★217
'What?'
Not only was he eating form the Dragon, but it looks like they're evolving, breaking past the Black Void stage to the next stage, Violet Void.
Entares's body tensed instinctively. This was mo ordinary evolution as it was no ordinary void. Wings unfurling, though it wasn't physically. It was more like a void manifesting like an intangible black mist.
"Get ready, pa..."
The attack struck before Void Eater could finish its warning. The Dragon surged, flowing like a phantom tide, moving without motion, striking without form.
In the next instant, the Dragon stood across from them, untouched yet present everywhere at once.
"Argh."
Entares grunted, dropping to his knees, his hands pressed had again his face.
"What just happened?"
Void Eater asked, its senses unable to detect a single injury, its confusion mirrored in the voided battlefield around them.
'I..I'm...I'm alright...'
He reassured, thick fog if violet void energy flooding out of his face.
'...No. No living being can withstand this force. My unprotected face felt victim for a second before the armour responded. Mask.'
The armour responded, creating a mask covering his entire head. A small opening was created, and his long white hair flowed from it.
Slowly, he rose, his body shrouded in layers of impervious guard, every strike and manoeuvre anticipated, leaving no opening for this new, unknowable phase.
The scythe in his hand, Void Eater at his side, they surged forward at the Dragon. The creature appeared as a shifting cloud of darkness, its two violet eyes glowing ominously.
From that cloud, limbs, wings, tail, head, and torso formed and dissipated seamlessly, each movement fluid yet indestructible.
Blades erupted from Entares' armour, materialising just in time to meet the Dragon's incoming strikes, but they were nullified instantly.
"Adapt! Adapt!"
He shouted, the command echoing against the void as the Dragon anticipated every move. Now that's it's heading for the Violet Void, it's abilities had multiplied, meaning, the armour will take more time to adapt.
Entares slashed through the mist with his scythe.
"Heh?"
He ducked the incoming attack and struck again, but the weapon passed harmlessly through the void. The scythe's edge met nothing. The Phantom were now truly untouchable and thus, indestructible.
A whip-like tail lashed out, knocking him off balance, and before he could recover, the Dragon lunged, its massive form descending upon him as his void proved useless against its boundless void.
Void Eater materialised between them, its form expanding in an attempt to engulf the Dragon whole. But the Dragon's speed was nothing to underestimate. It tore through the expanding void and lunged straight for Entares.
"Emm, what now?"
He paused, fingers poised, the answer crystallising in an instant. With a snap, he invoked that which governs not one but all realities within it's range, a Law.
'Wait, that's reckless… but I'll try.'
"I reject the existence of all that's non-existent."
This was risky as he might as well negate the existence of his void. But, not surprisingly, nothing happened.
The Dragon gave no expression, yet the subtle curve of its void-formed features betrayed a silent, mocking grin.
"Not working?"
The thunderous voice boomed.
"Nah."
He replied, calm.
'It's way beyond Black Void. Normal existential principles won't work. Let's take a huge step at this.'
Without warning, he teleported them both into Antares' world, Paradis.
"I said, I reject the existence of all that is non-existent. Crumble before my presence."
This time, in the world built by the careless Paragon of Paradox, something might work.
The cloud composing of the Dragon began to shift, bleaching to white as a force beyond Law intervened. Natural energy flowed through it, a manifestation of Order itself, the balancing force meant to harmonise creation and destruction, light and darkness.
"Futile!"
The Dragon roared, the pressure of nothingness pressing against Order, crushing it to the point of annihilation. Entares swiftly teleported them away from the World, wary of the chaos spreading uncontrollably.
'I said crumble, but it was converted. What the hell was...'
He paused, turning his gaze as a faint tremor in the void caught his attention.
Amid the desolation of the lower realm, he noticed a spark creation itself, manifesting where it should not. That alone defied reason, but anything capable of emerging here demanded investigation.
He dove downward, velocity maxed, yet before he could fully assess it, Voidborn appeared beside him, its form moving with perfect synchronicity, matching his speed to avoid overshooting.
"Ah… mockery."
He muttered, eyes narrowing.
A tail solidified behind him, striking upward toward the upper realm. Before he could react, the Dragon rematerialised beside him, closing the distance with impossible swiftness.
'Movement like teleportation. It's almost as if it's Antares's Aether Move but without appearing more than once in space.'
Lost in thought, Entares barely registered the claws of mist-born void tearing through his frame.
The scream that split the air wasn't his, it was the Voidborn's, a guttural roar of agony that shattered the haze clouding his mind.
His thoughts, once a storm of calculations and analysis, snapped back into razor-sharp focus. Eyes narrowing, he turned toward the source… and then he saw it.
"Seriously?"
He muttered, his eyes widening.
His mutilated body exuded void, knitting itself together as though the injuries had never occurred. His armour followed suit, repairing itself.
'Temporal Twist, Reverse Twist.'
A soft, ethereal blue glow enveloped him as he invoked the Mega Art Temporal Twist.
Time bent around his being, rewinding only what belonged to him. He observed with absolute detachment as his form was torn apart and reconstructed. The process was both an assault and a revelation, a test of endurance and comprehension alike.
"I see."
He whispered, allowing the void to consume the artificial time. He closed his eyes, drawing inward.
'I want to see it all.'.
He stood as a spectator within his own Mind, replaying the past to his satisfaction, a faint smile curving his lips.
His body moved on its own, rising into the air and hovering effortlessly. It was fully restored except for his left arm, which should have been shredded to pieces but now remained only severed at the shoulder.
The reason his arm was unharmed was that the attack couldn't pass through White, and instead, the void attack was damaged.
'Just when I needed you.'
He was so absorbed in the battle ahead that he forgot a part of his consciousness was wielding the blade. He took the dagger, and his armour immediately began crumbling from the effect.
He moved deliberately, each step measured, and in an instant, he materialised above the Dragon, the edge of White slashing down with precision. Voidborn reacted instantly, exhaling torrents of writhing void, yet the dagger cut through the darkness with unerring force, its path unimpeded.
The Dragon staggered as the void was split cleanly by the arc of White's radiance, and before it could mount any defence, the strike pressed through the mist just above its head.
The creature let out a guttural roar, a sound thick with fury and disbelief, as the white radiance carved a path through its form, relentless and exacting, leaving the surrounding void trembling in response.
'Impossible!'
Erebus, who's now in control, was shocked.
'How? How can he interact with something that's not?'
"I have the weapon to dispose of you. But the motes to keep me going aren't present here. Void Eater, fetch."
"B..but Papa..."
"Don't worry, I'll be alright."
He was reassured, and a portal opened for the Void Eater to escape. With Void Eater gone, the one-on-one was brought back to life.
"Papa?"
He chuckled softly, warmth threading through the sound.
"Antares spoiled you all, myself included."
He said, eyes glinting with quiet amusement.
"What now, Papa?"
The armour asked, its tone measured, expectant.
"Void Armour is far too basic."
Entares replied.
"How about Nihilius?"
Though its shape remained intangible, the armour's eyes flickered like distant stars, alive with an unmistakable joy.
"M…my own name."
It stammered, awe and disbelief colouring its words.
"Stop pretending like those living beings."
He said sharply, a smile tugging at his lips.
"Antares will pay for this. For now, lie low, keep regenerating, and build a massive reserve. I need you ready to contain something far more dangerous than the Void Eater."
"Roger. Leave it to me."
It replied, voice steady, filled with resolve.
'What's this that I was the one chosen to contain, not the Void Eater? No deep thought, we'll win in the end.>>
The Void Armour, no, Nihilius, regenerated once more before Entares took off to face the Dragon.
To be continued...