The Extra Wants Control

The porcelain clinked softly as Verona poured her tea and they got in contact, she took in a whiff of the steam and smiled.

Valeriana who was across the table, took a small sip as she closed her eyes. It was moment of peace as they waited for Neveah to finish up with the tournament.

Verona then put her tea down the moment she was about to take a sip and this didn't go unnoticed by Valeriana.

"Looks like some we uninvited guests," Verona sighed as she looked at her tea.

She was about to act but from a different direction a dangerous beam, even by Verona's standards, it was of potent and thick energy that even had some secondary attack swirling around it, the beam was red and the secondary swirling attack was violet.

It was a 12 STAR ATTACK!

It pierced through the space they were in. It aimed directly for Valeriana.

Valeriana didn't even flinch as she hadn't even noticed, but luckily for her she was with Verona and the moment the beam was about to make contact she was gone. Teleported to a different location.

The beam however was still dangerous and Verona made a portal in it's trajectory that made the beam vanish. To Where? Well only Verona knew that.

Before even she could react, at that moment the barrier around the vampire continent broke and Neveah was gone?!

Verona also disappeared to investigate what happened but she had a clue who it was...

There was an angry Verona charging at the scene.

While Valeriana was still confused... Before her materialized a figure that sent a surge of pure hatred through her.

A tall, broad-shouldered man with eyes grey-purple, a face etched with the some slight barely noticeable wrinkles but still coldly handsome.

He was him, her ex-husband, the father of her children.

He hadn't been seen since that day 2 decades ago.He smiled at Valeriana and said, " I'm here to finish what I started 40 years ago."

"I'm going to KILL YOU!" Verona said.

The around them got hot because of Valeriana's fury. It pulsed from her with every heart beat like a sonar... In a second the air ignited and erupted in a blinding wave, incinerating everything within a hundred-kilometer radius. ( There wasn't much... It was a desolate area)

The man however stood untouched, his eyes devoid of fear or panic. He calmly raised his hand, the flames before him parting before it like it was cut and with a single motion, he clenched his fist, and the inferno was extinguished as if by a command.

"What a coincidence, my love..." he said, a pulling his hair back.

"Me too." He said smiling widely.

***********

_______

[Now]

At Verona's location.

"Come dear ... Let's dance." Xavier now clad in flamboyant purple armor that seemed more suited for a children's play shot towards her with a manic grin plastered on his face.

Verona meanwhile was still in her customary black and red dress made an ice spear, barely batted an eyelid as Xavier launched into a flurry of punches and kicks.

Her movements were fluid almost effortlessly it was as if her body was reacting on its own...

With her spear held high, she effortlessly blocked every blow, parried every thrust, and returned each parry with a terrific counterattack, not once did she even bother to dodge.

"How nostalgic!" Xavier said.

"Queeny, doesn't this remind you of the good old days?" He made another series of wild swings that was met by anothet effortless deflection by Verona.

Xavier even attempted to launch purple chains at her, which she simply spun her spear to block them.

Then Xavier unleashed a puff of purple mist directly at Verona's face. She dispersed by making a spatial portal that sucked it in.

"Something's off," she said.

Xavier chuckled. "What's wrong, Queeny? Can't handle a little spar? Maybe you're getting old. Can't keep up anymore! Why don't you unleash your precious law, or better yet, trap me in your little domain!"

Verona's response was not what he expected. A slow, chilling smile spread across her face. Her eyes, normally pools of calm control, glittered with a dangerous glint.

" Why are you so WEAK?" she said, her voice a low as sge tilted her head slightly, she then used the hilt of her spear to deliver a quick but brutal blow to Xavier's chest.

The armored figure went flying through the air, crashing into the ground as his body bounced and skidded on it before stopping with a heavy thud.

Silence settled but was broken only by the rasp of Xavier's breathing that turned into a laugh as he suddenly shot up the sky towards Verona leaving a very wide crater on the ground as well a a sonic boom that blasted the rocks and dust away.

The ground, the air, the mana(that wasn't even being used) literally trembled, the ocean and seas made great waves and the the sky had the weirdest phenomenon, clouds gather, lightning and thunder rumbled before they were dispersed

All this came not from only the impact of their physical blows but also from the sheer force of their magic clashing.

Verona, in only her long dress parried a colossal flaming blade conjured by Xavier by making her own that came from the opposite direction, the ground.

Fire and ice met in a sizzling hiss, canceling each other out in a cloud of steam. But chunks of ice were still visible, clear representation of Verona's better proficiency.

Xavier who was cloaked in swirling shadows, roared in frustration. His eyes, once bright white burned and gradually change to an infernal red.

He was a master of darkness and the dual affinity of fire and water, but against Verona, Queen of the space who made his attacs disappear his fury felt like a child's tantrum. It was ignored.

Verona, with a flick of her wrist, summoned a swirling vortex of obsidian ice( ice infused with darkness). It shot towards Xavier, who slammed his fist forward, sending a giant fish of darkness to meet it. The two forces collided in a deafening boom, the shockwave flattening the surrounding mountains and hills into dust.

(There's a reason why 10-11 stars don't fight in Elnova )

Verona saw the opportunity. Her hand glowed with a crimson light, and tendrils of darkness, laced with a wet red hue(blood+darkness), shot towards Xavier. They latched onto his armor and started draining the man's very life force. Xavier screamed, the sound raw and primal.

However, just as Verona readied the final blow, the ground beneath them split open. A colossal hand, crafted from molten rock, erupted from the fissure shooting at Verona and inturupted her mid-drain.

Another hand emerged and it retreated back into the earth, taking Xavier with it.

Xavier appeared again battered and bruised, spat a glob of blood onto the cracked earth. His flamboyant armor, once a beacon of his fury, was now a twisted mockery, scorched and rent by Verona's icy attacks.

"Why protect this accursed continent, Verona?" he rasped, the name leaving his lips for the first time since their fight began.

"It's a place you grew to despise. Duty? Responsibility? It looks like a burden, a chain that weighs you down. Even your own son, a constant reminder of the weakness you cling to. You should have stayed alone, unchained.

Your power could have been limitless." A manic glint flickered in his eyes. "But it's not too late. Abandon this charade! Come with me, and together we can serve HIM! The one true-"

"ENOUGH!" Verona's voice boomed, shattering the twilight sky. Her obsidian armor, normally a canvas for swirling constellations, pulsed with a malevolent crimson light. Xavier flinched, momentarily stunned.

"You think you can charm me, Queen?" he scoffed, regaining his composure.

"I am no longer the man you once knew. I am beyond the shackles of a mete vampire!"

Verona's lips curled into a cold smile her eyes full of pity as she shook her head. "That wasn't charm, Xavier. That was fear."

Then world tensed as everything seemed to stop, the waves, the wind.. and the once bright lights and hues of Elnova dimmed away, replaced by an encroaching darkness.

Verona's scleras turned an inky black as if mirroring the consuming night or commanding the night only her pupils purple and red remained.

The race leaders monitoring the battle( all that ruckus got their attention) they felt a primal dread grip their hearts as the darkness pulsed outwards from the epicenter of the clash.

It swallowed mountains, cities, entire continents in its path. It was dark

Verona then said her voice empty but very authoritative... "Law Initialization: Nameless Hour!" Two moons one purple the other red appeared pulsating with an unnatural light that ripped through the darkness, hanging very low in the sky.

They were the only source of light in Elnova's world now, casting an eerie, blood-red and purple glow on the devastated landscape.

Xavier watched as the last sliver of light in his vision faded through the edges of Verona's oppressive law, Nameless Hour.

" You are lucky, the only reason I'm using my law is because I'm restricted Domain wise ... But this will be enough to kill you." Said Verona.

"Hey, her law is up," he thought, a desperate plea sent out through the telepathic link. He didn't care what Verona said right now.

A voice hissed back, "Only her law? You couldn't get her to unleash her domain? Useless."

"Easier said than done," Xavier grumbled, rubbing his throbbing arm.

"Okay, hold her off for two minutes, can you do that?" came the urgent reply.

Xavier scoffed. "Two minutes? TWO MINUTES? COME HERE RIGHT NOW!" he roared his voice in urgent, momentarily forgetting the telepathic connection.

Silence. Then, a booming voice cracked through the oppressive darkness, "DON'T RAISE YOUR VOICE AT ME, WORM!"

Xavier winced, shrinking back. He'd forgotten the telepathic link wasn't soundproof to others. "Hmmm," he whined and whimpered like a dog caught with its tail between its legs.

"I'll try," he mumbled, the urgency of the situation forcing him to swallow his pride. He knew two minutes against Verona was a gamble... Even though he was ordered not to he had to use his law and maybe his domain.

**********

Panic filled the air. The world had plunged into an unnatural twilight, the moment the vibrant colors and lights of Elnova bled away, replaced by an oppressive darkness. It wasn't the kind of darkness that one could try to get comfortable in. No. This was a monstrous entity, a living shadow that smothered everything in its path. It was eerie...

The kind of darkness that made you think there was something there with you something terrifying... And this time that was probably true.

People screame but their voices never echoed nor did they seem to hear anything else.

In bustling city squares, the cacophony of daily life had been replaced by a primal fear. Cars screeched to a halt, their headlights casting useless beams into the void. Streetlights flickered and died, plunging bustling avenues into an abyss.

In homes, families huddled together, clutching any source of light they could find. Candles, lighters, even flickering phone screens – all offered a pathetic resistance against the all-encompassing gloom.

The only ones who could make light in this environment were 9 star and above beings and they weren't that many so this was a disaster.

Yet, their flames sputtered and died, devoured by the darkness. They couldn't see even stars.

The desperate scramble for light was futile. This wasn't a regular power outage(that they didn't have) it was one that came and fostered fear.

Suddenly light came but depending on where you were it was red or purple and this light didn't make anything feel better... It was worse those moons seemed to look into people's souls. It was oppressive.