Mission Type: Retrieval part 5

Xytheron smirked, a twisted glint in his golden eyes. "Since we have an audience, why don't we give them a show?"

With a lazy flick of his wrist, reality warped. The floor beneath us rippled like water, and in an instant, rows of plush, crimson theater seats burst into existence, forming a semi-circle around us. Before anyone could react, Archie, Veronica, Betty, Jughead, and Cheryl were yanked off their feet, dragged into the seats by unseen forces. Thick, leather-bound restraints coiled around their arms and legs, locking them in place.

Betty thrashed against the restraints. "What the hell is this?!"

Veronica's eyes were locked on Xytheron on the man wearing her father's body like a costume. "Let us go!" she demanded, her voice trembling between rage and fear.

Xytheron merely chuckled, stepping forward like a performer taking center stage. "Oh, but that would ruin the experience, dear Veronica. You see, I've been waiting for this moment." He turned toward me, tilting his head. "And I think Nyxia here has, too."

I ignored his taunts, my gaze flicking to the MDFG still pulsing in his grip. The device was destabilizing reality, corrupting everything around us. If I didn't act fast, this entire asylum no, this entire town could become a fractured nightmare.

But first, I had to deal with him.

I took a slow step forward, my expression unreadable. "Fine," I said, my voice even. "Let's give them a show."

Xytheron's grin widened. "Oh, I was hoping you'd say that."

Xytheron's grin widened as he raised a hand, the MDFG crackling with unstable energy in his grip. "Come now, Nyxia. Show me what you really are."

I didn't hesitate. Shadows exploded from my form, consuming the ground beneath me as Umbral Shift launched me forward. My form flickered in and out of the darkness, reappearing just inches from him, twin daggers manifesting in my hands through Summon Arcanum. With a twist, I slashed at his throat

But Xytheron moved impossibly fast, stepping back just enough to avoid the fatal strike. A golden shield flared around him, humming with raw power. "Tsk, tsk," he taunted. "You'll have to do better."

I answered by pulling the shadows to me, molding them into a greatsword, the black blade humming with barely restrained power. I swung down, the sheer force sending a shockwave through the room, but Xytheron snapped his fingers and suddenly, the entire asylum shifted. The walls stretched, twisted, and reality bent to his will.

I barely managed to react as the floor beneath me liquified. Umbral Shift. In an instant, I reappeared above him, twisting mid-air to bring my sword down

This time, it hit. Xytheron raised his arm to block, and my blade dug into his flesh, golden ichor spilling from the wound. His eyes flashed with annoyance. Real annoyance.

"Clever," he muttered, grabbing the blade with his free hand. I tried to pull away, but his grip was unbreakable.

Then, he yanked me forward, his fist slamming into my gut with enough force to send me crashing through the wall. The world spun as I tumbled through the debris, landing hard on the other side of the room.

I coughed, tasting iron. That actually hurt.

"You are strong, Nyxia. I'll give you that." Xytheron stepped through the dust, his composed demeanor starting to crack. "But strength alone means nothing."

I smirked, wiping blood from my lip. "Good thing I have more than that."

I raised my hand, and the shadows behind him surged. Shadow Bind.

The darkness on the walls twisted into chains, latching onto his limbs. Xytheron's smirk vanished as he struggled against them, the black tendrils dragging him down to one knee.

Then, I activated Revenant Legion.

From the abyss of my power, shadow soldiers erupted. Their armor gleamed with voidlight, their eyes burning with hunger for battle. Hundreds of them filled the room, kneeling before me, their master.

Xytheron's expression finally darkened. "…So this is the power of the Shadow Monarch."

I pointed at him. "Tear him apart."

The legion charged.

Xytheron roared, golden energy exploding outward, shattering the chains holding him. He tore through my soldiers like a storm, his every step leaving behind fractured reality. But no matter how many he destroyed, more rose from the shadows.

His frustration grew. "ENOUGH!"

He slammed his foot down, and a shockwave blasted through the asylum, disintegrating half my legion in an instant. The very air rippled with his fury. His once dignified posture was gone, replaced by a seething rage.

His golden eyes burned with hatred. "The Destroyers were happy when they created you." His voice dripped with venom. "They thought they had finally made something perfect."

His fists clenched, his aura crackling with unstable power. "But in the end, you're just another one of their failed experiments."

For the first time, Xytheron Null wasn't looking at me with amusement.

He was looking at me with absolute disgust.

Xytheron's golden energy crackled around him like a storm, distorting the air, and the world itself trembled under the weight of his power. Every movement he made sent the very fabric of reality shaking, his presence rending the asylum walls, flickering between dimensions like a rip in the void.

"A failed experiment?" I echoed his words, my voice steady despite the chaos swirling around us. My soldiers my loyal shadows reformed, their bodies knitting back together, not bothered by the destruction. They did not fear death or the unraveling of reality itself. They were beyond it.

I extended my hand, summoning my weapon.

Summon Arcanum.

My greatsword dissolved into nothingness before reforming, shifting into a colossal war scythe, its blade blazing with abyssal flames. The air grew heavy, the heat of it warping everything around us. The sheer presence of this weapon made the ground beneath us groan in protest.

"Then let's test your theory," I said, voice laced with confidence.

I lunged, the shadows swirling around me like a cloak of death. Xytheron met my speed with his own, golden energy coalescing around his fist, forming into a miniature star as he swung at me. I twisted in mid-air, my scythe cleaving through the air with an arc of destruction

Clang!

The impact shattered the ground beneath us, sending the shockwaves rippling outward, cracks forming like spiderwebs across the floor. The sheer force of the collision rattled the walls, causing debris to rain down from the ceiling.

Xytheron's eyes burned with unbridled fury. He snarled. "You dare to fight me as if we are equals?"

Golden chains, born of his will, erupted from the void. They lashed around my limbs with terrifying precision, burning with an energy so pure it felt as though it could tear me apart at a molecular level.

I gritted my teeth, feeling the searing heat of the chains tighten around me, digging into my skin. The power was unlike anything I had felt before.

Xytheron loomed over me, his eyes glowing with malevolence. "This is the difference between us. You may have fooled yourself into thinking you were something more, but in the end, you are just a parasite that refused to die."

The chains pulled tighter.

I felt myself being crushed. The pressure was unbearable, the golden energy attempting to unmake me. But I would not yield.

I focused.

The shadows beneath us writhed with fury, a deep, dark rage that mirrored my own.

I took a slow, measured breath, then looked up into his glowing eyes and grinned. "You talk too much."

I unleashed it all. Every bit of my strength.

The golden chains snapped as though they were nothing more than threads in the wind. The shadows exploded outward, consuming the entire room in pure, unrelenting darkness. Xytheron stumbled backward, caught off guard as tendrils of umbrakinetic energy lashed out, each strike powerful enough to send him crashing through the walls.

Umbral Shift.

I reappeared above him, scythe already poised mid-swing. The abyssal flames along its edge screamed, hungry for destruction, thirsty for his blood

But Xytheron was quicker.

His hand shot up with unnatural speed, catching the blade of my scythe with nothing but his bare palm. Golden blood dripped from his hand, but his rage only grew. He twisted the blade, locking it with his own strength, and then his face twisted into something far darker pure, unfiltered rage.

"ENOUGH!"

With a roar, a golden explosion erupted from his body, the force of it flinging me away like a ragdoll. I twisted in mid-air, spinning just in time to land on a nearby wall and push myself back into the air.

But Xytheron was already there.

His fist slammed into my chest, the impact so brutal I felt my ribs crack, my entire body threatened with collapse. I was thrown through the ceiling, crashing into the night sky. The entire asylum beneath us buckled and twisted under the force of our battle. The building groaned and creaked as if it were alive, caught in the vortex of our violence.

I landed hard on the rooftop, sliding several meters before coming to a stop. My scythe vanished, absorbed back into the shadows, but I didn't need it right now.

Xytheron floated up from the wreckage, his golden aura like a miniature sun. His expression, once full of that noble composure, was now a mask of pure, unfiltered hatred. He didn't speak his very presence was enough to announce his intent.

"I should have destroyed you the moment you came into existence."

I grinned through the pain, slowly standing, my wounds already healing as the shadows around me mended my broken body.

"You can try now," I said, my voice dripping with confidence despite the agony.

Xytheron lunged forward with an unholy speed, his fists crackling with golden energy, but then in the blink of an eye, he was gone.

A rift opened in the very fabric of reality itself, a dark void cutting through the air like a tear in the universe. Xytheron vanished into it, the rift closing behind him with a deafening silence, leaving nothing but the twisted remnants of the asylum.

For a moment, there was only the silence.

And then, the rift pulsed once more and from it, Zalthorion emerged.

His figure appeared in the center of the broken battlefield, his towering presence casting a long shadow over the wreckage. He walked forward, his every step sending ripples through the air. The calm, calculated aura he exuded was a stark contrast to the chaos that had just unfolded.

Xytheron's golden energy still crackled in the air, but now, it felt… distant. Almost like a fading echo.

Zalthorion's gaze swept over me, his eyes assessing the damage, and then he spoke, his voice both commanding and comforting.

The silence that followed Xytheron's sudden disappearance was deafening, the crackling golden energy still hanging heavy in the air. My body, though battered and bruised, began to heal as the shadows within me mended the broken pieces of my form. But the fight wasn't over. Not yet.

Before I could gather my bearings, the ground beneath me rumbled, and a figure darted across the shattered rooftop, almost as if he had appeared from thin air.

Dr. Wagner.

He skidded to a halt beside me, his eyes wide with concern. "Oh mein Gott," he muttered, his tone laced with a mix of disbelief and urgent care. "Let me check your wounds, Nyxia. Hold still."

His movements were precise, fluid, as he rummaged through his coat with practiced ease, pulling out a series of mechanical gadgets each one more intricate than the last. He was a whirlwind of motion, focused entirely on my condition, oblivious to the destruction around us.

I winced as he applied a small device to my side, the pain of his tools treating the deeper wounds sending sharp jolts through my body. His fingers, surprisingly gentle for a combat doctor, moved quickly, patching me up with a mix of technology and medical expertise that was beyond anything I had encountered before.

"I've never seen such intense damage from a simple punch," Dr. Wagner said, his voice more curious than anything. "And yet, you're healing so quickly. Your resilience is extraordinary, Nyxia." He clicked something on his wrist, causing a small contraption to hover over me and begin administering a painkiller. "I've heard of such power, but seeing it in person is truly remarkable."

I didn't respond, my attention still focused on the now-closed rift that had taken Xytheron away. My body was still reeling from the fight, but there was something else on my mind something about Xytheron's words. "You talk too much…" he had said, but he had not been entirely wrong. There was a larger game at play here. Something more than just our fight.

Dr. Wagner continued his work, adjusting one of his gadgets and scanning me with a small, handheld device. "You're lucky, Nyxia. That punch of his could have ended your life easily… but you managed to survive." He paused, his brow furrowing. "But it's not just the physical wounds that concern me."

I glanced at him, raising an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

He met my gaze, his expression briefly shifting to something more serious. "That golden energy he uses it's not normal. It's a force that defies many of the natural laws of this dimension. Whatever Xytheron is, he's not just some rogue consumer. There's more to him than meets the eye. And if I had to guess…" He trailed off, looking at the tools in his hands. "I think he's more than capable of putting you down if he chooses to."

I frowned, my body fully healing now, but my mind still on the fight. "It's not over."

Dr. Wagner sighed and stood up, placing his tools back into their compartments with a practiced hand. "Nein, it's not. But we need to be ready for whatever comes next."

I nodded, feeling the weight of the situation settle into my chest. There was no time to waste. "I'll be ready."

As Dr. Wagner stepped back and began to survey the damage to the asylum, I couldn't help but feel a strange sense of calm despite everything. Xytheron had gone for now.

Zalthorion stood there, his presence as commanding as ever, his dark cloak billowing slightly in the aftermath of the chaos. The broken asylum around us seemed to grow still, as if the very atmosphere had paused to take a breath. There was something serene about his arrival, like the calm before the storm.

Without a word, Zalthorion reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small, glowing stone. It shimmered with a strange, ethereal light an object that seemed to vibrate with the raw power of the multiverse. He held it in his palm for a moment, staring at it with a thoughtful expression, before he crushed it gently.

A low hum filled the air as the stone began to pulse, a rippling wave of energy emanating from it. The shattered remnants of reality began to warp and reset themselves, like the broken pieces of a puzzle slowly falling back into place. The air itself seemed to shimmer as the fabric of space and time stitched itself together. The asylum, once falling apart under the power of the battle, began to reassemble, the cracks in the walls healing, the floors solidifying beneath us.

But the strangest thing of all was the way the rift re-opened, splitting the sky above us. From the tear in reality, the Exo-Knights emerged.

The Exo-Knights were not the typical warriors you'd expect. They were an amalgamation of technology and sheer strength, their bodies clad in sleek armor, their eyes glowing with cold intelligence. They moved with precision, picking up the MDFG from the wreckage of the fight with robotic efficiency. Their hands, mechanical but somehow graceful, handled the device as if it were a precious artifact, placing it carefully into a secure containment box.

As the last of the Exo-Knights filed back into the rift, they vanished without a trace, the tear in reality closing as quickly as it had opened. The atmosphere was silent, save for the faint crackling of energy fading away. The momentary chaos had passed, leaving only the echoes of a battle once fought.

I turned to Zalthorion, who had not moved from his spot. His expression was unreadable, his eyes dark pools of infinite knowledge. He finally spoke, his voice low, but filled with an unshakable authority.

"It's done. The MDFG is contained, for now."

I exhaled slowly, my muscles still tense from the battle. "You're not going to explain what just happened, are you?"

Zalthorion's lips twitched, a brief, almost imperceptible smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "Not yet. There's more at stake here than either of us understands. But rest assured, Nyxia, this is far from over."

Dr. Wagner, still by my side, raised an eyebrow, his German accent cutting through the tension. "What do you mean by that, Zalthorion? This MDFG it is far from ordinary. If Xytheron is after it, we're dealing with something much bigger than we first thought."

Zalthorion glanced at the horizon, where the first light of dawn was beginning to break through the destruction. "This is just the beginning. The Destroyers have long since set their plans into motion. And now, their creation Xytheron has become something more than just an experiment. He has a purpose, one that no one can predict."

I looked at him, understanding the weight of his words. "So what do we do now?"

Zalthorion turned to face me, his gaze unwavering. "We prepare. We fight. And we do everything in our power to stop the Destroyers' plan from coming to fruition."

The air around us seemed to pulse with a quiet tension, the weight of the multiverse pressing down on us as we stood at the crossroads of a far greater conflict. The Exo-Knights had done their part now it was our turn.

"We've lost too much already, Nyxia," Zalthorion continued. "The balance is on the verge of tipping. It's time to stop pretending we're not involved."

Dr. Wagner took a step forward, his eyes narrowing. "And where do we start?"

Zalthorion's lips curled into something between a smile and a grimace. "We start with what matters most. The MDFG was never just a weapon. It's a key. And if we don't act quickly, it will unlock something far worse than any of us could imagine."

I nodded, the weight of our task settling deep within my chest. The fight was far from over but now, we had a clearer goal. The battle against Xytheron, the Exo-Knights, and the power of the Destroyers would not be won in a single confrontation.

It would take everything we had.

But we would stand together, and we would face it head-on

And with that, we stepped into the rift but of course not before removing the memory from Archie Betty Veronica Jughead and Cheryl.

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Hello everybody! I hope you enjoyed reading this story. I wanted to take a moment to explain why I changed the ability from Weapon Summon to Summon Arcanum. The reason behind this is that "Weapon Summon" felt a bit too simple for the depth of the character and their abilities. Summon Arcanum gives a more grand and mystical feel to the power, fitting the narrative and the character's nature. It ties into the idea of tapping into a deeper, more arcane force, rather than simply summoning a weapon.

I hope this added clarity to the changes, and I appreciate your understanding. Stay tuned for more as the story continues to unfold!