Cursed Devourer

"... Then, make me ready."

Leviathan chuckled.

Then, he took a step forward. Reaching his hand to the side, space began to flutter and warp as a small window formed. Slowly, a sword began to emerge, pure black as if it was the void itself, absorbing the very light around it. It had no reflection, no visible edge- just a sliver of emptiness shaped like a sword.

"I suppose it would be a waste," Leviathan mused, rolling his shoulders, "to let this end without at least helping you improve. Although it may be a bit presumptuous of me."

Malik stood, shaking off the remnants of the King's previous attack, his grip tightening around his own sword.

The moment their eyes locked, they moved.

Their blades clashed, sending a shockwave rippling through the air, shattering what remained of the palace's walls. Malik barely had time to react as Leviathan spun, his void-sword cutting through the very space itself, a perfect horizontal slash that distorted reality.

Malik ducked, flames bursting from his feet, propelling him backward just in time,

But the moment he dodged-

Leviathan was already behind him.

"You're too slow."

Malik barely turned before a knee slammed into his ribs, sending him hurtling across the battlefield, his body carving a trench into the palace floor.

He didn't stop moving. To face a true monster like Leviathan, every move had to count.

Malik rolled mid-air, flames igniting around his body, using the force of the impact to propel himself forward.

He slashed diagonally, aiming for the King's left shoulder where he had seen a brief gap.

Leviathan parried effortlessly, tilting his head slightly.

"Predictable."

A simple flick of the wrist, and Malik's attack was redirected, his blade slicing through empty air.

Leviathan countered with a flurry of slashes, his movements so precise, so absolute, that Malik could barely keep up.

'He's too clean. Too perfect. He sees everything.'

Malik had always been the strongest in any fight, but now he was against someone who had already shown the gap in their strength, not something that could be overcome with schemes, tactics, or trump cards.

He was being dissected.

But Leviathan wasn't just fighting him now. He was teaching him.

"You hesitate between styles," the King commented, dodging a flaming blood-spear Malik had thrown mid-combo. "Trying to blend fire, water, and blood without true mastery is pointless. Commit to what you know."

Malik grunted, weaving through a barrage of slashes, sweat pouring down his face.

"Your footwork is improving," Leviathan continued, dodging a blade of fire that nearly clipped his shoulder. "But you rely too much on strength when you should be using speed."

Malik snarled, spinning mid-air, feinting left before firing a condensed divine flame beam from his eyes.

Leviathan smiled.

"Better."

He stepped aside at the last second, the beam narrowly grazing his cheek, searing through his armour.

Malik used the opening, lunging forward with his sword poised-

And for the first time-

He pierced the King's chest.

Malik's sword buried deep. Directly through Leviathan's heart.

His breathing was ragged, his body drained, battered, and broken, his divine flames barely flickering.

He had actually done it.

He had finally wounded him further than a simple slash to the cheek.

But-

Leviathan only sighed.

Malik watched in horror as the sword was ejected and the wound simply vanished, as if it had never existed.

The King placed a hand over his chest, looking almost amused.

"Well done," he said casually, as if Malik had merely passed a trivial test. "It only took you a few hours. I'm impressed."

Malik's mind screamed in frustration. He had thrown everything at him, everything he could possibly imagine to hurt Leviathan. But it amounted to nothing.

'Fucking overpowered King.' He scoffed internally.

Leviathan chuckled as if he knew what Malik was thinking.

He stepped back, brushing non-existent dust off his robes.

"It's time to end this," he declared.

Malik's grip on his sword loosened.

He had nothing left.

Leviathan sheathed his void-blade, exhaling deeply.

"I suppose you have many questions. I can't answer them all but ask away- Then you can kill me." He said nonchalantly.

Malik's exhausted mind froze.

"...What?"

Leviathan smiled warmly, like a teacher pleased with a student's progress.

"I am devoted to Nameless. My life, my empire, my everything is for him. He orders and I obey. This is what must happen." His voice was soft, unwavering, filled with certainty.

Malik staggered back, shaking his head. "You expect me just to accept that?"

Leviathan chuckled. "Oh, Malik. You already have."

He gestured toward the ruined throne room, toward the bodies, the battlefield.

"Everything I have done, every choice I have made, was to bring us to this moment. You were always meant to arrive here- to kill me."

Malik's fists clenched.

"You took Orlan from me."

The King's gaze softened. "An accident, if you'd believe it. But it was necessary nonetheless. Otherwise something or someone else would have been your catalyst."

Malik's jaw tightened.

For so long he had harboured the wrath and rage that he felt when Orlan had been taken from him in front of his eyes. But now it felt empty. He felt... tired.

And the King- someone he should hate beyond reason- was smiling at him like they were friends.

Malik stared at him for a long moment.

"What happens after?"

Leviathan's golden eyes gleamed.

"This world will cease to exist," he said simply. "And you will be taken to the next stage of your journey. A new world."

Malik felt his heart skip.

"A new world?"

Leviathan nodded. "A higher existence. One more advanced than this one you have spent your entire life in. You will be reborn as something new."

Malik's lips pressed into a thin line.

"And if I refuse?"

Levithan chuckled, running his hand through the side of his thick grey hair. "Then you fade away. No rebirth. No purpose. Just nothingness. A waste of immense potential."

Malik looked down at his hands- scarred, burned, covered in the blood of billions. What he saw was an amalgamation of the slaughters he had committed.

He had come too far. He had suffered too much.

There was only one path forward from here. He'd be damned if he was going to throw it away now.

A long silence stretched between them, lingering like the stench of blood that filled the air through the city.

Malik finally exhaled, steeling himself.

"...I should hate you," he murmured.

Leviathan tilted his head. "And, do you?"

Malik closed his eyes in thought.

And for the first time since this quest began-

The rage was gone completely. The lingering pain and wrath that poisoned his soul washed away with the acceptance he now felt.

His fists unclenched. His body relaxed.

'I feel... Peaceful?'

He had always blamed this world and its people for Orlan's death. For everything that happened to him.

But this was always meant to happen.

And in a way...

He understood.

"No," Malik admitted quietly. "I don't."

Leviathan's smile softened.

"Then let's finish this."

Malik nodded in understanding and gripped his sword one last time.

Leviathan opened his arms wide, his chest exposed, welcoming death with joy.

No faltering.

No hesitation.

With a single motion-

Malik plunged the blade into the King's heart.

This time there was no resistance. No healing. He just accepted his fate.

Leviathan let out a soft breath.

"Beautiful, I wish I could see you grow… As he wanted." He whispered.

Then-

[DING!]

[Congratulations: Malik Thana!]

[You have completed the Third Quest: Cost of Ascension]

[Moving to next stage: World Collapse Initiated.]

[Beginning in 3....]

[2...]

[1...]

The system notifications came at him fast, interupting the moment in which the King said his final words.

As soon as Malik saw the contents of the system message appear, his jaw dropped.

"Oh shit!"

But it was too late.

The palace began to tremble, the foundations still left standing from their intense battle, began to collapse under the weight of a new pressure that seemed to erupt from reality itself.

The sky above cracked and rippled, opening glimpses to the void- not just black- but true nothingness.

Malik stepped back, eyes wide in horror, watching as the world itself unravelled.

Everything he had ever known. Everything that existed-

Was ending.

And then-

Darkness.