sunless realm bathed in bloodlight.
Rivers of molten lava twisted like serpents through obsidian canyons, their glow pulsing like the heartbeat of something ancient. Red clouds hung low, breathing heat into existence itself. Every inhalation scorched reality. The pressure here could crush civilizations into myth—
—and yet Jack hovered effortlessly.
One hand rested casually in his pocket.
Snow-white hair danced in furnace winds that could flay lesser gods. He grinned.
"Wow… this is nice," he said, glancing down at the lava. "I could live here."
He chuckled, floating lazily above the molten rivers like he was on vacation.
Then—
Darkness.
Not night.
Not shadow.
An absolute erasure of light, save for the crimson glow boiling beneath him.
Jack blinked once. "Huh… either you're really fast," he mused, "or I showed up late."
CRACK—
Something hit him.
No form.
No sound.
Just force.
Jack vanished like a missile, spiraling straight into the lava below.
BOOOOOM!!!
The molten river detonated upward, erupting as if the realm itself screamed—
And then, a second later—
Jack rose from the lava.
Unburned. Unmarked. Unbothered.
Not a single thread of his clothing had scorched. Lava slid off him like rain as he floated upward, rolling his shoulders. His grin widened—not impressed, not angry—annoyed and entertained.
"Hey—"
BOOM.
The second strike landed.
No warning.
No aim.
No fairness.
The realm convulsed.
Mountains disintegrated. Lava rivers evaporated mid-flow. The red sky fractured like glass as a shockwave tore outward in every direction.
White.
Nothing survived that impact.
…Until the dust settled.
Silence.
Then—a figure.
Jack.
Standing at the center of the crater.
One hand still in his pocket.
The other gripping a fist that was not his own.
He hadn't braced.
He hadn't moved.
He had stopped the unstoppable with one hand.
His eyes glowed purple-black—dense, gravitational, like twin singularities. Not radiant. Not loud. The kind of gaze that made lesser gods kneel without realizing why.
The creature stood revealed at last.
Taller than Jack. Sleek. Lethal. Its body looked forged rather than grown—muscles sharp like blades, skin glinting like refined titanium. Cold white energy burned in its eyes. It pulsed with precision.
Not built to fight.
Built to end.
It did not speak.
Jack did.
His smirk curled deeper. "Alright," he said calmly. "Who the hell do you think you are?"
Silence—then a reply like thunder wrapped in malice.
"Your end."
Jack tilted his head, unimpressed. "…Then end me."
The world collapsed into war.
The fabric of the realm twisted—then vanished.
Silence.
Not absence—failure.
Jack and the creature were no longer visible. Not vanished—beyond perception. Time struggled to register them. Space bent and screamed under pressure it couldn't interpret.
Craters appeared in midair.
Lava rivers split without warning.
The sky cracked seconds after the blows landed.
Then—
They reappeared.
Opposite each other. Dozens of meters apart. Both perfectly still.
Steam rose. Ash fell. The battlefield unraveled beneath them.
The creature tilted its head slightly. Its voice sounded like prophecy spoken by a machine.
"You are stronger," it said. "But not inevitable."
Jack raised an eyebrow. He leaned back in the air, scratching the back of his neck. "You need a name." A low chuckle escaped him. "I'll call you Steel."
A pause.
Even the lava seemed to hesitate.
Jack's grin sharpened, eyes flashing purple-black like eclipsed galaxies. "Funny, right?" His tone shifted—still playful, now edged with something darker. "I'm Jack. And just so we're clear…"
His gaze narrowed.
"I don't need to be inevitable to kill you."
Steel did not respond.
His body vibrated—tensing.
They moved.
A sonic quake tore through the realm. Lava bent upward. Mountains folded. Reality screamed.
Steel—cold, calculated, precise.
Jack—arrogant, unhinged, laughing mid-blow.
No victor.
No audience.
Just two monsters clashing beyond reason.
Steel vanished and reappeared above Jack, palm striking like a cannon, leg dropping like a guillotine. But Jack had already moved—not dodging, editing his position.
CLANG!
Jack's forearm collided with Steel's shin. The impact screamed like metal being tortured. A dome of distortion erupted outward, flattening mountains in a perfect ring.
They separated—then instantly re-engaged midair.
Fists collided once.
Twice.
Then a hundred times in a single second.
The air froze from pressure—then ignited from speed.
Steel spun, elbows sharp like spears. One grazed Jack's cheek.
A single drop of blood fell.
Jack halted mid-dash. He touched his face, looked at the smear on his finger.
"…Ow."
He smirked. "You are sharp, Steel."
Then he vanished.
Reappeared behind him.
Steel pivoted instantly. Their limbs collided again, surrounded by thousands of floating molten shards—the remains of a collapsed mountain range.
Jack's punches now warped the air, forming black rings of fractured light. Steel countered with ruthless efficiency, every strike calculated like a death sentence.
Steel moved to kill.
Jack moved to prove.
They crashed again, tearing a canyon open beneath their feet.
Silence.
They stood apart once more. Breathing steady. Not even winded.
Jack rolled his neck. "You know… I thought you'd be more fun."
"You joke to hide fear," Steel replied.
Jack's grin widened. "No. I joke because this is hilarious."
BOOOOOM!
They vanished again.
The realm began to die.
They clashed midair—not just fists, but intent.
Steel's white aura flared, fractal symbols fracturing the sky like broken divinity. Jack spun backward, then slammed his heel down
A shockwave split the magma rivers below, forcing them aside like oceans obeying a godless command.
Steel dashed through molten air, no wasted motion. His arm reshaped into a blade mid-strike, slicing through gravity itself.
Jack parried with one finger.
Smiling.
"You really thought I'd block that seriously?"
He drifted backward lazily. Steel was already gone.
SLAAAAASH!!!
Jack crashed into a mountain. The cliff detonated into volcanic ash.
From the dust—
Jack walked out.
Laughing.
"Okay, okay… you're serious," he said, cracking his fingers as something unlocked inside him. "I get it."
The sky glitched.
Stars bent.
The realm warped—not because Jack controlled it—because his presence was breaking it.
"You're not the only one who adapts," Jack whispered, eyes deepening into void-dark amethyst.
Steel raised both arms, forming a spear of hyper-condensed plasma, humming like a dying sun.
Jack raised his hands like a conductor.
The wind stopped.
Time hesitated.
Space flinched.
"Come on, Steel," Jack grinned. "Let's see if gods bleed metal."
They vanished.
A screeching sound.
Silence.
Even the lava froze.
Steel stood motionless.
Behind him, seven Jacks materialized in a perfect arc, each holding a dagger so thin it shimmered like glass under moonlight. The blades dripped glowing blue blood—data, not life.
No sound.
Too fast. Too clean.
The seven merged back into one.
Steel calculated escape.
There was none.
Cracks spread from shoulder to spine to toe.
He exploded.
He disintegrated into cosmic dust.
Jack didn't turn back.
"I've wasted enough time having fun," he sighed, walking away as the realm collapsed behind him. "…It's getting boring."
Silence on the 13th floor thickened.
Then—
Khrah descended.
Reality yielded.
His black hair flowed untouched by gravity. White robes woven with living gold bent in obedience. He floated. He did not walk.
The dungeon erased itself.
Khrah descended into the abyss.
At the bottom—
Jack stood.
Back turned. Hand in pocket.
"I've been expecting you," Jack said calmly.
Khrah smiled.
"Then your continuation ends."
Jack tilted his head. One purple-black eye shimmered.
"…Really?"