Chapter 2191: A long... long... time together. "Let’s make this fair. You can use everything—every ounce of your light, every relic, every prayer you’ve ever whispered." She extended her arm, energy writhing around her like serpents. "And I’ll use... Me." And then—the battle finally began. BOOOM The Chaos Energy around Sharnoth exploded; the tendrils of purple-black energy expanded and began targeting Vexarion. There was no technique, no pattern—just... pure chaos. Chaos where the purple-black tendrils didn’t move to kill Vexarion, but to hurt him instead. Every time they touched any part of his body, a part of Chaos Energy seeped into his body, corrupting the Light in an agonizing manner. "AGGGGGGHH!!!" Vexarion screamed. He tried to dodge, but he was facing almost endless waves of attack with no fixed patterns. Even if his agility was twice as good as it was now, he wouldn’t be able to defend against it all—let alone now. BOOOM One of the tendrils slammed into his ribs, twisting his torso until his spine cracked. Another tore through his arm, melting it into gold dust. The next smashed his face into the ground, shattering his jaw and scattering teeth like diamonds. Every time he tried to rise, she was already there. Every time he summoned Light, Chaos consumed it. Pain became rhythm. His screams became music. And Sharnoth danced to it—each step painting the battlefield in a... radiant gore. "Slow, too slow!" Sharnoth complained. "This is not fun! Fight! Dodge! RUN!" She spoke, her voice getting more and more hoarse as her crimson eyes shined brightly. More and more Chaos Energy seeped into Vexarion’s body; at this point, pain had become constant. Vexarion couldn’t even stand properly. His instincts were being overpowered, his movements were becoming rougher, and the number of incoming attacks he could dodge was diminishing. His agility was greatly affected. And the only thing he could do about this was— "FIGHT ME FAIRLY!" He shouted as he swung his sword helplessly, slashing at a wave of Chaos Energy he believed was Sharnoth. He felt... helpless. Sharnoth, in her current form, felt untouchable. She did not have a physical body he could attack, and while wide-area attacks usually solved such problems— When an enemy does not have a fixed physical body, the best way to deal with the situation is to use a wide-range attack—one big enough to cover the enemy’s entire body and more, not letting them get away. Such enemies usually have unreasonably weak defenses, so using such methods usually works on them. Yes, usually. But Sharnoth was different. This method could not be applied here because... there was just... too much of ’Sharnoth’ around. The entire area—be it the endless ground or even the skies—was surrounded with the same purple-black Chaos Energy. Vexarion did not have a wide-range attack with a range big enough to cover the area Sharnoth’s Chaos Energy was spread in. Even if he used wide-range attacks to ’clear out’ some of the Chaos Energy, it simply returned the moment his attack ended, giving him almost no window to move. In the battlefield—Vexarion felt... trapped. Helplessly swinging his sword while dodging the endless amount of tendrils that attacked him. "Fight you fairly?" Then, he heard a voice as a claw made of Chaos Energy held him by the throat and two crystal-red eyes appeared right in front of him. "You? You think someone like you deserves a fair fight with me?" "FIGHT ME AND FIND OUT!!" BOOOOOM Vexarion unleashed another burst of energy as he freed himself and shouted. "You bring me to your world where you have the advantage, and you call this FAIR!? Do you have no pride!? You are doing all this for revenge, are you not? What would your father think once he finds out this is how you got your revenge!?" And Sharnoth... She just stared at the man in front of her in surprised silence. Even she, the supposedly crazy one, was taken aback by this shamelessness. Him? Out of all the people in the Universe, he was talking about fairness? What’s worse was— "What part of this world looks like Khaemorr to you?" Sharnoth asked directly. "Do not think you can fool me. You are no longer connected to Khaemorr; this must be another world you formed a connection with. This is why it has made you strong enough to face me." Vexarion answered, and Sharnoth... She truly couldn’t believe it. This shamelessness... she felt like studying it. "Is this... because... you have always fought safe...?" She muttered to herself as once again, another energy claw grabbed Vexarion by his throat. BOOOM The Aurendor Progenitor tried to release another burst of energy to free himself, but this time, the claw slammed his body on the ground. "Always picking wars you can win. Always punishing those who cannot fight back." The claw squeezed and— Crack Vexarion’s neck snapped in two. His body’s healing power shifted its focus to his neck. "While it gave you a false sense of power, it also made you... weak—so weak that you can’t even differentiate between a power borrowed from a world and true power." "You—kkhrrkk!!" Vexarion tried to answer but— "This is the difference between the two of us, Vexarion Aurendor. Unlike you, I didn’t grow by winning." Sharnoth’s voice grew shriller as the pressure she was now putting on Vexarion’s neck rose, rubbing the back of his neck on the rough ground in a way that his obsidian skin began shedding off. "I grew by losing." BOOOM She spoke as she slammed him into the ground. "I lost my father." BOOOM She spoke, once again slamming his head on the ground, disfiguring his head. "I lost my world." BOOOM "I lost my race." BOOOM The claw holding his throat glowed with chaotic light as she drove it into his chest, ripping through armor and flesh alike. When she pulled it out, her hand was clutching a core of pure, dark light—Vexarion’s heart. The light sputtered weakly in her palm, its glow dimming. The crystal-red eyes shined when they saw it, then, the black-purple energy gathered, forming what resembled a grin. "Beautiful." She muttered, her voice even more hoarse now. Then— CRACK BOOM She crushed it. "AAAAGGGHHHHHHHH!!!" Vexarion screamed as his entire body convulsed. Golden blood poured from his mouth, his veins flickering wildly, his body thrashed desperately as he felt his once endless Life Force fading away. But Sharnoth, who had materialized her physical body again, didn’t stop. She leaned close and in a low, cold voice— "Do you know what Chaos does to Light when it devours it?" Her smile widened. "It learns how to burn slower." Her energy surged through his body, reigniting every nerve, forcing him to feel every torn muscle, every shattered bone—again. "AAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!" Vexarion screamed. He couldn’t move, he couldn’t resist, he couldn’t push Sharnoth away. He... He felt all his resistance fading away. As if... This was the end. But— "Come on now, you can’t just die yet," Sharnoth whispered. "We haven’t even started the fun part." She spoke as her grin widened even further. Then— She threw him into the sky. The air shattered as he rose, breaking into thousands of glowing fragments. Then, before gravity could pull him back down, Sharnoth appeared above him. She smiled upside down in the air. "Catch." Her hand dropped and— FWOOOOSH The entire sky caved in. Waves of Chaos fell like meteors, colliding with Vexarion’s falling body. BOOOM Each impact exploded with light and void. His golden aura crumbled, his halo broke into shards, his body twisted, limbs tearing apart under the force. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM When he hit the ground, there was no ground left—just an endless sea of grey ash and black-violet storm. Sharnoth landed gracefully, her bare feet touching nothing. The world around her bent inward. She looked down at Vexarion’s broken body. He was still breathing... Well, barely. But still breathing. Golden energy moved around him, trying to heal whatever could be healed, but the purple-black energy was slowing it down, making his injuries worse with time. The Aurendor Progenitor’s chest rose weakly, golden fluid leaking from his mouth. "Still alive, eh? Good." She whispered, satisfied. She crouched beside him, tracing a finger down his cracked jaw. "I remember you used to say that Light brings salvation. Let’s test that." She leaned closer, her crimson eyes glowing brighter. "Save yourself." "Khrrrkk!!" He tried to speak, but only a wheeze came out. His voice failed him. His will... broke. Sharnoth smiled tenderly, as though comforting a dying child. Then—she pressed her palm to his face. The touch was gentle. The effect, however, was not. "KKGRRAAARKKGGGHHHHKKHHHFFFFF!!!" Vexarion screamed—or... screeched—as Light ignited from within. His body glowed like molten gold, then— BOOOM It exploded into countless sparks that scattered into the endless dark. And then— Silence fell over the place. For the first time, the world went quiet. There was no laughter. There were no screams. Just... silence. Sharnoth stood still, her expression unreadable. Slowly, she raised her hand and looked at her palm, still smoking faintly from ’divine’ ash. For a heartbeat, she looked almost... serene. As if she had ’regained’ her senses. But then— "Oops." Her lips curved into a smirk. "That was a mistake." She flicked her fingers. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢 And the shadows around her moved, forming what seemed like a cocoon, and the next second— The cocoon condensed into a shape—bones, flesh, veins, and armor. "Haaaahhh!!" Vexarion gasped, collapsing to the ground the moment he stood up. Yes, he was back. His body was whole again, and he... he couldn’t believe it. He... he was dead. He felt his Life Force running out— Then— Then how...? How was he back? But then— "You didn’t think I’d actually kill you, did you?" Sharnoth crouched in front of him, her grin wide and... merciless. Her crimson eyes gleamed. "We have so much time ahead of us." She leaned close, whispering against his ear. "A long... long... time together. HAHAHAHAHA!!!" Then she stood, her body flickering with violet-black fire, her laughter echoing through the dead, endless sky.