The same heavy, hoarse voice hummed through the arena, vibrating through the very stone of the colosseum. "Where is the vessel of Insanity?" it whispered, crawling along the walls like living smoke. The last remaining Demigod of Insanity stood still, its form unraveling into streaks of violet haze.
The void stared it down. The Demigod's limbs cracked and splintered as it stretched, its flesh splitting apart and reforming with every movement. Then, it burst into a cloud of purple haze, darker and thicker than before. The mist crawled across the ground like spilled oil, creeping towards the void with tendrils that lashed out, eager to claim him.
The haze hit his legs first, coiling around his ankles, then up to his knees, squeezing tight. The void staggered back, the sensation clawing at his nerves. His flesh began to erode, skin flaking off, revealing the raw red beneath. But even as it decayed, it grew back just as fast, knitting itself together almost instantly. Purple streaks burned through his veins, glowing under his skin like cracks in glass. But he didn't flinch. If anything, he stepped forward.
The Demigod hissed, its voice a thousand whispers merging into one. It lunged forward. Its clawed hand, twisted and sharp, swiped for the void's throat. The void tilted his head slightly, just enough for the claws to miss, slicing through the air where his neck had been. He responded with a swipe of his own. Black smoke trailed the blade as it cut clean through the Demigod's arm.
A burst of violet haze exploded from the wound, spraying the ground. But the Demigod barely hesitated. Its severed arm splintered into shards of shadow, each piece reforming, stretching out like vines to crawl back to the stump and reattach. The void watched, his head tilting slightly as if curious, then he moved again.
He didn't rush. He walked forward, each step cracking the ground beneath him. The Demigod shrieked, the air around it shimmering with static, and suddenly dozens of shadowy purple creatures sprung from its back, whipping forward like spears.
A ripple of darkness surged outward from The void's palm, pooling in midair before stretching wide—a patch of nothingness. The spears hit it and vanished. One after another, they simply disappeared into the black, swallowed up without a trace. The Demigod roared, the shadows growing thicker, almost desperate. The void stepped through the patch of darkness. His sword came down, slicing through the haze and leaving a trail of darkness in the air.
The Demigod staggered, and the void didn't give it time to react. He moved again, his blade cutting through shadow and flesh alike. The Demigod tried to strike back, claws ripping through the air, but the void simply twisted around them, ducking under swings, stepping out of reach before countering with brutal efficiency.
Violet light burst from the Demigod's wounds, its body thrashing as if reality itself was tearing at the seams. It screamed, a mind-rending shriek that sent cracks running through the colosseum walls. The ground quaked, splitting apart as patches of the world fell into emptiness. But the void didn't waver. He stepped forward, raising his hand again.
A ripple of darkness spread beneath his feet, crawling up his body and onto his sword. The blade dripped with blackened mist now, swirling around it like living smoke. The void lifted it high, the void where his face should be staring straight into the Demigod's hollow eyes. He brought the sword down, splitting the air with a crack that shook the ground.
The Demigod screamed. Shards of violet light exploded outwards, scattering across the ground before fading into dust. The purple haze dissipated, drifting away like fog burned off by the sun.
The void stood there, his sword still raised, the black mist slowly seeping back into his body. He looked around, the empty colosseum stretching out before him.
His head tilted slightly, the void eyes dimming just a little, and he took a step forward. Then another. He walked through the dust and shadows, moving like he was searching for something. His hands hung loosely at his sides, fingers still twitching with remnants of power. The colosseum stretched out around him, empty now, the Demigods gone.
The void paused, turning his head to the side, as if hearing something far away. His back hunched, his fingers flexed, and for just a moment, the white flames in his void-like face flickered.
The sky split open with a scream, tearing itself apart like fragile parchment under the weight of something divine. Light poured out from the wound, not the soft glow of sunlight, but a searing radiance that seemed to burn the very air. It streaked down toward the void, a lance of blinding fury, humming with the force of a thousand storms.
The void did not flinch. In a blink, his sword was in his hand, raised high to meet the light. Darkness and light crashed together, the clash sending waves of energy rippling out, shattering the ground beneath his feet. Cracks spread out like black veins, spiderwebbing through the stone, as the void staggered back, boots grinding against the dust. But his grip did not falter. His blade ate at the light, devouring its brilliance. It was almost too quick to understand.
The light dimmed, curling back upon itself like smoke, and in its place, she appeared—a figure made of light and wrath, her form shimmering with an unearthly glow. She hovered just above the ground, her eyes like two molten stars. Her voice rang out, smooth and haunting, echoing across the broken earth. "Why are you back?"
The silence stretched, heavy and suffocating, before it was cut through by something far darker. A whisper—hoarse and ragged, like wind scraping through broken glass. It did not come from the void's mouth; he had no mouth to speak with. It came from everywhere and nowhere, slithering through the air like smoke. "Because death… is destined."
Her eyes flickered, and for a moment, there was something almost like sorrow there. "The world does not need you," she replied, her voice sharper now. "It continues, even now. It breathes… it grows… it flourishes. It will go on… forever."
The whisper laughed, a cruel, splintering sound that cracked through the air. "Forever?" it spat. "You cling to the lie of eternity like rotting flesh clings to bone. It is a cycle—a loop of rebirth and death. But you… You filthy parasites severed that loop. You broke it. And now you speak of peace?"
The air grew colder, the light around her flickering as if her presence alone was struggling against the darkness clawing its way out of the void. Her gaze did not falter, though there was a tremor in her voice. "You speak as if you understand peace. But all you bring is an end."
The whisper snorted. "Peace? No… I understand the truth. This world was built to collapse. Life was meant to end… so it could begin again. But you stopped it. You fools locked the cycle… imprisoned it in your false eternity. You corrupted the order of things. I am the purge… the correction. I will bring it all back to what it should have been."
Her eyes flared, light pouring out in rippling waves. "You sound like him… the lord of Insanity. You reek of his stench, his corruption. Did you bow to his madness, too? Did you join him to see this world burn?"
The whisper came slower now, creeping, deliberate. "I bow to nothing. I have no master, no ally… and no foe. I am the beginning… and I am the end. I will carry the creator's will alone. I will tear you apart with my own hands. I will tear you all apart, piece by piece, until nothing remains."
She did not move, but the light around her grew brighter, pulsing with each word. "The creator abandoned you," she whispered, her voice almost gentle. "He abandoned you because you are flawed. Because you are broken."
The whisper came back, stronger, colder. "I am the creator's only true child. I am the end of everything there is… I am the emperor of nothingness. I am the harbinger of death. You call me broken, yet you cling to life like a coward. You corrupt what should have been pure. Your eternity is a disease, and I…" The void's eyes flared brighter, flames of white rage burning hot and unforgiving. "I am the cure."
Her form flickered again, her ethereal glow rippling like water, but her gaze did not waver. "You want to cure the world by ending it? By destroying everything? You are madness… nothing more."
"I am purpose," the whisper spat back, seething with venom. "To unmake. To unravel this lie. To purge this disease, you call peace. To bring everything back… to what it should have been. I will destroy everything until there is nothing left but 'IT.'"
The void raised his sword, shadows pooling around his feet, creeping up his legs like living tendrils. The edge of the blade glowed dark, pulsating with a hunger that felt alive. His hunched back started to straighten. The ground beneath him cracked wider, splintering with each second that passed.
The woman's eyes went wide for the first time, the light around her flickering, trembling. She raised her hand, and with it came a wave of blinding radiance, surging forward in all directions, clawing at reality itself. Tears began to split open around the void, portals of light and fury. He tried to move, but the light held him firm, like chains of pure energy binding him to the ground.
"You are not meant to be here," she whispered, "We can't let you threaten the peace that we all built....."
The light beneath his feet surged, and the cracks widened, ripping apart the earth beneath him. The void fell, plummeting through endless white, the void cracking from his face like splintered glass. A face emerged, just a boy. Ash. His eyes wide with terror, mouth frozen mid-scream. He clawed at the air, but there was nothing to hold on to, nothing but the empty void that stretched out around him.
He crashed into water with a brutal slap, the impact tearing the breath from his lungs. He sank, limbs flailing, the icy chill clawing at his skin. His head struck something hard, a stone hidden beneath the surface. Blood curled through the water, swirling around him as he drifted, staring up at the fractured sky of the realm of the creatures above.
For the first time in what felt like an eternity… he was just him. Just Ash. And he was terrified.