Silence hangs over the place, heavy and suffocating.
My gaze drops to the katana lying on the ground. I rush forward, grab it, and point the blade at my father.
“I don’t want to fight you,” I say. “Just leave.”
“It’s not about what you want,” he replies calmly. No arrogance. Just fact.
“You can’t defeat me.”
My grip tightens around the hilt.
I steady my breathing.
Then pain.
Before I can even comprehend what happened, blood spills from my mouth and the world tears itself apart.
I’m in space.
I force my dark attribute to form wings, shadow wrapping around my back just in time
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Impact.
I’m slammed into the moon. Blood splatters across its surface as the force knocks the air from my lungs.
I look up.
Marcus stands above me, unmoved, staring down like I’m already dead.
“Is this all you’ve got?” he asks.
“Shut up,” I spit.
My dark attribute flares violently. Ice forms in an instant massive spears launch toward him as darkness follows, tearing through everything in its path.
The moon cracks. Then shatters.
“You’re really becoming a nuisance, Zero.”
Every attack is countered. Redirected. Erased.
I’m running out of energy.
I force myself behind him, blade raised
Two fingers catch the katana.
It snaps.
I’m slammed back into the moon’s surface. Before I can recover, Marcus picks up a broken shard and slices clean through my arm.
There’s no time to process the pain.
He’s too fast.
I try to calculate a winning outcome. Every path fractures cut, dismantled, erased before I can even act.
“You’re pathetic, Zero,” he says. “You could never be my son.”
Pain explodes through my chest.
The blade sinks in.
“Do us a favor,” he whispers,
“and die.”
I immediately calculate a way to survive. I charge my dark attribute and launch it toward a space station.
Marcus reacts instantly, giving me only a few seconds to escape but before I can take my first step, darkness erupts from beneath me, swallowing me whole.
