The abyss shuddered.. Not from movement.
Not from force.
But from presence.
The very absence that stretched infinitely, swallowing all things into its endless depth, seemed to struggle under the weight of the figure before Agon. The concept of darkness.. something so absolute, so unchallenged, buckled as if acknowledging something far worse within itself.
Haran was no more.
What stood before Agon was not the man he had once known.
The name.. Haran felt hollow now, an echo of a thing that no longer existed. The being before him, standing with quiet certainty, was something beyond that identity.
And it had a new name.
Darkness Angel.
Agon remained still.
His breathing even. His stance calm. His deep yellow eyes locked onto the figure before him with a gaze that betrayed nothing.. no fear, no anger, no hesitation. Just the same, calm, steady stillness.
It was a stillness that unsettled the abyss more than the presence before him.
The Darkness Angel shifted slightly. Not much.. just the faintest tilt of his head, the motion smooth, effortless, like something testing the limits of its new form. The ashen glow of his eyes flickered with amusement as he lifted a hand, inspecting it as though seeing it for the first time.
Then, he spoke.
"How do you like my new form?"
His voice did not echo.
It sank into the empty void.
A sound that did not bounce, did not fade, but instead lingered.. soaking into the neverending abyss like ink spilled upon an infinite canvas.
Agon was silent.
For a moment, he simply watched. Studied. Allowed the silence to stretch just a second longer than necessary.
Then.. calmly, with nothing behind his voice but the weight of absolute indifference, he spoke.
"Pathetic."
A pause... a deep silent pause.
Then.... Laughter.
Low at first, deep and slow, a chuckle that built itself from the back of the Darkness Angel’s throat, growing louder, richer, until it reverberated through the neverending abyss itself. The very darkness seemed to deepen with each pulse of his amusement, thickening, stretching, as if drawn into the gravity of his mirth.
He grinned.
A slow, intentional curl of his lips, his ashen eyes narrowing in something that resembled delight.
"Thanks for the compliment," he said, his voice carrying that same eerie smoothness. "I’ll keep it to heart."
The abyss darkened.
Not in the way shadows stretch when light fades, but in a way that felt wrong.. as though the mere act of him speaking twisted existence just a little further into nothingness.
His wings twitched, a single, slow ripple passing through the tattered feathers, sending a silent tremor through the void.
Then, his gaze settled back on Agon.
"Do you know why I want your larvae worm?"
His tone remained light, almost conversational, as if they were speaking of something mundane.
Agon did not react.
Not in the way most would.
No flicker of confusion. No narrowing of the eyes, no shifting of his stance.
He simply looked at the Darkness Angel.
And then, in the same unshaken, calm tone..
"I don’t need to know why."
A small pause came after that... Before, he added,
"From someone who’ll be dead any moment from now."
A slow inhale came from the darkness angel.
Then...
Laughter.
Again.
But this time, it was different.
The Darkness Angel’s body shook with it. His wings flexed, stretching wide, darkening the neverending void even more as his laughter rang through the abyss.
The sound wasn’t loud.
Yet it carried through the silence like a thing that did not need volume to be heard.
"Dead?"
A single word, repeated softly, his smile widening ever so slightly.
Then, he tilted his head, just a fraction, eyes glinting with something that danced between amusement and something else.. something colder.
"Dead... hahaha..."
His fingers curled slightly, an idle gesture, as though grasping something unseen.
Then, his gaze locked onto Agon once more.
And his grin widened.
"Oh, Agon... Agon, Agon, Agon."
His voice lingered on the name, stretching it like a thread pulled taut.
"Do you know you are far funnier than the way you look?"
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The amusement in his tone was unmistakable.
Genuine.
Like something that had never laughed before was now savoring the taste of it.
His wings shifted, the edges of their tattered remnants curling slightly as if reacting to the very words he spoke. The neverending void warped, trembling subtly at the weight of his presence.
Agon remained still.
Unmoved.
Unshaken.
Watching.
Waiting.
The Darkness Angel chuckled once more, softer this time, tilting his head just slightly as if considering something.
Then with his voice lowered, curling with amusement he spoke, "Anyways..."
A small pause.
Then, his smile stretched just a bit wider.
"I’ll tell you."
His ashen-glowing eyes glinted.
"Even if you don’t want to hear."
The neverending void thickened as he concluded..
Darkness pressed in from all sides, swallowing the concept of space, stretching infinitely yet closing in like a vice. The absence of light was absolute, yet the Darkness Angel stood at its center... a presence that devoured absence itself.
And then, he began.
"Each and every larvae worm is a tool."
His voice did not echo. It did not spread. It simply existed.. a sound that held weight beyond the realm of comprehension.
"A tool for evolution. For survival. For adaptation. For growth."
He raised a hand, fingers moving with slow, regal grace, as though cradling something unseen. The ring of darkness above his head pulsed faintly, distorting the air around it. His tattered wings trembled, a single ripple passing through the ashen feathers, like the flicker of a dying flame.
"They direct their hosts along different pathways of ascension..."***"
The void darkened.
The abyss trembled.
With every word, the space around them grew heavier, as if the very notion of existence was being redefined in real-time.
"But as a reminder.... not everyone receives a pathway."
His ashen-glowing eyes flickered as they settled on Agon.
"Only a few are chosen. Some early. Most late. It all depends."
Agon’s gaze did not waver.
His expression did not shift.
His stance remained the same... calm, steady, unfazed. The deep yellow of his eyes held an unsettling stillness, reflecting nothing, revealing nothing.
Then.. quietly, smoothly, he spoke.
"That doesn’t explain why you need mine."
The Darkness Angel smiled.
A slow, careful thing, like something savoring a moment just before devouring it whole.
"I thought you said you didn’t want to hear?"
A flicker of something almost amused passed through Agon’s gaze.
Then.. just as calm, just as unwavering..
"I thought you began without minding if I don’t want to hear it."
The Darkness Angel laughed.
His wings twitched, stretching slightly before folding inward, as if curling around an unseen truth. The darkness in the domain deepened, thickening as though the mere act of laughter fed it.
Then... his voice smooth, intentionally, indulgent.
"Alright, alright."
His ashen eyes glowed faintly, a subtle pulse of something deeper than mere amusement.
"You want to know why I need yours?"
His fingers curled slightly, as though grasping the very fabric of the neverending void.
Then, he leaned forward.. just the faintest fraction, the slightest shift in posture, and spoke.
"Because I see your pathway."
The void shuddered.
The darkness swayed.
"I’ve already envisioned your ascension."
His smile widened.
"And that is why I need it for myself."
The moment stretched.
Then, softly, his voice dropped lower... a whisper that did not fade.
"I want your destined pathway, Agon."
A pause.
"I want your larvae worm."
The stillness held.
For a moment, neither moved. Before a voice.
"Not happening."
Agon’s voice was quiet.
But absolute.
The mist coiled around his fingers, seeping into reality like a living thing, solidifying into the shape of a blade. A sword of mist... weightless yet absolute, a weapon of something more than mere steel.
He did not hesitate.
Not even for a moment.
The instant the blade formed, he was already shifting, body beginning to dissolve into mist, prepared to move...
But then..
GONG.
The abyss seized.
Not just movement.
Not just sound.
But time itself.
Something broke.
Something ended.
The very concept of time.. which did not even exist in this domain, ceased to even non-exist.
Everything froze.
And in that moment, the laughter returned.
Low.
Deep.
Rumbling.
Then, it grew.
Louder.
Wider.
The Darkness Angel’s eyes widened as his laughter tore through the abyss. His wings stretched, the tips brushing against nothingness itself, as the weight of his mirth dragged the neverending void into itself.
And then, it stopped.
Instantly.
A silence so sharp it carved into existence.
Then.. his voice, lower than before, heavier, deeper, so deep it seemed his words alone would swallow the domain alive.
"Did you really think..."
A pause.
His ashen-glowing eyes locked onto Agon, the faintest trace of a smirk curling at the edge of his lips.
"You ever even had a choice?"
The darkness writhed.
Folded in on itself.
Drew tighter.
"Most especially in this domain."
His voice did not need to rise.
The void obeyed it.
Then, smoothly, effortlessly. He spoke
"Using a weapon is prohibited here."
A single sentence.
A single rule.
And with it... The finality settled.
The abyss sealed itself.
A Death Knell.
Not a warning.
Not a threat.
But a finality.
A reality already written.
The battle was no longer a battle.
It had become a one-sided massacre.