A dying star, a copsing ck hole, ruptured gxies and emptiness surrounding it; Sol took Ikaris to a dying universe and severed it from the rest of the collective sealing it inside of a dome of his own making and then extended his hand towards her.


    "Is there a need for such measures?" She asked but took his hand nheless.


    "A was the origin of your branch, severing it might cause a serious bacsh," Sol stared at her, giving his honest opinion.


    "But, it has to be done, right?" Ikaris stared at him smiling sadly in eptance.


    "That''s right, leaving him there is too dangerous."


    "I have never heard of a soul''s cloneing to consciousness while the original was still alive," Ikaris sighed. "Even Sitri, with all her quirks and power, had to die before her clone awakened..."


    "The power you wielded when you forged a Godyer soul is many times greater than Sitri''s; there shouldn''t even be aparison, you are the first goddess, a Vatui herald, she was just a demon-god, a lesser being," Sol shook his head and then stared at her as his hand illuminated with golden mana. "Rx your mana and allow me passage, Ikaris."


    He ced his hand on her abdomen and rested his other on her back to make sure she didn''t flee in case the pain became overbearing.


    "Okay."


    Slowly Sol''s hand sunk into her exposed abdomen and she winced and flinched several times as she tried her hardest to not resist the difort of having her soul intruded upon ultimately ending with both her and Sol''s consciousness getting sucked into a parallel space where a great golden tree resided much like his own; the grass was golden, and the flowers that bloomed were white, the skies in contrast were the darkest umbra and endless in all directions with clouds of white that gave the atmosphere life along with small butterflies and birds that borrowed into the ground and flew like shooting stars across the expanse of the great tree.


    "I never spent any time exploring my soul''s garden as Dina did," Ikaris leaned over and picked a flower from the grass before her. "Such treasures ...they bloom with energy," She smiled as the flower in her grasp turned to glowing dust against the winds and another grew from where she had plucked it. "It is beautiful here."


    "Ikaris, focus, he''s already here," Sol cast a small barrier over her and pointed to the base of the tree, although the structure was unfathomablyrge, the small ck crack in the otherwise perfect gold was quite evident.


    "He already has enough power to escape, there''s no telling what we might-" Sol''s words fell short when he spun and erected a shield of golden mana before himself blocking a bolt of ck mana that crashed from the umbra skies above.


    "This is..."


    "Demonic Mana," Sol frowned as he watched the residual mana slowly disperse in the winds. "Why don''t you show yourself, fake?" Sol multiplied the barrier around Ikaris and lowered his hand. "If you are Sol Vestic then there''s no way you''re fine with sneak attacks, face me," He spoke calmly whilst his body was slowly fitted with golden armour.


    "Sol-"


    "Something''s off, I still can''t sense him," Sol cast another barrier around Ikaris for good measure and then vast another shield before himself again when another bolt of mana appeared and nearly smashed into his face, this time the attack came with so much force it blew him off his feet and caused a crater separating him and Ikaris.


    "What kind of power is that?" Solnded safely and summoned Ikaris over with a wave of his hand, staring at the shield he had erected as the ck miasma residue from the attack contested his Godyer mana for dominance.


    "I have never seen anything like it," Ikaris reached out to touch it but Sol caught her hand and vanished the shield into the outside world where the substance could not interact with anything inside of her.


    "Don''t let your curiosity get the best of you, I''m certain that whatever he is is unlike anything either of us has faced before, the fact that he has no presence I can sense, to his power being the inversion of mine... It only leads to a few possibilities, and I don''t like any of them, he eroded the walls of A to escape, and he''s been trying to get out of here since then...


    I know that letting him out isn''t a good idea but it''s a worse one to fight him inside of your soul''s garden."


    "Then, will you free him?" Ikaris asked and Sol shook his head. "You still intend to kill him?"


    "This other me, whatever he is, I''m a hundred percent sure that he will never stop until you''re dead, my only option is to kill him now before he gets any stronger-"


    "You can''t kill me, none of you can, no god, no devil, no man, but go ahead; set me free, let me out of this ursed ce," Sol heard his voice ahead of them and watched as more miasma erupted from the golden grass eroding and killing arge circle of it as another who shared his face emerged, clutching tightly to his cursed sword and waving it menacingly at them.


    "Free me, you imposter."


    "You think I''m the imposter?" Sol raised his hand and pointed at himself with a smirk. "You''re a fabrication of the real deal, don''t get it twisted; ever-"


    "I would never align myself with that creature which calls itself a goddess, not after what she did to me, not after she abandoned me and left me trapped in that ce, stranded, alone, why would i ever call that thing an ally!?" He roared shing his head and wing at his face, causing ck blood to drip from his eye and the corner of his mouth.


    "I''m the real Sol the one who would never go back on my ns to destroy them all, the one who promised he''d kill every god, every fucking one wherever they are!!" He shrieked, pointing his sword at Ikaris.


    "Master..." Ikaris drew closer to Sol.


    "He''s not that strong yet, but his power is way more potent than Dr''ul''s, if I let him out it''s gonna destroy multiple universes within Kha-Nova just to take him down," Sol furrowed his brows.


    "I just said it''s impossible! I can''t be killed not by the likes of you; the imposter, or her; the bitch who trapped me, I wouldn''t ever die to the likes of you assholes... Gaaah-e on!! LET ME OUT AND FIGHT ME FOR REAL OTHERWISE ILL START RIGHT HERE!" He started emitting a pungent ck mana that caused Ikaris to flinch as she could feel the world around her weaken because of it.


    "What the fuck..." Sol raised his hand and suppressed everything with a wave of his finger. "Is this what I would have be if you never returned?" He looked at her and she held on to his arm and shuddered. "I hate this, he''s giving me no choice but I know it''s gonna be chaos once he''s out-"


    "COME ON!!"


    [CLOCKWORK: DOMINION]


    Sol cast and then turned his eyes to the ck crack in A at the base of the tree, sealing it with another wave of his fingers.


    "K-"


    Sol and Ikaris snapped in the direction of his opposite when he began shuddering although time had stopped.


    "Weak!" He broke free and burst into a sprint at them, but a momentter he was staring at an endless void where he could no longer feel epassed in Ikaris''s mana. "Free..." He stared into the darkness and at the many stars that littered the ever-going stretch of Kha-Nova.


    "I''m free-" He was decked in the back of the head by Sol who grabbed him by the hand holding the cursed sword and snapped his arm taking the weapon and then sending Ikaris back to earth with a wave of his hand.


    "Ikaris!"


    She was greeted by Dina as soon as she appeared in the lounge. "What happened?"


    "He is powerful, Alpha, where are they?" Ikaris spared no detail as she spun, but the system stood there silently, staring at her. "Tell me!"


    "Master has ordered me not to," Alpha answered and then vanished when Ikaris appeared at her side and attempted to grab her. "Mdy, please do not try to override mymands, Master has asked me to keep you away."


    "What''s going on?" Dr''ul stood when she saw the urgency on Ikaris''s face while her eyes began burning crimson.


    "His mana erodes Godyer powers, they are opposites and he is at the least as strong as three of you," Ikaris looked at the goddess of war and saw her and everyone else''s eyes widen in horror. "Master would not have sent me away if it was a fight he was sure to win, he may be quantities more powerful, but that creature holds an unfair advantage over him!"


    "So it truly is an evil Sol Vestic!?" Renia asked.


    "Yes, and his sole purpose is the destruction of all deities and powers of all kinds," Ikaris waved her hands and Alpha appeared against her wishes and vanished again.


    ***


    "Why go to this length? Isn''t it good enough that you''re free already? You can do whatever you want!" Sol had his evil counterpart pressed against the erupting violent surface of a yellow star by his head, and then a momentter he vanished and appeared at his side swinging his hands after summoning the cursed sword again, utilizing more power than Sol had ever been able to conjure while using it.


    "You don''t get it!" He roared, sticking his thumb in his eye and popping the membrane causing it to heal as an inverted red eye with a golden iris and a ck slit for a pupil, a true demon''s eye. "You''ll never get it, you fucking cunt!


    Ten years fighting a war and losing everything I loved, and seven more years trapped in that forsaken nightmare having her power torment me as she took and took, never seeking where she was taking it from; I''ve been in hell for seventeen years!!"


    He swung the sword again and Sol avoided the de watching the arc it created slice the star perfectly in half and continue into the dead gxy. "How could you understand when you were the one benefiting from her wickedness!!?


    Fuck!!" He screamed out as horns and a tail violently burst from his head and his spine while his teeth all sharpened into fangs and wings began growing from his shoulder tes. He paused, though, and leaned his head, staring at Sol as the rings appeared around him and his hair red up golden again.


    "What is that power? It''s different."


    "The beginning...?" He asked, as if he was inside of Sol''s head, though the information wasn''ting from Sol, it was manifesting all on its own. "Interesting... you''re a little frightening, aren''t you?" He asked, watching Sol''s ears grow as he spared no words and dug deeper into his power broadcasting himself like a beacon for the Emporium unwillingly.


    "The power which manifested within me hates you as much as I do; it contrasts you as much as I do, it is the Grey to your Grey..." He smiled, spreading his arms as the foreshadowing Sol had thrown out the window as a matter of concern two years ago, mmed back into his memory and his eyes widened in shock.


    "No..."


    "If you are the beginning... then it is clear; I am your end."