Zatiel's eyes were full of shock and disbelief. All the hard work and effort he had put in, forming weapons of incredible power and preparing his warriors, was for nothing.
With a single strike, the enemy broke their battle formation and covered them in a domain made of billions of souls capable of flawlessly fusing their soul forces.
It was a nightmarish scene that was impossible to wake up from.
"Ahhhhhhh!"
A scream of pain brought the Samsara Thearch back to reality as he saw hundreds of black hands piercing the body of the Nihility Sacred King.
Nero had managed to keep the darkness at bay thanks to the power of his Voidmourn Wings, but the attack was relentless and finally managed to break beyond his defenses.
The black hands did not simply grab his body but reached all the way to his soul and Primordial Essence.
"AHHHHHHHHH!"
Nero's screamed even louder as the black hands began to push, slowly breaking his soul into pieces. It was an excruciating pain like the Sacred King had never felt.
Ezequiel, Venganza, and the other Sacred Kings noticed Nero's plight, but they could barely keep the darkness from consuming them, so no matter how much they wanted to help, they could do nothing but see how their friends were being torn to pieces.
Zatiel's eyes regained focus, and a monstrous silver flame appeared in them as he flashed toward the vortex of darkness, sending giant arcs of golden and dark purple flames from his sword.
Unfortunately, while the vortex fought to keep him inside, it resisted his entrance with an even greater strength. Whatever was in control did not want him back in. It was better if he was outside, where he could not help anyone and only see how everybody faced a horrible death.
"BOOOMMMM!"
A massive explosion echoed across the Emptiness as Nero's body and soul were shattered to pieces, marking the end of the first of the Daybreak Universe's Sacred Kings.
Shook appeared in the heart of all the warriors of the Daybreak Universe. One of their strongest champions, a man with a battle power at the Late Initial Stage, had just perished.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"BOOM!" "BOOM!" "BOOM!"
Not even a second after Nero's death, three more of the Samsara Astra Magicae Codex's formations broke to pieces, and all the Extreme Rank 9 warriors inside perished.
Zatiel's felt a sense of desperation like never before as he hacked with more and more strength, trying to break into the vortex of darkness, but this one would not allow it.
The Reflection of Annihilation improved his destructive power to the point that each of his strikes could shatter a Cosmic Wall, but they barely made a dent into the vortex of darkness.
"Ahhhh!"
Another scream of pain emerged from inside the vortex of darkness as the dark hands made their way to another of the Sacred Kings. This time their target was no other than the Sword Sacred King.
Heinz's World Clashing Swords cut everything around him, generating a severing domain that could split Truths and Eternal Flames, but the dark hands were resilient since no matter the damage they took, they kept going.
Finally, they had managed to get hold of one of Heinz's arms, and after breaking his momentum, it was easy to neutralize him completely.
"BOOOOOOMMMM!"
Heinz's fate was no different than Nero, having his existence shattered.
"AHHHHH!"
Zatiel roared with rage as the grip on his sword was so hard that his hands bled. He was using all his power to fight but could do nothing other than see his friends die.
All his words about the purpose and honor of fighting for their home and making the enemy regret that they attacked the Daybreak Universe meant nothing.
The clash between the Daybreak Universe's warrior against the Beyonder's Knights and its army could not be considered a fight. It was true that the resistance of the Thearchs and Sacred Kings burned parts of the vortex of darkness, but the damage was insignificant, while they perished one by one.
The only proper word to describe what was happening right now was a massacre.
"BOOM!" "BOOM!" "BOOM!" "BOOM!" "BOOM!" "BOOM!"
One after another, the Samsara Astra Magicae Codex's formation shattered, and it did not take long for only those led by Roku, Eve, Ragnar, Pan Gu, Bahamut, and Ira to remain standing.
The formations were capable of immense destructive power but were not nimble, making it easier for the vortex of darkness to attack from all directions at the same time.
"CRACK!"
Cracks formed in the Hellblood Arcane Chimera, and the formation did not take long to blast to pieces. Eve was able to endure a few moments, but it did not take long for the vortex of darkness to kill her as all the other Extreme Rank 9 that had been inside the formation with her.
Zatiel saw how, one after another, everybody that had put their trust in him and decided to follow his lead into battle was dying horrible deaths. He hacked with more and more strength as his eyes bled, but he could not break into the vortex of darkness.
"AHHHH!"
Rage and unbearable pain assaulted Zatiel's soul as he heard that scream of pain since it belonged to the Genesis Sacred Kings. Not even his son could endure the might of the dark hands.
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The Samsara Thearch roared as he could not believe there was nothing he could do. The Beyonder's Knights had not even shown themselves, and yet the war was coming to an end.
"BOOOOOMMMM!"
"BOOOOOMMMM!"
"BOOOOOMMMM!"
Three more explosions occurred inside the vortex of Darkness as the Depravita Sacred King, Unity Sacred King, and Endlessness Sacred King were broken to pieces by the dark hands.
It did not take more than a minute after that for the last of the Samsara Astra Magicae Codex's formation to shatter, and Pan Gu's massive body filled with tumors before decaying into a disgusting liquid.
The fate of the rest of the Sacred Kings was not different from that of their fallen brothers. Every one of them fought with bravery and determination, but in the end, each perished under the onslaught of the dark hands.
The vortex of darkness did not take more than half an hour to kill everybody except for the three Thearchs.
Ezequiel and Venganza were using every ounce of their willpower not to succumb to despair and hopelessness since they were the only ones alive inside the vortex of darkness, and they felt their life force and energy slowly eroding.
There was nothing the duo could do to turn things around, and no matter how hard they fought, they did not see a path to victory.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmZatiel kept hacking from the outside, using everything he had to destroy the vortex of darkness. The pain and frustration had nearly broken his mind, and the only thing that kept him fighting was his desire to kill.
Suddenly the vortex of darkness froze as the immense force and energy in this one seemed to fade.
Venganza and Ezequiel felt their instinct screaming. However, neither was able to react to what would come next.
An ax appeared above the Emptiness Thearch, and the next instantly, it split his body in half before setting both pieces ablaze with a bright red flame.
Just as that happened, a shadow hand pierced the back of the Revenge Thearch's skull, flooding his body with toxic energy that began to erode him from the inside out.
The Emptiness Thearch and Revenge Thearch, paragons of power that could explore the Emptiness with their head high without fear, perished with a single strike!
Only at this point did Zatiel stop the attacks with his sword as despair flooded his soul. His eyes were full of sorrow as he could not believe he was the only one still alive.
Every one o the warriors that had promised to fight by his side was gone.
The war was over. He lost.
The vortex of darkness did not lunge at the Samsara Thearch, despite the fighting spirit of this one seemly having vanished. As an extension of the Beyonder, the cruelty and sadism of the life forms that formed the vortex were unlimited, so torturing a defeated enemy was a pleasure.
Zatiel's body trembled as he covered his face with his hands as if he could not endure the outcome.
Thrill and delight could be felt from the vortex of darkness as they saw the spirit of the Samsara Thearch breaking, but then they heard something that did not make sense.
"Hahahaha."
It was laughter. Zatiel was laughing and did not take long to grow into a burst.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
The Samsara Thearch laughed with all his strength, and some might think he had gone insane with grief, but what happened next proved different.
"CCCCRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAACCCCKKKKKK!"
The sound of glass breaking spread for hundreds of billions of light years. All the destruction faded, and the warriors and drones that the vortex of darkness had killed were behind Zatiel, safe and sound.
The entire massacre, all of it, had been an illusion!