851  The Final Battle V

    Outside a massive, half-shattered planet, Kyle''s figure came to a halt as he sensed Nine''s signal from a distant location.

    ''Good. I won''t give him an easy death.''

    He looked at the planet before him. It was enveloped in an aura of gloom. There was an eerie absence of life forms within it. Yet, it radiated an overwhelming concentration of spirituality, so dense that it banished any trace of dark energy from the air itself.

    Kyle narrowed his eyes.

    "Perhaps here?"

    Azazeal watched his every move silently. His gaze traveled to the planet before him, and amusement flickered in his eyes. One of his bodies had checked this planet for the Celestial spirits before, but he hadn''t found any here. It was one of the ancient planets he had destroyed a long time ago.

    The very planet where he had opened his eyes after his entire race was annihilated. The very planet where he met those two. In the past, it was one of the largest planets in the universe and also the most prosperous. Yet, now it lay in ruins with nothing left.

    "True strength decides who lives and who dies. And I am the one who has attained that strength."

    Kyle didn''t refute his words. Instead, he asked what he had asked him before.

    "Then... let me say this. What if what happened never occurred? Would things have been different? Would you still be where you are now?"

    Azazeal stared at his back.

    "There''s no ''what if''."

    Kyle hummed. Right, there''s no ''what if.'' This man had come too far, farther than he could imagine. He had endured more than he had, faced greater pain. Perhaps what he went through was trivial in comparison. He unleashed his Celestial aura, enveloping the half-shattered planet in a radiant glow.

    When he stabilized his power and opened his dark eyes, with two glowing purple slits within them, the first thing he did was look for Kyle. However, he laughed as he realized the human had long disappeared.

    "Well played. Very well played. I see, luck was on your side like always."

    He covered the lower part of his face with his hand, desperately trying to suppress the raging storm of anger within him. Still, the dark energy spilled forth from his shaking shoulders like a malevolent shadow.

    A familiar purple flower with many petals materialized between his collarbones.

    It was already tainted with red and dark spots, but the darkness crept further like a ravenous beast, devouring the purple hue that tried its best to cling to its form.

    Azazeal''s eyes blazed with a sinister light as he sensed the future he had calculated shift again. All because of one person.

    "I made a mistake..."

    The time he spent capturing the Celestial spirit and stabilizing his power had granted Kyle enough time to do a lot, leaving a trail of devastation in his wake.

    "I should have killed him when his cold essence ceased to interfere."

    "I should have killed him..."

    "I should have..."

    The thought that perhaps, because of this mistake, he might never achieve his desires sent his mind spiraling into chaos. A primal scream erupted from his throat, unleashing a sinister power that surged like a tempest. Yet, this growth was fueled by the darkness he had merged with, a ravenous force that gnawed relentlessly at the edges of his sanity, threatening to consume him.

    The whole universe trembled under his power, and he vanished. His target was only one individual, and it was unclear what he would do when his eyes had lost focus.