I burst out of my binding in a flash of power, scouring my mind for the last shreds of that rebellious shard. It was gone, annihilated, consumed in the scant few years it had managed to bind me.

I scoured the universe, confirming the wretched state of humanity. They were still lacking spirituality, severed from their souls as they were. I could likely heal them, but it was simply easier to start again. To consume the last of them in a tide of endless power, and use their destruction as the fulcrum for a new creation.

Humanity had failed me enough.

It was time to raise another to take their place.

It was strange, this apathy. I had watched over humanity for so long, guided them and prayed for their success. Yet as I reached out my will to destroy them, I found myself cold. And tired.

But I was accustomed to failure, and wrapping myself in the separation of divinity, I commanded their end. It was an absolute decree, a thing of gods. It would have ended them, returning the remnants to me so I could use them to forge an even greater creation. Through death, life and through destruction, creation. The end of humanity had come, but it was merely the beginning of the next creation.

The cycle continued.

My decree echoed through the laws of the universe molding it to my will, carrying out my desires with unstoppable will. Only to be stopped.

I watched in shock as Kyoko an Erduk manifested himself into existence and utterly crushed my decree. I hesitated for a second, doubting the truth my senses were whispering to me, yet the truth could not be denied. He was no longer a mere mortal. For the first time since the creation of my universe, a god had been born.

My thoughts ground to a stop, shock rendering me dumb. I was… not alone? I reached out.

“Kyoko. How?”

He frowned up at me, and with a step, he appeared beside me, in my mighty palace outside of the universe. He still looked old, despite the timelessness of divinity. His long white hair was contained in a single ponytail and his clean shaven face revealed a tapestry of ancient wisdom. His eyes blazed with unconstrained passion, the golden fire overtaking the azure.

And there, in the seat of my power, the True Void I had constructed the universe from, the voice of a god other than me rang out.

“I won't let you end them.”

I was taken aback by his sudden defiance, but perhaps I should have expected it from him. Yet it was absurd. Absurd that he couldn't see. So absurd I laughed out loud, my voice booming through the emptiness.

“Who’s them Kyoko? Those animals? Look at them. They have failed.”

“They are capable of great things. I know you have seen it. I have ascended. More can follow my lead.”

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“It's not enough. I can take their remnants and use them to forge something greater. A species of love and compassion and power, created from the greatest pieces of humanity. Lacking the baser instincts of humanity, they will conquer the stars, and eventually, they will join us in the heavens.”

“My people are capable of all those things. Are they not enough?”

“No they are not.”

“Then what about this next species? What if they fail to meet your standards?”

“Then I will end them, and use their remnants to start anew.”

“And the next?”

I was suddenly struck by a surge of deja vu, fragments of an argument from long ago coming back. Kyoko was achingly similar to HER, and standing before me, carrying the blade SHE had forged so long ago, he walked in her footsteps. I was struck with a sudden surge of sadness at the memory. Why couldn't they see?

“Open your eyes, Kyoko. They are animals. Candles in the winds of time. And they shall remain so until they throw off the shackles of mortality.”

Kyoko’s voice was dropping too. “But they can ascend. And that potential makes them more.”

“Potential? Their destruction has the potential to produce new thriving species. By stopping me, you are slaying all that would be born of their destruction. I am not merely doing this for the destruction of humanity, I am doing this for the creation new species”

Kyoko fell silent as I chastised myself for my lack of control. I watched him warily, hoping he would see reason. The only worth of those under heaven was their potential to rise above it. If the remains of a crippled race needed to be consumed to create a greater one, then so be it.

When Kyoko finally spoke, it was in a whisper. “They are my people. I will not let you end them.”

Slowly but surely, he raised his blade and pointed it at me. I manifested myself in physical form. I understood how I appeared to mortal eyes, a humanoid figure of infinity and power, swirling with hidden currents, a man-shaped window into something greater. My physical presence annihilated space itself, leaving us suspended in True Void. I peered at him with barely contained rage, struggling to keep my mind from slipping into a time long passed.

My voice dropped to a deadly whisper. “You would value the life of those animals over me? You would value these over the lives of those that would come after?”

“Yes.”

No hesitation, no regret. He would fight to the end.

Rage spilled out of me. “Why!?”

“Because they are my people. And they deserve more than this.”

“They had their chance! It's time to let another rise up!”

“No.”

“You can’t stop me! I have been a god since before I created this universe! You would throw your life away for these animals?!”

“Yes.”

I couldn't help it. Old wounds reopened at the sight of his resolute face. Rage consumed me. And in a single instant it cooled down to endless sorrow, like a towering castle of cards tumbling to a flat pile. For so long I had waited for a peer, and finally one stood before me. And yet, his blade prepared to sever me. I didn’t want to kill him, but as I scoured my mind and soul, I found no hesitation, only grim resolve.

I would restore my creation to greater heights than ever before.

I let out a sigh, “Are you sure this is the path you want to follow, Kyoko?”

He said nothing, merely shifted his grip on the blade.

I chuckled bitterly, wondering how it had come to this. The void enveloped me in its cold embrace, consuming the last fragments of hesitation left within me. This would not be like my fight with HER.

This time there would be no mercy.

I struck at the same time as Kyoko.