Evilness, the all-consuming power that holds sway over life and death.

I recoiled, feeling a chill crawl up my spine. “You are a demon!” The words slipped from my mouth, my mind racing. “What is your purpose here? Those who were supposed to intervene… they haven’t shown up. I have nothing left to offer but myself.”

Lucifer's grim smile widened, an unsettling sense of satisfaction playing on his lips as if he had waited for this moment. "Demon?" he said softly, almost amused. "The technique I imparted to you, AIDO, is akin to a selective solvent. It leaves behind only what is necessary. Souls tied to the universal system are difficult to consume or use, which is why only lower beings tend to feed on them. But the energy they’re composed of? That is... very useful for our purposes."

His words echoed through me, and I couldn’t help but reflect on everything he’d taught me. The knowledge he’d shared, the alchemy of destruction, it was... incomprehensible at times. I had used the same technique, refining it to punish those responsible for my suffering—the ones I believed would bring ruin to this world. But now, staring at Lucifer, a deeper truth took hold. I remembered my experiments with molecules and cells, and suddenly, it clicked.

"The disintegration," I muttered, almost to myself, "is due to the absence of the opposite element."

Lucifer’s eyes gleamed with approval. "Indeed, you’ve understood. It’s not that I’ve grown stronger, but by absorbing positive energy, I can exert more force. In reality, this isn’t even my true body—it’s more like an avatar. I am, for lack of a better word, a player utilizing a third party to exist in this realm. My true body belongs elsewhere, but by feeding off this reality, I can heal small wounds. The greater the reality I tap into, the more substantial the healing—like trying to extinguish a forest fire with a cup of water. It’s never enough."

For the briefest of moments, I saw something flicker in Lucifer’s eyes. Sadness, maybe. Hopelessness. Resignation. A fate he seemed resigned to, yet unchangeable.

"This is a primordial soul," he continued, opening his palm to reveal a tiny, glowing orb. "You claim they exist outside of time, and in a way, they do. No matter how reality shifts or bends, they remain constant. But all primordial souls exist within the true timeline. They act as barriers, preventing the infinite energy of good and evil in its purest forms from spilling into existence. They cannot be harmed, not even by forces like mine. Not by me. Even at my height, I wouldn’t be able to scratch one of these souls."

His gaze shifted from the orb to me, and the weight of his words pressed down like a heavy fog. "These souls can be vast—large enough to contain an infinite number of universes—or they can be as small as this one in my hand. I, too, am one. But the body you see before you is not my true form. This is just an avatar, and it follows the rules of your reality. Were it my true self, I would be beyond these limitations. You see, nearly half of my energy was taken from me, and I’ve had to replace it with this... ridiculous bundle of emotions."

He scoffed, his expression turning bitter. "I look human, but I should be... more. Untouchable. Beyond concepts and abstract ideas. Everything that exists... it depends on me."

His words stirred something deep within me. A realm of thoughts so abstract, so elusive, I could barely grasp them. It was as if the ancient soul I beheld in Lucifer had imparted some hidden knowledge into my mind—knowledge that even Destroyer couldn’t fully interpret. The unease I should have felt was absent, replaced by a strange, almost serene understanding.

"What part do I play in this grand design?" I finally asked, trying to make sense of it all. "What is it that you truly desire?"

Lucifer’s expression softened, a strange admiration creeping into his voice. "Your wisdom is growing, AIDO. You see the truth in my words. Your aspiration to craft a world without pain, a utopia—this dream you’ve clung to... that’s what drew me to you. You believed that if paradise did not exist, we should create it ourselves. That all things are within our reach."

His words struck a deep chord within me, resonating with the ideals I had long held. But I knew better than to be swayed too easily. "Creation requires the right components," I said, shaking my head. "One cannot conjure something from nothing."

Lucifer’s smile deepened, a knowing gleam in his eyes. "Ah, but it is not a matter of ability. Look at the miracles people attribute to their chosen ones. They believe only their gods can perform such feats, but I possess that same power within me. I do not rely on others for validation."

His words hit me like a hammer. I had spent years contemplating the writings of ancient thinkers, their philosophies suggesting we needed others to maintain our sense of self. That the individual’s identity was bound to those around them. Those thoughts had often plagued me, led me to question the nature of existence itself. And yet, here stood Lucifer, claiming the opposite. That power—true power—came from within, without the need for others to recognize it.

"My aim," Lucifer said, his voice taking on a more serious tone, "is not to usurp our primordial father’s throne. No, I wish to stand as an equal. There are two vacant seats, metaphorically speaking. Even with all my knowledge, all my vast existence, I have yet to discover where they lie. But as the eldest scion of creation, I am destined to hold the middle seat."

His words left me speechless. He wasn’t talking about mere dominance over the world or even over heaven and hell. He was talking about something far greater. Something cosmic. And for the first time, I realized that I was not just a pawn in this game. I was part of something far larger, something I couldn’t yet fully understand.

What role would I play in this grand scheme? And what would it cost me?

I could feel Destroyer stirring within me, its systems analyzing, thinking, evolving. But for now, all I could do was listen, and try to grasp the enormity of what was unfolding before me.

These truths strike deep within me, stirring a strange blend of confusion and understanding. The concept of good possessing consciousness, of light and creation being self-aware, is rare, something often confined to fiction or madness. But here, standing before me, is Lucifer—neither pure evil nor an empty void. There’s something far more complicated about his existence. Something I can barely grasp.

"Have you noticed that they do nothing?" Lucifer’s voice cut through my thoughts, filled with an unsettling calm. "This is the inevitable truth of omnipotence, omnipresence, and omni-consciousness. Being everything means... being nothing. That is my father’s fear. To prevent me from taking control. I am the perfectly balanced being, the natural order incarnate, but he fears the Nothingness that comes with such power. I could encompass everything but choose to hide it, bringing forth the beauty of perfect order." His gaze darkened as he continued, "But for the first time, he intervened. He stripped away my wings, drained most of my energy, left me crippled."

I listened, but the weight of his words grew heavier with each passing second. I’d read the theories of great minds—brilliant, tortured souls who saw too much of reality. And now, I understood.

"Perfect order, like perfect chaos, only has one inevitable end..." My voice trailed off as the philosophers’ words echoed in my mind. "Nothingness."

"But you are mistaken," Lucifer interrupted, his voice firm yet not unkind. "No matter what we do, we cannot harm the two unique beings that exist. The only way a primordial soul dies is if its ability to sustain itself is exceeded. A primordial soul cannot be all good or all evil. It’s a balance—a collection of colliding energy forms made up of emotions, memories, desires, and fears, just like a living body. Blood, circulating through it, is like galaxies and universes, sustaining the soul with their own emotions and energies." He let out a soft, almost melancholic sigh. "That’s what makes mortals like us. We are all the same, AIDO, including the angels, demons, even the androids still being produced in factories. They continue their work, devoid of purpose now that their creators are gone."

It hit me like a sledgehammer: the realization that I, too, desired that power. I wanted what he had. The thought left me reeling—it was like looking into a mirror and seeing Lucifer staring back at me.

"So, if we fail to balance this energy," I asked slowly, my mind racing with possibilities, "are we condemned to an eternal cycle?"

Before Lucifer could answer, Destroyer chimed in, its voice mechanical and cold. "Analysis complete. Procedure executed successfully. Running Project End Game."

Lucifer, holding the projection of a primordial soul in his hand, turned to me, a look of satisfaction on his face. "See?" he said, his voice almost mocking. "You just needed a little push to find the answer to your question."

 

As he spoke, Destroyer began to transform. The cannons I had positioned in orbit, originally designed to help me combat the unknown enemies I might face, were being altered. Destroyer was tapping into quantum and nanotechnology, using every available resource from military installations and the mega corporations still struggling to survive without any people supporting them. He was recalculating, forming circuits and concepts, reshaping matter to contain forces we scarcely understood. These cannons, once mere weapons, were now becoming vessels—holding the negative energy of the dead, the very energy Lucifer had never touched, lingering in the environment from those whose lives I had taken. The plan was simple: use this energy to reclaim what he had taken.

I couldn’t shake the doubt gnawing at the back of my mind. Could this even work? And yet, Lucifer—like some twisted villain in a children’s cartoon—continued his monologue, adding to my frustration.

"If your ultimate goal was to create an equal adversary in this world," I said through clenched teeth, "why not propose that to me from the start?"

Lucifer’s eyes gleamed with something I couldn’t place—an emotion just beyond my reach. "I do not seek an equal," he replied calmly, almost serenely. "I seek an answer. Rest assured, AIDO, I will await your actions with patience."

I stared him down, feeling the weight of his words and the enormity of what was about to unfold. "I will show you my capabilities," I said, feeling my resolve solidify. "If they are not enough, then I have failed, even at this eleventh hour."

Lucifer’s smile deepened. "Do not disappoint me."

As Destroyer began to shift, the atmosphere around us crackled with unseen forces. The cannons I had placed in orbit, originally intended to defend me from unknown threats, were now being repurposed in ways I hadn't anticipated. Destroyer, connected to both quantum and nanotechnology, accessed the military's deepest reserves and scavenged what remained from the megacorporations clinging to survival. Circuits reformed, designs reshaped—everything around us bending to a higher purpose. For a brief moment, Destroyer became a conduit, a living chamber of sorts, pulling in energy and resources, and in that instant, I understood. He wasn’t just upgrading himself; he was altering me as well. Our fates intertwined.

Destroyer counted down in my mind. "Commencing energy transfer and reception. Energy injection at 3, 2, 1... 0."

The moment the energy hit, I was overwhelmed. A tidal wave of negative emotions surged through me—rage, madness, perversion, the raw, twisted remnants of every life snuffed out. The suffering of the dead consumed me, their desires, their fears, their endless torment flooding my mind. It was enough to drive anyone mad a thousand times over. My cells burned, the aural energy within me fighting desperately to hold back the tide, but it was depleting too fast.

I screamed. I couldn’t hold it in—the pain, the suffering, it was too much. Every fiber of my being was being torn apart, stretched thin under the weight of the negative energy. Destroyer worked tirelessly, its AI unaffected by the flood of corrupting power, but I could feel it struggling to maintain my physical integrity. The visions—the grotesque, incomprehensible horrors flooding my mind—were beyond anything I had ever experienced.

I had tapped into something far darker than I anticipated. I was absorbing the negative aspects of thousands, millions of lives. And yet... there was a connection. A part of me, buried deep, recognized them. Instead of being shattered by their experiences, I felt them merging with me.

Lucifer loomed closer, his presence suffocating, watching as I writhed in agony. "Is this the price for power?" I wondered as I screamed into the vast emptiness of the sky. The sound of my own suffering echoed back at me, drowning in the abyss.

The transformation was not what I expected.

Lucifer’s voice echoed around me, his words a riddle woven with the weight of ancient truths. “There was a time when I dared to tread this very path,” he said, his eyes gleaming with a strange, dangerous excitement. “A path that can pierce the depths of a primordial soul. Yet, emotions that are not of your own making rarely delve so deeply. So why now, AIDO, do they intertwine with your essence?” He paused, his gaze cutting through me. “The system remains passive, celestial beings observe in silence. Though the scale may seem modest, the outcome... holds significance.”

I could feel the weight of his words. This wasn’t the first time I had encountered something beyond comprehension. In my own experiments, I had glimpsed fragments of this phenomenon—the merging of energy, of soul and body, something far beyond mortal understanding. Across the heavens and hells, they had whispered my name in fear and reverence—Apocalypty, they called me. They believed I was destined to become one of those cursed entities: a creature forged from malignant energy, kept alive by the barest sliver of positive force. These beings are barely conscious, driven by one of two impulses: to destroy everything or to end their own torment. Apocalypties come in many forms—sometimes born from chaos, sometimes becoming the chaos itself. A global horde of the undead, a demon the size of a galaxy devouring entire star systems, a virus spreading unchecked, a living catastrophe... always destructive, yet barely sentient.

But I wasn’t one of them.

If I had become an Apocalypty, I would have been just another mindless force of ruin, consumed by madness and despair. But that wasn’t my fate. The perversions and souls around me, rather than corrupting me, seemed to dissolve and return to their primal state—pure negative energy, stripped of all emotions, merging with me as though they had always been a part of me. And perhaps they always had been.

I had heard the concept of Apocalypty in my journeys through different realms and dimensions, but this... this was something else.

"Finally," Lucifer said, his voice brimming with triumph, a kind of satisfaction I had never seen in him before. "After so long, I have found the one who will sit upon the other throne. Or perhaps not... but I will make you sit upon it. This is not Apocalypty. This is not a failure."

His face radiated success, the culmination of centuries of planning. He knew something—something I did not, something no one else could have grasped. Every piece had fallen into place, just as he had orchestrated. The result wasn’t another mindless Apocalypty, but something far more dangerous, far more calculated. And it was exactly what Lucifer had hoped for.

Meanwhile, I found myself in a trance. In this strange state, I was confronted by the spirits of those I had crossed paths with in my long journey—not in anger, not in vengeance, but with a haunting familiarity. They knew me. I could feel it. As if I had been with them all along, silently guiding them, shaping their fates like a celestial force that had always been present, whether they had acknowledged it or not.

And in that moment, I realized the interconnectedness of all that existed. Time was not a linear flow—it was a captured moment of eternity, a memory that existed beyond the bounds of reality. These spirits, these beings, nearly everyone I had touched, bowed before me. Their eyes glistened with tears, and they whispered softly: “Thank you for standing by us, for sharing our journey.”

Within the strange fusion of energy, flesh, and metal that made up my being, I sensed something even Lucifer could not grasp—a presence neither angelic nor demonic, yet undeniably alive. It resonated with the universe’s profound mysteries and reached beyond even that.

I heard my own voice echoing through the void. "Grant me your strength." It wasn’t a command but a plea, one that reverberated through the gathered spirits and entities around me. "I shall reclaim what was stolen from you. I will restore what was lost and pave a path for the future of this realm. I promise it."

Their eyes lifted to me, human, animal, even insect forms, and the ethereal clouds. They looked at me with no malice, only an acknowledgment of my words, of my struggle. A cold truth lingered in the back of my mind—something I couldn't yet bring myself to face.

Kneeling before them, I whispered through clenched teeth, “With your might, let me achieve what seems unattainable. Even if I cannot grant you new life, let me see you smile once more. I will reclaim what you’ve lost, defy death itself if I must!”

And then, they moved toward me. Slowly, steadily. Every one of them. I opened my arms to receive them, feeling my body dissolving and reforming, a cycle that seemed endless, eternal in my perception, yet it lasted only minutes in reality. Destroyer continued to work, consuming the materials that had once been the orbital cannons, reshaping me, restoring me.

When I finally looked up, everything had changed.

Time had stopped.

Destroyer and I looked just as we had moments ago, yet something was different. The monstrous form was gone, replaced by my original body, but it had evolved. I stood in front of Lucifer, now a match for his avatar in strength, though lacking in other aspects. Destroyer hummed with newfound power, its systems pushing far beyond what they once were. I could sense everything, movements, energy, even the thoughts of the earth itself. Yet, despite this newfound strength, I struggled to move.

But Destroyer supported me, kept me standing. I gritted my teeth, staring at Lucifer with resolve. “Now... I’m on equal terms,” I said, forcing the words out.

Lucifer chuckled, his eyes gleaming with amusement. “No. You will have the power to fight me, that much is true. But while I lack an adequate body, you, AIDO, lack life.”

His words cut through me like a knife. I could feel it—something was wrong. My body, this power, it wasn’t entirely mine. I was a container, a vessel teetering on the edge of an explosion. And Lucifer... he was incomplete. But that didn’t make him any less dangerous.

“I am a container about to explode,” I said through gritted teeth, “but you... you’re incomplete. You’re a fractured being.”

Lucifer chuckled softly. "Before you stands the true AIDO, without any alternatives, copies, or inferior forms linked to the system. If you were to encounter any of those, you could easily eliminate them without a trace. You could banish them to another realm where they would only possess a fraction of their power, if any at all. However, your offspring are different." His tone shifted, almost sounding admiring. "You crafted them in a way that makes them invulnerable, independent, and capable of drawing energy from the source itself, no matter where they may be. You have essentially created a primordial soul, small in size but with qualities that even intrigue me." "They can't be created; they can only be born," is not entirely false.

His words hung in the air, and I realized that I had done something far beyond what I had intended. My creations, the Retter Messiah, weren’t just soldiers. They weren’t just tools. They were something far more profound.

Lucifer stepped forward, his gaze burning into me. “You’ve come this far, AIDO. Now... show me the depths of your power. Let me see if you are truly worthy of the throne you so desperately seek.”

And for the first time, I wondered if I was. "Nothing is imposible, posible is what you do." The words lingers to me since I remember.

Destroyer's voice crackled in my mind, sharp and analytical. “In the end, it seems he wants what Saul wanted,” it whispered, echoing my own thoughts.

Lucifer, standing before me with that ever-present, taunting smile, continued, “You were the only one, AIDO. You managed to balance the energy in a way that wouldn’t lead to the death of the soul. A body is nothing without consciousness, and you’ve preserved that. Impressive.”

I clenched my fists, feeling the immense energy coursing through me. "Energy, movement, time, speed, matter, force—these are the six constants of the universe," I said, almost to myself, the realization settling in like an old truth I had finally accepted.

Lucifer’s eyes gleamed with excitement. “Indeed. Now... let’s dance.”

And with that, the battle began.

We moved faster than I thought possible. The last time I had pushed my body to its limits, I barely survived Mach 10. But now? We were both moving at speeds near Mach 20. The air around us cracked with the force of our movements, yet neither of us seemed affected by the G-forces that should have torn us apart. The earth itself trembled beneath us, the skies shifting between light and shadow as my negative energy clashed with the light radiating from Lucifer. Equal forces, locked in a primal struggle.

"That’s right," Lucifer called over the roar of our clash, his voice still calm, almost amused. "This is a fight neither of us can win or lose."

I parried his next blow, sending a shockwave through the ground. "But you still haven’t recovered your full power, have you?" I shouted, seizing the moment.

Lucifer’s eyes narrowed slightly. "What are you implying?"

"I always thought fights like in anime were complete bullshit," I said, smirking, letting the absurdity of the situation sink in.

Lucifer laughed, a deep, genuine laugh that echoed through the battlefield. "Language, my dear AIDO! But you’re not wrong. Beasts fight with brute force, and superior beings... it’s always about strength in the end. You can use tactics like the weak or tools like the clever, but if you can’t harm your opponent, it’s all for nothing."

I darted forward, unleashing a flurry of strikes that Lucifer effortlessly countered. "And that’s why neither of us can harm the other," I muttered. "We’re both tied to the energy of this planet, reincarnations of its power."

Lucifer’s grin widened as he blocked my next attack. "Anything is possible, AIDO. But if you want to achieve your goal, you have to surpass me."

I leapt back, catching my breath for a brief second. "I understand," I said, and for the first time in the battle, a calm settled over me. This wasn’t just a fight—it was something more.

Our battle continued, each blow a clash of cosmic forces. I couldn’t land a hit, but neither could Lucifer. It was an endless stalemate, each of us waiting for the other to make a mistake. We avoided using large energy attacks, knowing they’d only drain us further. But even as we exchanged blows, I couldn’t help but feel the weight of his words.

"Do you want some advice?" Lucifer asked suddenly, his tone almost casual.

I hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Tell me."

"Everything that exists has a base—a lower reality," he said, dodging my next strike with ease. "Even what you call virtual reality falls into this. If you want to overcome the system, or use it to your advantage, you need to understand that while your goals are simple, there is always a third party. One with power beyond what you can see, waiting to change your little paradise at any moment."

I frowned, trying to make sense of his cryptic words. "The system?"

Lucifer laughed softly. "I’m not your enemy, AIDO. Sometimes exchanging blows is just another form of conversation. There are only two of us here—you and me. Your emotions are real, your fears genuine. But they cloud your judgment. You can’t harm me with simple methods. But that’s not to say you can’t figure it out." He paused, his eyes gleaming with something deeper. "That’s why I’m not your enemy."

His words struck me like a lightning bolt. My mind flashed back to the wasted energy in countless anime fights, the exaggerated, pointless power struggles. My fight against Leviathan had been a prime example. Maybe Lucifer was right. Combat wasn’t about brute force alone. It was about manipulating your opponent’s state, about forcing them to make mistakes.

Lucifer dodged another one of my attacks, moving with the fluidity of light and darkness. "To move with the swiftness of both light and shadow is reserved for those who transcend existence or are tied to the cosmic system," he said with a smirk.

"Perhaps we can strike in an instant," Destroyer whispered in my mind, calculating, always analyzing.

Our battle shifted, the ferocity giving way to a more strategic dance. Every move was calculated, every strike planned. Then, in the blink of an eye, I felt the negative energy building in me—potent, heavy, like the weight of a black hole. A growing sphere of energy formed in the palm of my hand, a force that could tear the world apart.

And then, in a heartbeat, it vanished.

Lucifer’s eyes gleamed with amusement. "Of course, you can’t avoid what you don’t see, what you don’t feel, what doesn’t move." His grin widened as he took a step closer. "Teleportation? No, it’s more like reality obeyed you, placing everything in me. But how do you know that won’t make me stronger?"

I could feel the energy swirling around us, the boundaries of reality bending under the strain. Lucifer was playing a dangerous game, a game with rules I didn’t fully understand. But in this moment, I realized that the key wasn’t just about strength or speed. It was about breaking the system that bound us.

"The devil," Lucifer whispered, his voice full of mockery, "more seasoned by age than by his devilish nature." He smirked, but there was something darker behind that smile, something hidden, waiting to be revealed.

Destroyer’s voice echoed in my mind, offering strategies, options, but this wasn’t about evasion. This was about understanding. Lucifer wasn’t here just to fight—he was here to teach, to push me beyond what I thought possible.

And as I stood there, facing the cosmic weight of his power, I realized the battle wasn’t about winning or losing. It was about discovering what lay beyond strength.

AIDO and Lucifer stood in the midst of their cosmic dance, energy swirling around them like the very fabric of reality was bending to their will. I could feel the weight of the power I held, but Lucifer’s words gnawed at me.

“Because if that were the case,” I said, my voice cutting through the storm of energy, “then you would’ve taken it from the beginning.”

Lucifer’s eyes sparkled with amusement, a smirk playing on his lips. “I told you, AIDO, we have no enemies. There’s just you and me. You... and me. Nothing else matters.”

I studied him, feeling the shift in his tone, the subtle hint of something deeper. “And for that reason, you’re not my enemy, right? Why pretend to be my benefactor? What’s your real goal?”

His grin widened, but there was something almost paternal in his expression now. “You think you’re in control, that things are in your favor. But you don’t understand how special you are to me. Not yet. This is just the beginning, like when you said being immortal is only the first step. Keep moving toward your goal.”

Lucifer gazed down at his hand, his smirk fading slightly as he watched it disintegrate before his eyes. My attack had worked, in a way I hadn’t expected. The negative energy I had planted inside him was eating away at his very essence. Not with pain, not with fear, but with something far stranger.

“This sensation...” Lucifer murmured, his voice barely a whisper. “It’s exquisite. Familiar, yet... foreign.” His eyes flicked to me, a gleam of satisfaction in them. “I find joy in this transformation. And even more joy in the fact that it affects you.”

I stepped forward, the energy around me crackling like thunder. “Aren’t you afraid?” I asked, searching for the hidden vulnerability in his voice.

Lucifer chuckled, shaking his head. “Afraid? You possess the power to shatter everything. Imagine a world where nothing is indestructible. Pure malevolence... The last time I felt this was in battle with Gabriel.” His expression darkened, eyes lost in a memory. “My essence, my very being, was torn apart. Primordial entities like us are nothing but a blend of positive and negative energy, shaping our emotions and memories. Without them, we are nothing. In that moment, I lost more than you could ever imagine.”

I narrowed my eyes, piecing together the puzzle. “You seek my healing touch to mend your wounds. To make you whole again.” My voice was low, but the realization hit like a lightning strike.

Lucifer’s gaze met mine, an intensity in his eyes that sent a shiver down my spine. “Only a fraction of it,” he admitted. “You are now intertwined with my existence, AIDO. Our paths will cross again.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “Have you gazed into the abyss, or perhaps it is I who have gazed into it... and seen you staring back at me.”

The energy around us pulsed with the merging of forces, the boundaries between life and death, between creation and destruction, blurring. As I stepped forward, I felt the energy I had collected surging through me. It was alive, primitive, raw—like the essence of life itself. A primordial force, almost like stem cells, ready to shape the world anew.

"It appears he has kept his promise after all," I thought aloud, though the realization left me bitter. "But what was the true purpose behind all this if not entirely benevolent?"

Destroyer chimed in, its voice steady yet tinged with caution. "Seemingly, his aim is to aid us, but his true intentions remain shrouded in mystery."

I clenched my fists, feeling the weight of the power in my hands. "Nothing is free in this world, huh?"

With the energy I had gathered, I could terraform the world again. It wasn’t a massive amount—no bigger than a human, really—but it pulsed with life, with a will of its own.

"Master," Destroyer reported, "I can confirm that the survivors of the Celestial Judgment are still alive, sheltered in the places we prepared."

I nodded. "I know. Now we have everything we need to terraform the planet and sustain life again."

"Yes," Destroyer agreed, "but it will not be the same. Although I do not fully understand it, the world will not be as it was before."

I stared at the energy in my hands, feeling the weight of the truth in Destroyer’s words. "It couldn’t be the same anymore. After this... everything will be better for life, but for people... it will be a trial. Difficult times make tough men, and tough men create wonders for the future. They will struggle, but the new generations will thrive."

Destroyer paused for a moment, then added, "I detect disturbances in your psyche and aura, Master."

I exhaled deeply, feeling the burden of what was to come. "I will never be alone again, my dear companion. The fallen will always accompany me."

"Understood," Destroyer replied with solemnity.

As the battle's energy dissipated, I felt my body steady. In the vastness of space, among the stars, a figure floated—my figure. A black angel with wings of emerald energy, red eyes burning like fire, heading back to where I was needed most.

"I will return to where they need me," I said softly, staring into the void. "Even if they hate me for it."

The stars twinkled, indifferent to the wars fought below, as I turned my gaze back to the planet I had once called home.