Eden.
As Ice Queen stood before the ice wall, a tall and slender woman arrived behind her.
This woman was in her late thirties, with amber hair that was tied in a bun, and rosy brown skin complexion. She was dressed in a warrior outfit, revealing a bit of her smooth skin, radiating intense charm.
When one looks at her, they wouldn’t be able to concentrate on her charm or beauty though.
The reason?
She emitted the feeling of sharpness like a piercing sword, making one tremble and feel as if their hearts were stabbed!
And that was to be expected! On Eden, beside Ice Queen, she was the strongest mutant!
"Your Highness, are you alright?" The woman kneeled down and asked.
She was surprised when the palace guards informed her that Ice Queen has gone to the shore. As far as she knew, the Highness only did such a thing when she was unsettled.
But what could unsettle her?
If she wasn’t mistaken, the Highness has asked to be left alone for attending the World Council meeting.
Could something have happened there?
"I’m fine, Martha," Ice Queen replied while lowering her hand. "It was just that I felt something I haven’t in a long time."
"What exactly?" Martha asked.
"Resonance."
Martha was confused by the response, but her queen didn’t explain any further. And she didn’t dare demand more details.
"Let’s leave."
Stepping towards the palace, Ice Queen ran a finger over the back of her right hand, feeling a pulsing sensation from the shard of Cosmic Spark!
******
Delta City.
After regaining his energy, Hyperion became relaxed and confident in defeating the Genesis’ host, Extermination. And he has reasons to be confident! He had recovered 10% of his true strength!
Perhaps, when someone hears 10% strength, they would find it extremely weak, but anyone who witnessed his might till now would know how horrifying even 1% of his strength was!
Then again, that was to be expected! He was a titan! One of the Great Guardians of a higher plane of existence - The Celestial Elysian Plane!
The number of entities that surpassed him even on that plane was limited! Not even fifty! So one could only imagine the depth of his true strength.
But he was no longer relaxed. In fact, he became serious and somewhat tense!
"Cosmic Spark!"
Hyperion gazed at the object he desired to possess until a few moments ago. Looking it floating before Extermination, Hyperion knew he couldn’t afford to be careless.
"The one before him... Kiba... despite the hatred he has for me, he didn’t bring out Cosmic Spark! But Extermination did!"
This astonished Hyperion.
After all, if thought logically and assumed that wielding the Cosmic Spark was possible for a human, then it should have been pulled out by Kiba!
Yet, Extermination who gained sentience not even half an hour was wielding the Cosmic Spark!
"No, I must be overimagining! While I don’t know the reason as to why he was able to take out the Cosmic Spark... there would be no way he can wield its power!"
Hyperion was sure of it. He knew the restrictions that such a powerful treasure offered, especially the one that was contaminated with Eternal Darkness.
"Still, I shouldn’t underestimate him! I have to attack with everything I got from the start!"
Swoosh~!
A vast ocean of light appeared with him as the center. The ocean was dazzling, far brighter than the sun, and emanated off a horrifying presence as it surged with waves of unfathomable might.
"Absolute Light Phyisuqe!" Hyperion lifted his hands up.
Luminescent energy burst forth from the ocean and rapidly poured into his body.
Wherever this energy swept through, that part became an embodiment of pure light. It didn’t matter if they were his hellish claws, terrifying horns, or even his piercing four eyes.
His entire being turned into the light! There was no longer any blood, flesh, veins, or bones inside him!
Such change ensured he was no longer restricted by the chains that bind every physical entity.
"Now I don’t have to worry about getting infected with Genesis!"
Hyperion roared.
In the entire universe, light has the greatest speed. It could almost travel 200 miles in the span of a millisecond.
Such speed was beyond understanding.
And Extermination faced such a speed!
The ocean of light swept forward, instantly submerging the twenty kilometers between Hyperion and Extermination. As it arrived near Extermination, it collided with the grayness that shrouded the entire area.
With seething sounds, they blend with each other, fighting for supremacy. Corrosive smoke swept through them, making space distort.
As this happened, from Hyperion, strands of sharp light rippled out and turned into enormous rings of light. They floated behind him, spinning in a planetary formation.
"Sealing Hex!" Hyperion commanded.
The ocean of light blent with grayness solidified before freezing into a glacier. The grayness froze, encased within the light glacier.
Extermination didn’t react to this development, but Hyperion did. The rings of light charged forward, radiating no heat, and yet so intense with light that space melted.
Between the rings, Hyperion flew, like the sun between the planets. He raised his claws diagonally and then slashed out.
RUMBLEEE
The sky and the ground split open. Between them, the intersection of light claw marks wove into a net and crashed on Extermination along with rings of light.
Just before the crash, in front of Extermination, a gigantic crescent-shaped gray wave sprang into existence.
It smashed into the spinning rings of light and net of claw marks!
Destructive sounds rang out while light violently spilled outward. The net faded while the rings of light pushed through the wave, trying to complete their objective.
Even as this happened, Hyperion clenched his gargantuan claws into fists and bombarded down on Extermination.
"Thankfully he was only at the initial step of corruption!" Hyperion thought with a smile. "As such, he couldn’t use true offensive attacks related to Genesis!"
As the fists moved, cracks erupted on space as if it was a mirror surface that was smashed, emitting turbulent spatial ripples.
The fists carried a strength far imposing than the explosion of ten thousand grand mountains!
BOOOOM
The fists made contact with the negligible-size body of Extermination, twisting with their detonating might.
The impact burst a depthless crater into the ground while the fissure in the sky exploded.
~crack~
Extermination’s body shook and fissures appeared throughout, emitting blinding energy.
Hyperion grinned and moved his fists back to punch again when his expression changed. He quickly spun his body as he noticed Extermination stretching a hand.
Swirling mass of grayness explosively rose before Extermination and through it, a beam erupted.
"Damn! Just like before, he could use elementary attacks! I can’t forget that!"
Hyperion’s speed was beyond comprehension but the same applied to the beam!
The beam channeled the potent energy of power Cosmic, bursting with corrupted Genesis. It blasted through the rings of light that just destroyed the crescent-shaped gray wave and flew straight towards Hyperion.
Even though Hyperion was made of light, he did have a bit restrictions due to the dual nature of light. There was a chance for the cosmic beam to exploit that!
Something Hyperion didn’t want!
With everything he has, he avoided the beam. It swept past his head and shot into the sky, instantly emerging in the outer space.
In front of it, a government-owned defense satellite floated.
BANG
The beam smashed on the satellite, wrapping it with grayness before exploding.
At the same time, inside the military command center linked with the satellite.
The generals and researchers were observing regular data when the supercomputers and processing units short-circuited. All the connections became hay-wire and the monitor screens turned menacing gray.
"What on Earth is going on?!"
Everyone inside the headquarters was terrified. They felt if not for the physical limitations, the gray would jump out of the monitors and swallow them.
****
Meanwhile, despite the rings of light being burst apart, they reformed back!
Emitting piercing radiance, they rushed at Extermination just as the cosmic beam disappeared from his hand.
By the time he lowered his hand, they swirled around his body, constricting swiftly on him.
"Absolute Light Sealing Formation!"
Hyperion shouted.
The rings bolstered, growing longer and thicker, surging with sealing runes. In the span of milliseconds, Extermination was sealed.
Hyperion’s aim was not killing Extermination but sealing him. Killing would mean freeing Genesis and giving it an opportunity to search for a new host!
As the sealing completed, Hyperion’s eyes flickered. Cracks snapped on the rings, quickly spreading throughout, and within them, rays of gray cosmic energy exploded out.
The sealing formation crumbled down, and through the falling runes, Extermination stepped out.
Hyperion grunted.
He guessed Extermination projected cosmic energy from his entire being to destroy the sealing formation.
He also knew it must have cost Extermination a great amount of power.
"But something is strange though! He isn’t taking any lead to attack me!"
Hyperion was startled for more than one reason.
Sure, he understood that he has the extraordinary advantage of momentum, but Extermination hadn’t used his strength unless it was absolutely necessary! Even when he acted, it was always at the last moment.
Hyperion gazed at Extermination and then the Cosmic Spark flying before making a decision.
BOOOM
His grand aura rose explosively. The boundless hidden reserve of power he was holding erupted like a volcano.
Whoosh~!
The next instant, everything turned silent.
The frightening spatial winds disappeared, the violent shockwaves faded, and everything else vanished.
There was no one but Hyperion. It was like he became the center of the universe.
"If sealing you is impossible," Hyperion announced. "Then I would obliterate you along with Genesis!"