A Failed Hero's Voyage Chapter 22: Chapter 22: Unsealed

Read chapter 22 of A Failed Hero's Voyage by churro on NovelPedia.

A realm lay in ruin, emptied of light and meaning, its stars extinguished as though devoured by an unseen will, its planets reduced to drifting carcasses of stone and ash, all bearing silent witness to a battle too vast for any world to contain, fragments of flesh floated through the void, charred limbs, shattered bone, torn muscle, each piece belonging to a single man who refused to die, whose divine body rebuilt itself again and again despite the violence inflicted upon it, yet now even that regeneration had begun to slow, as if the realm itself resisted sustaining him any longer. For a fleeting moment, the expanse seemed still, lifeless and abandoned, yet that illusion shattered as reality itself cracked like glass, and from those fractures erupted two streaks of light: one a blinding, hollow white that swallowed all color, the other a radiant gold that burned with divine authority, they surged forward without form, colliding again and again with enough force to unravel space, their impacts rippling outward and destabilizing the already dying realm until its structure began to collapse under their weight. They vanished, then reappeared across the cosmos in the same instant. Distance had lost meaning. Speed had become irrelevant. Both had transcended it. They phased in and out of existence, tearing through layers of reality as if they were fragile shells, their clashes echoing across dimensions until, at last, the realm could endure no more, it shattered completely, splintering into fragments that peeled away to reveal the greater universe beyond, vast and indifferent, yet even that boundless expanse failed to contain them as their battle continued without hesitation, without restraint. Then, impact came. The white light surged forward and struck the golden one with overwhelming force, sending it hurtling backward through existence itself, crashing through reality after reality like mirrors breaking under strain, until finally it came to rest upon the barren, lifeless planet where the battle had first begun. Atherius emerged from the fading gold, his body collapsing against the cold stone, his breath ragged and uneven as blood spilled from his mouth, his vision blurred, his limbs trembled, yet even now he forced himself upward, dragging his broken form to his knees before vomiting what little strength remained within him, his body struggling to repair itself but failing to keep pace with the damage it had sustained. Above him, a figure cloaked in pure darkness watched in silence. Then the white light descended. It dimmed slowly, revealing Dracronith once more, yet the dragon that stood before him was no longer the being of overwhelming majesty from before, three of its four horns had been shattered, its body torn and uneven, scales missing and replaced by scarred flesh, its once-great wings reduced to two ruined remnants riddled with holes, barely capable of holding shape. Both stood at the edge of collapse. Both remained standing. Dracronith regarded Atherius for a moment, then spoke, his voice quieter now, yet still steady. “It seems… we have reached our limit, hero.” Atherius lifted his head slowly, processing the words through the haze of exhaustion before letting out a faint, breathless chuckle. “…Seems that way,” he admitted, his voice rough as he spat blood onto the ground. “How long… has it been?” Dracronith’s gaze shifted briefly, as though measuring something beyond perception, before a faint grin touched his ruined form. “Nearly a month. I doubt your divinity will sustain you for another half hour.” Atherius laughed weakly at that, though there was no denial in it, he could feel it, his heart slowing, his divine power faltering, his body approaching a limit he had once believed did not exist. And yet… He did not despair. Dracronith let out a low chuckle, then straightened what remained of his form. “Then let us finish this,” he said. “One final clash.” Atherius looked up at him, something softer flickering behind