Chapter 15: The Sovereign's Choice
Chapter 15: The Sovereign's Choice
The moment their blades met, reality fractured.
Abysscleaver, forged from the true void and tempered by Hikaru's soul, collided with the Harbinger's weapon—a scythe carved from the bones of extinguished worlds. The force of their impact rippled outward, shattering the ground beneath them, warping the very air, and forcing the stars themselves to flicker.
They moved faster than thought—two titanic forces clashing in a dance that defied time.
One, a mortal-turned-abyssal god-slayer.
The other, an ancient harbinger of oblivion, whose very presence eroded existence.
Each strike Hikaru made was calculated. Efficient. But the Harbinger was unlike anything he had faced. It did not bleed. It did not breathe. It simply was—an inevitable consequence of broken cycles.
"You are powerful," the Harbinger said, blocking a flurry of Hikaru's strikes. "But you lack purpose. You destroy and call it freedom."
"I destroy tyrants," Hikaru snapped, ducking under a swing and slashing across the Harbinger's ribs. Sparks of voidfire exploded, but there was no blood. "I free those enslaved to divine lies."
"And in doing so," the Harbinger whispered, its voice now echoing behind Hikaru, "you birthed chaos. You created a power vacuum that will swallow this world."
Hikaru spun, barely deflecting a blow that would've bisected a mountain. "Then I'll fill it."
He surged forward, wings of silver-flame and abyss trailing behind him. A dozen illusions split from his form, each swinging Abysscleaver in tandem, attacking from every angle.
The Harbinger was momentarily overwhelmed, taking several deep hits as void and twilight magic collided with its body. But it didn't flinch. Instead, it exhaled.
And the world screamed.
A dome of antimatter exploded from the Harbinger's chest, disintegrating the illusions and forcing Hikaru back with such force he was flung across the shattered sky, slamming into floating ruins. Rubble collapsed around him, and he coughed up blood.
"Your resistance is impressive," the Harbinger said, slowly drifting toward him. "But this world has ended. You just haven't accepted it yet."
Hikaru rose to his feet, staggering. He wiped the blood from his lips. His amethyst eyes glowed brighter than ever before—twilight dancing within them.
"I've accepted it," he said. "I just refuse to let it happen."
---
Meanwhile, in the Citadel of Ash…
Selene knelt in the command chamber, surrounded by flickering ethereal maps and wounded survivors.
The world was in ruins. The divine cities had collapsed. Magic was unstable. And yet, they rallied.
Knights who had once served gods.
Mages who had been cast out as heretics.
Beastkin, elves, humans, and even a few abyss-touched who had turned from madness.
They answered Hikaru's call.
"He's holding it off alone?" one grizzled war captain asked.
"For now," Selene said, gripping the edge of the war table. "But he won't last forever. Not against something like that."
A silence fell.
Then one voice broke it.
"Then we fight with him."
It was a young girl—no older than fifteen, her eyes glowing faintly with abyssal energy. A survivor of a city destroyed by gods. "He gave us a second chance. We won't waste it."
One by one, others stood.
The room filled with resolve.
Selene raised her blade, now reforged from godsteel and abysscrystal. "Prepare the Ascension Gate. We go to war."
---
Back at the rift…
The battle raged on.
Hikaru had long since abandoned restraint. Abysscleaver moved like lightning. Spells that tore through dimensions erupted from his hands. Twilight surged around him like a living force.
But the Harbinger was still standing.
Worse—it was learning.
Each attack Hikaru made, it adapted. Every strategy, countered. Its movements, once predictable, now mirrored his own.
"You're evolving," Hikaru growled, landing on a floating pillar.
"I was born from countless fallen worlds," the Harbinger replied. "Your resistance only strengthens me."
"Then let me give you something new to feed on."
Hikaru closed his eyes.
And for the first time… he let go.
The chains he'd placed on himself—the fear of becoming what he fought, the doubt of his origin, the guilt of those he'd failed—snapped.
A pillar of energy exploded from his body.
Not abyss.
Not divine.
But Twilight Ascendance—the perfect harmony between chaos and order.
His hair, already streaked with red, now shimmered with silver flame. His eyes burned like dying stars. Abysscleaver morphed into a twin-blade weapon—one black, one white.
"Let's see if you can adapt to balance," Hikaru whispered.
And he struck.
This time, the Harbinger was caught off guard. The duality of the attack—order and chaos in perfect sync—confused it. The scythe faltered. It stumbled.
Hikaru drove his blades into its chest, twisting them as the energy of a reborn world poured into the Harbinger's form.
"This is not… balance," the Harbinger hissed. "This is… rebirth."
"You're damn right it is."
With a cry that echoed across dimensions, Hikaru unleashed all his remaining energy into the Harbinger's core.
The rift behind them cracked.
The Harbinger's body shattered—screaming not in pain, but in rage—as it was cast back into the void from whence it came.
The rift closed.
Silence.
---
But Hikaru fell.
Exhausted. Drained. His wings disintegrated. His body burned.
He plummeted through the sky, through debris, through clouds, heading for the shattered earth below.
He accepted it.
He had done all he could.
And then, light enveloped him.
Selene caught him—her blade buried in the earth, her arms trembling as she slowed his descent.
"You idiot," she said, voice breaking. "You weren't supposed to die yet."
"I'm not dead," he rasped, smiling faintly. "But damn close."
Around them, survivors began arriving through teleportation gates.
The world hadn't ended.
It had been saved.
---
Days Later…
A new age dawned.
Temples to the old gods were replaced with sanctuaries of unity. Magic was reborn—tempered by balance, no longer wild and destructive. Nations, once divided by dogma, began speaking as equals.
Hikaru, though wounded, walked among them. No throne. No crown.
But everywhere he went, people bowed—not in worship, but in thanks.
"You going to vanish again?" Selene asked him one morning as they stood overlooking the rebuilt capital.
"Eventually," he said. "They don't need a hero anymore."
She punched him lightly. "We still do."
He turned to her, hand brushing hers. "Then I'll stay. A little longer."
They stood together, the breeze lifting their hair, their eyes on the horizon.
Peace had come.
But somewhere beyond the stars… the World-Eaters stirred.
And when they came again, Hikaru would be ready.
---
End of Chapter 15 – End of Book One