The calm after the storm was fleeting.
Ryuusuke stood amidst the remnants of the battlefield, his breath shallow, his senses still reeling from the tremendous exertion of his powers. The air, once thick with the harbinger's darkness, had cleared, leaving behind an eerie silence. It felt unnatural—like the world itself was holding its breath, waiting for something more.
Kaito approached cautiously, his footsteps light on the cracked earth. His sword, stained with the remnants of the shadow creatures, hummed softly with residual energy. He eyed Ryuusuke, concern flickering in his gaze.
"You alright?" Kaito asked, his voice unusually soft.
Ryuusuke didn't respond immediately. He was still feeling the aftereffects of the battle, the weight of it pressing on him. His body was exhausted, but there was something else, something deeper. A sense of unease that crawled beneath his skin, whispering to him like an ancient echo.
"I'm fine," Ryuusuke said, though his voice sounded distant. His eyes narrowed as he surveyed the empty horizon, the once-chaotic landscape now still and eerily quiet. "But something doesn't feel right."
Kaito followed his gaze, his expression hardening. "It's over, isn't it? We beat the harbinger, and the monsters are gone."
Ryuusuke shook his head slowly, his mind still unraveling the events. "The harbinger was just one piece. There's something bigger at play. We've barely scratched the surface."
His words hung in the air, unsettling both of them.
A sudden tremor rippled through the ground, sending cracks spider-webbing out in all directions. Ryuusuke's eyes widened. This wasn't just the aftermath of the battle—it was something else. Something... unnatural.
The sky above them darkened once again, not from clouds, but from an ominous rift that had opened up, pulsing with a sickly light. Energy crackled around it, like a wound in reality itself.
"No… no, this can't be happening." Kaito whispered, his hand tightening around the hilt of his sword.
The rift tore wider, revealing a vast, dark void beyond it—an endless expanse that seemed to stretch beyond the limits of their comprehension. From within the abyss, strange, ghostly whispers began to echo, as if countless voices were speaking all at once.
Ryuusuke's heart skipped a beat. There was something horribly familiar about the sound. As if they weren't whispers from any ordinary dimension, but something older, darker. The kind of voice that shouldn't be heard—something from beyond time and space.
"Ryuusuke..." Kaito's voice cracked. "What is that?"
Ryuusuke didn't answer immediately. He was staring at the rift, his mind racing. He could feel it—a deep, gnawing sensation at the core of his being. This wasn't a random rift. This was deliberate. A calling.
The whispers intensified, growing louder, and in them, Ryuusuke could make out one single word—a name, a force, an entity.
"Yvethar..."
The name hit him like a punch to the gut. It echoed through his entire body, vibrating his bones. He had heard it before, but it was a name buried deep in his memories, something he had long forgotten or perhaps ignored. It was a name tied to something far older than even the gods themselves.
"Yvethar?" Kaito asked, his voice full of confusion. "Who's Yvethar?"
Ryuusuke's mind raced. The name was a riddle, one he had been running from for what felt like an eternity. But now, it had come back with a vengeance.
Before he could speak, the ground beneath them cracked open violently, and a figure emerged from the rift. It was massive—towering, draped in dark robes that seemed to ripple like the very fabric of reality itself. Its face was a mask of endless void, eyes glowing with a cold, malignant light.
"You..." The being's voice was low, resonant, and inhuman, echoing with an ancient power that seemed to make the very air tremble. "You remember me, don't you?"
Ryuusuke staggered back, his pulse quickening. He didn't know who or what this entity was, but its presence sent a cold shiver down his spine. The memories were flooding back, painful and fragmented. Yvethar—the name was tied to the forgotten gods, the ones who had ruled long before even the first pantheon of deities. They were said to be the creators of the multiverse, beings who shaped existence with their thoughts and willed worlds into being.
And they were also the ones who had… fallen.
The being's eyes flickered with a knowing glint. "You don't remember me yet, but you will, in time. Your destiny was always entwined with mine, little god. And now, I've come to claim what's mine."
Kaito stepped forward, his grip tightening on his blade. "Who are you? What do you want with Ryuusuke?"
The being's laughter echoed like the sound of a thousand tortured souls. "Foolish mortal. I am Yvethar, the one who gave birth to the void, the creator of the forgotten ages. And I've come to reclaim what is rightfully mine. The power of the omniverse belongs to me."
Ryuusuke's mind raced, struggling to grasp what was happening. "The omniverse… you mean the power I wield?" he asked, his voice laced with disbelief. "That's what you want?"
Yvethar's voice grew colder, more venomous. "You think you can control it? You are nothing but a speck of dust, a fleeting moment in the grand tapestry of existence. You are not meant to wield such power, little god. You are a mere puppet. And I will tear you apart to reclaim what was stolen from me."
The air around them rippled, reality itself bending to Yvethar's will. The sky above darkened even further, the rift growing wider, threatening to swallow everything whole.
Ryuusuke clenched his fists, his energy flaring again. "I've heard enough of your lies. I don't know what you are, but I won't let you destroy everything I've fought for."
Yvethar's eyes flickered with amusement. "You have no choice, child. I will break you, piece by piece, and I will feed on the ashes of your broken universe."
With a flick of his hand, the ground beneath them began to twist and distort. Reality itself seemed to stretch, as though the very laws of existence were crumbling around them. The landscape began to disintegrate, as if the world were slowly erasing itself in response to Yvethar's presence.
Ryuusuke's golden aura flared brighter, and he shouted, "I WILL NOT LET YOU WIN!"
But as he prepared to strike, the rift in the sky suddenly pulsed—louder, stronger, as though it was drawing energy from the very heart of the multiverse. Something dark was calling to him from beyond, and no matter how much he fought, he couldn't escape the pull.
The battle for the omniverse had truly begun.