The golden-black aura clinging to Ato's skin didn't just glow; it hissed. It was a primal, pressurized energy that made the very oxygen in the ruined throne room feel heavy. Zyrrex stood his ground, his thousand black tentacles weaving through the air like a nest of disturbed vipers. The two stood at the center of the wreckage—one a golden beast, the other a void-born nightmare.
"METEOR PUNCH!"
Ato moved. He didn't just run; he vanished and reappeared in the space of a heartbeat. His fist carried the momentum of a falling star. The shockwave alone would have turned a normal man's bones to ash, but Zyrrex was no normal man.
"TENTACLE BARRIER!" Zyrrex roared.
The black appendages coiled together in a split second, forming a dense, pulsating wall of obsidian flesh. The impact was deafening. The collision sent a ring of force outward that leveled the remaining pillars in the room. The sheer pressure pushed Ato back, his boots grinding deep furrows into the shattered marble.
"Mada mada! (Not enough!)" Zyrrex sneered, his eyes wide with combat high. "TENTACLE RUSH!"
The thousand tentacles lunged forward simultaneously, a forest of black spears. Ato became a golden blur, dancing between the strikes with feline grace. He wasn't just dodging; he was hunting. In an instant, he closed the gap, his fist inches from Zyrrex's face.
"CLOSE!" Zyrrex screamed.
The tentacles retracted instantly, snapping shut like a steel trap to form the same impenetrable defense. Ato sensed the counter-pressure and flipped backward, landing lightly on a piece of fallen ceiling.
"Oh, you got away," Zyrrex panted, a manic grin stretching across his face. "Stand still for a moment. Your new form... it's powerful. Quick. I have to ask you something, Beast."
Ato didn't answer. He didn't care for words. He lunged again, a golden streak of light, and began a relentless barrage of strikes against the black barrier. Boom. Boom. Boom. Each hit sounded like a cannon firing.
"Why are you protecting this kingdom?" Zyrrex's voice muffled from behind the wall of flesh. "Faramis is a relic. King Luka is a memory. Why bleed for them?"
Ato's fist stopped. The aura around him flickered with a sudden, cold intensity.
"Why am I protecting this kingdom, you ask?" Ato's voice was a low growl that echoed off the broken walls. "Because he owed me a favor."
"Huh?" Zyrrex's confusion was audible.
"Now stop talking," Ato's expression went stone-cold, his eyes glowing with an ancient fire. "And fight me like a real man!"
He exploded into motion. The "Limit Breaker" aura doubled in size. Ato didn't just punch the barrier; he began to tear through it.
"You know you can't hurt m—" Zyrrex started to taunt, but his voice broke into a wet gag.
CRACK.
Ato's fist broke through the obsidian flesh. Then another. And another. Zyrrex gasped, spraying a mist of crimson blood as the force of the blows began to bypass his armor, vibrating directly into his internal organs.
"How?" Zyrrex wheezed, his vision blurring.
"I was continuously hitting," Ato said, his voice calm amidst the violence. "And at last... your tentacles gave up."
One by one, the black appendages withered and retracted, exhausted of energy. Zyrrex staggered, only five weak tentacles remaining at his back. He was no longer a god of the void; he was a cornered man.
"You... are... dead!" Zyrrex screamed, desperation taking over. He lashed out with his final five strikes, but Ato moved inside the guard.
THWACK.
Ato's fist buried itself in Zyrrex's stomach, lifting him off the ground. A second punch sent him crashing through the throne room wall, out into the open air, away from the palace and toward the outskirts of the city. Ato followed, pinning him against a jagged rock formation.
"Surrender," Ato commanded, his hand hovering over Zyrrex's throat. "Or die."
Zyrrex coughed, blood staining his teeth as he smirked. "Oh no. I'm not surrendering... you are."
Ato's eyes narrowed. "Huh?"
"Say bye to your friend in Faramis," Zyrrex hissed.
Ato's heart skipped. He looked back over his shoulder toward the city. The palace was still standing. The streets were quiet. Faramis was alright. He let out a small sigh of relief, his guard dropping for a fraction of a second—but that was the trap.
"Got you," Zyrrex whispered.
Before Ato could turn back, a hidden reserve of energy erupted from the ground beneath him.
"100 TENTACLE STRIKES!"
The ground exploded. A forest of black spears burst upward, burying Ato in a chaotic mess of stone and void-energy. A massive cloud of dust swallowed the area, hiding the Beast from view.
[Scene Changes to the Upper District Bridge]
The tension on the bridge was so thick it felt like it would snap. Vlad and Gale stood frozen, their weapons half-raised. Kojo Ren, covered in blood and breathing hard, looked toward the figure that had emerged from the shadows.
"So then... I trust you too then, Kojo Ren," the voice repeated.
The man stepped into the light. He had golden, sun-kissed hair that swayed in the wind, and a regal presence that made Vlad's obsidian skin crawl with fear. This was no commoner. This was the blood of the throne.
He was Prince Lemon, the heir to King Luka's legacy.
"HUHHHHHHHHHHHH?!" Gale and Vlad shouted in unison, their faces pale.
Prince Lemon didn't look at the villains. He kept his eyes on Kojo. "The Beast is fighting for my father's kingdom," Lemon said softly. "The least I can do is help his First Mate."