5th Day of the 1st Fire Cycle[1], 2000 g.c.
The 10th floor of the Sycamore Tree had gone from a decadent pleasure chamber to a war zone. Shattered glass crunched beneath my boots as I stepped over the splintered remains of once-pristine crystal tables. Gem-encrusted furniture lay toppled, splintered frames spilling velvet stuffing across the scorched carpet and cracked glass. The sweet lavender that once perfumed the air was drowned by the metallic tang of blood and the biting sting of ozone from ruptured mana currents. The collapse of our separate spatial arena had dumped us back into the shared floor, along with the collateral wreckage that came with it. Headtrip and Zawa lay unconscious, sprawled in the shadows, leaving only the Wolfpak to witness this last stretch.
And what a stretch it was, my nigga.
I raised the Blue Queen, its frame humming with a cold, lethal resonance. One squeeze of the trigger sent a divinity round screaming across the ruined chamber. Halfway there, I twisted my fingers in the air, folding space into itself. A wormhole bloomed like a rip in reality, swallowing the bullet whole. A second portal flared open at Zero's feet, leading under his chin. The bullet shot upward like a divine spear and punched through his jaw with an explosion of light and force.
His face simply ceased to exist.
A ragged, wet burst tore away his features, blood spraying in an ebony arc as his Death's Mask clattered from his head. The white porcelain of it landed with an almost delicate sound, a stark contrast to the gore dripping from his exposed skull.
I didn't hesitate. The moment it hit the floor, I fired again, Anti-Mana rounds shrieking through the air. They struck the mask dead-center, splintering it into powdery shards. The satisfaction was immediate—no more auto-revives.
The Wolfpak reacted instantly. Alex let out a whoop, tipping his cowboy hat back with a grin so wide you'd think I'd just won him a jackpot.
"That's what I'm talkin' about! He barely used that shit in the labyrinth."
Nicole's sharp eyes never left me. "What is that affinity? I've never seen anything like it."
Alex smirked. "Anti-Mana… or Antimatter, somethin' like that. Ain't the same as the Omnis Mana he made these outfits from—this one's nastier."
Ameera's tone was low, almost reverent. "Lord Xiro has been using strange magicks all night."
Alex smirked. "When you've been around him as long as I have, it gets normal. You stop noticing how wild Xi's bag of tricks really is."
Dream's gaze flicked back to my gun. "Even that blue weapon is completely alien, but dangerous. He's almost impossible to prepare for a fight against."
Nicole nodded slowly. "I'm sure Lord Xi's range of abilities makes him one of the most dangerous monsters alive."
Dream's lips curved faintly. "It's his mind that makes him the most dangerous."
Meanwhile, Zero's regeneration was a slow grind. Flesh writhed over splintered bone, muscle twitching like it had a mind of its own. Cartilage snapped back into place with wet little cracks, veins wriggling through gaps before skin sealed them shut in reverse. Every twitch of muscle told me his defenses were under strain. My Chiral Reflection carried a deep mana pool, but it was obvious he didn't have access to my full personal skill set. This was pure artillery against artillery—but Omnia had laced him with gifts that could tilt a fight.
His face was barely whole when the floor beneath him rippled. A spatial wormhole swallowed him in total silence. My instincts flared; I spun just as another portal cracked open behind me. He stepped out, arm cocked to strike.
[Heaven's Kaleidoscope] caught the motion in perfect clarity. I pivoted and drove an Anti-Mana punch toward his face—
—only for him to catch my fist, his own glove of seething Anti-Mana shielding the impact.
The collision sparked black lightning where our fists met, then I felt it.
It was like claws raking across my Soul Core, tugging at pieces of me. Not quite able to tear them free, but grasping.
[Moon Sage: Tsukuyomi]'s voice cut through the haze. "Master, break free—he's draining your mana and trying to copy and delete your skills."
I snapped a kick up into his wrist, forcing my fist loose, and vaulted backward to create space. Zero's grin spread slowly, his gaze locked on his palm like it was gold.
"Good news," Tsukuyomi's voice came again. "[Dominus Avaritiae] blocked him from destroying anything in your Soul Core."
"Beastly. I was worried there for a second."
"Yeah," Tsukuyomi added, "but there's bad news…"
"Ah, hell, Tsuki."
A wave of mana surged from Zero, thick and oppressive, brushing my skin like heated wind. He'd stolen something—of course, he had. His mana signature warped, growing heavier, denser, his golden eyes darkening to a deep indigo glow.
"While I don't have your whole Sonata Core's list of abilities..." His grin widened, golden eyes burning indigo. "My [Solar Midnight: Baal] usually lets me rip skills right outta you."
His hand flexed like it could still taste my mana. "And delete them."
"Ewww. When's the last time you washed that hand?"
"You're right. I'll use your blood to cleanse them both."
"Not with that dwindling magick strength, you won't."
His aura erupted first—raw, electric, vicious—flooding the chamber with crackling light. I felt his presence swell, matching mine beat for beat.
"But since I can't steal yours..." Then his smirk cut through the light. "Guess I should mention there's another ability it has—copying battle power."
The advantage I'd earned by grinding him down was gone in an instant. It was annoying, but I wasn't worried about his knockoff [Adaptive Predator]—I just needed one more fatal strike to his spiritual structure. No Soul Core meant spirit destruction was the only way to kill him.
He laughed, voice reverberating. "With your transformation on cooldown, now I'll use the same skill I just copied from you. Demon of the Midnight Star—[Trance: Neutrino Devil]."
Anti-Mana encased him like liquid night. The air thickened, my ears ringing from the pressure. Yet, no fear. No hesitation. Just that cold, razor certainty that the next opening would be his last.
Two massive, jagged wings tore their way into existence behind Zero. Black as burnt steel and edged with a faint ultraviolet shimmer, they drank in the light until the chamber felt dimmer just from their presence. The mana cocoon around him pulsed once—twice—before splitting apart in a shockwave that rippled through the floor.
Then came the horns—extended, crown-like, slick with Anti-Mana that hissed and bled shadow into the air. His skin followed suit, marbled with shifting, fractal patterns that made it look like the void itself was trying to claim him.
Last came the eyes. An extra pair blinked open above the first, each iris glowing with a starving, alien hunger. They locked onto me with a weight that felt like teeth sinking into my soul. The air bent under the force of his aura, crushing the space until it felt too small for the both of us.
At that moment, there was no question—he was the strongest being in the room.
I glanced toward the others and felt my stomach knot. Without the safety of the spatial arena, every clash between us would ripple through the entire chamber. Collateral damage was inevitable if I didn't do something. My mana flared outward in a scarlet flash as I snapped my hand toward them—layer after layer of protective barriers folded around the Wolfpak, Zawa, and even Headtrip. With the latter two unconscious, I didn't have to hold back my output or hide the finer details of my magick. I could reinforce them with enough strength to survive a collapsing star.
But Zero didn't wait. In a heartbeat, he was gone from his position and in mine, moving with the same lightning precision I'd shown him earlier. His blade—the Blue Empress, the Chiral Reflection of the Red Queen—sliced through the air. The Divinity Mana riding its edge bit into my arm before I could fully counter. Bone, sinew, and flesh separated in an instant, my arm spinning away as light trailed from the wound.
Before the pain even had time to register, he vanished again and reappeared at my flank. This time, his strike was deeper, the blade plunging into my torso until the tip kissed my Soul Core. The Divinity Mana exploded inside me, burning through every nerve and fiber, gnawing into the very seat of my existence. My vision blurred at the edges, every heartbeat heavier than the last. I didn't have the luxury of hesitation. I forced my [Magick Reconstruction] to twist the invading energy, bending fragments of it into a crude healing force just to keep myself standing. Even so, the pressure was suffocating as fuck. His Trance-boosted power dwarfed mine in sheer weight.
Then he pushed more of it into me... Pause. A deluge of Divinity Mana flooded my Core until the pressure fractured it, jagged cracks spiderwebbing through its surface. The sound wasn't audible, but I felt it deep in my bones, a phantom shatter echoing through my being. My Death's Mask pulsed weakly, silver light throbbing once before a wave of unnatural warmth swept through me. In the next moment, Zero yanked his blade free. I stumbled backward as the mask split neatly down the center and fell to the ruined floor with a fragile clap.
Zero laughed—a low, resonant growl threaded through his voice, like something feral was speaking through him. "Hahahahaha! Perfect. This power will end the Prime Realm System—once you're dead and your core's full knowledge is mine."
[Moon Sage: Tsukuyomi]'s voice cut through the ringing in my ears, crisp and cold. "Due to him overloading your Soul Core and forcing the Death's Mask to trigger its remaining revival charges, the artifact is broken and will need to be repaired before being used again."
I straightened slowly, feeling my regenerated arm flex as I rolled my shoulder. "Looks like the final round with both of us on our last health bar. How criminally exciting." My voice was flat, stripped of playfulness, even as the faint thrill of the moment curled in my chest.
That's when I noticed it—my voice was normal again, no distortion, but my synchronization with [Midnight Star: Belial] still pulsed through my veins. Even without the mask, the spell clung to me. It made sense; Zero had shattered the Black Mirror earlier and kept on going as if nothing had happened. Whatever loophole allowed him to persist was working on me now, too. But I'd have to think about it later.
Zero took a half-step forward, the air around him shimmering from the heat of his aura. "Now that I've copied your understanding of Anti-Mana and this divine skill, as well as rid you of that artifact, you have no more advantages to exploit."
"You're becoming really cliché on me. It's amazing you know so little about me… about yourself, really." My gankyril faded from my vision as I let my Ultra Skill drop.
Spiritons surged into my left hand, coiling like silver serpents until my ōdachi retook shape, its weight settling in my grip. The Guardian Armament thrummed, eager, as I pointed the blade at him. He thought his stolen skill was the real weapon here. He didn't realize I'd been saving something.
"Watch closely," I said. "I'm only going to show you this once. Beast of the Twilight Sage—[Trance: Ookami]."
My Bio Mana roared awake. It flooded outward in an expanding wave, red and violet light flooding the chamber until it painted the walls. The duality of the transformation hit me all over again—blinding euphoria braided with a savage, divine rage. Mana crawled over my skin in currents of molten color, fusing with my bioarmor until the plates softened into a fur-like texture. My hair whipped back into a wild mane before lengthening, flowing into iridescent dreadlocks of crimson and violet that shimmered with each movement. Divine etchings traced themselves across my flesh, coaxing canine ears to rise atop my head and a tail to lash behind me like a whip. My third eye split open once more in the center of my forehead, the heat of its sight pouring over the battlefield. The demon wolf was back.
"What the hell, he has another transformation?" Dream's voice rose above the hum of the mana storm. "Is he part Changeling or something?"
"This look is so hot!" Nicole's tone practically vibrated. "I didn't know Lord Xi was part Wolven."
Ameera narrowed her eyes. "Not Wolven. Not Changeling. Something else."
Alex chuckled. "That's his true Trance state."
"Trance?" she echoed.
"Yeah. Talking about Xi's skills, you'll need a notebook."
"A Trance state?" Dream scoffed. "Yeah, he's got a lot of questions coming his way later."
Zero's brows pinched, confusion overtaking his smirk for the first time. "Although you appear different, I can still sense the divinity in your aura. How? You shouldn't be able to transform with that skill still under lock to my [Separation Anxiety]."
"It's a good thing I packed an additional Trance. Gotta have a spare tire, right?"
"So you had two different versions of the skill? How annoying, you little mutt."
"Well, [Neutrino Devil] evolved from a skill I created myself. It mimics Trance mechanics, sure, but this [Ookami] form? This is the original Divinity Skill."
Something in his stance faltered. He was weighing it now, wondering which form held the most potential. Our auras met in the air between us—his ultraviolet flame twisting violently, mine spinning in streaks of crimson and cerulean. The clash of them made the air vibrate, the floor creak underfoot.
The Sycamore Tree's voice, silent but ever-present, answered the tension with its own action. Spatial barriers slid over the glassy walls, sealing the wreckage of the Kinky Diamond Chamber inside a fresh arena.
"Let our fight dictate which one of us will take the existence of the Abraxas for this Stellar Kingdom Cycle," Zero said.
"I couldn't think of a more perfect ending to killing off the trauma and fear I've been carrying around," I answered. "You nervous, nigga?"
"Never nervous."
We both lowered into stance, blades poised, divine power crackling around us in arcs. The air between us felt like a thin sheet of ice—one strike, and it would all come crashing down. The stage was set. No more masks, just raw resolve.
We moved—too fast for the eye, faster than the light could catch. The delayed boom of steel on steel cracked the chamber wide, wind tearing through and shattering the last survivors of the furniture. Chains ripped from the walls. Even the smooth, glassy floor fractured under the recoil of our first strike.
We didn't slow up. The follow-up exchanges blurred into sparks and steel, the air hissing with each swing. Firelight flared from the sheer friction of metal cutting through mana-charged air. Tables, chairs, and chains unlucky enough to be in range were sliced apart without ceremony. Our blades moved with a rhythm too precise to be improvised, yet too violent to be anything but lethal intent. The Wolfpak couldn't track us with their eyes, but the sharp cracks of shockwaves hammering against the barrier I'd placed around them filled their ears. For seven relentless minutes, it was nothing but steel, wind, and explosions of pressure.
Zero's [Neutrino Devil] made him faster than me. He pressed forward with flurries meant to crush my defense, driving me step by step into a reactive stance. But [Heaven's Kaleidoscope] sharpened my perception until every twitch of his shoulders was a warning bell, and [Ookami] fed my limbs the strength to strike back. When one of his chains of blows faltered, I slipped in a counter: a high kick that cracked against his jaw, followed by a roundhouse that snapped his head aside and forced him back.
The moment his stance broke, I summoned the Blue Queen into my hands and leveled it at his chest. Golden light bloomed as I fired. Zero barely raised his palm—Anti-Mana bolts spat from his hand, meeting my rounds midair in blinding starbursts.
He tried to cast a Deadwind Mana spell, his free hand swelling with a sphere of compressed oxygen and Wind Mana so dense the air shimmered around it. I froze his concept of time with [Dominus Desidiae], stepped in, and sliced his hand off at the wrist. His [Neutrino Devil] resisted the stop in time, straining to break through with pure speed, but the damage was done—the spell collapsed harmlessly. That was when the thought hit me.
"Yeah, that settles it. He doesn't have the Sonata Skills or my Ultras. Which means I'm about to use my Omnia-given abilities to beat his ass."
I backflipped away from a horizontal cut aimed at my waist, landing low. [Heaven's Kaleidoscope] flared to life again, and I overlaid it with [Who is Jill Scott], letting me project [Absolute Hypnosis] onto Zero without a single glance into his eyes. The strain burned against my spirit, but it would be worth it if I could finish the fight.
Zero didn't notice a thing. Smiling strangely, he regenerated his hand and reached for the trinket hanging at his neck—a copy of the Crown of the Demon Lord, except the gemstone gleamed with an unnatural sapphire light. He pointed his palm toward me.
"Detach with unrequited love—[Separation Anxiety]!"
The air thickened into stillness. The chamber felt like it was holding its breath. My demonic wolf transformation shattered in his sight, fading to my base appearance. His own expression shifted when, instead of feeling stronger, his body wavered. He still wore his Trance form, yet his energy drained like sand from a broken jar.
"Wha-what? Why do I feel…"
"Heavenly Crescent Blade: Midnight Edge!"
I was already sprinting forward, my ōdachi trailing a halo of antimatter that warped the very air. He shifted to dodge—then froze. My [Love/Hate] polarity locked his body to the floor like gravity had turned vindictive. Instead of panic, he raised his hand with the Blue Empress tight in his grip. He braced, planting his feet, aura flaring like a dying sun as I came down upon him.
"KIIYYAAAA!!"
Our blades collided in a storm that tore reality apart. The antimatter-drenched edge of the Red Queen met the crystalline brilliance of the Blue Empress, and the clash detonated with a roar like collapsing thunder. The shockwave blasted outward in a dome of violent energy, slamming against the protective barrier I had cast around the Wolfpak. Cracks spiderwebbed across it, glowing white-hot as if the shield itself might disintegrate under the strain. The Wolfpak flinched, shielding their faces, the roar of breaking spatial glass and compressed air filling their ears.
Zero gritted his teeth, veins bulging across his temple as he pushed back against me. Sparks of mana shot off in every direction—fragments of light, void, and starlight spraying across the ruined chamber. He roared, digging in, the Blue Empress glowing brighter as he tried to force me away, as if sheer desperation could turn the tide. For a heartbeat, it seemed possible. The floor beneath us cracked apart, fissures spreading outward as our weapons ground against one another, neither side giving way.
But the Red Queen wasn't forged to falter. Its antimatter edge devoured resistance itself, unraveling the mana that composed the Blue Empress inch by inch. With a shriek like shattering crystal, the sapphire blade fractured. A moment later, it broke entirely, split down the middle.
My strike continued its arc, cleaving through him as if no weapon had ever stood in my way. His expression locked halfway between shock and bitter acceptance before his body burst into twin explosions, ripping a massive hole in the wall and the spatial barrier behind him.
The Sycamore Tree groaned under the force. Bark split, and wind screamed through the chamber, moonlight pouring through the breach to silver the dust and debris. The Wolfpak shielded their eyes against the flash as the floor shuddered beneath us.
Zero's shredded remains were scattered across the floor, his illusion flickering away. What was left of him—fragments of face, pieces of black bloody form—dissolved into motes of blue light. One eye remained long enough to turn toward me, and in that moment, he understood. My Trance had never ended. Zero's Ultra Skill had affected him instead. He smiled with an odd satisfaction before his features crumbled into nothing.
"Finally, end this stupid cycle of repetition. Only you can..." His voice slipped into my mind as the last of him vanished.
My perfectly timed [Karma's Return] had been my wild card, sending his own skill's effect back to him. Omnia's gifts had been the edge I needed to shatter a reflection of my own soul. The thought was equal parts awe and dread.
I watched the motes fade, thinking about that smile. Maybe Zero had been pushing me, forcing me past the fear of failing, of dying again, of losing who I was. And now, those fears didn't shackle me anymore—instead, they would steel me. I was Xiro Mikazuki, forged from every version of myself—Jean Vinson, Xero the Abraxas, Zero Tàiyáng, and whoever else fate had thrown into the mix. They were I, and I was him. Slim with the tilted brim.
I exhaled, steady and sure, as the Wolfpak roared behind me. The duel was over. I had fought myself and won. Funny thing—turns out a mirror can show you more than you'd ever expect... even in the middle of an orgy masquerade.
[End of Chapter]
[1] April on Earth