The skies of H'Trae wept light and ash.
Adonis stood, bathed in golden radiance, even as his knees buckled and blood poured down his chin. His crown had cracked. His armor—once immaculate—was scorched and broken in places, revealing torn flesh and burnt skin beneath. But he didn't falter.
Not now.
Not with everyone watching.
Not when this was the only way left.
He raised his sword, eyes locked on the approaching figure—the clone of Adrien, whose power had already leveled everything in sight, whose presence had torn rifts in the sky.
The others had fallen.
Lucielle was unconscious.
The Oracle slumped against the Fairy King, whose breathing was ragged and uneven.
The line had collapsed.
And yet Adonis still stood.
"Rey never wanted me to use this despite showing me how…" he whispered.
His fingers tightened around the hilt of his golden blade.
He looked to the heavens, lips parting in quiet reverence. His voice trembled, not with fear—but with solemn determination.
"I call upon the will of those who came before me. I offer myself in their name…"
Golden inscriptions blazed across his armor and arms, flaring brighter than any sun.
"Let my soul be their vessel. Let my body be their flame."
His sword pulsed once—then exploded in divine light.
[Ultimate Divine Skill Activated: Hero's Requiem]
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!!
The sky split open as a choir of unseen voices echoed from the void. Spectral forms began to spiral around Adonis—ghostly warriors clad in ancient armor, their weapons raised in silent salute.
The heroes of old.
They stepped into him, fusing with his form, and the glow around his body expanded until it cloaked the battlefield like a second sun.
The Adrien clone paused, smirking as he tilted his head. "Ah… so that's your final card."
Adonis didn't answer. He vanished.
The air shattered.
WHOOSH!
He reappeared in front of Adrien, driving his blade downward with a thunderous crash that sent shockwaves rippling across the battlefield. Adrien deflected it with a twisting barrier of void, then unleashed a surge of crimson fire.
Adonis raised his hand.
"[Shield of Aeons]"
A shield of golden energy bloomed outward, absorbing the firestorm.
Adrien growled and slammed his palms together. "[Erase Function]!"
The world around Adonis collapsed into a black hole of missing logic—space where even causality was devoured.
But Adonis flared brighter.
"[Inherited Divine Skill: Legacy Severance]." He said.
With a mighty swing, he tore through the collapsing space, resetting the damage, severing Adrien's hold on the laws of reality. The two clashed in the air, blow for blow, light versus void, flame versus shadow.
Adonis darted forward again, faster than before.
"[Heroic Echoes]" Ten golden copies of himself exploded outward, each one striking at Adrien from a different angle.
Adrien blocked three.
Four struck true.
The rest detonated with searing explosions.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!
The clone snarled.
"Void Spell: Nihility Spiral!"
A spiral of interdimensional darkness erupted from him, tearing through everything like a black star. Adonis howled as it struck, armor flaking off in chunks.
His body cracked under the weight.
But he didn't stop.
Not yet.
He gritted his teeth and focused all remaining energy into a single, burning thrust.
"[Final Light – Omega Lancer]!!!" A beam of pure golden power exploded from his blade, colliding with Adrien's chest.
For a moment, silence reigned.
Then…
"ARRRGGHHHHHH!!!" The Adrien clone screamed as the light pierced him—burning his body from within.
He reached out, his form crumbling, trying to take something—anything—with him.
But it was too late.
With a final cry, Adrien's clone exploded into golden motes, vanishing completely.
WHUUUUUM!
"Ahhh…"
Adonis dropped to his knees, his sword clattering beside him.
He looked up to the silent battlefield. The Fairy King. The Oracle. Lucielle—barely breathing.
They were alive.
And the enemy was gone.
The power that had surged through him faded. His limbs no longer moved. The radiant light in his eyes flickered.
Lucielle, now conscious, crawled toward him, dragging her body with trembling arms.
"Adonis… Adonis, stay with me."
The Fairy King knelt beside her, silent tears streaming down his cheeks. The Oracle leaned forward, whispering prayers under her breath.
Adonis smiled, looking at all of them. "I'm glad… I was able to protect you…"
His body began to glow—fragments of golden dust flaking from his skin.
"Thank you…" Lucielle whispered, voice cracking. "You saved us all."
Adonis looked up at the sky.
"No need for thanks. I only fulfillled my role and kept my promise. My only regret… is that I won't get to see the peace that follows…"
Everyone bowed their head as they heard the Hero's selfless words.
Truly, he had saved them.
With joint voices that seemed to echo throughout the entire Northern Continent and even pervade the world of H'Trae, the survivors knelt in gratitude.
"Thank you, Hero!"
Adonis smiled, closing his eyes as he accepted his fate… feeling the end draw near.
Then a cold shadow fell across the world.
The ground trembled as a new presence made itself known. Space rippled violently—and a new Adrien emerged.
Not a clone, or a version.
—The real one!
His presence was wrong. Terrifying. Pure interdimensional void bled from his form like ink in water. His eyes were no longer human.
He stood amidst the ruin, arms folded, smiling.
"Well done," he said, amused. "You defeated that version, huh? I had high hopes for that one."
Adonis raised his head slightly.
"You…"
"But now it's my turn," Adrien continued, raising one hand. "No more games."
From the palm of his hand, a sphere of incomprehensible energy formed—distorted, black, chaotic. The very air recoiled from it.
"Anti-Matter Cataclysm."
The sphere expanded rapidly, engulfing the horizon, roaring with apocalyptic power as it surged toward the broken defenders of H'Trae.
Adonis watched it approach.
He had nothing left.
Not a single ounce of power.
He had given everything… and it wasn't enough.
Tears welled in his eyes.
Was this world doomed to die, just like his original one? Had he truly achieved nothing as the Hero? Would he die in vain? Death was not the problem, as he was no longer scared of the concept and even embraced it wholeheartedly.
By dying, he would reunite with his Rey and Lucielle.
No, what really terrified him was the failure that would accompany his death.
He truly did not want to see it.
"I'm sorry…" He whispered, trembling. "I'm… so sorry…"
Right as he uttered those words, the anti-matter blast suddenly froze.
Suspended mid-air.
Crackling with unstable energy… then slowly unraveling into nothingness.
A figure stood between them and the blast. Cloaked in violet and black, coat billowing behind him. Sword on his back. Eyes locked on Adrien.
Rey.
Adonis's breath caught.
"…You're late."
Rey turned, a smile tugging at his lips.
"I know. Sorry about that." He looked at the golden light still flickering inside Adonis's fading form. "It's good to see you again."
Adonis chuckled weakly. "Would've been better… if we had more time."
Rey's gaze softened. He walked closer.
"Yeah. It's a shame."
Adonis coughed, more golden blood spilling from his lips. "Can you… take care of the rest?"
Rey stepped forward, his voice solemn.
"I will. You can rest now, Adonis."
The radiant hero smiled one last time—then his body shimmered, turning to golden light and scattering into the wind.
Lucielle cried out, reaching for him, but the light was already gone.
"Hope you've had your fill," Rey turned slowly, and faced Adrien. "Because this point truly marks your last moments alive."
Adrien frowned as soon as he heard that.
"I'm going to kill you now."