“With this rise in power,” Shin’ō said calmly, “we should all have enhanced regeneration, strength, durability, resistance, speed, endurance… and then some.”
The five stood atop the hill, the night sky broken above them like shattered glass.
From the widening rift, creatures poured in—creatures not of this world.
They came from ruined realms—worlds long devoured by the void, their survivors twisted into monsters. As they passed through the crack, the void’s corruption clung to them, enhancing and warping their forms.
The first to emerge were long, serpentine beasts—Winged Serpents. Scales like polished stone, wings that beat with the sound of torn air, eyes filled with corrupted hunger.
One of them spotted the five.
Then two.
Then a dozen.
They descended.
“GUYS!” Bezkon yelled, pointing up. “Look at that big-ass snake coming toward us!”
“…Why does it have wings?” Jovino asked blankly.
“They’re corrupted,” Shin’ō answered. “Void magic twists the weak. They lose control… and become monsters.”
“There’s more incoming,” Helwin warned, watching the sky fill with movement.
Audaxor cracked his neck. “Don’t worry. I’ll shoot them down myself!”
“Wait,” Bezkon said, stepping forward with a grin. “Me too.”
Audaxor summoned heat to his palm. He formed small, dense fire bullets and launched them upward in rapid bursts. One serpent was hit—its wings ignited and it plummeted to the earth, writhing in flame.
Bezkon raised both hands. Sparks danced along his fingers before surging into the clouds. A thunderous blast echoed as lightning arcs struck multiple serpents at once, sending them crashing down like puppets with their strings cut.
“Hey! That’s cheating!” Audaxor shouted.
“Tbh?” Bezkon shrugged. “Skill issue.”
Before anyone could retort—CRACK—a new sound tore through the sky.
The five looked up as thunder roared above them. A rift now wider, and from it, a flaming meteor emerged. It fell fast, smashing into the earth nearby with a deafening shockwave. Dust clouded the air.
From the crater rose new threats.
Stone Golems, towering and jagged, with glowing cores embedded in their chests.
And Fractured Knights, humanoid in shape but lacking faces, their armor cracked, leaking purple mist.
Audaxor’s eyes narrowed.
“Helwin, Jovino—you two handle the ground.”
“Me and Bezkon,” he said, glancing at the sky, “will take the air.”
Jovino clenched his fists, grinning. “It’s finally time.”
Helwin stepped forward, calm and cold. “Let’s use some ice.”
Jovino struck the ground. Massive stone disks shot up, spinning in the air. He flung them toward the approaching golems. They shattered on impact, but the golems didn’t stay down—their bodies reformed, drawn back together by the pulsing cores within.
Helwin snapped his fingers. Small icy orbs formed—he tossed them one after another. Upon landing, they exploded into freezing clouds, catching the Fractured Knights in place. They staggered, their joints locking up.
Jovino followed up with a massive boulder, slamming it into the frozen Knights and shattering them to pieces.
Meanwhile, Helwin conjured long, jagged spears of ice and hurled them with precision. Each struck a golem’s glowing core. The cores cracked, froze, and then—shatter.
“The ground is clear!” Helwin called out.
“The sky’s clean too!” Bezkon said, sitting beside him.
“Well,” Jovino exhaled, “that was easy.”
“Yeah,” Audaxor nodded, smirking.
“Because we’re strong.”
Shin’ō remained silent.
He stood apart from the others, watching the crack widen endlessly above.
Nothing’s changed, he thought.
"Even now… I’m still weak. They have powers—lightning, fire, ice, stone. And me…? Nothing."
The world should have awakened by now. Everyone has their powers. Then why… am I the only one weak?
And then—
The sky shattered further.
From the largest fractures, they arrived...
Tens of thousands of massive, dark mountain sized obelisks fell from the heavens. They landed across the world—like mountains dropped from the stars.
From each obelisk, black mist poured.
And from that mist… came monsters.
Not dozens.
Not hundreds.
Hundreds of thousands.
Beasts from broken worlds.
Creatures of rage, vengeance, hunger, madness. All warped by void magic. All eager to claim this world for themselves.
And with them… the real Balance had begun...
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