Vexar floated high in the tormented skies of Ebon, the Ninth Era world cracking beneath the onslaught like an ancient egg under a hammer.
Below, his shadowy legionâmillions of Peak Void Emperors and Early Cosmic Overlordsâmoved like a living eclipse, devouring the Radiant Orderâs forces. Holy armadas shattered in bursts of fading light, warriors in solar plate screaming as void tendrils pierced their hearts, their radiant auras snuffed out like candles in a gale.
The air reeked of ozone and charred essence, the ground a churning sea of blood and shadow where the fallen rose anew, twisted into loyal darkness bound to Vexarâs soul.
His smile never fadedâbright, almost innocentâas he watched the massacre unfold.
The Radiant Orderâs millions of Void Emperors fought valiantly, light blades clashing against shadow claws in explosions that lit the darkening skies, but without their Cosmic Overlord, it was futile. One by one, souls fed his army, the shadows growing denser, hungrier.
"Enough watching," Vexar murmured to himself, eyes gleaming with psychotic delight.
He activated another talentâabove Paragon rank, absurd and broken: Shadow Sovereign Borrow.
His will latched onto Vorath, the hulking Early Cosmic Overlord general belowâborrowing his power temporarily, essence flooding Vexar like a dark torrent.
Strength surged as Vexar instantly stepped into Cosmic Overlord stage for three minutes, raw physical might, though no conceptual laws accompanied it. His body rippled, shadows coiling thicker, aura pressing the skies until clouds parted.
He descended like a falling starâcrashing into the Radiant lines.
A group of Void Emperors turnedâlight spears launching in unison, holy barriers flaring.
Vexar chuckled, a casual swipe of his hand sending shadow-charged power through the air, shattering barriers like brittle glass and scattering bodies in bursts of light and blood.
He cut through the ranks like a scythe through wheat, fists smashing through armor, shadows swirling to snatch souls mid-fall. When a warrior charged with a glowing sword, Vexar caught the blade in his bare hand, crushing both steel and flesh before slamming the man into the ground, shattering the earth as the soul rose, dark and devoted.
"More!" he bellowed, a wild grin stretching across his face as he hurled himself into a phalanx of thousandsâshadowy punches surging outward, bodies collapsing, light auras snuffed out in rolling waves.
His subordinates fueled the chaosâNyxara crafting void-born tactics that funneled Radiant forces into deadly traps, Elyssar storing souls for future resurrection, and Vorath (his strength borrowed yet undiminished) shattering battalions with thunderous blows.
The Radiant Order collapsedâmillions fading into shadows, the world sinking into darkness as light gave way.
Vexar drifted through the shattered skies of Ebon, the Ninth Era worldâs atmosphere tearing apart in ragged breaths while continents below collapsed like overripe fruit under crushing cosmic weight.
He was soaked in the white, luminescent blood of Radiant Order cultivatorsâglowing ichor splashed across his shadowplate armor, vivid against the green-veined skin that throbbed with stolen power.
The air stank of ozone, scorched light-essence, and the metallic bite of divine gore, while the ground churned into ash and dimming radiance as his legion harvested souls without hesitation.
His eyesâcold, calculating, their psychotic glint buried deepâlifted toward the void above, where warped starlight marked the battle in orbit. Nyxara, Elyssar, and Vorathâhis Early Cosmic Overlord lieutenantsâwere locked against the Radiant Orderâs final stronghold: a Peak Cosmic Overlord Ancestor whose light could nourish galaxies.
His last rush of borrowed power had faded, dropping him to Calamity rank, but he kept himself in the fight by cycling through his Void Emperor subordinates, each three-minute burst fueling the slaughter. "Not this time, bastard," he muttered, voice low and venomous, a twisted smile forming as he extended his will.
He drew from Nyxara and Elyssar at onceâtwo dark currents surging through him like twin black rivers, his power soaring to the Late Cosmic Overlord stage. His body shudderedâshadows thickening, veins lit with an emerald-black glow, his aura forcing the surrounding darkness to bow.
In the next instant, he disappearedâspace folding quietly around the tear he left behind.
----
Outside Ebonâs orbit, the void was a maelstrom of light and shadow.
The Radiant Orderâs Ancestor, Luminar Eternal, hovered like a living star with twelve wings of blazing solar fire spread wide, his armor gleaming like molten sunlight and his staff radiating galaxy-sustaining power. His face burned with desperate fury, holy light rippling in waves that bent space, eyes glowing white-hot as he fought the three shadows.
Nyxara, wove cloaks of darkness to hide her strikes, her voice a silken whisper laced with madness.
Vorath, struck with earth-shaking punches that cracked Luminarâs defenses, each blow like a quake in the void.
Elyssar, lashed out with tendrils of darkness, their whip-like strikes swallowing every trace of light.
They barely held onâLuminarâs Stellar Law: Eternal Radiant Dominion at Stage 4âlight surging through him to black-hole density, each staff swing hurling Nyxara back in bursts like novas, wings blazing to cleanse Vorathâs blows with searing brilliance, and chains of light snapping around Elyssarâs tendrils mid-strike.
Nyxara grimaced, shadows fraying. "Heâs too strongâhold the line!"
Vorath roared, armor plates cracking under a blast of light. "Push!"
Elyssarâs chorus murmured, tendrils snapping beneath heavy chains. "We have him!"
Luminarâs face twisted with desperation, veins bulging as light surged. "Your shadows end here!"
He began to channel his Stage 3 Absolute Preceptâholy essence condensing, mouth opening to declare it.
Before he could speak, space tore open behind him.
Vexar appeared, spear lancing forward like void lightning.
Beheaded....
Luminarâs head was severed cleanlyâeyes wide in shock, body convulsing as its radiance guttered out.
Vexar landed lightly, spear dripping white blood. "No reviving, buddy."
He motioned to Nyxaraâfreed from her pin, she rose.
"Hurry, use your precept and end this fool."
Nyxara nodded, shadows curling around her.... then she channeled her core aspect: Annihilation.
|Absolute PreceptâProclamation of Void Eradication|
Her voice, velvet over steel: "All that was... is no more."
A unique skill took shapeâAnnihilation Echoâshadow waves surging outward, erasing Luminarâs body and essence entirely, wiping away even the memory of him from reality.
The battle was over.
Vexar smiled.
The Radiant Order lay broken.