The hooded woman slowly walked through the glowing wilderness, her sharp eyes scanning the impossible world around her. Even someone like her could not fully conceal the disbelief creeping into her thoughts.
Chrono-Velta, a planet spoken of only within ancient scriptures and forbidden records.
A wandering world.
A celestial phenomenon said to drift throughout the Omiverse beyond all logic and chaotic law. A place tied to chronology itself.
Past. Present. Future.
Millions of years ago, seekers and prophets once traveled here in pursuit of revelation. But none ever returned.
Still, one problem remained.
The woman's expression hardened, "I need to eliminate him before anything else. Afterward…I can use this planet to glimpse into the future myself. I can't have any distractions."
The woman closed her eyes and aura spreads outward from her body, searching and scanning.
A signature. Weak, injured, but still burning stubbornly.
"Found you."
BOOOOM
The ground exploded beneath her feet as she launched through the air at terrifying speeds. Trees bent in her wake, blue leaves scattered through the glowing air.
Meanwhile, Raine quickly pulled himself away from the lake, gasping sharply. Water streamed down his face as he gripped his head. Those visions were still echoing through his mind.
The girls…
They were alive.
Older. Happy.
And strong. So much stronger than Raine ever would be.
Raine gazed down to his trembling hand, "…Audrey…" He weakly whispered, a faint smile touching his lips, "our children…they're gonna be okay."
The air had then shifted.
Raine's expression sharpened as a presence was approaching at rapid speeds.
Raine slowly stood upright, despite the agony tearing through his body. The blood dripping from his stomach onto the glowing grass.
No more running. No need to delay. This battle needed to end.
The woman landed before him, violet grass flying outward.
For a brief moment, it was utter silence. Until her silvery voice broke it like glass, "enjoying your little break?"
Raine stared at her quietly, and then unexpectedly, he smiled. There was no arrogance behind it, no mockery, nothing of the sort. Raine rolled his shoulders, "I did, in fact."
The woman's brow twitched, 'this man is close to his end…so why is he…so happy?' She asked herself.
That was until she noticed it. The excess chaos lingering around his face and eyes. The residue from the lake.
Her expression darkened, "you saw something."
"Yeah. I did."
"What did it show you… to have such a smile on your face."
Raine looked toward the glowing sky above, then he grinned, "my daughters…" Translucent aura leaked from Raine's body, twisting around him in violent streams. "They laugh." The ground cracked from under his feet.
"They survive."
The woman sensed it; his aura was climbing. But that should be impossible. A dying man should NOT be getting stronger!
Raine lowered himself into stance, yet something about it had changed. It no longer just felt disciplined.
It felt alive.
Free.
"And because of that…" Raine's smile faded, "…I don't have a damn thing left to fear!!"
Raine vanished.
The woman grew slightly surprised.
"MANTIS!!!" Raine appeared directly before her in a blur, fingers striking toward her throat, ribs, and nerves with blistering precision.
Black matter exploded in desperation to intercept the strikes. Still, even some attacks slipped through.
A sharp jab to her shoulder, the woman's footing shifted slightly.
"SNAKE!!" Raine twisted, his spine bent unnaturally as he weaved around a spear of matter by mere inches.
His arms coiled around hers before a palm connected with her stomach!
WHAM
The woman slid backwards across the grass. The second she stabilized, Raine was already in striking distance.
"MONKEY!!" Raine's rhythm broke completely. He bounced sideways suddenly, spun low, then leapt upwards at an impossible angle. He was wild. Unpredictable. Feints mixed into strikes and attacks fused into movement.
Even the woman's eyes struggled to follow his pattern.
'This martial art…' The woman growled, 'it's just like hers…! Is this the man she told me about??'
Raine was above her, "TIGER!!" Crimson aura exploded around his arms, and his fist descended like a nuclear bomb!
The woman crossed her arms as matter hardened around her guard.
BOOOOOM
The impact detonated the forest around them!
Trees snapped, the ground cratered, and a shockwave ripped across Chrono-Velta!
Another crack spread over the woman's defense.
Raine grinned, "you can't keep holding back!"
The woman retaliated, matter screeching out in massive dancing waves of death, swallowing everything around them.
Raine shifted, "CRANE!!" His movements softened completely, flowing through the barrage rather than against it. Spinning through gaps in the attack as though the wind itself carried him.
The woman kept spamming attacks, entire sections of the forest vanishing at the snap of a finger. But Raine kept advancing, his Shang Fu, his mastery, continued to evolve mid-battle!
Yet, the woman finally caught him. A giant tendril slammed into Raine's side.
His body tore through several glowing trees before skidding through the ground, blood splattering from his mouth.
The woman raised her hand, hundreds of lances formed behind her, "you're getting too confident, aren't you?"
The lances fired!
Raine's eyes sharpened, "PANDA!!" His aura condensed around his body like a shell of diamond as the barrage of matter crashed against him relentlessly!
Explosions of darkness consumed the area; the ground broke apart from his feet. Yet Raine endured every impact, rupture, scream of pain; he pushed through it all!
The woman soon came to a pause, dropping her hand. All the matter and attacks stopped immediately. Raine released his technique, setting his hands on his knees, breathing roughly, sweat dripping down his chin.
The woman's hand calmly rose toward her hood and removed it.
Raven black hair, dark as empty space. Sharp scarlet eyes gleamed under her long lashes. Her plump lips curled into a faint glower as violet rain rolled across her pale, snow-white skin.
She was elegant and peerless.
Even the world around her shifted.
Raine raised a brow, eyeing those sharp ears. "…A vampire?" He asked aloud until the realization hit him. There was only one vampire spoken throughout the Vinteel Galaxy, one that came from the Nephilim Province. A name buried within legends, massacres, horror and awe.
And one monster among the six devils of the Preghiere All'Inferno.
"You're…" Raine's stance hardened, "Xerva Drethmore."
Xerva smiled faintly, giving a curtsy bow, slightly raising the lower region of her cloak. "Glad to know I'm still remembered." She titled her head, standing straight again, "does that deter you now?"
Raine simply closed his eyes, "no…" He tore away the ruined top of his cheongsam uniform. Tossing it aside, only his blood-stained shirt stayed, aura vibrating chaotically around him, "in fact…you did nothing but built my resolve."
Memories wisp in Raine's head, thinking of his second wife. A woman who is the epitome of a martial artist, a true master of Shang Fu.
Ai Ling.
"You reminded me of someone I could never catch up to." Raine pulled his arms in, fists clenched; translucent energy erupted around his body like wildfire. The forest of time bent beneath the very pressure of his power.
"But I trained." Raine said, aura growing stronger, denser, wilder, "AND NOW!!!" The ground shattered under his feet, "I WANT TO SEE JUST HOW STRONG I'VE GROWN!!!"
Xerva eyed him for a second, and slowly, a grin grew on her face. Not cruel or cocky. She was excited, "perfect." Xerva said, lowering herself into stance, "what is your name, warrior?"
"Raine. Raine Millcroft." Powerful gusts howled beside him, "a master of Shang Fu. Disciple of Ai Qing, Numen of the WingShade Providence!"
The storm above Chrono-Velta raged like a ferocious lion as the two stood across from each other. But despite the surrounding death and mystery, there was reverence in the air.
Throughout the Omiverse, there existed an ancient tradition. One older than kingdoms, empires, war itself. When one warrior encountered another of true strength, they spoke their names. Their art and lineage. It was a sign of respect!
Even Xerva Drethmore, a part of the Preghiere All'Inferno, would never forsake such a custom.
The vampire placed one hand near her chest with grace, "And I…" Black matter spiraled around her like an eclipse, "am Xerva Drethmore. High Vampire of the Niphilem Province. User of black matter and endless darkness."
Xerva's smile sharpened, "let us have a great battle."
Raine nodded, "agreed!!"
BOOOOM
The two lunged simultaneously, the ground exploding from their very movement.
"MANTIS!!" Raine slipped in first, his fists blurring toward Xerva faster than the speed of light.
But Xerva slipped sideways with elegance, her scarlet eyes tracking every motion Raine made.
She shot her fist forward.
Raine weaved under, "MONKEY!!" He spun low and leapt to a tree. Rebounding off, he came back with a flying elbow toward her jaw!
Xerva's head snapped sideways, but she smiled through it. And with the flick of her fingers, matter spiraled upwards.
"SNAKE!!!" Raine quickly twisted midair, his body bending past the attack with haste. He coiled himself like a spring, shooting a devastating palm strike against her ribs.
The very force of the attack blasted Xerva backward through several trees, but before Raine could pursue, Xerva vanished.
His instincts were shrieking!
"CRANE!" Raine spun gracefully with the wind as a claw of matter barely chomped past his face.
But Xerva appeared behind him with terrifying speed.
Raine reacted in an instant, spinning around, and their fists collided.
DOOOOOM
Shockwaves roared across Chrono-Velta, and Raine was sent skidding through anything in the world, crashing through miles upon miles of trees, hills, rock formations, everything. Until his body slammed against a massive boulder, coming to a stop.
For a moment, there was only silence.
Raine slowly stood from the rubble, blood dripping from his mouth. His breathing has grown even heavier now. Uneven. Painful.
But his eyes still burned with resolve.
Through the destroyed landscape, Xerva stood amongst black matter, not even breathing heavily.
Raine noticed that immediately.
Xerva wasn't serious. Not enough. That realization made his heart pound harder.
'She's stronger than me…' Raine said to himself. Every clash, exchange, strike that was blocked, Xerva was holding the advantage.
"Amazing." Xerva admitted, "to think a mortal yuman could push me this far."
Xerva disappeared in a flash of darkness.
Raine quickly blocked as he looked to his left.
But Xerva feinted right before spinning into a brutal kick onto the ribs.
Raine rocketed backward, feet dragging through the ground as parts of the area collapsed around him. His boots carved trenches through the forest. Rock exploded. Violet grass became nonexistent.
But Raine refused to fall.
His feet finally dug into the floor, hard enough to stop. Blood rolled down his arm, his body trembled in pain, and everything hurt. Even breathing felt like knives stabbing his lungs.
Raine eyes Xerva walking towards him, "good…" Aura began to scream around his body like banshees. Moving faster, growing louder. Translucent energy thickened until it looked like liquid. Lightning crackled from his body. The ground broke apart, falling inward from sheer pressure alone.
Raine's eyes widened completely as veins bulged along his arms. He could feel his body breaking apart.
But this is what Raine wanted.
What he needed!
Go Further…
His aura detonated, "HIDDEN TECHNIQUE!!! TENSIONS RISE!!!!!"
The storm gyrated into chaos. Lightning split the heavens. Energy blasted from Raine like a volcanic explosion. A colossal pillar of aura rose into the skies themselves, making the clouds split apart.
Lightning scattered, the entire world shook. Shockwaves of absolute power rippled through Chrono-Velta. Forests bent flat, mountains rumbled and broke apart, and oceans turned into tsunamis.
Xerva's grinned, speaking to herself, "a power amplification? How interesting."
Raine lifted two fingers, curling them to himself, "come."
"Gladly…"
The instant Xerva moved, the ground ruptured.
Raine moved as well.
And the moment they crashed, the world screamed.
WHAAAAAMM
Destruction roared so loud that entire forests of trees were uprooted in an instant. Lakes split apart, and mountains broke down.
Raine's fist slammed against Xerva's palm as lightning and matter exploded across the battlefield.
Then the two disappeared.
BOOM
BAM
They were miles away, reappearing with another attack before vanishing again! The planet could barely contain them!
"MANTIS!!" Raine's strikes became invisible, thousands upon thousands of blows rained toward Xerva in mere seconds. Every impact made the very air shriek.
Xerva blocked relentlessly, black matter spinning around her arms as shockwaves ripped through the glimmering landscape beneath them.
But Raine was accelerating.
He needed to move faster, hit harder, get stronger!
"MONKEY!!"
His movements became erratic, bouncing off floating stones and twisting around constructs of matter Xerva created. Eluding past attacks that should've erased him.
Raine suddenly appeared behind her.
Xerva's eyes widened.
"TIGER!!!"
His punch crashed against Xerva's back like a ray fired from a satellite. The very strike sent her speeding across the world. Her body slammed and skidded through the ground so brutally, mountain ranges exploded in her wake.
But Raine didn't let off, trailing behind her.
"CRANE!!" The wind screamed as it surrounded him. Raine moved like a bird made of light, weaving through shards of floating debris before spinning a destructive aerial kick.
Xerva crossed her arms just in time.
BOOOOM
The attack made the clouds separate.
Xerva was sent like a missile, and matter twisted towards him.
"SNAKE!!" Raine spun through each bullet of darkness and coiled his arm around Xerva's. He pulled his fist back and blasted strikes into her ribs with enough force to distort space around them.
Xerva retaliated, gigantic tendrils twisted through the world like divine punishment, swallowing everything.
Raine gritted his teeth, "PANDA!!" Aura shielded his body as he bulldozed through the endless barrage of matter.
His skin tore, bones cracked, blood flew into the air, but he didn't give up.
"I'M NOT FINISHED!!! NOT NOW!!!" Raine's aura surged once more. Forests pulsed; lakes rose into the sky. Lightning crashed around the battlefield, as if the planet were acknowledging the duel taking place!
Xerva laughed wildly, "YES!!! THIS IS A BATTLE!!" She thrusts her hands forward, and matter behind her expanded into a humongous realm of black. A moon-sized mass of dancing void twirled overhead before crashing down to Raine.
Raine looked up through the blood, agony, breaking bones, and failing muscles. He stayed determined, and his stance lowered.
All six styles of Shang Fu flowed together.
A Tiger's strength.
A Monkey's chaos.
The Crane's freedom.
The Mantis' speed.
Fluidity of a Snake.
Durability of a Panda.
Fusing into one martial art. One soul, and a final push.
"I…I NEED TO BREAK BEYOND THIS BREAKING POINT!!!" Raine's aura compressed and exploded, the ground under him vaporized. "SHANG FU ART: SIXFOLD ASCENSION!!!"
Raine launched himself up like a comet, straight into the descending darkness.
BOOOOM!!!
And the world disappeared into light.
*
Raine floated within the storm of destruction, hardly conscious. His body reached its limit long ago. Skin cracked like aged cement. Blood drifting around him weightlessly, like crimson petals.
Slowly, he watched his feet beginning to disappear. Raine's body was breaking down. Despite the impending death, Raine's thoughts were calm, 'so…this is it?'
Suddenly, light split apart, and Xerva emerged from the raging world. Raven black hair whipped behind her, scarlet eyes burning with fury, one arm encased in monstrous black matter.
Even now, after all this, Xerva is still alive. Unscathed.
Raine's eyes had widened, then narrowed. No fear remained within them.
Only determination.
"FOR MY WIFE!!!!" Raine screamed, "FOR MY DAUGHTERS!!!"
Xerva lunged forward, matter revolving into a spear meant to erase him completely.
Raine's body barely responded as it cried in pain. But he moved, just slightly.
Raine bobbed his head, the bare minimum needed to avoid a headshot.
Matter grazed his cheek, splitting skin.
'He dodged??!' Xerva yelled to herself.
Raine painfully pulled his arm back as he screamed, the last fragments of his chaos gather into his hand and shot!
SHINK
His arm pierced Xerva's stomach, blood spat from her mouth.
Xerva coughed, red painting her lips, "you…"
Raine gazed at her quietly and closed his eyes smiling. Aura rolled from his arm buried inside of her, "this is…the end now. And…I won't allow you to get what you want." Raine's limb detonated like an atomic bomb with enough force to annihilate Chrono-Velta completely!
"NO!!!" Xerva screamed, her eyes shook in horror as the planet shattered around them. "You planned this!!!"
Raine could only laugh, weakly.
Of course he did. If this place survived, then someone may use it. Such as Xerva. Might threaten the future he witnessed, harming his daughters.
And Raine could never allow that from happening. Not after seeing those smiles embedded in his head.
Raine's thoughts flew like a butterfly, away from battle and blood.
Back home.
Audrey, his wife's laughter. Elaine with the same pout as usual. Ai Mei's mouth speaking loudly. The moments, the time he spent with his family. The kind that mattered the most.
Raine's fading eyes softened, "Audrey…Forgive me. I wish…I could've protected you better." Tears floated from his eyes, "my girls…I am no longer afraid of what the future holds."
"I believe in your strength. Your minds…" His upper body only remained now. "Your hearts!"
"And…I'm sorry, Ai Ling… Master Qing…"
Then, Raine Millcroft was gone.
Raine wasn't some powerful god, king, even a chosen savior written within prophecy.
He was just a father.
A man who fought with broken bones, failed organs, and a dying body. Doing everything he could to protect his family. But Audrey, unfortunately, could not be saved.
That truth would never stop hurting.
But Ai Mei and Elaine survived.
Deep down, Raine knew that Audrey would smile knowing that.
Their daughters lived.
That alone made the suffering worth enduring. They would keep moving forward.
For a parent, there was no greater peace than that.
A father's undying love.
*
The luminous remains of Chrono-Velta slowly rolled and rumbled inward, the mythical, mysterious planet finally coming to terms with its existence fading away. Everything disappeared, reduced to a cosmic ruin.
Far above the debris, Xerva hovered silently within space itself, her scarlet eyes reflecting the aftermath.
Until the remnants of Chrono-Velta began to twist, compressing. The planet was slowly morphing into a blackhole. All the sheer destructive force Raine unleashed, combined with the pure chaos within the world, had birthed a catastrophic event.
It was a gravitational wound upon reality. Space bending frantically around it. Neighboring planets warped, stars gyrated, and light twisted toward the ever-growing singularity.
Xerva's expression darkened, gritting her teeth, "that man…" For a first time in centuries, there was genuine irritation within her voice. "He understood everything until the end." Xerva crossed her arms, biting the side of her bottom lip, "Neilvaron will be disappointed when informed of this."
Still…
This could perhaps be salvaged if Xerva acted fast enough.
Black matter began to turn and spin, expanding out into a ginormous sphere, large enough to engulf the entire blackhole.
The void shrieked as gravity distorted. But Xerva forced the matter to compress through sheer, overwhelming power. The singularity grew smaller and smaller, until it finally rested atop her palm.
No larger than a marble.
Xerva gazed at the contained phenomenon, "if possible… Chrono-Velta can be reborn."
For a moment, Xerva glanced back to the fading destruction of where Raine had vanished into nothing. The cosmic light of space reflecting within her scarlet gaze, "Ai Ling will be furious with me." Xerva admitted calmly, a faint smile crossing her lips, "but I must say…"
Black matter softly flowed around her, "your husband…Raine Millcroft was formidable. He could have become a terrifying force within the Omiverse."
"…If he had not chosen to become a father first."
Xerva vanished into the darkness, leaving only silence behind.
But the memory of a man who died believing in his children stayed.
To Be Continued.