Cosmic Dominion: Rise Beyond Realms

The angel descended into the lower realm with a thunderous burst of light, her alabaster wings spreading wide as they slowed her descent. The spear in her hand looked elegant yet deadly. It radiated a soft, golden glow. She paused mid-flight, her gaze sweeping across the endless devastation stretching out before her. Her face hardened with a mix of awe and dread.

Everywhere she looked, galaxies were unravelling into chaos—billions of stars bursting into fiery supernovas, their death cries resonating in the void. The fabric of reality itself seemed to be fraying, cracks splintered through space-time like shattered glass. Massive rifts carved through the cosmos, swallowing stars, debris, and fragments of existence into their infinite darkness.

The angel floated in silence for a moment. Her voice soft but firm, tinged with urgency.

"The goddess was right… This destruction isn't just localised. It's destroying reality itself."

She flew forward, her spear held tightly in her left hand, her glowing wings cutting through the destruction. Each flap of her wings left a faint trail of light. Her heart was heavy. Even as a higher-dimensional being, the scale of this destruction was nearly incomprehensible. She could feel the fabric of creation buckling under the weight of Shin's energy.

"It's him…" she whispered, her voice almost trembling as she tried to steady herself. "But how did he awaken so soon?"

As she soared through the ruins of Earth, what once was, her eyes caught something unusual amidst the devastation.

A figure standing motionless on an enormous slab of shattered debris, the remnants of what seemed to be the Earth's crust. Her breath hitched, and her wings faltered for a brief moment. The figure was looking down, completely still, as if lost in thought or trapped in some unconscious state.

"There you are…" she muttered, her grip tightening on the spear as she cautiously approached.

The closer she got, the more she realised how unstable the energy surrounding him was. The very air near him seemed to crackle with a malevolent force. Rocks and fragments of debris around him floated weightlessly, defying gravity, only to disintegrate into ash when they came too close. The space around him pulsed, warping unnaturally as his presence.

As she drew closer, her voice softened.

 "Ummm… Shin… I've come to help you. Hear me…."

Before she could finish her sentence, Shin's head snapped upward.

The angel froze mid-flight, her spear lowering slightly as she locked eyes with him. It wasn't the man she'd been sent to aid. It wasn't Shin.

Her very soul quivered as her divine senses were overwhelmed by the presence before her. The being looking at her was no longer the desperate, grief-stricken man she was told to find. His eyes burned with a searing, menacing crimson glow, like twin dying stars, devoid of humanity or emotion. A sinister energy rolled off him in waves, suffocating and oppressive. It seeped into every crack of existence, forcing even her, a higher-dimensional being, to feel an overwhelming, primal fear.

"No…" she whispered, her eyes widening as realisation struck. "This isn't him… This is something else…"

Shin's body was covered in an otherworldly armour that radiated malevolence. The armour looked like it had been forged from the abyss itself—black as the void, absorbing all light around it. Crimson veins pulsed like molten lava through its outer layer, giving it an unsettling, almost alive appearance. His chest bore a star-shaped core that pulsed with immeasurable energy. The angular plates and jagged pauldrons gave him an imposing silhouette, and a tattered crimson cape flowed behind him, flickering as if it were caught in an invisible storm of energy.

The angel instinctively raised her spear, her breath quickening as the dark version of Shin tilted his head slightly. His glowing red eyes narrowed as they fixed on her. Even without words, she could feel the cold, calculated malice emanating from him. Like a predator looking at its prey before hunting.

For the first time in aeons, she felt fear grip her heart. Her voice was barely above a whisper as she muttered, "Who… are you?"

Shin—no, the being controlling Shin, let out a low, guttural growl that resonated through the void. His aura intensified, the red energy veins in his armour started to glow brighter as the space around him distorted further.

The angel flinched, her wings twitching instinctively as the air between them seemed to ignite with tension. She tried to steady herself and gripped her spear tightly.

"Shin!" she called out, her voice shaking slightly. "Don't let this darkness consume you!!!"

But the figure before her didn't respond. Instead, a chilling smile spread across his face, twisted and devoid of humanity. The angel's heart sank as she realised the darkness had taken over him completely.

The voice that came from him was guttural, laced with malice, and layered with an eerie duality, as if two beings were speaking in unison.

"Shin is gone..."

The angel's wings flared as she raised her spear, her fear giving way to resolve. "Then I'll drag him back, no matter what it takes."

The being tilted its head again.

"You'll try," it said, its voice echoing like a death knell. "But you will fail."

With that, the dark energy around him started to surge violently. The angel braced herself, her spear glowing brightly as she prepared for what was about to come.

The silence of the void was shattered as the angel launched herself forward, her spear aimed directly at the dark figure. The glowing tip of her weapon radiated divine energy, opposite to the darkness surrounding Shin's counterpart.

With a terrifying speed that was almost the same as hers, the dark Shin met her charge head-on. His crimson eyes burned with unrelenting malice, and the air around him shimmered with heat as his energy intensified. As Shin's fist and her spear clashed, the sheer force of their collision sent shockwaves rippling outward, tearing through the debris field that surrounded them.

The angel's voice echoed through the destruction, filled with a mix of determination and urgency.

"Shin, if you can hear me, fight this!!! You're stronger than this darkness!"

But the dark counterpart simply smirked.

"Your words are wasted. Shin is nothing more than a memory. What stands before you is the end of all things."

The angel gritted her teeth, her wings beating furiously as she spun mid-air, using the momentum to drive her spear in a wide arc. The glowing weapon slashed through the space between them, leaving a radiant trail, but the dark figure dodged effortlessly, moving with an unnatural fluidity.

He countered with a devastating heat vision blast. Twin beams of molten-red energy erupted from his eyes. The angel barely managed to dodge the attack. Her wings carried her upward as the beams carved through the debris field, obliterating everything in their path.

"Is that all you've got?!" she taunted, twisting her body mid-flight to hurl her spear at him with precision. The spear shot through the void like a comet, its golden glow illuminating the darkness.

The dark Shin raised a hand, and with a flick of his wrist, the spear was deflected, spiralling off-course and embedding itself into a distant chunk of planetary debris, shattering it into pieces. He smirked, his eyes narrowing as he locked onto her again.

The angel's breath quickened, but she refused to back down. With a burst of speed, she closed the distance between them. Her fists were glowing with divine energy as she unleashed a flurry of strikes. Each punch landed with the force of a collapsing star, sending shockwaves.

The dark Shin, unfazed, countered with his own devastating blows. Their fists collided mid-air, creating explosions of energy that lit up the void like dying stars. Each collision sent shockwaves tearing through the surrounding space, scattering debris and creating cracks in the already fragile fabric of reality.

"You're persistent, I'll give you that," the dark Shin growled, his voice layered with disdain. "But persistence won't be enough to save you."

He unleashed another blast of heat vision, this time sweeping it in a wide arc. The beams cut through the debris field, incinerating everything in their path and forcing the angel to dive and weave through the destruction. The intense heat singed the edges of her wings, but she pressed on. With a terrifying speed, she closed the distance once more.

"You talk too much," she snapped, her voice sharp as she drove her fist into his chest. The impact sent the dark Shin hurtling backwards, slamming into a massive fragment of planetary debris. The chunk of rock and metal exploded on impact, scattering into countless smaller fragments.

For a moment, the dark Shin didn't move. The angel hovered in place. Her chest rose and fell as she caught her breath. But the stillness didn't last long. The dark Shin emerged from the rubble. His armour was scorched but unbroken. His glowing red eyes burned brighter, and the twisted grin on his face widened.

"My turn," he said coldly.

Without warning, he surged forward with blinding speed, closing the distance between them in an instant. His fists, charged with crimson energy, crashed into her with enough force to send her reeling. The angel recovered quickly, countering with a kick that sent him spinning through the void, but he stopped himself mid-flight, his cape billowing as he steadied himself.

The fight intensified with each passing moment. The two beings clashed in a flurry of blows that shook the very fabric of space around them. Each strike was a cataclysm. The remaining fragments of the destroyed planet were reduced to dust, and the cracks in space-time started to widen with each collision.

As the battle raged on, their movements became a blur. The angel's spear glowed brilliantly as she summoned it back to her hand, using it to deflect another heat vision blast that would have vaporised her on impact. The golden light of her weapon clashed against the crimson beams, which created an explosion of energy that lit up the void like a newborn star.

"You can't keep this up forever!" she shouted, her voice strained but defiant. "You'll never win!"

The dark Shin only laughed. "Win? This isn't about winning. This is about ending everything."

He unleashed another blast of heat vision. This time, aiming it at the debris around them. The beams ricocheted off the fragments, changing trajectory mid-flight and forcing the angel to dodge in unpredictable patterns. One beam grazed her shoulder, searing through her armour and leaving a smoking wound. She winced in pain but didn't falter.

She could feel the darkness radiating from Shin's counterpart, growing stronger with each passing moment.

"I won't let you destroy everything," she said, her voice resolute. "Even if it costs me everything, I'll bring him back."

The dark Shin tilted his head, his glowing eyes narrowing.

"Bring me back? Interesting…." he repeated, his voice laced with mockery. "You don't seem to understand. There is no 'bringing back.' There is only the end."

The two stared at each other as they prepared for the next phase of their battle. The destruction they had caused was already unimaginable, but both knew the fight was far from over.

TO BE CONTINUED