Evolution of the Ruined Heir

"Come."

The moment the word echoed, a massive aura gripped Malakai like a vice, and he felt a pull the likes of which he'd never felt before.

'It's after the life essence.' Like all darkness creatures, the moment Malakai used the life essence, they seemed to be inexplicably drawn to him. He became all they saw, all they wanted.

However, this… being, Malakai knew, was of a scale that dwarfed anything he had ever encountered.

He could feel the same desire from it, but at a scale that couldn't be compared to the darkness creatures he'd met so far.

He could feel the wrongness surge through him. He could feel the rage, the hatred from the life essence.

It was the first time the life essence would ever show any emotion, but it became all he could feel. The hatred for the being above, one that seemed to stretch for millennia.

In response to its call, Malakai did the one thing that came to his mind.

He roared.

His body erupted in a pillar of green light, breaking the iron hold on him.

"Malakai!"

"You okay?"

Malakai didn't turn towards Nyx and Rhett, but he didn't miss the sweat beading across their faces. It was a miracle that they still remained standing.

"I'm fine."

Malakai swallowed hard, trying to maintain any semblance of composure.

The pair of eyes blinked.

"Your resistance is futile," it said, voice echoing everywhere. "The darkness has swarmed this planet. There is nowhere you can run. I will have the essence of life, even if I have to tear you apart inch by inch."

A hole tore open between the pair of eyes, and a beam of darkness blasted out from it.

Malakai narrowed his eyes.

"Stay back."

He ordered, shooting up towards the beam. More vita surged towards him, converging on his scythe.

The scythe turned into a beacon in the darkness, brimming with unimaginable power. Malakai brought it down to meet the beam in a force of titanic proportions.

A wave of pure energy blasted out, slamming down on Nyx and Rhett. They felt a pressure the likes of which they'd never felt press down on them.

Nyx gritted her teeth, cracks appeared across her vita shield. Rhett, who saw this, paled. He was barely able to control his blood to mitigate the intense force.

Should the dome surrounding the others collapse, they wouldn't survive it. They were the subject of this being's scrutiny and despite being blooms, they felt so much pressure. Others would instantly be crushed.

As they barely got their affairs in order, they turned back towards the skies where green and black had engulfed everything.

'He's not getting pushed back.' Rhett thanked his stars. If Malakai could defend, at least not all hope was lost.

Rhett heard the skies rumble, as though a god had been angered.

"It is surprising the life essence managed to gain little power." The voice came, louder this time. "No matter. It is still futile. I will swat out the flies first."

Another hole tore open just in front of the survivors. Nyx and Rhett paled. In the next moment, a beam of darkness shot out from it, surging towards the group.

"Shit!"

Their auras flared, eyes glowing crimson. Blood burst out from them, converging into a wall of red.

The collision sent them jerking back, taking multiple steps. They both gritted their teeth, trying to hold on.

However, their eyes tore wide the next moment. Like poison, the darkness spread to encompass their blood, shifting it from red to black.

"What the…"

The wall crumbled before they could realize, and they felt the chill of darkness kiss their skin. It was unlike anything they'd ever felt before.

Just by being close, it felt like their time was quickening, like they were dying. Death was coming.

The beam was about to hit when a flash of green plummeted from the skies.

Rhett and Nyx watched, eyes wide, as Malakai roared, bringing his glowing scythe down on the darkness.

The collision sent a force that almost brought them off their feet blasting out. But in the next moment, the darkness dispersed into the night wind.

"We have to escape," Malakai said between ragged breaths. The two blocks had taken more vita than he would have liked.

But a chuckle rumbled the skies before he could move. "Impressive. Then, what will you do about this?"

An incalculable number of holes tore open across the skies, each one sending out beams of darkness.

'He's targeting them.' Malakai's thoughts darkened the moment he saw the being's intention.

Rather than go for him directly, it chose to go after his people instead.

As Malakai blinked across the space, slashing down on the darkness beams, he realized what it was trying to do.

'It's trying to exhaust me.'

Malakai gritted his teeth, mind spinning. He was losing a significant amount of vita during each clash. He would soon run out if he continued like this.

'We have to escape.' The being had found his weakness. It hadn't bothered to threaten him with the lives of the people in the city as though it knew it wouldn't work.

Malakai glanced at the group and a plan formed in his mind. His speed doubled, and he moved so fast it appeared as though he were multiple people.

In a blur, he appeared before the group. Nyx and Rhett were taken aback, but Malakai spoke before they could. "Let's go."

Vita surged from him, and a dome of green encompassed the group. Malakai was about to pierce the ground when the voice echoed once more.

"Then. How about this?"

The skies blackened in an instant, darkness spilling across skies and earth like an unending tide.

Malakai could immediately feel something different about this darkness. It felt like… death itself.

His eyes sharpened as the ground across the wasteland trembled, splitting open as rotted hands clawed their way free.

They were corpses of fallen darkness creatures. Their eyes were hollow and lifeless. They dragged themselves from the soil, fixing the group with empty stares filled only with malice.

Their numbers were so many that they stretched into the horizon.

The voice returned once more, amused.

"How will you deal with this?"

In the next moment, above, the skies ripped apart.

A hole wider than mountains yawned open, bigger than any so far. And from its abyss, a colossal beam of darkness tore downward.