“Light?” the darkness repeated, confused. It paused, overwhelmed by a sudden, unquenchable curiosity; it rivaled the increasing hostility of the darkness for this unfamiliar entity. So, containing its own desire to destroy this entity, it asked, “If you are the light, what am I?” The being—the light—glowed, further spreading its warmth throughout the space. The darkness felt a twinge of resentment; it seemed as if the light was invading the realm that had belonged to the darkness since the known beginning. “You are the darkness,” the light explained. “You are the shadow and the silence. Your very existence is a result of my absence. Here, let me show you what you are…” The obscure figure that exuded cold, looming shadows was suddenly reflected within the invisible barrier, and the darkness felt another layer of an obstruction being removed. At last, the darkness could put things into view, as if its very consciousness could perceive its surroundings in a way it had not previously kn

With that, Avar hurled with warp speed straight into Abraxus’s gargantuan form. His motions were sleek and seamless, as if the very space was moving with him, and the energy was so intense that Abraxus’s outer particles instantly vaporized. Undaunted, Abraxus shifted its core again, determined to protect it at all costs as Avar’s form slowly faded from view, lost within the outer form of the darkness. An instant later, however, there was a burst of mesmerizing, golden particles, and Abraxus’s outer shadows shattered, blown apart into billions of obsidian fragments that swirled around Avar, a tornado of glittering black matter mixed with gold. Leaving no time to react, Avar’s light became a vortex, eliminating Abraxus’s exterior form with inescapable force. Abraxus could feel its structure slipping away, and the darkness let out an anguished cry. All around it, the microscopic parts of it were dissolving. The shadowy particles that had allowed it to stretch throughout the realm for c

The two pitch-black followers snaked through the realm, mimicking the size and movements of the light entities. They engulfed the realm with more speed than any of Abraxus’s prior extensions, and their hardened substances seemed to pierce the very cosmos as they approached Avar and Zaki. One of them took on a strange, inverted U-shape, as if it was mirroring Avar’s structure—while Avar had a shining, golden arc of light on one side of his form, the dark follower had an inverted curve of darkness surrounded by the same, crystallized substance Abraxus had made it in. Surrounding its form was a vibrating pulse of energy that served as a barrier of some sort, repelling Avar’s glowing light. The other follower advanced toward Zaki and this extension, too, seemed to vaguely mimic the design of the blueish-green entity. The extension had been made with two additional lengths of darkness that guarded its own consciousness; a perverse, warped shape of shadows with streaks of ink running throug

Rejuvenated, Avar and Zaki advanced, more fiercely than ever, their indestructible light structures now glowing with Nysa’s essence. The followers that had sought refuge at the outer edge of the dark dominion sensed the changes in the light entities’ cores. Avar whirled into the darkness, once again slashing his galactic, indestructible light, instantly vaporizing the dark followers, all the while leaving a trail of melting light behind that stretched onto astronomical leagues, destroying Abraxus’s precious dark particles coming in contact with it. Zaki aimed his swarm of light beams toward the follower with unmatched speed, burning with turquoise energy swirling with violet. It pierced Abraxus’s right flank, facing no resistance and dissipating the darkness into nothing. Avar and Zaki were now completely vaporizing this evil, with the intention that it would never return. Avar’s one slash was equivalent to numerous galaxies of darkness being obliterated all around him, and he darted

The newly added cores of Yuham and Nysa formed a protective barrier around the red entity. Mohai continued to advance as glittering shadows attacked from all sides, rushing, swirling dizzyingly around them. Avar and Zaki brandished their light in Nysa’s direction. The violet light waves started uncoiling the dark, malignant tether in their light connections. Mōhai’s unending determination left Avar and Zaki in awe as they watched his plan unfold. Abraxus reeled again from shock, entering a state of uncontrollable rage and hatred as Mōhai advanced. He mustered thousands of huge, dark orbs like the ones Avar and Zaki had used, along with countless forms of followers and shimmering, dark spheres of energy that extended endlessly, and directed them toward Mōhai. This time, Abraxus held nothing back—he remembered how it felt when he had engulfed all the residual light into his form, how his dark, maleficent shadows had crept into the light particles and changed their nature to fuel his own