Chương 37: Episode 34: Incarceration....

Room of Zeniths – War Above Celestia Incarceration stood at the center of nine towering pillars, the molten-gold floor beneath him rippling like liquid fire. But the pillars had changed. They weren't gold anymore. They crackled with violent, nightmarish red energy, veins of corrupted light crawling up their surfaces like living scars. Black fractures split through the once-pristine structures, leaking crimson energy into the air like smoke that didn't belong in reality.

The Room of Zeniths stretched wide above him, but something was wrong. The light itself felt infected. Above, Celestia burned. Exploding towers. Clashing armies. Smoke curling through the sky like serpents. But inside this chamber, the chaos felt distant, muted, almost unreal. He was untouched. A dark eye sitting dead center in the storm. The statues of the nine Zeniths still loomed, but even they were breaking. Thin cracks traced across their stone bodies.

Faint red light bled through their eyes like something was rewriting them from the inside out. Far in the distance, the Power Gems pulsed. Reality bent around them in uneven waves. Space warped and stuttered, as if the world itself was refusing to accept what was happening. A thin, cold smile curved Incarceration's lips.

"The finality of everything bending toward me." He turned and walked toward the balcony. Shadows stretched out in unnatural directions behind him, twitching and distorting across the molten tiles. The pillars behind him hummed low and unstable, like engines choking on too much power. Then his laugh cut loose, sharp and ugly, tearing through the air and ricocheting off distant towers. He reached the railing and looked down. Explosions ripped through the city. Buildings collapsed in spirals of fire.

Orange, red, and violet flames twisted together like living ribbons. Celestianites and Lunaranites collided across the battlefield in chaotic bursts of light and steel, debris spinning through the sky like falling stars. The pillars pulsed again. Harder. For a split second, silhouettes flickered inside the red energy. Twisted shapes forming, collapsing, forming again, like something inside was trying to break through.

"The insanity of it all," Incarceration roared, crimson eyes flaring like twin suns.

"The greatest massacre of the century." A sharp voice cut through the chaos.

"You really think you can hold this alone?" Shadows snapped tight around him like living smoke. Two blurs tore across the corrupted floor, one molten purple and the other blazing orange. Krane and Overbrawl.

"Perfect," Incarceration said, voice grinding like steel dragged over stone.

"Side characters." He stepped forward. The pillars reacted instantly. Red energy snapped between them in violent arcs. Lightning-like surges struck the floor as the air itself buckled around him. Overbrawl's fists ignited, each punch leaving burning trails in the air. Sparks froze mid-flight for a split second before shattering forward again.

"Hey," Overbrawl shouted, "call us side characters and that's what your jaw is gonna look like when we're done with you." Incarceration tilted his head slightly.

"What are you gonna do, kiss me?" Krane's fists flared with molten spiritual energy, light crackling around his arms as he shot forward across shattered tiles and broken spires.

"Don't make my little brother angry. And that was pretty wild of you, sir."

"Okay," Incarceration said, grin stretching wider, almost wrong in how it moved. Then it broke loose. Fist met fist. The impact detonated the air. The spire around them cracked outward as shockwaves tore through its structure. Overbrawl slammed in next like a flaming comet, orange fire ripping across the battlefield, shards of stone scattering like meteors. Punches and kicks blurred together. Red, purple, gold, and cyan streaked through the space between them like paint thrown across reality.

Incarceration twisted free, grabbed Overbrawl mid-motion, and drove him down into the floor like a falling star. The molten tiles exploded outward. Krane struck from behind. Hook. Uppercut. Knee. Each hit stacking faster than the last until Incarceration's head snapped forward and back in a blur of motion. He staggered. Then pivoted. A whip-fast kick launched Krane across the air, twisting him through debris and flame. Overbrawl answered instantly, erupting into a storm of fireballs.

Each explosion lit the sky in violent bursts, but Incarceration moved through them like a shadow slipping between flames. Unbothered. Unbroken. He spun and caught Overbrawl mid-flight, launching him skyward with a brutal flaming kick. Krane came in again, intercepting mid-air. Fist met grip. Slam. The collision sent Krane tearing across rooftops like a comet losing control. Overbrawl condensed into a burning sphere and dropped from above like a meteor.

The impact shattered streets below, sending shockwaves through the city. Towers shook. Smoke curled violet and red into the sky. Incarceration rose through it all. Dark energy clung to him like living fire, untouched by the destruction around him. Krane rushed him again from behind. Incarceration spun. A crimson explosion of a punch detonated mid-air. Overbrawl was sent tearing through a distant spire, fire and sparks trailing behind him like a collapsing star. Then all three collided. Mid-air.

A storm of fists, kicks, and detonations folding into each other. The sky fractured with every impact. Clouds tore apart. Light bent. Perspective broke. Red. Violet. Cyan. Gold. Everything moved too fast to fully follow, just flashes of violence stitched together by destruction. If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it. Incarceration broke through it all. An elbow crashed into Krane's temple. A grab twisted him mid-motion.

Then a violent throw sent him spiraling through the air. Nightmare energy surged through Incarceration's fists as he followed through, each blow hammering the space around them until even light looked unstable. Then he caught Krane by the head. They dropped. Straight through Celestia's skyline. Black shockwaves ripped across the city below, tearing streets apart and throwing entire structures off balance. Golden towers cracked and fell. Sparks and molten fragments rained upward and downward at the same time.

He hauled Krane upright mid-fall, aura crackling violently, eyes burning like collapsing embers. His voice cut through the ruin, calm and sharp at the same time.

"Let the darkness enrage." In the middle of the Enchanted Kingdom Smoke strangled the battlefield, thick and acrid, swallowing sound and carrying the distant screams of war. Lunaranites and Celestianites collided in a violent storm of fire and impact. The once-golden plains were gone. Now they were blackened, split open like shattered glass, bleeding ash and molten light across the ground. Dark Don stood above it all, still.

His eyes swept across the horizon as lightning carved jagged scars through storm-dark skies. His grin widened—cruel, unnatural, almost not human anymore. Below him, monstrous beasts and armored Lunaranites dropped from the clouds like falling meteors, smashing into the earth with bone-rattling force. The world was collapsing in waves. Millions surged forward beneath him, a living tide of destruction rolling over Celestia's broken land. Dark Don finally turned to his team. Calm. Detached. Untouchable.

"Go handle the weak ones," he said, voice low and mocking.

"Incarceration's calling. I'll be back before you even notice I left." A blink. Black light snapped around him. And he was gone. The battlefield didn't pause for him. It just got louder. Fire roared higher. Buildings folded under pressure and collapsed into burning heaps. The ground trembled with nonstop impact. Winged Lunaranites screamed overhead, cutting through smoke with blades and speed, turning the sky into a moving execution field. Jaylen stared down at the blood on his palm. Then he closed his fist.

"We hold the line," he said, voice steady.

"Nobody breaks." Kayson slid up beside him, eyes wide, breath uneven.

"Jaylen, there's too many. I feel like even I could get full if I ate that whole army." Jaylen glanced at him, then smirked like he was annoyed at the universe itself.

"The more you complain, the faster you get folded," he said.

"So yeah. Try not to die while you're talking." That landed. The team moved. Power flared across the battlefield in bursts. Weapons ignited. Energy snapped to life like the world itself had been kicked awake. Jaylen drew his dual-bladed golden sword. Cyan lightning crawled along the edges like a living pulse.

"Heroes of Avangard," he shouted.

"LET'S MAKE HISTORY." The charge broke. The battlefield answered with chaos. Guervens unleashed molten fury, rivers of lava tearing through enemy lines and carving glowing scars into the earth. Jaylen leapt high, blades slicing cyan arcs through smoke and sky, splitting formations apart mid-charge. Fedjina soared overhead in falcon form, cutting through clouds and dropping golden beams that erased enemies in bursts of light. Jocabed raised a storm of blizzard force.

Ice snapped through the air in razor sheets, freezing monsters mid-step before they shattered on impact. Emely followed with jagged ice spikes raining down like falling spears, pinning enemies into the scorched ground. Ryan moved like he was synced to destruction itself, skating through explosions, launching missiles with casual precision.

"Apocalypse o'clock," he shouted, flipping over a blast as it detonated behind him in a shower of sparks. Sophia slammed both hands down. Sound exploded outward. Musical shockwaves rippled through the battlefield, cracking stone, collapsing beasts, and vibrating the air until even fire seemed to stutter. Pink, gold, and molten energy fused into a chaotic symphony of destruction. William twisted through the sky, shifting mid-flight between forms.

Winds howled from his movements, slamming enemies back in violent gusts. His airborne strikes turned the sky into a battlefield of motion and pressure. Above it all, Anhia hovered nervously on a broken rooftop. Sparks and mud splashed near her boots. Glitter caught the firelight like it didn't belong here at all.

"Do you see this?" she blurted.

"My outfit is literally ruined. I can't—" Sophia snapped her head toward her instantly.

"One, the battlefield is on fire," she said flatly.

"Two, nobody cares about glitter right now. Snap out of it. Diamonds don't panic. They cut." Anhia froze. Then she exhaled, tightened her stance, and something in her expression shifted. The panic dropped. Resolve replaced it. Her dress stayed intact—for now. Her wings aligned cleanly behind her. Focus locked in. Below, the war intensified again. Jaylen carved through swarms with golden and cyan arcs splitting the air.

Fedjina and Emely synchronized strikes—light and ice locking enemies mid-air before crashing them down into ruin. Ryan's explosions stitched gaps through the battlefield, opening paths through sheer destruction. William's wind pressure scattered entire formations like dust in a storm. Jaylen's eyes lifted. Not to the soldiers. To the source. The Power Gems. They pulsed in the distance, bending reality in unstable waves as the Celestial Pillars pulled energy into themselves like starving gods.

Dark Don's presence still lingered over everything like a shadow that refused to lift. Celestia burned below them—smoke wrapping shattered towers, streets turned into a glowing web of fire. The golden castle still stood at the center, damaged but refusing to fall. Jaylen understood it now. This wasn't just survival anymore. Stop the Pillars. Break the cycle. Or everything turns to ash.

Meanwhile – Incarceration vs Krane and Overbrawl Incarceration's fists hit Krane like detonations, each blow ripping him across the cracked golden road. The battlefield around them blurred into chaos—screams, collapsing structures, and civilians scattering like ash in a storm. Krane forced himself up. Barely. Before he could fully recover, Incarceration was already there again. A shadow tearing through reality itself. His grip locked onto Krane's shoulder with brutal precision.

"Didn't think I was done with you," he hissed. He lifted Krane clean off the ground and hurled him like a meteor through the storm-dark sky. The air bent around the motion, colors smearing into violent streaks of red and violet as impact collided midair. Then came the slam. Incarceration drove him down through the clouds in a crushing body drop, the two of them spiraling through roiling storm systems. Lightning snapped past like white-hot blades, turning the sky into a flickering cage of destruction.

Nightmare energy followed every movement, hammering Krane from every angle without pause. A streak of orange cut through it all. Overbrawl. A cyclone of flame and motion tore into the fight with a spinning kick that forced Incarceration off balance. Behind them, golden buildings erupted under pressure, oil trucks detonating in chains of fire and smoke that twisted into spirals around the battlefield.

"You… how did you survive that?" Incarceration's voice cut through the storm, jagged and sharp. His eyes flickered with unstable nightmare light. Krane pushed himself up again, blood tracing his jawline. His stare didn't waver.

"You underestimate what we fight for," he said. Overbrawl cracked his knuckles, flames licking off his fists like living fury.

"Even villains have limits. And hearts." He grinned through the chaos. Incarceration tilted his head slightly. An eyebrow rose. Shadow energy rolled off him like liquid night.

"Hearts," he echoed.

"Interesting. You two are closer than I thought." Overbrawl shouted back immediately, unfiltered.

"WE'RE BLOOD RELATED, BY THE WAY!" Krane exhaled, shaking off the moment.

"I'll take him first," he said.

"Ready?" Overbrawl nodded, fists igniting again, orange arcs slicing through smoke like molten wire.

"I would never be late to beat the brakes off someone." Incarceration's tail flicked through the air, cutting through the storm's motion with a sharp hiss.

"I don't wear boxers," he said casually.

"We're Zeniths. Half-gods. And we don't really do clothing rules." His gaze snapped down. Krane's wrist. The watch. It pulsed once. Then black Zenith nanobots exploded across it in an instant, crawling and reshaping metal and flesh alike. Krane jerked back as his arm mutated into a jagged, red-pulsing steel blade. Before he could react, the weapon twisted free and snapped toward Incarceration, locking into his arm with a sharp mechanical click. His other arm transformed next.

A black cannon formed from writhing shadow-metal, smoke curling along its surface like something alive. Krane's eyes widened.

"No way you're using that against us," he barked, fists igniting with violet energy that left glowing trails in the air. Incarceration smiled. Barely.

"Oh… now the fun starts." Krane clenched both fists, cyan light erupting outward in violent bursts, trailing like comet fire.

"This isn't over," he said.

"Not even close." Jaylen's Perspective I sprinted across the battlefield, metallic boots crunching through stone and ash. Smoke choked the air, every breath hot and gritty, like the world itself was burning from the inside out. Buildings lay collapsed in jagged stacks, like broken tombstones marking a dead city. Everything felt like it was falling apart in slow motion. I stayed human. No transformations. No armor. Nothing to fall back on except skill. My choice. My risk.

Sparks of light ripped across the sky as Lunaranites hurled energy spears downward. Each impact detonated in violent bursts, sending shockwaves through the ground. I slipped between them, sliding across fractured pavement, eyes locked forward. A body dropped beside me. I didn't look. Couldn't afford to. Through the smoke, I saw it. A piercing blue beam shooting out of Celestia Castle, cutting through the night like a signal from something divine. Unstable. Bright. Almost unreal in the middle of all this ruin.

"Jackpot," I muttered, low and steady. I pushed harder. Muscles burned. Air turned heavier. The battlefield blurred into motion and noise—Celestianites and Lunaranites colliding in every direction, metal and energy and screams folding into one endless sound. Every explosion painted the sky brighter. Closer to chaos. Then the wind shifted. Not naturally. The air thickened, like gravity itself had doubled. My body slowed for half a second, instincts screaming at me before my mind caught up. Stop. Too late. He landed.

Dark Don slammed into the ground just ahead. The impact carved a crater deep enough to swallow a truck whole. The shockwave hit me like a freight train, throwing me backward through dust and shattered glass. I rolled with it, slid, then snapped up onto one knee—blade already drawn before I even realized I'd moved. He stood in the smoke. Still. Motionless. His aura bled through the dust like fire leaking from a broken furnace. The red in his eyes didn't glow. It burned. His voice cut through everything. Calm. Low.

Controlled. Like a storm deciding whether to start.

"You shouldn't have come here, Jaylen." The ground cracked under his step as he started walking forward. The air around him distorted, warping like reality was bending away from him. I exhaled slowly. Tightened my grip.

"Guess we're past talking, then." No hesitation left. No distractions. Just me. My blade. And a monster wearing a familiar face. Focus.