MIGHT AS WELL BE OP

The Overseer stood motionless, his eyes fixed upon the fragile scene before him, unfolding with unnerving precision.

A surge of molten heat coursed through his veins, the shiver of exhilaration dancing along his limbs, a fevered anticipation overtaking him.

His thoughts surged like a torrent, racing faster than the eye could follow, as though he could already perceive the blood soaked future stretching out before him.

'This is it. This is the moment I have longed for'

His mind whispered, seizing upon the unfolding chaos with a fierce, unyielding intensity.

'Fight. Kill. Destroy.'

These words resounded within him, an unrelenting mantra, each echo a deeper call to the darkness.

A delegate of the Eclipsian race spoke, his voice resonating with authority and raw power, piercing through the tension in the air.

"Do you wish for a fight Calamity Demon?"

The words hung in the open, its weight pressing upon the room.

Riven did not respond.

Neither did his wife, Vespera.

Instead, the human delegates from Lucian's planet shifted their eyes toward the Eclipsian delegates.

Their demeanor remained composed, unruffled, yet beneath the calm exteriors, an unspoken readiness simmered, a barely contained fury that could erupt in an instant if any Eclipsian dared make a move.

The surrounding observers, a diverse assembly of delegates from myriad races, stood at the edge of anticipation, knowing that what came next would be a spectacle unlike any other.

Riven did not so much as glance at the Eclipsian who had spoken.

There was no need for it.

He had already issued his challenge, offered the opening, words were now meaningless.

If the Eclipsian wished to act, they were free to do so, but Riven had no more to say on the matter.

Instead, his attention was fixed solely on his son, unmoving and undeterred.

The Eclipsian delegate, sensing Riven's silent dismissal, rose slowly from his seat.

His movements were methodical, each one deliberate, as though he was carefully measuring every step.

With every motion, the weight of the space seemed to grow heavier, as if the very atmosphere was thickening around him.

Then, the first step was taken.

His footfall was soundless, no whisper of sound to mark its presence, but it resonated with an almost palpable force, sending ripples through the air, distorting the space around him.

With each passing moment, the pressure of his presence mounted, and the tension in the room escalated.

The Eclipsian delegate, unhurried and unwavering, closed the distance until he stood before Riven Darkheart and the other human delegates, his very being commanding the attention of all who watched.

The Eclipsian's lips parted, releasing a measured breath as he began to speak.

"I did not receive an answer, Riven Darkheart"

His voice rose steadily, matching the swelling force of his presence, a tone that seemed to shake the very foundation of the room.

The delegates from lower races, unable to withstand the growing pressure, hurriedly summoned their life saving artifacts, vanishing in an instant.

Some were too slow.

Their bodies ruptured violently, exploding into a spray of blood and shattered remains, their innards scattering across the floor in a grotesque display.

Even those who managed to escape were swiftly consumed by the overwhelming force, obliterated in the blink of an eye.

At last, Riven's gaze lifted, slow and deliberate.

His eyes traveled from the Eclipsian's feet, sweeping up until they met the delegate's gaze.

The moment their eyes locked, an unspoken tension filled the space between them.

Yet, Riven remained unmoved.

Calm.

Unperturbed.

His aura was a still pool, undisturbed by the raging storm around him, for there was simply no need to resist.

Finally, his voice broke the silence, calm, crisp, and unnervingly direct.

"I do not like repeating myself. I do not have time for flashy displays nor the theatrics your entire race insists upon"

His words, lighter than air yet precise, cut through the tension like a scissors through fabric.

"I've already said what I had to say. No need to kill ourselves later on. Why not start right now if you can't wait to avenge your champion? Make a move or step aside. I give you five seconds only"

His tone was neither rushed nor slowed, yet it carried an undeniable weight, a quiet command that reverberated with the authority of one who had long been at the pinnacle of power.

The words echoed in the ears of all who heard them.

Eyes narrowed, and the remaining delegates braced themselves, preparing to abandon the spectacle of the Starborn Tournament and witness the real performance, the one that would unfold between two beings at the apex of existence.

The countdown began, its steady ticking echoing through the heavy silence like the foreboding chime of an impending storm.

"ONE"

"TWO"

"THREE"

"FOUR"

With each passing second, time seemed to stretch impossibly thin, each moment dragging longer than the last.

The hearts of every delegate present pounded in rhythm, anticipation crackling in the air.

Battles between those at the very pinnacle of power were a rare spectacle, a fleeting moment in the span of existence.

To witness one firsthand was an opportunity few would ever experience, and none in the room intended to miss it.

The Overseer, despite his eager anticipation, knew his duties must come first.

As the countdown reached four, his movements were swift and decisive.

His mastery over space erupted into life, a flawless demonstration of his power as a member of the Voidwalker race.

In the blink of an eye, his presence surged with unimaginable force.

He had no time to linger in the spectacle of a battle, his purpose was clear.

With a single, imperceptible motion, he reached out and encased the champions in his space magic, his control immediate and absolute.

Before any of them could react, they were swept away, their floating seats vanishing in an instant, pulled into the vastness of space itself.

His power was absolute, too overwhelming to be resisted.

His speed too blistering to be tracked.

His precision too flawless to be felt, as though the very fabric of reality bent to his will.

Before Riven could utter the final number.

It came.

The world came to a sudden, unnerving halt.
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Space itself seemed to freeze, as if caught in the grip of some unseen force.

Time, too, stood still, suspended in an eternal moment where nothing moved.

Even some powerful beings, those who might have resisted, were frozen in place, locked in an endless instant.

Then, it erupted.

A staggering, overwhelming aura, so intense and all consuming, surged forth from the very essence of the Eclipsian delegate.

It poured from him like a tidal wave, an impossible weight that crushed the stillness of the frozen world.

As his power poured into the space around him, everything that had once been in motion shattered.

The moment resumed, but not as it had been.

It didn't simply resume.

It was obliterated.

Space itself fractured, the very fabric of existence torn apart.

Time unraveled in a spiraling chaos, and every particle, every molecule of matter was crushed under the immense force of the Eclipsian's power.

The world, unable to withstand the sheer force of the eruption, trembled violently, its very foundations breaking apart.

And then, with a deafening roar, the world exploded in a cataclysmic detonation, a true world ending explosion that split the sky and the earth.

The destruction was absolute.

The sun and moon that had hung silently in space were torn apart, their light snuffed out in an instant.

The energy released was a violent cascade, triggering chain reactions that swept across the entire realm, igniting apocalyptic conflagrations.

Every form of matter available was reduced to nothingness, consumed by the firestorm.

Delegates from lower races, unable to even comprehend the magnitude of the destruction, perished instantly, their lives snuffed out like candles in the wind.

Many didn't bother to defend, for even such a world ending destruction couldn't leave a scratch on their skin.

Their bodies, forged in the crucible of unimaginable power, remained impervious to the chaos unraveling around them.

The fiery cataclysms, the collapsing space, the tearing of time itself, none of it touched them.

Their arrogance was not born of ignorance, but of absolute confidence in their own invulnerability.

They stood, unflinching, as the world crumbled around them, knowing that not even the apocalyptic forces could harm them.

Not a single delegate from the Eclipsian race faltered.

Their skin remained unscathed, their bodies untouched by the cataclysmic storm that raged around them.

None of them spared a thought for their champions, knowing that the Overseer had already moved them to safety, securing their lives long before the destruction had begun.

And as the echoes of the devastation reverberated through the shattered remains of the world, the Eclipsian delegates stepped forward.

The battle was about to unfold.