At the center of Creation, the cradle of all universes, a battle was taking place that would determine the fate of reality itself. Both gods and mortals would be affected by the outcome of what would happen here.
The ground of this place looked like the eye of a cyclone of white clouds, and the sky was dark as night, but instead of stars, there were countless spiral shapes resembling galaxies, each emitting an energetic aura with a distinct color.
On one side stood a small figure, a human who seemed to be in his early twenties, wearing a black tunic stained with blood and white wooden shoes. His long hair and eyes were completely black, and his pale skin was as white as a corpse. The area around his left eye looked as if it had been devoured, and he was missing his left arm.
Even so, he still wore a wide smile with eyes full of madness as he firmly held his sword, a broken jian.
"Oh, Great Omnipresent and Omniscient Celestial Emperor, lord of all things in this miserable universe and all the rest of that pompous drivel. I suppose no one expected you'd need these filthy dogs to protect your metallic dignity," shouted the brave Hero.
In front of him, a resounding wave of rebukes began, the voices so loud that they spread like thunder in a storm.
"Insolent worm! You are speaking to the supreme ruler of all universes!"
"How dare a worm like you insult the greatest of all deities?"
"Blasphemy!"
"I swear by my name; I will make you beg for repentance for these cursed words!"
The powerful shockwaves caused by the voices hit the Hero, who stood unfazed as his long hair swayed with the waves of energy.
He rolled his eyes.
"Well, at least I wasn't made just to kiss that giant metal butt."
Four colossal creatures, each over 50 meters tall, roared with rage. On the ground lay four other creatures, completely dismembered, as large as the others.
But then even they fell into a submissive silence.
A towering black metal giant, over 100 meters tall and radiating a sovereign aura, rose from his throne. The purple flames burning within him intensified and leaked through the grooves of his metallic surface.
The Celestial Emperor had eight eyes, two where his ears should have been, and the other six on his face. His eight eyes were fixed on the insolent challenger standing before him.
The space around the colossus began to collapse as if his very existence was something the universe struggled to contain.
In one of his eight arms, he held a massive book, its cover bearing the symbol of a tree with a clock at its center.
"Killing a few divine beasts has made you too arrogant. I think I've tolerated your existence for far too long."
He had no mouth; his purple flaming aura distorted everything around his body, making the space ripple like a cloth waving, as his voice spread to incalculable distances.
He stretched one of his right arms, and black and white flames swirled around it. Then he fired this energy at the small human before him. His attack shattered reality itself as if a knife was slicing through space.
The Hero braced himself; the blood flowing from his body turned into black iron, coating his broken sword, the blade growing in size until it was as large as the divine beasts. He charged toward the enemy's attack, putting all his power into that strike.
With his only remaining arm, he swung the massive black blood blade against the mighty attack.
The two powers collided, causing an explosion of light so terrible it could be mistaken for a star exploding if seen from space.
The colossal metal giant stepped back; part of the place where his heart should be was destroyed. Although the human's situation was much more dire; he was still alive, but his body was strangely cracking, as if he were made of glass.
"So much trouble for a mere insect; I will ensure your existence is erased from space-time and that no variant like you ever arises again."
At that moment, a spatial portal opened near the Celestial Emperor.
What emerged from the portal appeared to be the spirit of a beautiful woman, her body made of pure white flames. She stretched out her arms, and a beam of light made of bright flames struck the Celestial Emperor's face.
The divine beasts, stunned for a moment by the strange turn of events, began to charge toward the fiery woman.
However, it was too late; she had already prepared another attack; this one wasn't aimed at the Celestial Emperor, but at his book.
"It's time to end your tyrannical empire, bastard!" said the fire spirit.
Dozens of pages flew from the destroyed book. The fire spirit grabbed one of the pages with one of her hands. She rushed back to the dimensional portal as fast as she could.
"No!" shouted the Celestial Emperor.
He extended his arms, conjuring blue chains that instantly wrapped around the beautiful fire spirit's body.
But with one last effort, she took the page from the book and threw it into the portal.