The ground cracked.
A dull vibration ran through the frozen surface of the barren planet. The very air seemed to thicken. Then, suddenly...
BOOM.
Bakuzan's black mana exploded around him like a tide of ebony. The impact threw Sakolomé several meters backward. He violently hit the ground, carving a slight trail, ice crystals shattering around him.
A silence.
Then the space wind began to howl softly again, like the breath of the end of the world.
Bakuzan, calm, still frozen in levitation above the ground:
"Sakolomé… if you manage to defeat me, then I will agree to listen to you."
(He pauses.)
"But if you fail… then it simply means you were never able to reason with me."
Sakolomé slowly straightens up. He wipes the blood at the corner of his lip with the back of his hand.
He smiles.
Sakolomé:
"I accept this deal. And I will give everything… for you, Bakuzan."
His eyes shine. He takes a stance.
But Bakuzan does not respond. His mask is expressionless, but around him, the mana grows denser, more visceral. It pulses like a black heart.
And then...
KRRRRRHHHHHH—
A massive explosion of mana erupts.
The ground cracks. The sky tears apart. Black and purple lightning streaks in all directions. Sakolomé plants his feet on the ground to avoid being blown away. The shockwaves are titanic.
In this nascent apocalypse… a silhouette.
A hand.
White. Luminous. Immense.
It slowly emerges from the magical mist, then the forearm… then the shoulder… then a colossal torso… a humanoid form, but terrifying in its dehumanized perfection.
It has no face. No mouth. No eyes.
Just a blue circle in the center of its head, crossed by an inverted triangle. A cold. Absolute symbol.
It measures far more than anything Sakolomé has ever faced. A two-hundred-story skyscraper incarnate. The creature's shadow alone swallows him whole.
And yet...
Sakolomé does not back down.
He feels fear knocking at the door of his consciousness, but he does not open it. He stares at the thing… and smiles with a hint of defiance.
Sakolomé:
"What is that thing?"
Bakuzan, now suspended above the giant's head like a king on his throne, answers in a cold tone:
Bakuzan:
"That's F-Kgod. An entity born from my mana. It is conscious. It understands me. It serves me. You could say… a familiar. It has all my powers… but much weaker."
He lowers his eyes toward Sakolomé, the tone almost condescending.
"Let's say… 10%."
Sakolomé, irritated, grits his teeth:
"10%? Are you kidding me? You underestimate me?"
Bakuzan:
"First, show me you can survive this. Then, we'll talk."
Sakolomé:
"Very well!"
He clenches his fists.
His energy explodes around him, a red, burning, pure aura. The air crackles. He leaps toward F-Kgod, aiming at the creature's "head."
The creature also raises its fist.
A brief silence. A suspended heartbeat.
And then—
BOOOOOOM!
Sakolomé's fist and F-Kgod's collide.
The impact is cataclysmic.
A sphere of pure energy explodes between them.
Giant lightning streaks the sky. The ground cracks deeply.
The planet itself trembles.
Shockwaves spread to the horizon.
Their auras oppose. Confront. Test each other.
Sakolomé, in the impulse of the shock, shouts:
"I WILL NOT LET YOU FALL, BAKUZAN!"
But above, in the shadow of his giant, Bakuzan remains silent.
And in the black sky of this lost planet… the battle begins.
The initial shock ends. A mist of volatile energy dances around them, forming golden and black spirals.
Sakolomé falls back to the ground in a skid. He looks up.
F-Kgod imitates him… and advances.
Trembling.
With every step of the giant, the ice cracks beneath his feet, the mountains on the horizon split.
The atmosphere trembles. The sky seems to fold around him.
Sakolomé leaps at full speed, executing a series of instant dashes, slipping between the creature's massive fingers, aiming for the joints.
— Boom! He hits the inside of the elbow.
— Boom! He strikes the neck.
— Boom! He crashes into the ribcage with all his strength.
But the creature does not retreat.
On the contrary.
F-Kgod suddenly moves with terrifying speed for its size.
Its arm comes down in a colossal backhand.
WHAM.
Sakolomé is swept away like a gnat. He crosses two ice peaks, bounces on the ground leaving a glowing trail, then straightens up, staggering.
F-Kgod slowly lowers its hand to the ground, like a king extinguishing a candle.
And the world… screams.
— DOOM.
The giant's fist falls.
The earth cracks under the impact like a shattered skull.
A colossal magnitude earthquake runs through the planet's crust.
Faults open to the horizon.
Geysers of flames burst from the earth's bowels.
The ice melts. The rock twists.
The sky turns blood red, torn by black lightning slicing the atmosphere like blades.
Sakolomé stands in the middle of this chaos.
His knees buckled for a moment, but his fists are still raised.
His bare chest bleeds in places. His breath is hoarse, burning.
Boom.
A second strike.
A mountain on the horizon collapses, liquefies.
A crater several kilometers wide forms.
An ancient dead volcano awakens, its incandescent heart vomiting lava like a beast spitting its guts.
The lava comes alive.
Magmatic waves crash over the plains.
Rivers of fire swirl like snakes, roaring, engulfing the dead, licking the skies.
And still… F-Kgod advances.
Its steps alone shake the crust.
Every movement of its arms triggers cyclones of black and blue mana.
The circle on its head glows with a spectral blue, like a cosmic eye watching the Judgment.
Sakolomé leaps.
He narrowly dodges a punch…
…but not the shockwave.
KRAAAAAAAAK.
He is thrown backward, crosses a valley that closes behind him, splitting like an overripe fruit.
He rises crawling.
His skin smokes. His hair is glued to his forehead.
One eye partially closed by blood.
A shredded glove. Pants torn up to the shin.
But his teeth are clenched.
He laughs.
Yes, he laughs.
Sakolomé (panting, getting up):
"This world is dying just because of your presence… and yet… I am still here."
F-Kgod prepares a new blow.
But this time… it jumps.
The sky tears.
The clouds part in a cosmic spiral.
Lightning falls upward.
The creature crashes down on Sakolomé like an asteroid.
And when it hits the ground...
— B O O O O M.
The very core of the planet cracks.
Columns of fire pierce the ground.
Lava rises. The ground lifts. Continents break.
The ocean of ice becomes a blaze.
A second moon in the sky shatters under the resonance of the shock.
And yet…
In absolute silence, beneath the rubble, a hand rises.
It is Sakolomé.
He stands alone, on a column of rock emerging from the magma.
His clothes are nothing but a memory.
But in his eyes: the spark has not faded.
Sakolomé (smiling, blood on his lips):
"So this is… 10% of Bakuzan? This monster shakes the heavens, awakens the dead… And yet… I am still here."
A lightning bolt crosses the sky, illuminating his mutilated face.
Sakolomé (shouts):
"DID YOU HEAR ME, BAKUZAN? I WILL NOT FALL!"
BOOM.
He leaps again straight at F-Kgod, shouting.