Dancing on the golden ashes

"How many more clashes do you think this world can handle?!" the other me screamed, her voice burning with pure rage as it tore from my mouth. "It's already broken, and you're the reason for it! You thief! You could have just created a new world, yet instead, you chose to rob someone else of their home for your own selfish gain! Now what?! If I destroy this place, what will you do?! Tell me! _____!" Her fury seared through me, an unrelenting storm that demanded release. Each strike she unleashed was merciless, and whenever the Creator dodged, the earth itself trembled beneath the aftermath. Jagged fissures tore across the landscape, explosions erupting like violent geysers and leaving behind deep scars in the world's surface. This kind of power... it wasn't just overwhelming — it was the kind that could erase everything in its path, the kind that swallowed the earth whole and reduced mountains to dust in mere moments. "Stop!" the Creator screamed, his voice strained and desperate. His body flickered, vanishing into the void before her next strike could land. "Hmph!" the other me snorted, her scorn laced with venom. "Running off into the fourth dimension won't save you... or this world from me!" I felt my head spin as a strange sensation overwhelmed me — the feeling of the entire world cradled in my palm surged through my veins once again. The power was suffocating yet intoxicating, and when we stepped into the fourth dimension, my mind twisted in ways I couldn't quite describe. The Creator's body no longer had a singular form — instead, I could see him from all directions at once, as though my vision had expanded far beyond the limits of what I had once believed possible. It's hard to explain... for normal humans, the fourth dimension had always been an unreachable theory, something imagined but never tested. Yet for beings like us, it seemed as natural as breathing. Here, they didn't just wield power — they were power. They had grasped the very structure of the universe itself, bending it like clay in their hands. Strangely enough, the fourth dimension worked in my favor. Floods of information about the world poured into my mind, overwhelming yet strangely coherent. It was as if I could suddenly understand everything and nothing at the same time. Thoughts raced faster than I could process, and my mind strained beneath the pressure, yet the other me endured it with ease, guiding my consciousness through the storm. She had taught me how to withstand this — how to push past the crushing weight that this place imposed on ordinary minds. I could exist here, but unlike her, I couldn't move freely — at least not yet. For her, navigating this realm was like walking through air. For me, it was like dragging my body through endless tides. Still, the two of them clashed again, their powers igniting the space between them like crashing stars. Violent fissures tore through the dimension, yet before those cracks could expand, they sealed themselves just as quickly. The entire realm twisted and groaned beneath their battle, yet the fourth dimension refused to break. It bent, it warped, yet somehow it held firm. "Just go back to being a ghost and stop interfering with me, Gaon!" the Creator roared, his voice thundering from every direction at once. "No matter which one of you it is, you're both the same — the same pathetic, annoying type that always wants to prove they're stronger, that they're the best! Well, no! I'm the best! I'm the strongest!" His voice wasn't the same here — it carried differently, weaving itself into my mind from all sides. It wasn't just sound anymore; it was pressure, something that invaded my thoughts and tried to strangle my focus. Yet strangely enough, I knew exactly where his voice was coming from. In this realm, everything seemed to exist in multiple layers at once, yet somehow, my mind could separate the chaos — as if instinctively learning to decipher the fourth dimension's strange logic. I supposed that understanding only came to those who had lingered here long enough... and judging by his presence, the Creator had been here for far too long. Suddenly, his body flashed with ethereal light, so bright that it felt like it could burn through the very air itself. The intensity seared my eyes, forcing me to blink away the pain as radiant wings burst from his back, their cream-colored feathers shimmering like sunlight woven into silk. Behind him, the sky ignited with an endless sea of swords — millions, if not more — each one forged from pure white energy. The blades stretched so far they seemed to pierce the heavens, reaching beyond the limits of sight, as if they extended all the way to the stars themselves. But the other me wasted no time. Behind her, the void erupted with a thunderous roar, and from the swirling abyss emerged her own answer — an army of shadowy blades, dark as pitch and just as countless. The two forces mirrored one another, suspended high above like two great storms poised to consume the world. And then, without warning, they struck. Darkness and light clashed with a force that made the entire realm tremble. The very air quivered, and the cracks that spidered across the fourth dimension deepened, crawling further with jagged edges that seemed ready to tear the space itself apart. Don't ask me how — I couldn't explain it. They were simply that powerful. Whatever rules defined reality here seemed fragile beneath their overwhelming strength, and if higher dimensions existed... I wouldn't be surprised if even they risked shattering from this battle. I felt her move — swift and fluid, her body weaving through the storm of swords with an impossible grace. Her movements were like a flowing river, clean and fluid, each step rippling outward as she danced between the strikes. The blades rained down in a furious downpour, yet none could touch her. She glided through them effortlessly, her form twisting and spinning as if her very body knew the rhythm of this chaotic sky. I felt it then — her power coursing through me. My blood ignited like fire in my veins, burning with an intensity that threatened to consume me. She was using some skill, one that pushed her beyond her limits — but I could tell it was fading. Her strength faltered, and the fire within me began to flicker. She was on her last leg... her spirit barely clinging to the power she wielded. As a soul, she likely had little strength left to spare. Yet despite her fading strength, she struck one final time. The air twisted as a swirling black hole manifested within the curved blades of her scythe, devouring light and air alike as it coiled in relentless hunger. In that fleeting moment, she found her opening — slipping past the Creator's defenses and striking him directly. The blade tore through him, and the force of the impact sent a violent tremor racing through the realm. The once-proud clone of the Creator — a being who once seemed untouchable — was swallowed whole. His face twisted in a final mixture of anger, fear, and something else... something deeper, something impossible to read. And then, the fourth dimension itself buckled under the force of it all, shattering like brittle glass. I plunged from the sky, my body weightless as I tumbled through the collapsing void. The cold ground met me with a bone-jarring impact, the air forced from my lungs as I lay sprawled across the earth. Above me, the final flash of black light exploded across the sky, swallowing everything in its path... and then... darkness claimed my vision, and I knew no more.