Reign hovered above the ruined sea as water slowly poured back into the empty basin. Steam curled around his body, rising in thin waves.
He stared at his trembling hands. The gold-and-crimson aura flickered, unstable. It did not surge with pride. It sputtered.
All this time, he had believed he stood at the top.
Every planet he consumed strengthened that belief. Every being he crushed confirmed it. He measured worth by ruin. If something collapsed, he was greater. If something burned, he had proven himself.
But now nothing he did mattered.
If he was not the strongest… then what was he?
The question struck harder than any blow.
He searched inside himself for something beyond conquest.
There was nothing. No dream. No purpose.
"I am destruction," he muttered.
The words sounded thin.
If destruction could be denied…
If destruction could be stopped…
Then his entire existence was meaningless.
"No…" he growled, his voice rough and shaking. "I won't let you deny my very being."
