Godslayer's Legacy: THE PATH TO SUPREMACY

The chasm was no longer just a battlefield—it was a scar carved into the flesh of the world. The once-solid cavern had been shattered, replaced by an open wound stretching endlessly into the void. Jagged pillars of stone jutted from the depths below, and fractured earth hung precariously from above. Through the gaping wound in the ceiling, faint beams of sunlight filtered down, clashing violently with the shadows swirling around the God of Grief.

Rui hovered mid-air, silver threads of aura and mana crackling around him like living lightning. His silver eyes burned brightly, runes etched deep into his irises pulsing with chaotic energy. His breaths came sharp and ragged, faint trails of blood leaking from the corners of his mouth. Every fiber of his being screamed from exertion, but his focus remained razor-sharp.

The God of Grief stood amidst the chaos, his colossal figure wreathed in swirling shadows. His chest bore the faint, still-glowing imprint of Rui's earlier strike—a spiderwebbed crater etched into his form. Chains, cracked and flickering with unstable runes, still clung to his arms and torso, barely holding his volatile power in check.

The two combatants stared at each other across the ruined expanse. The air crackled with raw tension, and even the faint light filtering from above seemed hesitant to pierce the suffocating aura of grief.

Far above, amidst the fractured sky, Kovar's airship hovered precariously over the edge of the chasm. The vessel's stabilizers flared brightly, struggling to maintain balance in the face of the chaotic mana storms spiraling upward from below.

Inside the control chamber, Kovar stood rigid before a crystalline control panel, his glass brain dome flickering wildly with data streams. The entire ship trembled as if in fear of what was unfolding below.

The observation screens displayed Rui and the God of Grief—two blinding forces locked in a deadly dance amidst devastation.

Kovar's pale hands clenched the edge of the control panel, his knuckles white. His voice crackled over the comm crystal embedded in Rui's ear.

"Rui! Your energy reserves are depleting rapidly. You cannot sustain this fight indefinitely!"

But Rui didn't respond. His silver eyes remained locked on the figure before him, his aura flaring like a blinding star.

The silence shattered.

The God of Grief raised one shadow-clad hand, and the chains binding his form rattled and shrieked in protest. Fissures of black energy erupted outward, swallowing everything in their path. The oppressive aura of sorrow surged forth in an uncontrollable flood, pressing against Rui with the weight of dying worlds.

"No light can escape grief."

The voice thundered through Rui's chest, vibrating in his very bones. The shadows surged forward—a tidal wave of despair crashing against Rui with unstoppable force.

But Rui met it head-on.

His silver aura flared like a supernova, forming a dome of condensed energy around him. The tidal wave struck, shadows screaming as they collided with Rui's barrier. The impact sent shockwaves radiating outward, splintering stone and shattering floating debris into dust.

Rui's feet pressed against thin air as he pushed back against the force, his arms trembling under the sheer pressure.

"Not yet…"

With a sharp cry, Rui surged forward, breaking free from the crushing wave of shadows. His aura condensed into a razor-thin edge around his body, and in a burst of speed that cracked the air like thunder, Rui closed the distance.

He struck with his fists, with his elbows, with every ounce of strength his body could muster. Each blow connected with the force of an earthquake, sending ripples of silvery light cascading through the shadows.

The God of Grief staggered slightly, his massive frame recoiling under the assault. Shadows screamed and recoiled, curling away from Rui's strikes as though in agony.

But it wasn't enough.

With one sweeping motion, the God of Grief's arm lashed outward, a massive claw of shadows cutting through the air. Rui twisted, barely avoiding the strike, but the shockwave sent him spiraling backward, crashing into a jagged stone outcrop. Dust and shattered rock erupted outward, and Rui coughed violently, blood splattering against the cracked surface beneath him.

"You resist… and yet you fade."

The shadows coalesced once more, forming a spiraling vortex around the God's outstretched hand. From within the void, Rui could feel the energy condensing, the mana threads trembling under the sheer weight of the force being gathered.

"This ends now, little light."

A black sphere, dense and impossibly heavy, formed in the God's palm. Rui's silver eyes widened as he recognized the intent—it wasn't just an attack. It was an extinction.

The God of Grief hurled the sphere forward.

Rui leaped upward, silver threads of aura coiling tightly around his legs as he launched himself into the sky. The black sphere struck the stone platform where Rui had been standing, and in an instant, the entire formation shattered into dust.

A vortex of shadows spiraled upward, consuming everything in its wake. Rui's aura flared brightly as he stabilized himself mid-air, his chest heaving, blood dripping from his fingertips.

But his eyes… his eyes remained steady.

"No more."

In the fractured heavens above, Kovar watched in horror as the black vortex consumed the cavern below. His trembling hands moved rapidly across the crystalline panels, his voice cracking over the comm crystal.

"Rui! Rui, respond! You need to retreat—NOW!"

But Rui's voice cut through the chaos—steady, unyielding.

"Kovar… I can't retreat. Not anymore."

The air stilled. The mana threads around Rui began to vibrate violently, spiraling inward toward him in chaotic, brilliant arcs. His aura flared outward in sharp pulses, casting radiant silver light against the oppressive darkness.

"I'll end this. Here and now."

Kovar's glass brain dome flickered with warnings, energy readings spiking wildly. His pale eyes widened as the numbers scrolled past.

"Rui… your power levels… you're reaching critical thresholds!"

But Rui's focus didn't waver.

He raised one hand, the runes in his silver eyes igniting in blinding brilliance, covering even the whites in his eyes. Threads of mana coiled into his core, his aura condensing tighter and tighter around him.

And then… something shifted.

Rui's perception changed.

For a fleeting moment, the world around him disappeared. The shattered earth, the swirling shadows, the broken sky—it all faded.

All he saw were endless runes. Lines of energy, symbols, threads of mana and aura intertwining into infinity. They stretched across everything, through everything, as if they were the very veins of existence itself.

And then—it snapped back.

Time returned, reality reasserted itself, and Rui was already moving.

Faster than light. Faster than thought.

A blinding silver comet tore across the chasm, leaving trails of molten energy in its wake. Rui's aura and mana coalesced into his fist, layers upon layers of energy compressing into a singular point.

His silver eyes burned with unyielding focus, the runes within them bleeding faint streams of crimson.

"This ends now!"

The God of Grief barely had time to react. Rui was already there.

His fist collided with the God's chest.

For a moment, there was silence—a stillness so profound it felt like the world itself had stopped breathing.

Then, reality shattered.

A cataclysmic explosion erupted from the point of impact. The air ignited, shockwaves rippling outward in cascading waves of raw destruction. The stone platforms below disintegrated into ash. The shattered walls fractured further, entire sections of rock collapsing into the endless void below. The chasm roared with deafening force as shockwaves ripped outward, tearing stone, shadows, and air alike apart.

The light consumed the darkness.

High above, the sky itself cracked, sunlight spilling downward in chaotic beams as clouds were torn apart by the force of the blast.

The God of Grief's colossal form was hurled backward, shadows screaming and unraveling as they were burned away by Rui's overwhelming radiance.

A blinding flash of silvery light erupted from the point of impact, swallowing everything in its path. The chasm roared with deafening force as shockwaves ripped outward, tearing stone, shadows, and air alike apart.

The light consumed the darkness.

For a fleeting moment… grief was silenced.

When the light faded, Rui hovered mid-air, his form trembling, blood streaking down his face from his glowing eyes. His breath was shallow, his aura flickering weakly around him.

The chasm was silent, filled only with faint echoes of distant rockfalls and the crackling of residual energy.

The God was gone—obliterated by Rui's final strike?

But as Rui floated there, his battered body barely holding itself together, he could still feel it:

Grief.

Lingering. Distant. But not gone.

Had he done enough?