chapter 40: The Forsaken Union

The realm of endless darkness stretched far beyond the horizon, silent and suffocating. Uraume walked through the void with purpose, her body wrapped in nothing but bandages, the markings of ancient battles and forbidden power. There was no need for words, no need for tears—her expression remained cold, her gaze empty. She was here for one thing.

Umbra.

She found him deep in the center of the void, broken and shattered, his body still as stone. The once-mighty king, now reduced to this husk, bearing all the pain of the universe. Uraume stood over him, her breath slow and calculated.

Without hesitation, she knelt beside him and placed her hand over his chest. "I will take what's mine," she thought, her eyes flashing with power as her fingers dug into his skin. Darkness swirled around them, and Uraume felt the surge of energy as Umbra's essence began to pour into her.

She didn't flinch. She didn't hesitate. Uraume absorbed him piece by piece, his power, his pain, his very soul becoming one with her. Tattoos crawled across her skin, black, intricate, and glowing with ancient energy. They wrapped around her limbs, her chest, her neck, marking the union of two beings into one entity.

Umbra was no more.

The void trembled as Uraume stood, her body now pulsating with a power so vast it threatened to tear reality apart. Her face remained stoic, her emotions hidden beneath the cold surface. She looked down at her hands, now adorned with Umbra's essence. She was not just Uraume anymore; she was something far more.

Suddenly, the air shifted. From the shadows, Umbra's twelve disciples emerged. They were warriors who had once fought beside him, now tasked with ensuring his eternal suffering. Each of them carried the weight of legend—beings who had once shattered stars, conquered dimensions, and stood against the forces of creation itself. They saw her standing where their master once lay, and their faces darkened.

"You dare take his power?" one of the male disciples spat, stepping forward, his sword glowing with celestial energy. "Umbra bore the weight of the cosmos! You have no right to wield what he carried!"

Another disciple, a woman with fiery eyes, spoke. "We were chosen to guard him, to punish him for his sins. We will not let you defy the order of the universe."

Uraume said nothing. Her silence was louder than any words.

The first disciple charged, his sword slicing through the void, aiming for her neck. Uraume moved faster than sight, her arm swinging upward to deflect the blade with a simple backhand. The force sent him spiraling through the air, crashing into the void with a devastating thud.

The other disciples hesitated, then, as if triggered by some unspoken command, they all attacked at once.

"I shattered moons with my fists!" shouted the second disciple, launching a barrage of punches that could tear through planets.

Uraume sidestepped, her body moving like a shadow, avoiding each blow with eerie precision. She raised her hand and, with a flick of her wrist, sent him flying into the darkness.

"I commanded the forces of time!" the third disciple roared, freezing everything around them.

But Uraume walked through the frozen space as though it were nothing. In a blur, she appeared in front of him, her fist colliding with his chest, and with a single tap, his time came to an end.

"I battled the gods themselves!" screamed another disciple, hurling divine energy toward her.

Uraume's eyes glowed as she absorbed the energy with ease, the tattoos on her body flaring brighter. She remained calm, unfazed by their power, as if their greatest feats were mere child's play.

She gave no speeches, no boasts. They meant nothing to her. She was beyond such trivial things.

One by one, the disciples fell, each of them crumbling before her silent, overwhelming might. The sixth disciple summoned stars to crash down upon her, but Uraume raised her hand, and the stars disintegrated before they could even touch her.

The ninth disciple called upon the primordial forces of creation, but Uraume barely glanced in his direction before he, too, was obliterated.

The twelfth disciple, the final one standing, took a step back, fear filling his eyes. "I...I brought death to galaxies..." he stammered, but it was too late.

With a single, effortless motion, Uraume raised her hand, and in an instant, he was gone—erased from existence.

The battle was over before it had even begun. Uraume stood alone amidst the shattered remnants of Umbra's disciples. The void was silent once again, and the power she now wielded pulsed with a dark, unstoppable energy. She turned, her cold eyes fixed on the distant horizon.

There, beyond the edge of the void, lay the Kingdom of Love—the place where Umbra's wives, his children, and his people had lived in peace for five long years. A place untouched by the pain Umbra had endured.

She would go there next. But not as Umbra.

As something more.

As something far more dangerous.

The tattoos on her skin gleamed in the darkness as she took her first step toward the Kingdom, her mind set. Nothing would stand in her way.