Chapter 149
The ground trembled as Mydei’s aura surged, dark energy radiating in unstable pulses. The sky cracked with thunder, bleeding streaks of violet and black across the clouds as the remnants of the dreamscape bled into the real world. His silhouette flickered, caught between the man he once was and the god-like vessel he had become.
Yuri and Firefly stood side by side, resolute.
"Last chance, Mydei," Yuri said, his voice like tempered steel. "Stand down. We can find a way—"
"There is no way," Mydei spat, eyes glowing with ancient fury. "Only absolution through oblivion!"
He launched forward, a shockwave splitting the earth beneath him. Chasms ripped across the battlefield, the air tearing with the force of his charge. Entire slabs of shattered terrain rose and twisted, caught in the gravitational backlash of his power.
Yuri reacted instantly, conjuring a temporal gate in front of them. Mydei’s fist passed through it—only to re-emerge behind him. But Firefly was ready, intercepting the blow with a barrier of light that shattered on impact, throwing her back. She hit the ground hard, skipping across scorched stone before catching herself mid-roll and launching into the air.
Yuri used the moment to strike, blades of time-energy spiraling from his hands in rapid succession. Mydei twisted mid-air, absorbing them into the chaotic aura swirling around him, each hit fueling the unstable storm at his core.
"Your tricks won’t work forever, brother," Mydei snarled. "I know them all."
"Maybe," Yuri muttered, "but I’ve evolved since you left."
He triggered a collapse-point—a distortion field that bent gravity itself. Mydei was yanked downward into a crater of crushing pressure, but before Yuri could follow through, black tendrils of chaos erupted from the pit. They lashed out, striking Yuri across the chest and sending him tumbling.
Firefly returned, wings of energy erupting behind her, radiant and searing.