Ren stood tall in the center of the Sector 10 ritual room. The cold black marble floor beneath his small feet felt like ice that would never melt. The seven-year-old boy's body was covered in dust and minor wounds from the battles in the lower sectors, but his eyes—pitch black with a teardrop mole under the left eye—remained cold and unyielding.
In front of him, Varex Noctis loomed large. His black robe fluttered gently despite the lack of wind, his long black hair with white tips looked like a lunar scar, and his dark red eyes glowed with pure mockery.
"Little brat," Varex murmured in a slow voice, laden with an arrogance that made the air feel heavy.
"Did you really come all the way up here with just that cheap rubber trick? Bungee Gum? How amusing. I've been watching you since you crawled in the lower corridors like a little rat thirsting for sunlight."
Ren didn't answer directly. He only raised his right hand slowly, palm facing forward. The air around his fingers vibrated faintly.
Bungee Gum appeared—not as a dramatic explosion like the magic of great mages, but as thin, transparent threads that glistened like smooth slime, elastic and sticky, ready to stretch or attach at his will.
The Ethernano energy inside his body buzzed softly, calm but sharp. He was no longer just a kid counting guard steps; he was the architect of this tower's destruction.
"Varex Noctis," Ren finally said, his voice flat and devoid of excessive emotion.
"The true ruler of the Tower of Heaven, so you say. If you are truly that strong... why are you still hiding behind this giant Lacrima? Scared that if I crush your heart, you will vanish like a night shadow?"
Varex laughed loudly, his voice echoing in the vast room filled with a dark aura. He crossed his arms over his chest, his chin held high.
"Hah! Smart brat. My Abyssal Nocturne Magic is no mere ordinary dark magic. It is an eternal night that swallows all light. This Lacrima? Just a source. My body is already bound to all the tower's Ethernano. Even if you destroy all of it... I will still stand. And you? Just a tasty midnight snack."
Without warning, Varex moved a single finger.
"Nocturne Domain!"
The room went pitch black instantly. The faint blue light from the giant Lacrima behind Varex was completely swallowed. The air became heavy as if the oxygen was being sucked into the darkness.
The Ethernano around Ren felt chained, heavy, and slow. The Bungee Gum at his fingertips, usually so agile, now felt sticky and weighed down, as if being pulled by an invisible hand.
Ren narrowed his eyes. He didn't panic. He analyzed. This domain siphons Ethernano... but not completely. It just slows the flow. If I force a contraction too fast, my gum will snap.
He leaped to the side quickly, shooting Bungee Gum from the soles of his feet to attach to the marble ceiling.
"Bungee Gum: Bungee Swing!"
His small body swung like a living rubber swing, arching through the dark space toward Varex's blind spot. Two strands of gum from his right hand shot forward—elastic and sticky—aiming for the mage's neck and waist.
"Bungee Gum: Double Whip!"
The gum whips curved rapidly, ready to bind and pull Varex to the wall with maximum spring force. But Varex only smiled arrogantly. He didn't move. He simply raised a palm.
"Shadow Eclipse Chain."
From the darkness, a pitch-black shadow chain appeared, slithering like a living snake. The chain caught both Bungee Gum whips mid-air, binding them tightly. The gum, usually super elastic, pulled even tighter, as if Varex's darkness was draining its strength.
"Too slow, little rat!" Varex mocked as he yanked his hand.
The shadow chain forcefully pulled Ren forward, sending the boy crashing hard onto the marble floor.
Pain surged through his back, but Ren rolled quickly, rising back up on one knee. His breathing remained calm.
No screaming. No tears. Only a brain spinning at full speed. His domain is strong near the Lacrima. If I lure him down to the lower sectors... to the weak point between Sector 7 and 9... the explosion of Kael's spare crystals will be enough.
Ren wiped a thin smear of blood from the corner of his lip with his dirty sleeve. He stood tall again, the Bungee Gum in both hands expanding larger, transparent and glistening, ready for the next round.
"Not good enough," Ren said softly, his voice cold but calculated.
"You talk too much for someone who is afraid of losing to a slave child."
Varex narrowed his red eyes, his arrogant smile cracking slightly. The black aura around him expanded, pressing down on the entire room like a living night sky.
"Very well, brat. Let's see how far your cheap rubber can stretch before it snaps."
He opened both arms wide.
"Abyssal Devour!"
A ball of pitch-black darkness formed in his palms, swallowing whatever light remained. The true fight had just begun—at the peak of the cracked Tower of Heaven, between a child born from tears in the crystal ruins and a dark mage who thought himself a god.
Ren clenched his fist. Bungee Gum pulsed stronger. This wasn't the end. This was just the beginning.
And with a single leap, he attacked again.