Dancing on the golden ashes

Time itself halts for me in this moment. Its flow spreads before my eyes, every strand weaving together like a living tapestry; gold and black threads twisting forward, never back. And there he stands, the man before me, his face older, worn by years… yet still carrying the features of the one I once loved.

How dare he wear that face? Unacceptable.

My finger trembles as I raise it, a small star igniting at its tip, burning with merciless light.

"Perish…" I whisper, and the star tears free, streaking toward the Creator's face.

Time lurches forward again. His eyes blaze with sudden gravity, no longer playful. The Throne of Eternity shifts before him, intercepting the strike.

The clash detonates in a shockwave that splits reality apart. The universe groans, the fabric of creation quakes, and within ten light-years, life itself is snuffed out; reduced to golden ashes drifting in the void.

I stand within the explosion, unmoving, unflinching, awaiting his next move. I know I will kill him. Pride whispers there is no other answer. No other outcome is acceptable to me.

"You should see yourself right now…" His voice carries a serious weight, yet underneath it lingers that same twisted playfulness. "Your dress flows like a million stars, your eyes burn like the sun and the moon together… and those horns: two masterpieces of darkness. Even your wings… transformed into the current of time itself. Gaon, you've outshone yourself." His laughter follows, sharp, frenzied, his eyes blazing with madness.

"Finally, finally! An opponent worthy of me! After billions of years of loneliness, never once matched in battle… I finally shaped one. The true masterpiece of destruction—just like the legends foretold. The eternal destroyer, born from despair, endless despair." He pauses, voice lowering, twisting. "But something's missing. There's still something in your heart, isn't there? It's… this, right?"

From the folds of space, his fingers pull something out.

A head.

The head of a girl. Her hair drifts like the first snow of winter, white as silence, and her green eyes, once full of life, now lie clouded, empty. My heart shatters. How…?

"You wonder how, don't you?" His grin spreads as if carved by blades. "I've tracked you for ages, Gaon. From the very first day. Every breath. Every moment. Did you really think I'd overlook the final flaw in your plan? No. You underestimated me. Leaving her behind in the demon realm was your mistake. And now… all are gone. Every last one. Only you and I remain. Isn't that wonderful, Lee Gaon?!"

"Are you happy now?" My voice is hollow, stripped bare of everything. There are no emotions left in me. The pain of thinking about my daughter is too much to bear. All that remains is suffering, endless and devouring me, but even that feeds me, pushing me past the brink. Enough to end it all.

"Yes, I am…" He smirks, and in his hand a crystal sword manifests, blazing with pure, eternal light. The Throne of Eternity floats above him, humming with its terrible power; then in an instant, it plunges into his body. His aura erupts, surging so violently I can feel it crush the void around us. His strength multiplies, no, it magnifies billions of times over.

"Today, you will die. This is my command, the only truth. So stand still… and await your eternal punishment, Seong-hoon of the past." My voice lashes out as my scythe, flowing like the spiral arms of a galaxy, swings with a speed the naked eye could never follow.

The Creator's face twists. He intercepts the blow, and the clash detonates into a fracture that tears across the cosmos itself. A crack stretches into the unknown, without end, as if the universe itself were splitting open.

The heavens rumble in agony, their cry shrieking in my ears. But I feel nothing for it. Why should I care if the universe weeps? No one ever cared when it was me who hurt.

"Impossible…" he gasps, staring at his chest where a jagged scar stretches deep, celestial blood spilling in dust-like streams of light. But this is only the beginning.

His expression hardens, no trace of mockery left. The wound seals over in an instant, and his body surges forward like a collapsing universe. His sword descends, a blow heavy enough to shatter worlds. I meet it with my scythe, sparks of eternity bursting at the clash. Strike follows strike, faster, harder, each impact shaking the cosmos to its core.

We move beyond comprehension, beyond even light itself. Rays lag behind us, scattering in our wake like flakes of slow-falling snow. Every motion carves fractures through the universe, long cracks stretching endlessly, the cosmic cry growing louder, a wail of existence itself being torn apart.

My sins shriek inside me, demanding his blood. Despair coils tighter, feeding me with unending power. I cannot stop. I will not stop. Everything must end. The rot of creation is too deep, too vile; unworthy of survival. All that is old must die.

I flick my wrist, and the universe crumbles into ashes, all of it aimed at the Creator. The fragments swarm him from every direction, each one sharp as a blade carved from stars, tearing him apart again and again as his body regenerates. He counters with a supernova flaring from the palm of his hand, its heat slamming into me, peeling my flesh layer by layer. But the pain means nothing, not compared to the despair devouring me from within.

I keep destroying, keep consuming, keep turning all into power. If this universe is not enough, then I will devour the multiverses beyond it. Nothing will remain, not until his end.

Golden ashes stream from every reality, flowing at my back, converging into a storm that tears at him from all sides. There is no life left, nothing but ruin, all sacrificed for one purpose: to kill him. The power in my veins is indescribable, a torrent beyond measure.

"No! Not like this! I will not die before I have the fight of a lifetime!" His roar shakes the void as his body warps, shifting into the wisp of a dying star. Ethereal, spectral, faster than imagination, but I do not yield. I already declared myself victor. There is no other outcome.

I lift my hand, and Sloth's power spreads through me. His movements drag, slowed against my demand, and I seize him in my grasp. His body trembles uncontrollably, thrashing for escape.

"You killed so many, yet now you're afraid to die? Pathetic. You're nothing but a loser, trash unworthy of life. I envy your power… so I'll take it."

Envy pulls the Throne of Eternity from his body, wrenched out with his choked wails. "I want it, so I'll take it." Greed snatches it away, stripping him bare.

"No! Give it back! My destiny! This is impossible!" His voice cracks in desperation, but to me, he is nothing more than a helpless chicken caught in my hand.

"This power… I crave it." Lust coils around the trembling throne. Even it dares not resist me. It edges closer, submitting to my will. Gluttony opens wide and devours it whole, swallowing the Throne of Eternity into me.

Power floods through my body. Beneath me, the throne of stars manifests, radiant, eternal. I sit, and the strands of the universe spread before me like threads, whispering, begging for forgiveness, pleading to be spared.

"I hate you, Seong-hoon of the past. You killed my former self. You made her suffer. And you made me suffer. Why? WHY!?" Wrath blooms inside me, and his body bursts into dust.

But I don't let him die. Not yet.

Pride commands his resurrection, reconstructing him only so I can kill him again. Over and over, for eons, I slaughter him in every brutal way I can imagine, forcing him to relive agony unending. The golden ashes swirl endlessly, my throne watching, my power absolute. Until at last—

"Enough. You're not worth it. Having you here makes me sick." I push his limp body away.

"Feel despair with me, Seong-hoon. Feel the end that was fated. Let the void swallow you into nothing."

His body drifts in the emptiness, golden ashes closing in. He smiles faintly, a whisper brushing my ears.

"I always loved her… I regret killing her. I regret being a coward, not trusting her. But seeing you with my other self, seeing your happiness together… it made me mad. How? How did you and him do it when she and I failed? Gaon… maybe this fate is mine to bear. Maybe I deserve it. At least… I can finally meet her."

His words sicken me.

"You're not worthy of her. You will never see her. Therefore, I declare your soul destroyed. Forever."

Golden ashes tear into him, shredding his body, his soul, his existence. His final tear evaporates as reality itself collapses into ruin.

The universe falls. All colors vanish. Darkness spreads eternal, the last remnants of creation swirling as golden ashes of destruction.

I rise from my throne, stepping onto the ashes.

"Mhm… mhm…" A lonely tune hums from my lips. I dance lightly, slowly, in silence. The ruler of nothing, dancing on the golden ashes.

THE END