Xyrath struggled to stand but failed again. He wasn't used to losing. Even now, gravity itself bent around him defensively, but it was useless; Falco simply pushed through every distortion. He was just too powerful. "You're done. Your ritual is dead. Surrender," Falco stated with a confident tone. Xyrath laughed in acceptance. "Son of Nocturnis…" he whispered while coughing dark energy. "Of course I cannot best you in power." Falco's eyes narrowed. Xyrath smiled as blood trickled down the corner of his mouth. "But unfortunately for you—" His pupils dilated. "—I have already won this battle." At that same instant— The ritual circle inside the monolith violently lit back to life. Serayna froze as she felt something crack open inside her. Her heart? Her bones? Her spirit? She couldn't tell. All she knew was that her skin suddenly blazed with radiant writings, forming symbols she had never seen before but somehow recognized. They were etched into her soul like they had always been there. Hidden... Planted... Prepared... Her father's voice echoed faintly in her ears, even though he was nowhere near her. "My daughter… you were always meant to be part of this." "No…" Serayna whispered while stumbling backward. "No. No NO—!" The monolith's glyphs ignited fully and began crawling across her body like glowing serpents. Her muscles locked up, her arms stiffened at her sides as she found herself unable to muster any form of energy. She was immobilized. A prisoner inside her own flesh. Her precognition had never shown her this. And then she understood why— Because Xyrath had blocked it. Because he planned this. Because he used her life as a substitute catalyst. Inside the monolith, the ritual soared to new heights with its sigils burning hotter than before. Even the broken artifact repaired themselves instantly, drawn back together as though time itself were reversing. A massive purple rune formed at her feet. Serayna screamed— "FATHER—!" Outside, Aildris and E.E had Seraphine cornered between collapsing towers of warped space. Aildris's fists gleamed with condensed energy, and E.E's vortex network tightened like a noose. But suddenly Seraphine stopped fighting. She straightened and she smiled. A cold, triumphant smile. Her laughter erupted like a broken dam. "Hehehehehe… hahahahaha—HAAAAAHAHAHAHA!!" Both Aildris and E.E paused in confusion. Seraphine raised her arms toward the sky as the planet trembled. "It's too late!" she shrieked. "The substitute has been activated!" "What?" Aildris muttered, taking a step back. E.E's eyes widened with horror. "Serayna…" Before they could act— A purple beam shot from the top of the monolith straight into the heavens, ripping apart the sky. The air spun in a circular motion around the beam, the ground roared and the sky bled. A wave dark cosmic energy spread outward from the monolith like an invisible tsunami sweeping across the world, and then across the galaxy, and then— Across thousands of galaxies. Across countless star systems… Across floating battle stations… Across biodomes, warships, citadels, headquarters… Across every planet... Across every territory of the Gustavo Alliance... Many members suddenly froze as their eyes rolled upward. Their bodies convulsed. And then— They exploded. Some combusted into pillars of violet flame. Some burst into clouds of gore and bone. Some fractured like glass struck by a hammer. Some collapsed into themselves, turning inside out before vanishing. Across the universe, over 500,000 Gustavo Alliance members died in less than a second. Their comrades screamed in panic. Their leaders shouted orders. Nobody understood what was happening. Nobody could stop it. Chaos rippled through galaxies. But the ritual did not care. The sacrifices were needed. And now… the ritual was complete. Falco felt the surge and stumbled backward. Aildris nearly lost control of his energy. E.E staggered, clutching his chest as though his heart were being pulled out. Seraphine fell to one knee, laughing even harder through tears of victory. Xyrath rose slowly, using gravity manipulation to stand despite his injuries with a serene expression settling across his bruised face. Serayna who was still inside the monolith felt her consciousness drifting as the purple light devoured her sight. She slowly turned into light particles as the ritual came to a completion. All of a sudden, the entire monolith shuddered as the purple beam of light sent a dark, chilling and ancient darkness across the universe. Falco, Aildris and E.E felt their bloodline quiver. Falco shouted, "NO—WE CAN STILL DESTROY IT!" He raised his hand causing black flames to spiral violently around his palm. "ERADICATION BURST!!" A cataclysmic blast of shadow-fire erupted from his arm, blasting into the monolith with enough force to vaporize moons. But unfortunately, nothing happened. The monolith didn't crack. It didn't dent. It didn't even heat up. It simply absorbed the attack. Aildris rushed forward next, slamming both palms into the ground as a wave of compressed energy exploded upward. He tried to draw color from the monolith but it didn't work. The ground split open for miles but the monolith didn't move. E.E followed instantly, ripping open vortex after vortex, slamming them into the structure like collapsing realities. He tried to open a vortex around the structure and close it to sever the monolith but the vortex suddenly turned Illusionary and vanished. The monolith remained unchanged. The three of them stood there, panting with disbelief flooding their faces. Seraphine whispered joyfully, "You are too late. Too late. TOO LATE." Xyrath closed his eyes in anticipation, accepting the inevitable. And then, a loud ripping sound rang out... Zrrrhhhiippppkkk~ It was like the universe itself was being unzipped. At first it was a thin, trembling crack in the sky and then it expanded... Becoming bigger... Wider... Deeper... Reality peeled apart like fragile paper, confirming that the seal to the dark dimension… Was gone. As the crack extended, the sky turned black, consumed light like a starving beast swallowing food. This darkness then proceeded to spread across the universe at impossible speed... faster than hyperspace, faster than photons, faster than anything measurable. Stars dimmed. Nebulas withered. Entire clusters fell silent. And then— From the very crack in space… Something emerged. A leg. Just a leg. Yet its appearance dwarfed the sky. It dwarfed the horizon. It dwarfed everything. It was covered in smooth dark skin etched with molten crimson engravings that pulsed like veins carrying cosmic fire. The limb radiated an aura so heavy the small moon sized planet cracked under its mere presence. That leg alone… That one limb… Was larger than ten planets combined. And it was still only halfway through the tear. And yet, Aildris fell to his knees, E.E trembled violently and Falco felt his dark lineage going haywire... Seraphine and Xyrath knelt as if in worship. Falco, held his panic down and stared at the limb of the entity slipping through. "…Ancient Executioner." The sky shattered as the being's weight tore through reality itself. A shockwave of pure destruction erupted outward. Entire landscapes evaporated. Mountains crumbled to dust. The planet fractured like brittle ice. Falco felt the blast coming before the others even registered it. "E.E! Aildris!" he roared. Wings of living shadow burst from his back, unfurling like torn curtains of darkness as he lunged for them. E.E was still frozen, staring in horror. Aildris's body had gone rigid from the oppressive gravity. Falco slammed into both of them, wrapping them in a shield of darkness and throwing his entire power into flight. The planet beneath them inhabited only by the two supreme leaders, didn't stand a chance. It instantly exploded. A world-shattering burst radiated outward as the shockwave from the Executioner's emergence tore through it like wet paper. Everything was eaten by void-light and obliterated. Even the two supreme leaders, Xyrath and Seraphine were disintegrated instantly. Their triumph, their ritual, their centuries of schemes… all ended in a single breath. Not even ash remained. Falco held Aildris and E.E tightly as they flew through the void while debris flew past them like arrows. He poured every drop of shadow-power into movement. "Hold on!" he growled. But even with his speed, even with his bloodline, even with his instinct... There was nowhere to run. Because now that the seal was broken… No place in the universe was far away. --- The entity soon stepped fully into the universe. It wasn't merely big. "Big" didn't apply anymore. This being dwarfed suns. Dwarfed solar systems. Its full height was impossible to comprehend because it stretched beyond the horizon of spacetime itself. Its torso alone rippled with nebula-like organs glowing behind its skin. Its arms were like blackened superclusters, their bones made of condensed dark matter. Its head was a hollow skull filled with swirling galaxies. An Ancient Executioner... One of the Five. Servants of Nocturnis. Destroyers of civilizations. Cleavers of reality. When this one breathed, planets trembled millions of kilometers away. Its voice was not a voice... it was an entropy vibration, a frequency that made the vacuum itself cry. Falco knew exactly what this meant... no one in the universe would be able to stand a chance. If the Ancient Executioner wanted them dead, they would vanish before they could even process pain. Even Falco, the son of Nocturnis, could not take on one of these alone, let alone five. As the Executioner straightened, space cracked like thin glass across his chest. Shadows leaked from the openings like smoke. Then something else appeared atop its right shoulder. A silhouette...