A Failed Hero's Voyage Chapter 21: Chapter 21: A Battle Without End

Read chapter 21 of A Failed Hero's Voyage by churro on NovelPedia.

Atherius and Dracronith hovered within a dead, lightless expanse, their gazes locked as the final remnants of starlight vanished, replaced by an overwhelming array of suspended weapons, each one a condensed fragment of annihilation, each carrying enough force to erase what should not be killable. For a fleeting moment, nothing moved. The realm itself seemed to hold still, as though even existence hesitated to witness what was about to unfold. Then everything erupted at once. Their arsenals surged forward in perfect unison, colliding in a catastrophic convergence that defied scale. Each impact carried the force of a collapsing star, chaining into successive detonations that fractured space and sent violent shockwaves tearing outward in all directions. Meteors, drifting debris, and even the distant remains of dead worlds were erased outright, unable to withstand the sheer density of power released. Light and darkness clashed in rapid succession, each explosion feeding the next, until the battlefield itself became a storm of unraveling reality. And at the center of it all, Atherius and Dracronith remained, anchored and unmoving, as though both had already accepted that survival lay not in avoidance, but in dominance. Dracronith acted first. Its wings shifted once, subtle, almost imperceptible, and then it was gone. Not through speed, nor displacement, but through absence, as though it had stepped outside the boundaries of existence itself. Atherius reacted instantly, his perception expanding as he pivoted and struck into the empty space, but the moment his fist connected with empty space, something answered. A massive construct of radiant force manifested at the point of contact, colliding with Dracronith as it reappeared, the blow catching along one of its wings and driving its colossal form backward through space. Atherius did not pause to confirm the hit. He was already moving. He closed the distance in an instant, following through with a second strike that crashed into the dragon’s chest and forced it further back, but retaliation came just as quickly. An unseen force slammed into his side with crushing weight, bypassing his perception entirely until the moment of impact, and his body fractured under it, bones splintering, form collapsing, only to be restored in the same breath as divine energy reasserted control. He stabilized mid-motion, forcing space itself to solidify beneath his feet, anchoring himself as though standing on invisible ground. His gaze snapped upward just as Dracronith’s maw began to glow once more, the gathering energy warping everything around it. Another beam. Atherius moved without hesitation, launching himself aside as the attack erupted, but this time, it did not simply pass. The beam bent. It followed. Darkness curved through the realm with deliberate intent, tracking him with predatory precision as though guided by something beyond physical law. Atherius’s expression tightened as he adjusted his movement, accelerating, shifting direction, altering vectors in rapid succession in an attempt to break its lock, but the attack remained fixed, closing the distance with relentless inevitability. 'It’s tracking me.' His thoughts sharpened, calculations unfolding instantly as he searched for an answer, an angle, a disruption, anything that would break its pursuit, and then Dracronith appeared directly in front of him. The shift was instantaneous. Atherius’s eyes widened as a massive claw descended toward him, its path absolute and unavoidable. He twisted violently, narrowly evading the strike as his body slipped past the dragon’s reach, and in that same instant, the pursuing beam collided with its own origin. The impact detonated across Dracronith’s form. Darkness consumed light in a violent surge, engulfing the dragon in its own attack and forcing a guttural reaction from it as the energy collapsed inward. For the briefest moment, its body faltered within the explosion, its form destabilizing under the fo