hikari said as he hovered above him, unbothered. Untouched. Superior.

His gaze was piercing. "You're losing. Just give up and give me control."

Kouki gritted his teeth, staggering back to his feet, his aura flaring violently. "I won't lose to you. I won't surrender control thats not the man I am."

Hikari smiled—mocking. Cruel.

"But you already are. I know you can feel it in the fight when you are about to land the finishing strike on the abomination's knight you stop thats me stopping it cause o know if your woman dies then so will you."

He was right. Kouki could feel it. The hesitation. The imbalance. The uncertainty. He had fused with Hikari, but he hadn't become one with him.

And that was why he was failing.

and because of that his Akari might get killed by the disgraces knight.

A flicker of something deeper ignited inside Kouki.

And then—he thought of her.

Akari.

Her voice. Her warmth. Her presence.

The memory of her reaching for him. Crying. Clutching his body. Calling out his name as he had disappeared into the Shadow Realm.

The way she had looked at him when he returned.

"Kouki-kun…"

A heartbeat.

A rhythm.

A pull deep within his soul.

Her Soul Bond power was still active.

It surged forward, wrapping around his very essence, pulling at his core.

Giving him the power he needed.

The power of love which can transcend even life and death when mixed with Omni Energy.

And in that moment, he understood.

He didn't need to dominate Hikari.

He needed to become one.

His golden-ringed crimson eyes burned brighter.

His aura shifted—no longer chaotic, no longer unbalanced.

Balanced.

Complete.

Hikari's smirk faltered.

Kouki exhaled.

"You're not my enemy."

Hikari's eyes widened slightly.

"You're me. And I am you."

The void shook.

And then—Hikari smiled.

Not in mockery.

Not in arrogance.

But in recognition.

Kouki took a step forward—

And then—

Everything collapsed.

The battlefield rushed back into focus.

Celestia's blade was still embedded in his side.

But Kouki's hand snapped up, gripping the hilt.

His golden-crimson eyes locked onto Celestia.

And then—

With a single motion—

He snapped the blade in half.

Celestia's eyes widened.

Before she could react—

BAM.

His fist collided with her stomach.

The air shattered.

Celestia flew.

The shockwave was cataclysmic.

But before she even hit the ground—

A single finger pressed against Kouki's forehead.

A gentle touch.

A whisper.

"Good try."

And then—

Kouki's body collapsed.

Ayumi stood before him, her golden-hazel eyes gleaming with something unreadable.

"You perfected this power… and you're still nothing compared to Noboru-kun. Still trapped in dualities not transcending them. That is impossible for even a fake like you to achieve when even the Nigh Omnipotent parents of his which gave both you and Hikari omni energy can't Not that Lady Lucy would try but i know for a fact Yahweh tried and failed even worse than you. so be happy little boy you surpassed Yahweh at something but don't get cocky even with this fake yin-yang omni energy you come close to the paranoid fucker."

Kouki gasped, his body unable to move.

His vision blurred.

"Noboru-kun is naturally above dualities."

Her voice was soft. Inevitable. Absolute.

"Even Yahweh and Lucy couldn't reach where he stands. Even if you mimic him… you will always be a tiny flame in the sun."

Kouki's breath hitched.

Ayumi smiled.

"Sleep now, little failure."

And then—

Darkness.