Chapter 56: The First Breath of Khaos
[A/N: Warning... this Chapter is a bit long.]
--
The moment they moved, the monochrome battlefield convulsed as though the world itself had flinched.
Sunya’s bow rose with a smooth, deliberate motion, her fingers already drawing another arrow as the divinity began to stir behind her like a vast, unseen tide.
Seeing her preparing for another shot Jovian didn’t hesitate.
He activated one of his affinities.
[Karma Affinity]
Then he launched himself upward, the ground beneath him cracking in a violent burst as he shot into the sky with a speed that blurred the monochrome world around him.
BOOOOMMMMM!!!
In that moment, he didn’t waste his precious divinity to boost his speed—it was far too valuable for that.
Instead, using Karma, he twisted the cause and effect of his actions to make himself faster.
And the fuel for this?
His recent exploits of severing futures and toying with fate, now turned to his advantage rather than karmic baggage.
His robes rippled behind him, his white‑gold eyes gleaming with layered amusement as he closed the distance between them in a heartbeat.
Sunya’s gaze tracked him calmly, her posture steady, her breathing controlled.
In that moment, it was clear he wasn’t using divinity for acceleration, and perhaps it was because she lacked any affinity for Karma.
As a Goddess of Time, all she could perceive was the distortion surrounding him.
’His acceleration... it’s not temporal. Something else is pushing him forward.’ She thought quickly as he flew right past her as she stood in the skies.
Now high above her, Jovian tilted his head, his smile widening as faint, smoky red strands shimmered around him—thin, translucent lines that pulsed with weight she could not identify.
They wrapped around his arms, his shoulders, his blade, and even the air around him, binding his movement to a strange, oppressive momentum.
Jovian chuckled quietly, the sound rolling through the gray sky like far-off thunder.
"Honey, I’m not sure how you managed to slow me down... but you’re not the only one who can affect the current moment."
[Sword Affinity]
With his affinity flaring to life, he brought his sword down in a swift, decisive arc.
SHHHHHHHKKKKKKKK!!!!
The blade sliced through the air, trailing red strands in its wake.
It sped up unnaturally; driven by a force Sunya couldn’t name but could see speeding towards her.
She stayed calm and steady, not even a hint of hesitation crossing her face, and with one smooth motion, she released the arrow into the air.
THRUMMMMM!!!!!
CRACK!!!
The projectile spiraled upward, cutting through the sky with such force it seemed to bend the air itself.
Mid‑air, Jovian twisted, his robes whipping behind him as the red strands flared once more, propelling him forward in a sudden, uncanny burst of speed.
SHKKKKK!
He narrowly avoided the arrow, but the shockwave of its passage rippled across his cheek like a warning.
And Sunya didn’t hesitate.
The instant she released the arrow, her divinity surged forth.
[-800 DP = Lesser Construct (Tier 16)]
HUMMMMMMM!!!!!
The monochrome ground convulsed beneath them, splitting open with a crack that echoed across the battlefield.
CRRRRRRRRAAAAAACK!!!!!
Two massive trees erupted upward—ancient, towering, impossibly alive.
Their trunks spiraled with glowing green veins, their branches unfurling like awakened titans, and their roots tore through fractured stone as they surged toward the sky with the force of nature answering her call.
Jovian’s eyes widened just a bit, but his smile didn’t fade.
"Not bad... not bad..." he muttered, already in motion as the first tree branch whipped toward him with raw force.
WHOOOOSH!!!!!
CRACK!!!
[Adaptability Affinity]
Without hesitation, Jovian activated another affinity, its power coiling around his limbs like a fluid, reactive force that reshaped his movement in the very instant the threat approached.
His sword swept in a smooth, fluid arc, slicing cleanly through the branch and sending shards of green light spiraling into the air like tiny motes.
Yet even as the pieces fell away, another branch emerged soundlessly behind him, rising with unerring precision, poised to strike in the fleeting moment between his swift, evasive movements.
Sunya’s eyes narrowed, her gaze steady and calculating as she kept moving.
’Got you... there’s no way you’ll dodge both,’ she thought, tracking the rhythm of his movements with perfect precision.
But just as the thought settled, Jovian’s Adaptability Affinity kicked in.
HUMMMM!!!!
The smoky red karmic strands around him pulsed, but now they intertwined with a second force....
In that instant, his posture changed almost imperceptibly, a slight shift in momentum, a quick adjustment that let him pivot in a way that completely broke the straight path she’d expected.
SHHHHKKKKK!!!
His body twisted sharply, slipping through the narrow gap between the rising branch and his sword flashed again, carving through the second construct with a decisive strike that shattered it into a storm of light motes.
And he did not stop there.
The instant the construct broke apart, Jovian surged forward, his movement accelerating with a momentum that belonged not to the present moment but to the accumulated weight of his past actions.
The red strands tightened around him like chains of inevitability, while the reactive pulse of Adaptability guided his trajectory with uncanny precision.
Sunya’s braid swayed gently as she shifted her stance, her bow rising with a motion so smooth it seemed to glide through the air before her fingers even finished drawing the string.
Her divinity stirred behind her, not in a violent surge but in a calm, regal swell as she activated one of her innate powers.
[Eternal Hour Command (Above Origin)]
HUMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!
Instantly the air around her thickened as the weight of time pressed against the battlefield, stretching the next heartbeat into a long moment that shimmered with golden cracks.
Jovian’s approach immediately slowed once again, but this time he didn’t sit like a duck. With a smile on his face, he activated his own innate power.
[Fate Severing Adaptation (Above Origin)]
HUMMMMM!!!!
In that moment, he didn’t move—he couldn’t, not fast enough at least.
Yet with just a thought, he severed fate once more.
This time, it wasn’t the Ice Angels, the Northwind Sect, or even Sunya’s fate, but his own.
With this power, he could slice away his future, present, or past to evade nearly any force, simply cutting it off from ever touching him.
And instantly, the temporal resistance vanished.
The stretched moment fractured, collapsing inward as his Adaptability fused with his Above Origin innate power, allowing him to slip through the temporal distortion with a fluidity that made the sky itself shudder.
Sunya’s eyes narrowed, her expression composed even as she invoked another power.
[Temporal Fracture Bloom (Above Origin)]
CRRRRACKKKK!!!!!!
Instantly, the space around her blossomed with shimmering cracks, each one appearing as ruptures in time.
The fractures spiraled outward, converging upon Jovian with a force that threatened to tear apart the moment he occupied.
Jovian responded with another innate power, channeling his severing edge once again.
SHHKKKKKK!!!!!
His sword carved through the blooming fractures, severing the temporal ruptures before they could fully take form.
Each cut snapped a forming rift in space in half, sending shards of broken time scattering across the sky like fragments of shattered glass.
The battlefield shook with violent force, the dull gray sky quivering overhead. The earth cracked apart into jagged slabs, shifting and grinding, while both godly beings advanced without hesitation.
[Karma Affinity]
[Fate Affinity]
Jovian swung, his sword dragging Karmic strands and severed futures behind it.
[Time Affinity]
[Space-Time Affinity]
Sunya fired, her arrow spiraling through converged time and bending through space‑time with lethal precision.
And the moment, their attacks collided—
BBBOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!!
The impact completely tore the fabrics of space open around them for over 4,000KM.
And beneath it all—
A vast, endless blackness stirred.
The Void.
It pressed against the broken edges of the world, hungry, patient, watching, its presence a reminder that even divine beings were not meant to tear reality apart so recklessly.
Both Jovian and Sunya visibly paled in the same instant.
COUGH!!!!
COUGH!!!!
Their bodies trembled as the void’s emptiness clawed at their very existence.
Jovian coughed up a mouthful of blood, his golden-ringed eyes widening as the strain hit him like a physical blow.
Sunya’s hand pressed against her chest, her elegant features twisting in pain as she coughed up green blood, her braid swaying violently in the chaotic currents.
Sunya’s eyes narrowed with sudden focus.
’If this keeps up.... the world is doomed,’ she thought, and then it hit her....
’Maybe... this has something to do with why Kalpa holds such significance for the Orin Star System.’
The sheer force radiating from these two beings went far beyond the Universal Limit, and after so many head-on clashes at full strength, it was nothing short of a miracle the world hadn’t already shattered into oblivion.
----
The moment the torn space healed, and reality stitched itself back together, both Jovian and Sunya appeared in the skies once more — standing far apart, their bodies visibly strained.
Without a word, they both reached into their storage and took a pill/elixir at the same time.
The act was almost ceremonial, a silent acknowledgment of each other’s strength. The medicines worked quickly, restoring some of their lost vitality and closing wounds, but the exhaustion in their eyes remained.
Jovian cracked a wide, exhilarated smile.
"It’s time to stop holding back, isn’t it?"
Though he didn’t fully grasp the extent of her power and abilities, their recent clashes made it clear they were at least on the same level.
And if he hadn’t used a certain authority, he was sure she had been holding back too.
The air around them tightened, the sky dimming as though the world itself braced for what was about to unfold.
In the same breath, both divine beings invoked their highest authority... right under their decrees.
"I am the Goddess of The Eternal Hour!"
[Queenship Authority Activated.]
"I am the God of Severing Fate!"
[Kingship Authority Activated.]
HUMMMMMMM!!!!!!
Comments