“ZERO!”
Selvaron’s voice roared across the battlefield like a thunderclap.
His confidence surged higher than ever before.
His eyes burned with divine resolve as his body radiated pure lunar energy.
With a single wave of his hand, he activated the ability he trusted above all else.
The same power that had saved him countless times throughout history.
The one technique he believed in more than anything else.
“MOON ANNIHILATION!”
A thick tremor rumbled across the domain as the moon above pulsed violently.
A massive set of symbols began circling its eye.
The very air bent around it.
[Effect: Harvest the full power of the moon within your domain and command it to unleash an obliterating assault that will erase all beings and structures caught within its range.]
Fwish! Fwish! Fwish!
The [Blood Moon] blinked once, twice, thrice.
Each blink sent a massive wave of pressure down upon them.
Then, in an instant, a devastating core of lunar energy gathered at its center, chaotic, dense, radiating annihilation.
The moment it reached full charge, time itself felt as though it faltered.
But right then, just as the moon prepared to launch the apocalyptic strike,
“I knew you’d do this,” Kaelios spoke suddenly, cutting through the rising hum like a knife.
His voice was light, amused, completely unfazed.
Selvaron froze.
Kaelios chuckled.
“Too bad for you.”
And then…
Fwish! Boom!
But the explosion didn’t come from the moon.
Instead, a golden light tore across the sky from above, crashing directly into the [Blood Moon] with terrifying force.
It wasn’t part of Selvaron’s spell, it was something else entirely.
A radiant orb of fate, bursting with chaotic golden flames, had landed directly on the eye of the moon.
And Alex, stunned for only a brief second, understood it immediately.
‘Fated Cataclysm?!’
Everything clicked.
Kaelios had willingly sacrificed seventy of his destiny points, knowingly putting himself into a life-or-death scenario.
He had thrown that orb earlier, not at his enemies, but at the moon itself.
It hadn’t been a reckless move. It had been a masterstroke.
The impact was cataclysmic.
The golden explosion consumed the [Blood Moon], striking at its very core before the lunar weapon could finish gathering its energy.
The golden flames wormed their way into every crevice of its magical construction.
The result? Unprecedented.
Cracks splintered across the surface of the moon.
Its eye, once glowing with annihilation, twitched violently before snapping shut.
The entire construct let out a guttural hum, almost like a living creature gasping for breath, and then,
Crack! Boom!
The [Blood Moon] shattered into jagged chunks of rock and energy, collapsing in on itself as golden light consumed what remained.
It didn’t even have time to withdraw its magic.
Kaelios’ [Fated Cataclysm] had detonated point-blank.
There was no defense against something like that.
“No…” Selvaron’s voice trembled as his eyes widened in disbelief, “No…! WHAT?!”
He stared upward at the broken sky, frozen in place, his body unable to process what he was witnessing.
“That’s… not possible…” he muttered.
For the first time in this battle, and maybe in centuries, he had no answer.
No strategy. No backup plan. The [Blood Moon] was gone.
In his own domain, under his own rules, the moon had been destroyed.
“You relied too much on that moon,” Alex’s voice rang out sharply, confident now, calm even.
He stepped forward, blood swirling around him like a living storm.
“Looks like it wasn’t strong enough to protect you.”
Selvaron turned just in time to see it,
A barrage of [Giant Blood Blades], dozens upon dozens of them, screamed through the air toward him like red comets.
His body tried to move, to summon another shield, another defense, but he was far too slow.
Fwshhh! Crash!
The [Moonlight Barrier], no longer powered by the now-destroyed moon, cracked instantly and shattered like glass.
The blades tore through his body from every angle, slamming into him with brutal force.
“GAAHH—” Selvaron choked, blood spilling from his mouth and eyes.
His divine form spasmed as countless holes ripped through him.
Silver blood sprayed in every direction.
“SELVARON!” Lunareth’s scream cut through the chaos.
Her silver wings flared out as she dashed forward with all the divine might she could summon, trying to protect her god.
“NO!”
But…
Chains of Inevitability.
Kaelios moved behind her, sacrificing another fifteen Destiny Points to summon dozens of golden chains that exploded out of the ground and wrapped around Lunareth’s legs, arms, and wings.
They tightened with divine precision, pinning her in place.
“Wait—no—NO!”
But it was already too late.
Selvaron looked up with barely a flicker of life left in his eyes, and saw Alex, his left arm cloaked in the crimson glow of the [Bleeding Dragon Claws], stepping toward him.
Crimson power radiated from his eyes like embers ready to consume the world.
“Goodbye,” Alex whispered softly.
SWISH! SWASH!
Alex’s clawed hand struck again and again, slicing into Selvaron’s throat, tearing into the divine threads holding him together.
The final blow cut straight through his neck, and with a last, gasping breath,
Selvaron, God of the Moon, died.
He hadn’t even managed to unleash his full power. Not truly.
And for a god who had ruled for so long, that was a pathetic end.
Ding!
[You have slain “Selvaron, God of the Moon.”]
The system announcement echoed coldly. But it wasn’t over.
A second message followed immediately after, equally sharp, equally final.
[The “God of the Moon” has been slain. His Chosen One, Lunareth, will now face “Annihilation.”]
Lunareth’s face twisted in horror.
“W-Wait! Please! No—!”
But the divine law showed no mercy.
Her soul shattered violently, breaking apart into millions of glowing fragments as her hollow eyes stared ahead in terror.
Her body fell forward lifelessly, silver wings twitching once before going still.
Ding!
[The Chosen One of the Moon, Lunareth, has perished as the god she was linked to is no more.]
Alex stood quietly, watching her body fall.
“Damn,” he muttered under his breath, “So if I lose… that’s how it ends, huh?”
“Don’t feel too bad,” Kaelios replied, groaning as he rolled his shoulders, “If you die, I’m pretty much out too.”
“Yeah.”
Alex offered a faint smile, though his expression didn’t soften much.
Then…
Ding! Ding! Ding!
[You have completed the Elimination Round and survived your battle. Congratulations, FateBreaker and Kaelios.]
Both of them exhaled in relief.
Alex stepped forward and knelt beside Selvaron’s ruined corpse, reaching out his palm and placing it gently over the god’s chest.
“Extraction,” he whispered.
A dull glow spread from his hand.
[You have extracted a “Moon Shard” (Forbidden)]
[Description: A fragment of the moon Selvaron controlled. It has little practical use but serves as proof of your victory.]
Alex eyed the shimmering shard for a moment before slipping it into his [Digital Inventory Watch].
As for Lunareth, there was nothing left to extract.
Her soul had been annihilated, nothing remained.
Still… the battle was over.
[You will now be returned to your chambers. All abilities and skills will be fully reset.]
And just like that, the colosseum vanished around them in a flash of blue light.
A moment later, Alex and Kaelios stood once more in the small, windowless room they had started in.
Two beds sat side by side with their names etched into the frames.
“Welp,” Alex muttered as he dropped onto the mattress, folding his arms behind his head, “Guess all we can do is wait now.”
Above them, the familiar panel of nine squares appeared again, each one representing a different match being watched by the outside world.
The figures inside were still blurred out, indistinct shadows, but beneath each square was now a small status panel.
“Look under the squares,” Kaelios said, pointing, “You can actually see which fights are done.”
Sure enough, Alex looked and saw that the square showing their battle read,
[Status: Completed]
[Winners: FateBreaker and Kaelios]
The square next to theirs read something different,
[Status: Ongoing]
[Winners: ???]
Out of the nine total squares, five were marked as completed, but for some reason, Alex couldn’t see the winners for any of the others except his own.
That didn’t matter right now though.
He had survived. Now, all he had to do was wait for the rest of the [Elimination Round] to end.
Every second brought him closer to the final stage.
Outside, the world was in chaos.
Spectators were still reeling from the scale of the battles, from the gods that had fallen, and the shocking twists that had unfolded.
News would be spreading fast.
But for now… Alex closed his eyes.
He would rest. Regain his strength. Because when the time came again, He would keep fighting.
Until he was the last one left standing.