Without a second thought, he opened his maw and swallowed the egg whole.
The moment it slid down his throat, the world seemed to shatter.
An explosion of light detonated within him, setting his nerves ablaze. It wasn’t the warm, nourishing light he expected—it was searing, violent, like his insides were being scorched from the inside out. Arthur’s entire body convulsed, his massive frame wracked with pain as if his own blood had turned into molten lava.
The light inside him fought—no, it warred—with the darkness that had already taken root in his core. His Void Core, the very essence of his being, rejected the light as if it were poison.
Arthur gasped, his breath ragged. His muscles strained, and his scales began to pulse, flashing from deep, abyssal black to a radiant, blinding white. The contrast was striking—his body flickered like a beacon, each pulse threatening to tear him apart.
No, no... this isn’t right!
The pain was unimaginable, as though his body was being stretched to its limits, the light and darkness battling for dominance within him. His vision blurred, spots of white overtaking his sight as he stumbled backward. The balance was slipping. If he couldn’t control it, if he didn’t rein it in, he would be torn in two.
With great effort, Arthur let out a guttural roar, his voice reverberating through the cavern, shaking the very crystals that surrounded him. His claws dug into the ground beneath him, and he forced his focus inward, commanding the two warring elements to obey.
I am the one in control. Not you.
The light pulsed again, searing through his veins, but Arthur gritted his teeth and shoved it down. He could feel his Void Core resisting, pushing against the foreign energy with all its might, but Arthur refused to let it win. He was stronger than this. His will, his desire for power, was stronger.
Bit by bit, he forced the light and darkness to coexist. Slowly, agonizingly, the war inside him began to settle, the two forces no longer trying to destroy one another but instead... merging. His scales still flickered, but this time, the pulses became rhythmic, the flashes of black and white syncing as though his body was finally finding its balance.
Then, with a sudden rush, the pain subsided. The light did not disappear—it tempered itself, melding into his Void Core, becoming a part of him. The feeling was unlike anything he had experienced before—a perfect harmony between the abyss and the radiant.
Just as he caught his breath, the system chimed.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
Congratulations for being the third creature to have both the primal elements of Light & Darkness coexist at your will.
Arthur blinked, the words barely sinking in. Only two others? He didn’t have time to dwell on it, because the next notification sent a chill through his spine.
[WARNING: The Light is approaching...]
Before he could process what that meant, Arthur felt a sudden pull. The world around him dissolved into nothingness, and in the next instant, he found himself standing on a different plane altogether—a mindscape of some sort.
Clear, shimmering sands stretched infinitely in all directions, glowing under the gentle warmth of a heavenly light that poured from above. The light here wasn’t harsh like before—it was pure, almost peaceful. And yet, there was something unnerving about it. Arthur’s instincts screamed danger, though he couldn’t immediately see why.
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Then he did.
A figure appeared, materializing from the light itself. It was beautiful, terrifyingly so. A creature with an angelic, bipedal form, towering at the same size as Arthur, with wings that shimmered like ethereal butterfly wings—delicate but somehow more powerful than any weapon. Its eyes burned with fury, radiant and scorching, and its very presence made Arthur feel as though he were being judged by something far beyond his understanding.
The Titan of Light.
“You...” the Titan’s voice was like a choir of a thousand angry gods, each syllable dripping with fury. “You dare devour my descendant?”
Arthur’s body tensed. He couldn’t win. He couldn’t fucking win.
Arthur barely had time to react.
Before he could even brace himself, the Titan moved—no, it blurred. One moment it was in front of him, its angelic form towering above the glowing sands, and the next, it had closed the distance between them with terrifying speed. Arthur’s eyes barely registered the movement before the Titan’s fist connected with his jaw. The force was unlike anything he had ever experienced—far more than the brutal slugs he had fought in the past. This was pure, celestial might, a power born from light itself.
The impact sent him flying across the sands, his body crashing against the ground like a ragdoll. He skidded to a halt, pain radiating through every bone in his body. His jaw throbbed, his vision blurred, but he could still see the Titan’s form stalking toward him.
Before he could rise, another strike came—this time to his midsection. The Titan’s fist sunk into his ribs, and Arthur felt something crack. He gasped, his mouth filling with blood as he doubled over, his entire body screaming in agony. The ground trembled with every blow, and Arthur knew, deep down, that he was completely outmatched.
The Titan was on him again, faster than he could react. Another blow slammed into his skull, sending him tumbling backward. Arthur tried to fight back, his claws lashing out in desperation, but it was like trying to fight the wind. His attacks were slow, lumbering, and the Titan danced around them with ease. The Titan’s eyes, filled with righteous fury, narrowed as it dodged each of Arthur’s swipes, barely exerting any effort.
Arthur tried to channel the darkness within him, the new power he had gained. And, he didn’t know how but, the darkness flared to life, wrapping around his claws like tendrils of shadow.
But of course, the Titan swatted it away with a single movement, its wings shimmering with radiant light.
The Titan’s voice was cold, filled with fury as it spoke again, “You dare use the darkness against me?”
Its hand shot out, grabbing Arthur by the throat with effortless strength. Arthur gasped, his body thrashing as he tried to free himself from the Titan’s grip, but it was no use. The Titan lifted him off the ground as though he weighed nothing, its glowing eyes boring into his soul.
“I loved my descendants,” the Titan snarled, its voice trembling with barely contained rage. “Each one of them was precious to me. And you... you consumed them.”
Arthur’s claws scraped uselessly at the Titan’s arm, his muscles straining as he tried to break free. His molten claws, his strength, everything that had made him feel invincible until now, was utterly meaningless in the face of the Titan’s overwhelming power. It was like trying to tear through steel with bare hands.
The Titan squeezed tighter, its grip cutting off Arthur’s air, the light from its eyes growing brighter, more dangerous. Arthur's vision blurred, and his lungs burned as he struggled to breathe. His Void Core pulsed in protest, darkness trying to rise within him, but every time it did, the Titan’s light smothered it, stamping it out with ease.
Arthur tried to fight back—he really did.
With one final surge of effort, he let out a feral growl, his claws flashing as he swung them at the Titan’s face. This time, the attack connected, leaving a shallow gash on the Titan’s cheek.
The Titan froze.
For a moment, Arthur thought he had managed to turn the tide. But the look in the Titan’s eyes told him otherwise.
The Titan’s fury exploded.
It slammed Arthur into the ground with enough force to shake the entire mindscape. The sands trembled beneath them, cracks forming in the clear earth as Arthur’s body sunk into the ground. Pain erupted through his entire frame, his bones screaming as if they were being torn apart. And before he could recover, the Titan was on him again.
Its fists rained down like meteors, each blow hitting harder than the last. Arthur felt his scales shatter, his flesh tearing under the relentless assault. His vision swam as blood filled his mouth, the metallic taste coating his tongue as he gasped for air.
Every attempt to fight back only seemed to make the Titan more furious.
Arthur’s claws scraped uselessly against the sand as he tried to rise, but the Titan’s foot came down on his back, pinning him to the ground. It pressed harder, and Arthur felt his ribs groan under the pressure, threatening to snap.
“I will see to it,” the Titan whispered, its voice filled with cold wrath, “that you are erased.”
Arthur’s heart pounded in his chest as the Titan raised its glowing hand. Light poured from its palm, radiating with an intensity that made Arthur’s eyes burn just to look at it.
This is it, he thought, his mind reeling from the sheer brutality of the assault. He had faced death before, but this... this was different. There was no escape, no last-minute save, no trick he could pull to get out of this one. He was finished.
The light grew brighter, almost blinding now.
I’m going to die…
…
..
.