The battlefield, the shrieking of the Kraken, the molten scars left in the wake of its cosmic destruction—it all felt distant. As if I had taken a step beyond the physical world.
Because something inside me had changed.
The stars in my core were no longer separate, no longer scattered fragments of power held together by tenuous connections. They had been pulled inward, drawn into something new—something denser, heavier, more absolute.
Not a chain of lights connected by thin threads of energy.
A gravity unlike anything I had ever felt before.
And when I did, the very air around me responded.
Energy coiled around my form, thick and weightless at the same time. My senses expanded, sharpened, stretched out into something wider, something deeper.
It was calling to me.
My grip tightened instinctively, my fingers pressing against the hilt of my estoc. The void-light that had always flickered along its edge was no longer just a simple energy coating the blade—it was alive.
I exhaled slowly, lifting my weapon, my vision locking onto the Kraken's towering form as it writhed in the distance.
I finally understood.
This blade, this technique—this power.
It was never just about Starlight.
It was never just about cutting through my enemies.
It was about devouring.
About consuming, bending, collapsing everything into itself.
A slow smirk spread across my lips.
"So this is what you were trying to show me," I murmured, my voice barely above a whisper, my estoc humming in response, the energy crackling along its length in a way that felt different.
I rolled my wrist, the blade gleaming as I took a single step forward.
The resonance between my core and my sword deepened.
SHRRRRRRIIIIIEEEEEKKKKKKK!
The Kraken's monstrous wail tore through the battlefield, the very air distorting under the weight of its abyssal cry. The cavern trembled, debris crumbling from above as the force of its rage reverberated through the stone.
It could feel it—the shift.
My smirk widened. I lifted my blade, the energy in my core surging in response to my will.
"Devourer of Stars. Manifest."
A pulse erupted from my estoc, sending ripples of pure blackened starlight surging outward. It coiled and twisted through the air, tendrils of void-energy shifting like something alive, as if the very laws of this world struggled to define what it had become.
The energy wasn't just flickering anymore.
The Kraken shrieked again, its form distorting, writhing—reacting.
A beam of pure abyssal energy ripped through the cavern, spiraling toward me with devastating force.
It wasn't just raw destruction.
Something twisted, something foreign, something wrong surged within the attack, the same alien presence I had sensed earlier—the same presence buried deep inside this monster.
I inhaled sharply, shifting my stance.
This time, I wouldn't dodge.
I raised my estoc, the void-starlight along its length pulsing in time with my core.
A deafening shockwave exploded outward as I braced against the impact, my blade locking against the torrent of abyssal energy. The force behind it was immense, crashing against me like a tidal wave, pushing me back inch by inch as I dug my heels into the shattered ground.
I gritted my teeth, exhaling through clenched jaws.
The technique wasn't complete yet.
The starlight was there. The void was there. But the balance—the true fusion—was still just out of reach.
I was deflecting the beam.
But I wasn't devouring it.
The Kraken shrieked, pressing harder, its abyssal power raging against me.
I clicked my tongue, my fingers tightening around my hilt.
I wasn't quite there yet.
The force of the Kraken's beam didn't stop.
I gritted my teeth, pushing back against it with everything I had, my estoc locked in place as void-starlight crackled along its edge. The energy around me was shifting—changing—but it wasn't enough.
SHRRRRRRIIIIIEEEEEKKKKKKK!
The Kraken shrieked, sensing my struggle, its grotesque form twisting as its abyssal energy pushed harder.
Another tentacle lashed out.
I barely twisted my body in time, the monstrous limb slicing past me with enough force to send a shockwave through the cavern. The air burned from the sheer pressure, but before I could reset my stance—
Pain exploded through my ribs as a tentacle slammed into my side, hurling me across the battlefield like a ragdoll.
I hit the stone with a sickening thud, my body bouncing once, twice, before I crashed into a jagged wall, ribs shattering on impact.
Blood filled my mouth instantly, thick and suffocating, the sharp agony of bone piercing lung screaming through my nerves.
But I wasn't given time to recover.
Another strike—this time from above.
I forced my body to move, twisting midair just as the monstrous limb obliterated the space I had been in. The sheer force of it sent tremors through the entire cavern, massive chunks of debris falling from the ceiling.
Even with the concept in my grasp, I couldn't master it in an instant.
Time the Kraken had no intention of giving me.
Another attack—too fast.
I raised my estoc—too slow.
Pain ripped through my skull as something slammed into my face, my vision whiting out for a fraction of a second. My head snapped back violently, my entire body whipping through the air before slamming into the cavern floor.
I couldn't see out of it.
Blood streamed down my face, warm and sticky, soaking into my collar as I forced myself up with a trembling arm.
I swayed. My vision blurred, my breath wheezing through punctured lungs. My right side refused to move properly, the weight of my injuries dragging me down.
I wiped the blood from my lips with the back of my wrist, exhaling through my nose as I staggered back to my feet.
The Kraken wasn't stopping.
It pressed forward, its abyssal presence bearing down on me, its grotesque form shuddering, adapting, learning.
I met its abyssal gaze.
Even now, I could feel it—the pull.
The Void wasn't rejecting me.
I just had to take that final step.
I rolled my shoulders, ignoring the fractured bones shifting beneath my skin, the sharp sting of open wounds, the way my breath rattled in my chest.
Because I wasn't done yet.
"I am reaching my limit."
Probably, if this went on, I would be dying here.
I needed something different.
Yet just then a scream echoed in my head.
My body moved before my thoughts caught up, my gaze snapping to the side—
Collapsing. Convulsing.
Her body twisted unnaturally, her back arching against the stone, fingers clawing into the ground as if she were trying to anchor herself against something unseen.
Blood streamed from her eyes, from her lips, from the cracks forming along her cursed veins. The marks pulsing across her body glowed with an unnatural, sickly radiance—not just light, but distortion.
It was tearing at her.
Trying to consume her.
She was still fighting.
Even as her body was writhing, even as her own existence trembled on the edge of collapse, even as the pain she was enduring went far beyond anything I had ever experienced.
She refused to break.
My breath came out slow, steady, my pain momentarily forgotten as I took in the sight before me.
"Faced with such a sight, how can I stop?"
The words left me effortlessly, my amusement bubbling up despite everything. Despite my fractured ribs, my bleeding eye, my shredded lungs.
Because seeing her—seeing her —
It reminded me of something simple.
Strength wasn't just power.
It was the refusal to fall.
I wiped the blood from my lips, rolling my shoulders despite the searing pain that shot through my body.
"Let's move forward."
Because when it came to a battle of egos—
I wasn't going to lose.