Lace's body dropped to the ground as he gave up the ghost. Draken looked at the corpse in disgust before leaping away to catch up with his master. But before Lace's soul could vanish from existence, it had a brief, final interaction with the being from the Dark Dimension.
"Why did I lose if your powers are truly superior?" Lace's soul asked in agony. "How did an ancient dragon defeat me while I held your almighty power?"
"Why would I give you all my power?" the entity hissed. "If you possessed superior strength and won, how then could I take charge? You were meant to be a wise Legend, yet your obsession with power and vengeance made you naive. The goal was never to help you; the goal was to gain access to the mortal realm."
Realizing he had been tricked, Lace screamed, "You bastard! You tricked me into making a deal with you! I can't believe it... you're a monster!" His voice echoed as his soul began to fade into nothingness, all while the being wore a sinister smile.
Soon, Lace's body began to heal. Even his ruptured heart was completely repaired. His eyes glowed a vibrant, solid purple, and his physical age regressed drastically to his prime, reversing the damage Leon had done years prior. His clothes merged back together as if brand new, and a crushing dark aura engulfed him.
"Well then... round two," he said, his voice now a layered, demonic chorus as he burst into laughter.
Leon and Draken finally reached the edge of the forest. From their vantage point, the Diamond Kingdom stretched out before them, shimmering in the sunlight.
"A new beginning... again," Leon said, taking a deep, fresh breath of the mountain air. "Hopefully, nothing will ruin this one."
Before they could take another step, a presence manifested behind them. A dark, intense aura surged forward, so potent it sent a chill down even Leon's and Draken's spines. They knew instinctively that the being behind them was no longer human.
They turned around slowly. The air felt dense, almost liquid, as they stared at the figure. He wore a sinister, calm smile.
"Hey," he said, totally unfazed by their gaze. "I am the ancient being Madrak, the Destroyer of Worlds. It is a pleasure to meet you."
Madrak's voice was cold and steady, matched by the ominous flickering of his purple eyes.
Draken didn't wait. He launched himself toward Madrak with a devastating punch that sent shockwaves rippling through the forest floor. But to his absolute shock, Madrak didn't even flinch. The impact was like a splash of water hitting a wall of reinforced steel.
"Oh... I forgot to add," Madrak replied calmly, his smile never wavering. "Physical attacks don't work on me."
He swiftly grabbed Draken by the face with a speed so absolute that even the King of Dragons—a being who could move within frozen time—couldn't perceive the motion. His grip was so firm that Draken couldn't even attempt to remove the hand.
"Insects shouldn't be allowed on the battlefield," Madrak said calmly, his sinister smile never wavering as he tightened his grip. A sickening crack echoed as he shattered Draken's skull. The Dragon King dropped dead.
"Now, you're next to—" Madrak began, but he was suddenly interrupted by a punch to the face from Leon.
The strike sent the demon flying a few feet back. He instantly regained his stance, his eyes widening. Wait, what? How did a physical attack move me? Madrak thought to himself, though a smile soon reappeared on his face.
Leon launched forward again to land another punch, his expression unhinged, shocked, and utterly pissed. Madrak charged forward to meet him, and the resulting clash was so potent that Yudris, fearing it would destroy the entire multiverse, intervened. She teleported them to the Void beyond the multiverse, where their clash echoed throughout the infinite abyss.
But Leon didn't stop. He threw more punches as Madrak countered with similar potency, the force threatening even the infinite abyss itself. Madrak didn't stop to wonder how they had entered the abyss or if they had deleted endless universes with their first strike; what truly concerned him was why a mere mortal could do this.
It makes no sense. There's no way a mere mortal can have such power... who the hell is he? Madrak thought as their fists shook the void itself.
The cosmic hierarchy was obvious: the Void totally transcends the infinite universes, the Spirit Realm transcends the Void, and the Dark Dimension transcends the Spirit Realm. There should have been an overwhelming difference in power and state of being, but in that instant, there was none.
Suddenly, Leon's strikes changed. The effect landed before the punch, and it was felt by the entity's true form back in the Dark Dimension.
Reverse causality? He is landing the effect before the cause! Madrak realized in horror. And what's worse is the fact that it affects my true form in a higher plane of existence. Who is he?
He jumped backward, creating distance between them. Leon's expression had turned emotionless; his new beginning had been ruined, and his companion had been killed.
"I'll kill you," Leon muttered with a soft, maniacal tone.
Madrak laughed, his voice echoing through the void. "Do you really think you can compare to me? You and your universe are infinitely insignificant compared to me. I exist beyond your comprehension," Madrak said in self-glorification.
"Really?" Leon said as he stepped forward. He wasn't walking; the distance between them simply disappeared as if it were deleted from reality. Leon grabbed him by the throat, and his hood fell off, revealing hair that glowed like a brilliant light and eyes that shone like the sun.
"Now, show me these almighty powers you speak of," Leon said, his voice carrying the weight of a thousand echoes.
Madrak stared into those glowing eyes, his thoughts racing in terror. Who... who is this guy?
For the first time since existence sprung into being, the demon felt true fear. Madrak's true form panicked; he realized that if this man could reach beyond the host, it would cause unforeseen, cataclysmic problems for the higher planes.
Madrak smiled a jagged, desperate smile. With a single act of will, the multiverse, the void, and the spirit realm disappeared. He had erased everything beneath him. If he couldn't harm the walking anomaly directly, he would simply delete the anomaly's entire reality and the universe that housed it.
What remained was only the Dark Dimension, a realm filled with demonic entities all serving Madrak—each one capable of destroying an entire universe with ease. The Demon Creator, the absolute manifestation of annihilation, sat upon his throne. The vile entity believed he had won.
Suddenly, the planes he had destroyed sprung back into being as if they had never been affected. The universes, the void, and the spirit realm were restored, completely unfazed by the decision of the Dark Dimension entity.
"What... what just happened?" Madrak's true form muttered in disbelief. He destroyed his own host's form along with the void, but the entire concept of his destruction had been ignored by a higher law.
Suddenly, a voice whispered from inside the Dark Dimension itself. A humanoid figure draped in celestial light manifested from nothingness, staring directly at Madrak on his throne.
"Where is the power you claim to possess?" Leon asked, his voice echoing like the explosion of a billion suns.
The Demon Creator was petrified. The idea of an inferior being threatening him in his own realm was a tale he would never have believed, yet here it was happening right in front of him.
"Now, I will show you power," Leon said. He stretched his hand toward the Demon Creator, and the realm began to tremble as if it were about to meet its end. The demonic entities froze in terror; something far superior now tread in their domain.
But as Leon prepared to destroy the realm, Yudris appeared once more, bowing deeply. "Young Lord, if I may, I would advise you not to destroy this realm. It is a vital place in the Grand Design, and destroying it could cause all of creation to collapse."
"A demon realm... important?" Leon asked. He remembered that Yudris was the Architect; if she claimed it was essential, then it certainly was. He redirected his focus toward the entity on the throne.
"Unfortunately, you are important to the Grand Design, so I will let you live. But from this moment forward, you shall be unable to move from that throne until the end of time—until the moment all of existence ceases to be."
Leon's voice carried an authority that made even the Dark Dimension tremble. Celestial chains appeared, pinning the Demon Creator to his throne. He was paralyzed, unable to move a single limb. The final verdict had been rendered, and even the Creator of Demons could not reject it.
Leon disappeared, returning to the real world. His body reverted to its usual form as he stood at the gates of the Diamond Kingdom. He stared at the Dragon King's lifeless body for a short while before walking up to it. Dropping to one knee, he leaned in and gave a soft whisper:
"Resurrect."