Chapter 45 - Conquest
The roof of the Grayson family home exploded inward, raining debris throughout the living room.
Both Marks moved with identical superhuman speed, shielding their respective mothers from the falling wreckage.
"Stand ready for my arrival, worms," a booming voice announced from above.
Through the newly created skylight descended a massive figure – a Viltrumite even larger than Nolan, with bulging muscles that strained against his pure white costume.
One of his arms was mechanical, gleaming with advanced technology far beyond Earth's capabilities. His face bore extensive scarring, with one eye milky white and blind, the other burning with cruel intelligence.
"Who the hell is that?" altered Mark whispered, positioning himself protectively in front of both Debbies.
Original Mark shook his head, equally bewildered. "No idea. But definitely Viltrumite."
The massive alien landed with enough force to crack the foundation of the house, his weight causing the floorboards to groan in protest. He surveyed the room with casual disdain, his single functioning eye lingering on the two identical Marks.
"Two half-breeds," he observed, his voice rumbling like distant thunder. "How... convenient."
"Who are you?" original Mark demanded, his fists clenched at his sides.
The Viltrumite's scarred face twisted into what might have been a smile. "I am Conquest, Enforcer of the Viltrumite Empire." He cracked his neck casually. "And you are traitors' spawn."
Without warning, he moved – faster than either Mark could track. His metal fist connected with original Mark's chest, sending him crashing through three walls and out into the yard beyond. Before altered Mark could react, Conquest's organic hand closed around his throat, lifting him off the ground.
"Interesting still despite having confronted it myself earlier," Conquest mused, studying altered Mark's face as he struggled for air. "You look identical, yet your energy signature is slightly different. This variant situation is so fun."
"Let him go!" altered Debbie shouted, her maternal instinct overriding her fear as she rushed toward the massive alien.
Conquest flicked his wrist dismissively, creating an air current that sent her tumbling across the room. Original Debbie caught her counterpart before she could slam into the wall.
"Mom!" altered Mark gasped, clawing at the fingers around his throat.
"Pathetic," Conquest sneered. "Is this truly the best this world has to offer? The son of Nolan, choking like a common animal?"
He hurled altered Mark through the ceiling, sending him arcing high into the sky. Then, with a casual leap, Conquest followed, leaving the two Debbies alone in the ruined house.
"We need to get out of here," original Debbie urged, helping her counterpart to her feet. "Right now."
Altered Debbie nodded shakily. "Mark... both Marks..."
"They're Viltrumite," original Debbie reminded her. "They're tough. But we're not, and we'll only distract them if we stay."
Outside, altered Mark had recovered enough to launch himself back into the fight. He intercepted Conquest mid-air as the Viltrumite pursued his counterpart, landing a solid punch to the alien's jaw.
"That the best you got?" Original Mark taunted, following up with a rapid series of strikes.
Conquest barely seemed to notice the assault. "Amusing," he commented, catching Mark's fist effortlessly. "You have spirit, at least."
With a single twist, he dislocated Mark's arm, eliciting a scream of pain. Altered Mark rejoined the fight, driving both feet into Conquest's back with enough force to send all three of them plummeting toward the ground.
They crashed into a nearby park, the impact creating a crater thirty feet wide. Civilians scattered, screaming in terror as the three super-powered beings emerged from the dust cloud.
"You fight well," Conquest acknowledged, brushing dirt from his shoulder. "For children."
Both Marks attacked simultaneously, coordinating instinctively despite never having fought together before. They circled Conquest, striking from opposite sides, using their speed and flight capabilities to stay mobile.
Conquest merely laughed, turning to track their movements with practiced ease. "Is this truly all you can muster? Nolan has trained you poorly."
"Shut up about my father!" altered Mark shouted, his dislocated arm hanging uselessly at his side as he continued to fight with his good arm.
"Your father," Conquest repeated, catching original Mark's punch and using his momentum to hurl him into his counterpart. "A traitor and a disgrace to the Empire."
Both Marks tumbled across the ground, quickly regaining their footing. Blood trickled from various cuts on their faces, but their Viltrumite physiology was already working to heal the damage.
"We need a plan," original Mark muttered. "This guy's on another level."
"Hit him harder?" altered Mark suggested, grimacing as he popped his dislocated shoulder back into place.
"Works for me."
They charged again, this time flying low to the ground before shooting upward at the last moment, catching Conquest with uppercuts that snapped his head back.
The Viltrumite staggered slightly – the first sign that their attacks were having any effect at all.
"Better," Conquest acknowledged, wiping a trickle of blood from his lip. "But not good enough."
He moved with frightening speed, appearing between the two Marks before they could react. His metal arm caught original Mark across the face, sending him spinning through the air.
His organic hand seized altered Mark by the leg, swinging him like a club to bat his counterpart further away.
"Did you truly believe you could challenge me?" Conquest asked, genuine curiosity in his voice as he slammed altered Mark repeatedly into the ground.
"I have conquered worlds that would make your nightmares seem pleasant. I have exterminated species whose very existence offended the Empire."
He lifted altered Mark by his costume's collar, studying his battered face. "You are nothing. Less than nothing. A half-breed abomination playing at heroism."
"Leave my sons alone!"
The new voice cut through the chaos, followed immediately by a red and white blur that slammed into Conquest with devastating force. The impact sent the scarred Viltrumite skidding backward, releasing his grip on altered Mark.
Nolan Grayson – the altered timeline's Omni-Man – hovered protectively in front of his son, his cape billowing in the wind created by his sudden arrival.
"Dad!" altered Mark gasped, relief evident in his voice.
"Get your counterpart and go," Nolan ordered, never taking his eyes off Conquest. "Get your mothers somewhere safe."
Conquest's scarred face split into a grin that held no humor. "Nolan," he said, his voice almost friendly. "The Empire's most notorious traitor."
"Conquest," Nolan acknowledged, his expression grim. "I'd heard rumors you'd been assigned to this sector. I'd hoped they weren't true."
"You know this guy?" altered Mark asked, helping his counterpart back to his feet.
"Unfortunately," Nolan confirmed. "He's the Empire's enforcer. When planets resist, they send Conquest to... resolve the situation."
"Such a diplomatic way of putting it," Conquest laughed. "Tell them, Nolan. Tell your half-breed offspring what I really do."
Nolan's jaw tightened. "Mark, go. Now."
"No way," both Marks replied in unison.
"How touching," Conquest observed. "Family solidarity. It would be heartwarming if it weren't so pathetic."
He studied Nolan with his single functioning eye. "You know, I was sent here for the anomaly – this dimensional disruption that's caught the Empire's attention.
Finding you was just a fortunate coincidence. Thragg will be pleased when I bring back your head."
"You can try," Nolan replied coldly.
"Oh, I'll do more than try."
Conquest launched himself forward, his metal fist leading the way. Nolan met the charge head-on, their collision creating a shockwave that shattered windows for blocks around.
The two Viltrumites grappled mid-air, each trying to gain leverage over the other.
"You've grown soft, Nolan," Conquest taunted, his mechanical arm whirring as it exerted increasing pressure. "All these years playing house with these humans has weakened you."
"And you're still the same sadistic butcher," Nolan retorted, breaking the clinch with a headbutt that sent Conquest tumbling backward.
The enforcer recovered quickly, wiping blood from his nose with an expression of delight. "Oh, there's still some fight in you! Excellent. I was worried this would be too easy."
They clashed again, moving with such speed that the Marks could barely track them. Buildings trembled from the force of their impacts, and sonic booms punctuated the air as they broke the sound barrier repeatedly.
"We have to help him," original Mark insisted, watching as his father's counterpart took a devastating blow to the ribs.
"You're right," altered Mark agreed. "But we need to be smart about this. This guy's not like anything we've faced before."
They rejoined the battle, timing their attacks to coincide with Nolan's, creating a three-pronged assault that even Conquest couldn't completely ignore. For a brief moment, it seemed they might be gaining an advantage.
Then Conquest's expression shifted from amusement to irritation.
"Enough of this," he growled, his voice dropping an octave. "I have indulged your resistance long enough."
He caught original Mark's punch, twisting his arm until bones cracked. Before altered Mark could intervene, Conquest's boot connected with his chest, sending him crashing through a nearby office building.
Then, with brutal efficiency, he turned his full attention to Nolan.
"You betrayed everything we stand for," Conquest snarled, driving his fist into Nolan's stomach with enough force to rupture organs. "You abandoned your mission, your people, your purpose."
Nolan attempted to counter, but Conquest was moving with newfound intensity, each strike precisely targeted to cause maximum damage.
"And for what?" Conquest continued, catching Nolan's arm and wrenching it backward until the shoulder dislocated. "For these weak, pathetic creatures? For a woman who will be dust in a century? For a half-breed son who will never truly belong to either world?"
With a sickening crack, he tore Nolan's arm completely from its socket. Red blood sprayed across the battlefield as Nolan screamed in agony.
"NO!" both Debbies cried out in unison. They had emerged from the ruined house, drawn by the sounds of the battle. Now they stood frozen in horror at the sight of Nolan's mutilation.
"Dad!" altered Mark shouted, struggling to free himself from the rubble of the collapsed building.
Conquest didn't pause. With methodical cruelty, he seized Nolan's remaining arm. "The Empire has opened my eyes, Nolan," he said, almost conversationally.
"After consuming my counterpart, I've come to know of your betrayel from the other's memories."
With another savage twist, he tore off Nolan's second arm, eliciting another scream that echoed across the devastated neighborhood.
"Stop it!" original Debbie screamed, running toward them despite the danger. Altered Debbie followed, both women driven by the same protective instinct despite knowing they were powerless against such a being.
"Run!" Nolan gasped, his voice hoarse from screaming. "Debbie, please... run..."
Conquest turned toward the approaching women, a smile spreading across his scarred face. "Ah, the human pets. Two of them, how delightful. Shall I show you what happens to those who corrupt Viltrumite bloodlines with sentiment?"
"Leave them alone!" original Mark shouted, launching himself at Conquest despite his broken arm and numerous other injuries.
Conquest swatted him aside like an insect, his attention fixed on the Debbies. "I think I'll take my time with them," he mused, stepping over Nolan's armless form. "Make you watch, Nolan. Show you the consequence of your weakness."
He reached toward the women, who had stopped in their tracks, paralyzed by terror.
The impact came from nowhere – a streak of red that slammed into Conquest with enough force to send him hurtling away from the Debbies, away from Nolan, away from the Marks.
The scarred Viltrumite crashed through several buildings before coming to a stop nearly half a mile away, embedded in the side of a bank.
Where Conquest had stood moments before, a four-armed figure hovered a few feet above the ground, his multiple eyes scanning the battlefield with cold calculation.
"Sukuna," altered Mark gasped in relief.
The King of Curses glanced briefly at the armless Nolan, then at the approaching Debbies, then at the two battered Marks. His expression revealed nothing of his thoughts.
"Get them out of here," he commanded, his voice carrying that unmistakable authority. "All of them. Now."
Before either Mark could respond, a sonic boom announced Conquest's return. The Viltrumite enforcer shot through the air, his face contorted with rage as he barreled toward Sukuna.
"You dare?" Conquest roared, his metal fist cocked back for a devastating strike.
Sukuna met the charge head-on, his own momentum carrying him away from the civilians as he collided with Conquest. The impact created a shockwave that flattened trees and shattered remaining windows for blocks around.
"GO!" Sukuna shouted over his shoulder as he grappled with the Viltrumite. "Take the women and go!"
The two titans crashed into the ground hundreds of meters away, creating a crater that swallowed half a city block. They emerged from the dust cloud locked in combat, Conquest's metal fist driving toward Sukuna's face with enough force to shatter mountains.
Sukuna caught the fist with one of his four hands, cursed energy swirling around the point of contact.
Conquest's scarred face split into a grin. "Perfect," he whispered.
From his mechanical fist, dozens of tiny needles suddenly extended, piercing Sukuna's palm and injecting their contents directly into his bloodstream.
The King of Curses' eyes widened in shock as he felt something cold spreading through his veins, disrupting his cursed energy flow.
Taking advantage of Sukuna's momentary surprise, Conquest lunged forward, his mouth opening impossibly wide to reveal filed teeth that gleamed with some viscous substance.
Before Sukuna could disengage, those teeth sank into his neck, injecting another dose of whatever compound the needles had delivered.
Sukuna broke away, putting distance between himself and the Viltrumite. His hand went to his neck, coming away stained with his own blood.
More concerning than the physical wound was the sensation coursing through him – a disruption of his cursed energy unlike anything he'd experienced before.
"What is this?" he demanded, his voice steady despite the alarm he felt. "What have you done?"
Conquest laughed, wiping Sukuna's blood from his lips with evident satisfaction. "Surprised? Did you think that these last few days the universe has been twiddling their thumbs?"
He began circling Sukuna, studying him with the calculating eye of a predator. "We studied where the anomaly came from and found the heart of it to be this blue mud ball. We accessed its records and saw you kill Battle Beast, and boy oh boy did that get our King excited."
Sukuna attempted to activate his Reversed Cursed Technique to neutralize whatever poison was spreading through his system, only to find the healing energy sluggish and unresponsive.
"Me too as well, can't deny that!" Conquest continued, clearly enjoying Sukuna's confusion. "I've always wanted to have my go at the fur ball, but orders are orders, and the cat was strong.
It was no guarantee that either of us would survive, and Viltrum is already too low on manpower to risk one of their mightiest."
He shrugged, the motion incongruously casual given the circumstances. "Though let me not digress. We studied you, boy.
We sampled your blood, we found out that you truly are an evolution of this species, one already so compatible with our race! It's got many of our women riled up and ready to have their way with you."
Sukuna's four eyes narrowed as he processed this information.
The Viltrumites had been monitoring him, studying him – and somehow they'd developed a compound specifically designed to counter his abilities.
It was similar to the energy disrupting daggers Battle Beast had but far more potent.
"We can't clone you though, sadly," Conquest continued, his tone almost conversational. "Your DNA is too volatile. Probably something to do with your spiritual side."
He lunged forward suddenly, forcing Sukuna to block a punch that would have taken his head off. The impact sent shockwaves through the area, threatening to collapse already damaged buildings where civilians might still be trapped.
"See, our kind has always had one weakness and one only – magic," Conquest explained, pressing his attack with increasing ferocity. "Magic and the spiritual have always been something we studied, and studied, but it could only get us so far because of us not having any natural aptitude for it."
Sukuna found himself on the defensive, blocking rather than counterattacking. Each impact threatened to create deadly shockwaves that would endanger anyone still in the vicinity.
He needed to move this fight away from Debbie and the others who still weren't far enough away, but Conquest seemed to anticipate his intention.
"You though, you are our chance to finally rid ourselves of this weakness!" Conquest declared, his single eye gleaming with fanatical light.
Every time Sukuna attempted to gain altitude, to carry their battle away from the city, Conquest countered, forcing him back toward the ground. It was a deliberate strategy, Sukuna realized – using the threat to civilians to limit his options.
"TAKE THE WOMEN AND GO!" Sukuna roared toward the Marks, who were still hesitating near their mothers and the fallen Nolan. "GET THEM OUT OF HERE NOW!"
Conquest took advantage of his momentary distraction, delivering a devastating headbutt that sent Sukuna crashing into the earth, creating yet another crater in the already devastated landscape.
"Going somewhere?" the Viltrumite enforcer asked, landing beside the impact site. "We're just getting started."
Before Sukuna could rise, Conquest was on him, pinning him with his massive weight. His metal hand seized one of Sukuna's arms, wrenching it with methodical precision until the joint separated.
"You know, I was so lonely," Conquest said conversationally, as if they were sharing drinks rather than engaged in mortal combat. "So lonely until a few days ago."
With a savage twist, he tore the arm completely free, tossing it aside like garbage. Blood sprayed across both of them as Sukuna roared in pain.
"All the Viltrumites are scared of me," Conquest continued, seizing a second arm. "No one talked to me. No one wanted to be my friend. Everyone thinks I'm unstable."
Another twist, another separation of flesh and bone. Another arm discarded.
"They send me from planet to planet, committing atrocities in their name. And as I got better at it, they feared me more and more. I am a victim of my own success."
Conquest's face was inches from Sukuna's now, his expression a disturbing mixture of rage and something almost like tenderness. Tears gathered in his single functioning eye.
"'Conquest' – I don't even get a name of my own. Only a purpose..." His voice caught, a sob escaping his massive frame. "But that changed yesterday, and I feel somehow, that it is because of you..."
The tears flowed freely now, tracking clean lines through the blood and dirt on Conquest's scarred face as he continued to rain blows down on Sukuna's body.
"I finally met another version of myself," he explained between punches. "We talked, we fought, we ate each other, till finally I was the one who remained, but during that time... During that time I was truly not alone, understood, all thanks to you."
He seized Sukuna by the face, lifting him from the crater. With a burst of speed that broke the sound barrier, Conquest flew upward, dragging Sukuna through the air.
"All of this – the dimensional merger, the barriers breaking down – it allowed me to find myself," Conquest continued, his voice carrying despite the roaring wind. "To truly know myself, by consuming myself."
They streaked across the sky, crossing continents in seconds. Mountains appeared below them, then oceans, then more mountains.
Conquest never slowed, dragging Sukuna's battered form through the atmosphere with single-minded purpose.
"I'm sorry," Conquest said suddenly, his tone shifting to something almost gentle as they approached a massive mountain range. "My heart aches for you. I wanted to fight you at your full strength, but orders are orders. You're too strong to play with."
With devastating force, he drove Sukuna into the side of a mountain, burying him deep within the rock face. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he repeated, the words a strange mantra as he continued his assault. "I want you to know that I am grateful to you."
He seized Sukuna's shoulder with his teeth, tearing away a chunk of flesh and swallowing it. "Your power will become part of me," he said, blood – both his and Sukuna's – dripping from his chin. "Just as my counterpart became part of me. It's beautiful, really. The ultimate communion."
Deep within Sukuna, something shifted. The poison flowing through his veins had disrupted his cursed energy, weakened his connection to his techniques, but it couldn't sever it completely.
He was Ryomen Sukuna, the King of Curses, the First Son of Heaven. His power was not merely physical, not merely spiritual, but a fundamental part of his very existence.
With a roar that shook the mountain to its foundations, Sukuna unleashed a wave of cursed energy that sent Conquest tumbling backward.
The Viltrumite crashed through several peaks before regaining control, hovering in midair with an expression of surprise that quickly transformed into delight.
"Yes!" he shouted, his voice echoing across the mountain range. "Fight back! Make this worthy of remembrance!"
Sukuna emerged from the shattered mountainside, his remaining arms glowing with cursed energy. The wounds where his other arms had been were sealed with that same energy, preventing further blood loss. His four eyes burned with cold fury.
"You talk too much," he stated simply.
Then he moved, crossing the distance between them faster than even Conquest could track. His fist connected with the Viltrumite's jaw with enough force to send him hurtling into the sky. Sukuna followed, propelling himself upward.
They clashed again at the edge of the atmosphere, the impact creating a flash visible from the ground below. Conquest laughed wildly as they traded blows, each impact powerful enough to shatter bones had either of them been normal beings.
"This is what I wanted!" Conquest exulted, blood spraying from his mouth as Sukuna landed a particularly devastating strike. "A true challenge! A worthy opponent!"
"You're insane," Sukuna observed coolly, dodging a punch that would have taken his head off.
"Sanity is overrated," Conquest replied, catching Sukuna with a kick that sent him plummeting back toward Earth. "Especially for those of us created solely for destruction."
They crashed back through the atmosphere, their bodies heating to temperatures that would have incinerated lesser beings. The battle carried them across continents, through oceans, leaving devastation in their wake.
Cities flashed beneath them as they fought, helpless humans looking up in terror at the streaks of light that heralded their passing. Wherever they touched down, destruction followed – buildings collapsed, streets cratered, lives ended in an instant.
"Please, somebody help us!" a woman screamed as the battling titans crashed through her apartment building.
"What's happening?" a man shouted, clutching his child to his chest as they ran from the collapsing structure.
"It's the end of the world," another answered, his voice hollow with despair. "God has abandoned us."
Sukuna heard their cries, felt their fear like a physical weight. These were not his people – he had never claimed humanity as his to protect – but they were innocent bystanders in a conflict they couldn't comprehend.
Conquest showed no such concern. He reveled in the destruction, in the terror, in the death that followed in their wake. Each scream seemed to energize him, driving him to greater heights of violence.
"Can you hear them?" he asked Sukuna as they grappled mid-air. "The sweet music of their fear? This is what I live for!"
"You live for nothing," Sukuna replied, landing a blow that shattered several of Conquest's teeth. "You exist only to fulfill others' purposes. A weapon, not a being."
Rage flashed across Conquest's face. "I am more than a weapon!"
"Are you?" Sukuna countered, evading a wild swing. "Then why do you follow orders you despise? Why do you commit atrocities that you yourself earlier eluded to not bringing you satisfaction? You're a tool, Conquest. Nothing more."
"SHUT UP!" Conquest roared, his attacks becoming less precise, more fueled by emotion than strategy.
Sukuna used this to his advantage, redirecting the Viltrumite's momentum, using his own strength against him. But the poison in his system was still working against him, slowing his reactions, weakening his connection to his cursed energy.
And Conquest, for all his emotional instability, was still one of the most powerful beings in the galaxy. His physical strength remained overwhelming, his durability beyond anything Sukuna had encountered since his awakening in this world.
Especially after devouring his other self, magnifiying his strength immensily.
The battle carried them back toward where it had begun, the suburban neighborhood now unrecognizable after the devastation they had wrought.
The Grayson home was completely destroyed, but there was no sign of the Marks, the Debbies, or the injured Nolan. They had escaped, at least.
Sukuna felt his transformation failing, the strain of maintaining his four-armed form becoming too much with the poison disrupting his energy flow.
His body shimmered, the extra arms dissolving as he reverted to his original form – still powerful, still enhanced, but no longer the full manifestation of the King of Curses.
Conquest noticed the change immediately, his scarred face splitting into a triumphant grin. "Weakening already? The compound works even better than our scientists predicted."
"I have enough left for you," Sukuna replied, his voice steady despite the strain evident in his posture.
They clashed again, their movements creating sonic booms that shattered any windows that had somehow survived the earlier devastation.
Though reduced to his two-armed form, Sukuna fought with undiminished skill, each movement precisely calculated for maximum effect.
Conquest matched him blow for blow, his wild fighting style contrasting with Sukuna's controlled technique.
They were opposites in many ways – one a creature of pure emotion and instinct, the other a being of calculation and strategy. Yet both were killers, both were monsters in their own way.
"We're not so different, you and I," Conquest observed during a brief respite as they circled each other. "Both feared. Both alone. Both beyond the comprehension of lesser beings."
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"The difference," Sukuna replied, "is that I choose my path. You merely follow the one laid out for you."
Conquest's expression darkened. "You think I have a choice? The Empire is everything. Without it, I am nothing."
"A convenient excuse for a lack of will," Sukuna countered.
With renewed fury, Conquest attacked again. They traded devastating blows, each impact creating craters in the already ruined landscape. Blood spattered the ground beneath them as they fought with increasing desperation.
Both were tiring now, the extended battle taking its toll even on their superhuman endurance. Conquest's movements were becoming slower, his attacks less precise.
The poison in Sukuna's system prevented him from healing properly, each wound remaining open longer than it should have.
Yet neither would yield. They stood amid the ruins of what had once been a peaceful neighborhood, bloodied, battered, but unbowed.
Their eyes locked – Conquest's single functioning orb burning with hatred and something almost like respect, Sukuna's twin pools of crimson reflecting nothing but cold determination.
"One way or another," Conquest gasped, blood bubbling from his lips, "this ends now."
"On that," Sukuna agreed, his own breathing labored, "we are in agreement."
They charged each other one final time, each summoning their remaining strength for a decisive blow. Their fists drew back, muscles tensed, the very air seeming to hold its breath in anticipation of the collision.
It never came.
A blur of motion intercepted Conquest mid-charge, yanking him away from Sukuna with such force that the air displaced by the movement created a vacuum.
Before either combatant could process what was happening, Conquest was suspended in midair, held aloft by a figure in a familiar blue and yellow costume.
Except this wasn't Mark Grayson – not the original, not the altered. This was someone else entirely. Someone with the same face but different eyes – harder, colder, more calculating.
"Megumi..." the newcomer said, his voice filled with unmistakable relief as he looked at Sukuna. "I've finally found you..."
Then, with a casualness that belied the immense strength required, he tore Conquest in half with his bare hands. The Viltrumite enforcer didn't even have time to scream before his body was separated at the waist, red blood and internal organs spilling onto the devastated ground below.
The newcomer discarded the pieces without a second glance, his attention fixed solely on Sukuna.
His expression was one of pure joy, of completion, as if he had found something precious that had long been lost.
"I've been looking everywhere for you," he said, taking a step toward the battered King of Curses. "Across dimensions, across realities. And here you are."
Sukuna studied the newcomer carefully, noting the similarities to Mark Grayson but also the profound differences. This was a being who had seen things, done things, that had fundamentally altered him.
"Who are you?" Sukuna asked, though he suspected he already knew the answer.
The newcomer smiled – a smile that held affection but also something darker, something possessive. "Don't you recognize me, Megumi? It's me. Mark."
He spread his arms, as if inviting inspection. "Different timeline, different experiences, but still me. Still your Mark."
Behind him, the two halves of Conquest twitched, Viltrumite regeneration already beginning to work despite the catastrophic damage. Without looking, the newcomer – Unmasked Mark – stomped on the upper half's head, crushing it with casual brutality.
"Sorry about the interruption," he said, turning his attention back to Sukuna. "But I couldn't let him hurt you anymore. You're too important."
His eyes – so like Mark's yet so different – gleamed with an intensity that bordered on fanaticism. "I've been searching for you since the dimensional barriers started breaking down. And now that I've found you, I'm never letting you go again."
The possessiveness in his voice was unmistakable, as was the devotion – and the danger. This was not the Mark Grayson that Sukuna knew. This was something else entirely.
And as the sun set over the devastated landscape, casting long shadows across the ruins of what had once been a peaceful suburb, Sukuna found himself facing a new and unexpected threat – one born not of hatred or conquest, but of twisted love.
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(Author note: Hello everyone! I hope you all liked the Chapter!
Do tell me how you found it. I put a lot, and I mean a lot of effort into this one. Was busy with it for hours till it was satisfactory.
Hope I didn't disappoint.
Also, can those who haven't reviewed please review, I would appreciate seeing more reviews and comments, they make me happy and more excited to write more Chapters.
Well, I hope to see you all later,
Bye!)