The conceptual attack washed over his body without causing a single cell to collapse or decay. The divine judgment failed to recognize him as a valid target.
He released the tight chokehold immediately.
He landed a devastating right hook directly on the side of the deity.
He followed the strike with another crushing punch to the upper portion of the head of Mercyros. The heavy impacts generated massive shockwaves that cleared the surrounding red mist in large, expanding rings.
Lucid did not fall toward the ruined floor below. He bent his legs slightly in the empty air. He pushed off the absolute nothingness again.
Shockwaves burst from the bottom of his bare feet, keeping him perfectly airborne and ready to strike. He stared down at his battered enemy, his red eyes burning with endless, predatory energy.
Mercyros looked back at the hovering boy.
The supreme deity analyzed the impossible physical feats, the broken temporal stasis, and the complete failure of the conceptual attack. The Monolith processed the sheer magnitude of the threat standing before him.
For the very first time in his eternal existence, genuine fear and absolute shock registered clearly within the glowing eyes of the almighty Monolith.
The supreme governor of commerce finally understood that he was no longer the apex predator within his own domain.
He was currently trapped within a confined space with a physical anomaly that consumed stars entirely, an anomaly that intended to collect a massive debt from him personally.
Mercyros suddenly kicked off the empty air surrounding them, manifesting a small rift directly behind Lucid, grabbing him by the collar with sudden violent force.
Lucid struggled against the grip and punched forward.
Again and again, chipping away pieces of Mercyros's form with each successive strike.
Immediately, he found himself pushed into a familiar opening once more, the same devastating pull he had experienced previously during their extended confrontation.
"Fine," Mercyros announced, every word laced with condescending certainty. "Your trickery ends here."
He was preparing to repeat the same technique, intending to manifest another black hole against Lucid once more.
Lucid smirked despite the danger. He spread his arms wide and embraced the incoming assault rather than resisting it.
Alice yelled inside his mind, her voice muffled by whatever internal barrier separated her consciousness from full communication during moments of extreme stress.
Mercyros gestured with both hands, waving them again and again in perfect synchronization, orchestrating movement with practiced precision.
Lucid felt an immediate pull tugging through his body toward the left side, then everywhere simultaneously, as twenty distinct black holes manifested around him in rapid succession.
Mercyros himself began getting dragged toward the phenomenon he had created, apparently miscalculating the scope of his own attack until he attempted retreat.
Lucid summoned chains and dragged Mercyros directly into the nebula the moment his own arm snapped clean off from the strain.
Mercyros found himself pulled inside, struggling desperately to escape the gravitational pull he had generated.
He had perhaps traded one of his strongest attacks for his own safety, a costly miscalculation given the circumstances.
He turned his head, considering the situation with what appeared to be genuine acceptance.
He wore an expression carrying long, contemplative peace.
He wanted this outcome. Perhaps some deep part of him had wanted it from the very beginning of their confrontation.
They both floated toward the endless oblivion stretching before them, where everything and nothing existed simultaneously within impossible contradiction.
Blinding, hot pain followed immediately.
Piece by piece, flesh separated from flesh, until suddenly, amid the torrential storm of dark lightning and swirling energy, a hand grabbed his forearm.
A red hand, gripping with desperate strength.
Lucid grinned despite the agony consuming his body.
They fought for what felt like an eternity within that collapsing space.
He manifested a deep spear inside himself, driving it forward with bristling energy that sent shockwaves rippling through the confined dimension surrounding them both.
Mercyros's sword dispelled the black hole they found themselves trapped within, the weapon's power disrupting the gravitational anomaly entirely.
Lucid clutched at Mercyros's throat immediately, refusing to release his grip despite the chaos.
He swung in a wide arc, cutting his own hand down to a stump before it regenerated moments later, the Chain of Heart working overtime to repair the damage as quickly as it occurred.
Mercyros could feel his body being torn apart systematically, piece by piece, the damage accumulating faster than his own regenerative capabilities could compensate.
Lucid drove the regenerating stump toward Mercyros's eyes, punching repeatedly, again and again, refusing to relent despite the exhaustion building through his own fragmenting form.
He didn't want to let go. He couldn't let go, not now, not after everything this confrontation had already cost him.
"Trickery? I'm facing you head on!" he yelled through the barrage of torrential energy surrounding them both.
Lucid suddenly wrapped his hand around a chain and drove it through Mercyros's stomach with mechanical precision, refusing to simply punch when a more decisive strike remained available.
He pierced through entirely, golden white liquid spilling out from Mercyros's backside as the wound opened completely.
Mercyros touched the protruding hand from below, his fingers trembling against the intrusion.
"Fight back!" Lucid yelled through clenched teeth, sweat and blood mixing across his face from the sustained effort.
He had persevered through six black holes already and was actively fighting the remainder, forming protective barriers while simultaneously lashing his own energy toward Mercyros with everything he still possessed.
Mercyros regarded him with lifeless eyes, something hollow and resigned replacing whatever fury had previously animated his gaze.
He touched Lucid's forearm gently, holding his eyes with quiet intensity.
"No," he said softly. "I want to rest."
Lucid froze mid-motion, his fist still raised, ready to deliver another devastating blow.
'What is he saying,' Lucid thought, confusion momentarily overriding his combat instincts. 'This isn't surrender. This is something else entirely.'
"You don't get to just decide you're done," Lucid said, his voice carrying raw anger mixed with something approaching desperate confusion. "Not after everything you've put us through."
Mercyros's grip on his forearm tightened slightly, though the gesture carried no aggression, only quiet insistence.
"I have existed for centuries beyond counting," Mercyros said, his voice growing weaker with each word. "Governing concepts I never chose to embody, watching civilizations rise and fall according to patterns I could predict but never prevent."
"That doesn't mean you get to die and just throw in the towel, when it's convenient." Lucid snapped back, though his grip on the chain embedded in Mercyros's stomach loosened slightly despite his words.
Around them, the storm of dark lightning continued raging, though something in its intensity seemed to be diminishing, as if the confrontation itself was reaching some natural conclusion neither of them had fully anticipated.
"Your friend already escaped," Mercyros said. "The moment I opened that gateway, I have already altered their thread of fate"
Lucid's eyes widened with sudden hope mixed with lingering suspicion.
"How do I know you're not lying?" he demanded.
"You don't," Mercyros admitted. "But consider the alternative. If I intended further deception, why would I reveal this information now, in this moment, when you already hold the advantage?"
Lucid considered the logic carefully, his combat instincts warring against the strange sincerity he detected in Mercyros's weakening voice.
"Why do you want to rest?" he asked finally, curiosity overriding his aggression momentarily.
Mercyros's expression shifted, something almost wistful crossing his fragmenting features.
"Because existence as I have known it, has become unbearable," he said. "Watching humanity struggle against systems I maintained, watching desperation and greed consume everything meaningful, century after century, without any genuine capacity for change."
"Then change it," Lucid said. "Instead of just giving up."
"I attempted change repeatedly throughout my existence," Mercyros replied. "Each attempt met with the same fundamental resistance, the same immutable laws governing commerce and transaction that I could adjust in detail but never fundamentally alter."
Lucid felt the chain still embedded in Mercyros's stomach, felt the golden blood continuing to seep from the wound, felt his own exhaustion mounting from the sustained combat.
'This isn't what I expected,' he thought, uncertainty creeping through his combat-focused mind. 'This isn't a villain begging for mercy. This is something else entirely.'
"What happens if I actually let you die?" Lucid asked, testing the boundaries of this strange, sudden shift in their confrontation.
"Judgment," Mercyros said simply. "The curse I invoked against myself requires completion through mortal hands specifically. Your hands, given your role in triggering this entire sequence of events."
"And if I refuse? If I let you live instead?"
"Then I remain trapped," Mercyros said, "bound to authority I no longer wish to hold, condemned to continue this existence indefinitely without resolution."
"Until the day... Mother Fate descends."
"Until the day?" He repeated.
The storm around them continued diminishing, the black holes Lucid had been simultaneously containing beginning to collapse into nothingness one by one, their destructive potential exhausted.
"This is insane," Lucid muttered, though his grip on the chain remained steady. "You're asking me to kill you."
"I'm asking you to grant mercy," Mercyros corrected. "There's a difference, even if the outcome appears identical from your perspective."