"I like you,"
She winked, moving her face right in front of Zarveth with a big grin on her face. Then, she glanced at his sword and—
"Too bad I'll break your little toys."
She laughed.
The space around them twisted.
Now, instead of open void, they floated inside a massive ring of swirling magic—a circle of chaotic energy, spinning with colors, sounds, and pieces of broken worlds.
Dozens of copies of Sharnoth appeared all around him—each one doing sothing different.
One was dancing.
One was crying.
One was screaming.
Most of these Sharnoths weren't doing anything related to Zarveth, almost as if she didn't care about his existence.
Zarveth narrowed his eyes. Till now, he was confident in winning—even now, that hadn't changed—but seeing the woman change so much the mont the Anomaly disappeared made him feel strange.
It was… almost as if she was trying to hide her worst side from the Anomaly and was acting properly.
'Is she… trying to impress him?'
He wondered in his head.
'Are they closer than I thought?'
Sothing instantly clicked in his mind. It was an emotion he had seen after a long ti and—
'I can use it.'
The mont he thought about it, his staff shined, and four of his relics spun around him in response.
Suddenly, five versions of Zarveth split away from his body.
Each one moved to a different direction, countering Sharnoth's strange attacks.
One blocked a scream that seed like it could shatter armies.
One redirected a falling asteroid.
Another swung Chronoedge to cut through Sharnoth's blade.
For a few monts, the battle looked even.
Zarveth's calm, perfect movents and powerful relics kept up with Sharnoth's wild, shifting chaos.
Their movents were fast; most of it didn't even make sense. Because of her unpredictability, Sharnoth looked like she had the initiative, but Zarveth didn't look like he was at a disadvantage.
The battle continued. Sharnoth laughed as she unleashed a series of attacks. Zarveth was already forced to use his 18th relic in the midst of the battle. It was sothing that surprised even him.
After all, most Eternals who did not co from the Four Supre Worlds could usually be dealt with using three relics at most. The Subordinate Eternals from other Supre Worlds were usually dealt with within fifteen relics, yet…
Sharnoth stood tall, without any change in that crazy grin of hers, even after he had used eighteen relics.
'She is stronger than I thought.'
Zarveth muttered.
Her laughter rang over his ears. He could tell how this would intimidate a young Eternal, even the ones from the Supre Worlds. Of course, to him, this did not matter.
Rather, this only made things more interesting. He wanted to see how long she could keep this smile up.
The battle continued. Zarveth continued to use his relics to suppress Sharnoth, who attacked relentlessly and unpredictably. Her nature was similar to the energy she used—
Chaotic.
They moved across space like divine beings dancing through storms.
The space cracked.
Dinsions surrounding the region beca weaker.
Fragnts of light and shadow exploded with each strike.
Zarveth's relics humd in patterns—so of them had even cracked.
Just as Sharnoth said, she was breaking his 'toys.' Of course, Zarveth didn't let it affect his mind. He continued as if nothing had happened, replacing damaged artifacts with different ones.
The dense energy of Chaos around Sharnoth's body disfigured it even further. Her form was becoming… formless.
Her entire body was cracking, and the more it was happening, the more chaotic energy she was releasing. Almost as if…
A seal was breaking and pure, unfiltered Chaos was about to be unleashed.
Yes, with every exchange, Sharnoth was getting stronger and stronger.
But…
As the battle continued, sothing strange began to happen.
Zarveth… he was starting to understand her.
Zarveth was billions of years old. He was in his pri when Sharnoth wasn't even born, and he was far from falling from his pri yet—rather, he was only growing stronger.
As a being who chased after knowledge and was strengthened the more knowledge he gained, creating different relics for different situations, his rich experience made him a much, much scarier opponent.
In all these years he had existed, he had seen and analyzed hundreds of thousands of completely different powers and styles.
Sharnoth's Chaos was unpredictable, but… Zarveth had now started to predict that very unpredictability.
He had begun to adapt.
Each ti she did sothing new, he countered it faster.
Each ti she grew more unpredictable, he grew more precise.
Her spear of thunder was dealt with like it was a harmless flicker of electricity. Her sword made of wind was blocked by a relic of perfect silence. Her illusion of a black hole was scattered by a wave of stored energy from a previous future.
Sharnoth narrowed her eyes.
She could sense what was happening as well. She could sense she was… losing.
"You're cheating,"
She pouted.
"I'm rembering,"
Zarveth replied calmly, almost as if he was now certain of his victory.
"Is that so…?"
Sharnoth grinned even more.
Crack
The cracks on her body widened even further. A part of the skin on her elbow ca off, and dense, black-purple energy of Chaos seeped out of it.
Then—
BOOOOOM
The energy of Chaos exploded, rising to levels even Zarveth did not predict, and sothing even stranger happened.
Sharnoth changed the rules.
The space around them shook. The stars in the far distance faded. The very universe around them began to feel… wrong.
Ti moved sideways. Even Zarveth's relics began to flicker. So of them began misfiring, allowing Sharnoth's clones to destroy them completely.
The lights spun backward. Zarveth began losing his footing, almost as if his mind was being altered with, and directions no longer made sense.
Before he could realize it, Sharnoth, with the big grin on her face, was already floating above him, her crimson eyes glowing with madness, her hair moving everywhere, as if no laws governed them.
Zarveth's face turned grim.
This…
This was a domain.
It wasn't the concept of domain people were familiar with. After all, their domains had already crushed each other—no domains could be deployed again.
This wasn't exactly a domain, not in the known terms…
Just that…
Sharnoth was releasing so much energy of Chaos that the very reality around them was bending to her will—her Chaos.
It was a state any warrior could achieve if they released enough energy. However, it had a fatal flaw—it wasn't a state that can be held for a long ti.
Even an Eternal could not release this much ridiculous amount of energy and not feel overwheld. They would run out of energy, and once that happens…
It would be over.
"This is MY battlefield now.
Why don't you try and rember this?"
Sharnoth laughed, her crimson eyes becoming even more intense. Zarveth took a deep breath as he pressed his hand into the space beneath him.
Twelve relics ford a circle around him, glowing bright and pushing back against the Chaos.
He could feel it, the temporary domain—he was slower here.
Sharnoth's Chaos was tilting the fight.
Her madness was spreading.
But he didn't panic.
After all, there was no way the woman would last any longer than a few minutes.
He looked around with a calm look on his face. The space around them was no longer normal. Colors floated through the void like smoke. Ti flow didn't follow natural direction. Gravity twisted in circles.
Reality no longer made sense.
Even his thoughts felt slower… heavier… confused, making it difficult to control his relics.
Flicker Flicker Flicker
His relics began to flicker.
They weren't made to function in a place where the laws of the universe seed… aningless.
Sharnoth continued to float above him. Her form kept changing—tentacles, feathers, flas, mirrors, laughter.
The more ti passed, the less sense it made.
"HAHAHAHA!!"
The woman laughed—loud, wild, and… crazy.
"Not very easy to rember, now is it?
Co on Supre Born! What happened!? Aren't you a little too silent?"
She exclaid, releasing even more chaotic energy. The action sowhat surprised Zarveth.
She should already be feeling overwheld by the huge energy consumption. Releasing more energy wasn't exactly a solution.
Or was she…
'Is she trying to end it quickly?'
Zarveth wondered inwardly. In this situation, normally, he would try to read his opponent's expression, but the only thing he could see was that crazy smile on her face.
There was no way he could read what she was thinking—or if she was thinking at all…
For now, he just decided to make a move.
His hand moved slowly, adjusting the alignnt of his relics.
But Sharnoth was faster now. Faster than anything that made sense.
BOOOOM
She attacked.
Hundreds of her appeared at once, spinning around Zarveth in wild, unpredictable patterns.
So threw fire made of mory. So launched spikes of pure emotion. Others whispered words that turned into blades of sound.
Her attacks beca more and more unpredictable—even more than what Zarveth could adapt to.
The Eternity-born Eternal tried to block.
His relics moved to protect him, but because of his lack of control, so of them missed.
A shard struck his shoulder. A ray of lted space cut his leg.
Zarveth stumbled.
And suddenly…
Dark green blood floated out of his injuries and hovered in the void.
First blood was drawn.
And the mont she saw that,
Sharnoth's grin widened even further.
"That's better,"
She laughed.
"So even the oh-so-mighty Supre Borns bleed like the rest of us, eh?
HAHAHAHA!"
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