Chapter 13: "Crown of Ruin"
Reese's POV
The moment I finished typing in the coordinates, Yuan's magic pulsed in the air—a silvery light burst from the dashboard, folding the space around us.
A portal opened, humming with energy. Raiden didn't hesitate—he drove straight through.
And just like that, we were no longer in his car.
We were in chaos.
Belcourt City—Ground Zero.
The skyline burned orange with flames licking into the clouds. Glass shattered from a nearby tower. Shadows twisted unnaturally down the cracked pavement. Sirens blared, but their sound was muffled by the thrum of power clashing mid-air.
Our friends—our family—were fighting with everything they had.
Bailey stood at the center of a crumbling plaza, her twin swords ablaze as a torrent of fire circled around her like a storm. She slammed both blades into the ground, sending molten cracks across the concrete.
Gaia hovered behind her, fan flicked wide open as her eyes glowed pure white. Her voice was low and steady, commanding the battle before it even happened. "Left side. Incoming."
Without hesitation, Valerie twisted midair, her giant ninja stars glowing purple. With a cry, she threw both, gravity shifting wildly—the stars curved and crushed several shadowy constructs, pinning them against a fallen building.
Yasha—bleeding from her temple, one wing half-torn—gritted her teeth as her chained kunai blazed with holy light. She darted across the battlefield, dragging her chain to blind a snarling beast before slamming it with a radiant strike. "She's stronger than before," she spat out, blood trailing from her lip.
"She's getting stronger by the second," Ophira snarled, her whip glowing crimson. Every hit she landed seemed to absorb more power—more rage. She twisted and flipped, lashing out and pulling shadow-things into herself.
Paicey screamed—literally. Her voice cut through the noise, shattering illusions and warping the concrete beneath the enemy's feet. Her needles flew in waves, glowing with vocal commands that staggered the attackers.
On the other side, Percy's summoned gryphon tore into a construct with a furious screech. Beck reached out and snapped his fingers, transmuting a collapsing wall into a dome of obsidian shielding Valerie.
Gared raised a single hand. Time froze.
And yet, in the distance, Selene still moved.
She turned her head toward us, her smile slow and eerie. Unhinged power coiled around her in a storm of shadows and starlight.
She had broken the time freeze.
Raiden and I stepped forward.
He rolled his neck. "Copy mode on."
I pulled my scythe from the void, storm clouds already crackling above me.
My voice dropped, cold and steady. "Let's finish this."
Selene floated in the heart of the ruined city like a queen in a storm—unbothered, unbent, unhinged.
Her hair whipped in the wind, eyes glowing an unnatural violet. Cracks ran along her pale skin like shattered porcelain, leaking stardust and shadow in equal measure.
"Reese," she purred, voice like silk dipped in venom. "How sweet. You brought him along too."
She raised her arms, and the skies darkened with her presence. Buildings groaned, glass floated mid-air, and the clouds twisted into the shape of a monstrous eye.
Selene's powers were terrifying.
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Her abilities:
Starlight Corruption: She manipulates corrupted celestial energy, allowing her to weaponize stardust into destructive beams, sharp celestial blades, or chaotic bursts that ignore natural laws.
Temporal Shatter: Selene cannot freeze time—but she shatters it. This allows her to move between fractured seconds, unaffected by temporal spells. She can reverse the movement of an object or fast-forward through someone's attack, giving her unnatural dodging and counter abilities.
Reality Tear: She can rip open pockets of broken space, using them to teleport, distort terrain, or trap opponents inside warped dimensions of fear, regret, or memory.
Possession Pulse: If weakened, her shadow aura can pulse outward and infect the minds of the emotionally unstable, bending them temporarily to her will.
Crown of Ruin (Ultimate): When pushed to her limit, a crown of broken light hovers over her head. In this form, her starlight corruption amplifies, warping time, gravity, and physical matter in a ten-meter radius around her.
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"You were never strong enough to stop me," she whispered, eyes locking on Yasha. "But let's see how your little group handles divine fury."
And then—
The ground cracked. The corrupted stars fell.
Selene charged, like a comet wrapped in nightmares.
Third Person POV
The city became a war zone bathed in the violet glow of Selene's twisted starlight.
She descended like a divine calamity, shadows streaking behind her as she slammed into the pavement. The impact created a crater that shattered asphalt and sent a shockwave of corrupted energy spiraling outward.
"SCATTER!" Reese shouted, her scythe in her left hand as she flipped into the air. Rain began to pour — her doing — droplets freezing mid-air and slicing through Selene's shadows like glass.
Yasha streaked above, wings of light unfurling behind her as she threw her chained kunai. It split into glowing links mid-flight, wrapping around a fragment of Selene's reality tear — only for it to be absorbed and twisted into black lightning that shocked her midair.
She screamed. Valerie launched up from the left, flinging her giant star-blades. "Not so fast!" she yelled. Her gravity field expanded, pulling Selene's floating rubble into a crushing vortex—until Selene merely snapped her fingers and reversed the pull, flinging it all back.
Ophira jumped, whip glowing slightly red as it absorbed a star-shard midair, crackling with power as she cracked it toward Selene's exposed back — only for Selene to twist reality and reappear behind her.
"Nice try."
The whip wrapped around Selene's arm—but Ophira smirked. "Didn't say it was just for hitting."
Selene blinked—her arm began to disintegrate. Ophira's absorption had worked.
Gaia linked minds with everyone. Focus. She's stronger, but scattered. She can't counter all of us if we overwhelm her together.
Bailey erupted from the ground in a wave of molten lava and jagged ice, her twin swords glowing as she slashed upward, fire trailing her arc. The heat melted through Selene's star-forged armor—but Selene's corrupted stardust reformed it instantly.
Paicey screamed, voice high and dissonant. The air cracked. Selene faltered—just a second—and Reese was already behind her, scythe slicing through shadow.
Blood—if you could call it that—splattered the ground.
Raiden, now glowing with traces of everyone's power, stepped forward. "Round two," he said with a grin. Lightning in his left. Shadow in his right. Wind at his back.
Yuan opened portals around them, raining down weapons and unleashing Percy's wyverns through torn dimensions. Gared paused time in short bursts—just enough for Reese to land three more hits in seconds.
Selene screamed, eyes burning like collapsing stars. "ENOUGH!"
She activated Crown of Ruin. A blast of corrupted light flared out, vaporizing debris and sending most of them flying.
Only Reese and Raiden remained standing—barely.
"Looks like it's down to us," Raiden muttered.
Reese grinned, blood on her cheek and stormlight crackling behind her. "Good. I owe her one."
They charged together—light and shadow, scythe and mimicry, sister and storm—
Straight into the heart of the chaos.
Selene met their charge with a twisted smile, dark starlight condensing in her palm into a blade made of collapsed constellations.
She parried Reese's scythe with unnatural precision, the clang of magic-infused metal echoing like thunder. Reese ducked and swept her leg, summoning a violent gust that sent Selene skidding back just enough—
"NOW!" Reese yelled.
Raiden blinked forward—teleporting with a crack of Gared's borrowed time magic—appearing above Selene with dual blazing swords of fire and gravity. He slashed downward, channeling Percy's wyvern rage in his roar.
Selene blocked—barely.
But that wasn't the real attack.
Behind her, Reese had thrown her scythe. It whirled midair like a reaper's promise—then split into three, wind and lightning trailing its arc.
Selene turned, caught one blade—
And screamed as the second and third bit into her side.
Black blood splattered. Her crown of ruin flickered.
"You're slipping, Selene," Raiden muttered, landing beside Reese. "That starlight's dimming."
But Selene laughed. Even wounded, even cornered. "You think this is slipping?" She raised a hand to the sky.
The clouds parted.
And a meteor began descending.
Bailey and Valerie shouted from the distance—trying to counter it with elemental walls and gravitational pulls. But the celestial blaze carved through like butter.
Reese's heart slammed in her chest. They wouldn't make it in time—
Until Raiden stepped forward, eyes glowing with the combined strength of everyone he's fought beside.
"I'll take care of the meteor. You finish her."
"Raiden—"
He turned to her with a rare softness. "Kitten. I trust you."
He soared upward, cloaked in every copied magic he'd collected.
Reese turned back to Selene—panting, wounded, but still standing.
"I'm done playing," she growled.
She summoned her full storm. Lightning danced between her fingers. Winds howled, metal twisted, clouds darkened. Her scythe reformed in her hand, charged with every drop of fury, fear, and fire inside her.
Selene raised her ruined blade, smirking even through bloodied teeth. "Then come, Little Reaper."
They clashed.
The city held its breath.
Above, Raiden's body glowed like a comet as he intercepted the meteor—his roar meeting the heavens.
The storm obeyed her.
Reese dashed forward, scythe trailing sparks across the shattered ground. Selene met her in kind, their weapons colliding in a blinding clash of lightning and stardust.
"You're too soft," Selene hissed, blocking another strike. "You never had what it took to finish the job."
"You're wrong," Reese said, eyes narrowing. Wind curled around her legs like a loyal beast. "I'm stronger because of them. Because I don't fight alone."
Behind her, the voices of her sisters echoed in unison, not from their lips but from their presence—the push of light from Yasha, the flash of Gaia's telepathy feeding her Selene's moves before they came. Ophira's whip cracked beside her like a second heartbeat. Valerie's gravity gave her lift. Bailey's elements raged behind her. Paicey's hum echoed in her bones.
And Reese—
Reese became the eye of the storm.
She vaulted into the air, scythe spinning as clouds roared open above. A vortex formed, her power pulling everything inward, focused like a blade on the point of Selene's chest.
Selene tried to vanish into shadow, but Gaia had seen it coming. She stumbled instead, caught in a psychic loop.
"Goodbye, Selene," Reese whispered.
She spun once—
And threw the scythe.
The weapon screamed through the air like divine judgment, impaling Selene straight through the heart.
A flash of blinding white burst out—
And the world fell silent.
Selene gasped, blood and starlight dripping from her lips. Her blade dropped. Her knees buckled.
And with a final exhale, she collapsed to her knees—Her form flickered, unraveling thread by thread—stars bleeding out into the wind.
But before the last light left her eyes, Selene smiled.
"Did you think it ends with me?" she whispered, voice low and cracking like burning ice. "I was only the gate. The crown merely the key."
Reese froze.
Selene raised a trembling hand, stardust leaking through her fingers like smoke.
"You opened the door, Little Reaper."
The wind howled—not in triumph, but in warning.
"And what comes through next… won't wear a face you recognize."
With that, her body shattered into a thousand shards of cold, violet light—each one burning a glyph into the air before vanishing.
And then silence.
The storm cleared.
Above them, the meteor shattered—Raiden falling from the sky like a star, caught midair by Percy's summoned griffin.
Reese fell to her knees, breath ragged. Her scythe reappeared beside her, humming faintly with spent power.
They had won.
But the battle was far from over.
"Victory was a hollow word now—no cheers, no triumph, just the weight of unspoken things."