Chapter 17 – The Price of Power

Raphael's body trembled as the golden pillar of energy pulsated with unimaginable force, his chest rising and falling in jagged breaths. His mind raced, struggling to contain the surge of power that threatened to tear him apart. The crackling energy around him surged like a storm, but Nyx's presence remained steady, unwavering—like an immovable mountain in the eye of a hurricane.

The world around them had changed. What was once a battlefield now resembled a scene from a nightmare. The earth was scorched, blackened, and twisted from the sheer force of their conflict. The sky itself had been ripped open, a tear that bled streams of dark light into the shattered landscape.

Raphael's pulse beat in sync with the violent rhythm of his power, each throb a reminder of how close he was to losing control. The air smelled of burnt ozone, sharp and bitter, and the ground beneath him quaked, as though it feared the consequences of his next move.

But despite it all, Nyx stood there—calm.

"You think you've won, Raphael?" Nyx's voice was a cold whisper, but it carried the weight of centuries. It didn't just reach his ears—it reverberated in the depths of his mind, a constant pressing against his very will.

Raphael's hands clenched, his knuckles white with the strain of holding onto his power. "I won't stop. Not until you're destroyed." His voice was a raw growl, each word a promise, each breath a battle against the ever-growing urge to break free from his own limitations.

Nyx's eyes narrowed, the darkness in them swirling like a void, devouring the very light around him. "Destroy me?" he echoed, the words dripping with a haunting, almost pitying tone. "You cannot even comprehend the cost of that power you wield."

Raphael's body jerked forward, the ground beneath him crumbling with the force of his movement. His fist connected with the air like a hammer striking an anvil, and the resulting shockwave spread outward, shattering the world around them. The ground cracked open, spewing rivers of molten rock, and the sky split further, a jagged wound that pulsed with malevolent energy.

The entire landscape seemed to recoil in fear as Raphael pressed forward, his body tearing through the atmosphere like a bullet through paper. He wasn't just fighting Nyx anymore—he was fighting the very laws of existence itself. The fabric of reality trembled under the strain of his power, each movement shaking the foundation of the world.

But Nyx…

Nyx simply raised a hand.

And in that instant, the world paused.

Time seemed to stop as the air turned frozen. Raphael's limbs locked in place, the golden light surrounding him flickering erratically as if it, too, feared the unnatural stillness that consumed the battlefield. For a moment, he was trapped in limbo—unable to move, unable to think, as though the universe itself was holding him captive.

"What you seek…" Nyx's voice echoed in the silence, a slow, deliberate cadence that rattled the very core of Raphael's being. "...will only bring you destruction."

The stillness shattered.

Nyx's hand slashed through the air, and in an instant, a wave of pure darkness erupted from his fingertips, surging forward with the force of a collapsing star. The shockwave cut through the battlefield, devouring everything in its path. Raphael's golden aura flickered in response, but it wasn't enough. The darkness was overwhelming, an endless void that swallowed the very fabric of his energy, threatening to tear him apart from the inside out.

Raphael's breath caught in his throat as he struggled to hold on. The void-walker's attack was unlike anything he had ever encountered. It didn't just disrupt his energy—it corroded it, like acid eating away at flesh, leaving nothing but emptiness in its wake.

He was losing.

And he knew it.

But in that moment, something inside of him snapped.

With a roar, Raphael thrust his hands outward, sending a shockwave of golden energy in all directions. The force of the blast cracked the very air, the ground beneath him shuddering under the sheer intensity of the impact. But the void was not so easily repelled. Nyx's darkness surged forward, consuming the light in a desperate struggle for dominance.

It was a battle of will now.

Raphael felt his body begin to give in, the crushing weight of Nyx's power pressing down on him like a thousand tons of stone. His muscles burned, his vision blurred, and the world around him began to collapse into a twisting void. Yet, he refused to let go.

The echo of the Resonance pulsed once more.

In the deepest corner of his mind, he heard it—a whisper that was both familiar and alien, urging him to transcend. To push further than he ever had before.

He had a choice.

And he wasn't going to fall into the abyss.

With a single thought, Raphael let go of everything.

His golden aura exploded, expanding outward like a supernova, and for the briefest of moments, the world around him seemed to dissolve into light. The ground cracked open, the air shattered, and even the fabric of time seemed to warp as the true weight of his power came to life.

For the first time, Raphael was no longer bound.

And as the light engulfed the battlefield, he realized one truth: the price of this power—this path—was far greater than he had ever imagined.

And it was a price he was willing to pay.