Son of Hope

Umbra heard Lucius's arrogant words but he didn't get mad.

He knew that in his current state he was no match for Lucius so he decided to put all he had left in him into one final attack.

He bent his knees and lowered his posture, taking the iconic martial stance every artist started with. He closed his eyes and memories from his homeland flashed within his mind.

Umbra proudly stood, facing a crowd of trillions upon trillions of beings that all screamed his name and venerated him.

From his elevated position, he could see and feel everything. He could feel the never-ending love these people had for him.

He could feel the weight of their expectations and hopes upon his shoulders but he didn't falter, instead, he smiled and performed a slight bow to the massive crowd which riled them

Up even more.

"MAY THE SON OF HOPE BE VENERATED ACROSS ALL TIME AND SPACE AS HIS REIGN IS NEVER ENDING!"

These words endlessly echoed within his mind.

As Umbra reminisced upon these joyful times a massive sun appeared behind him.

This sun didn't seem threatening or dangerous as the aura it emanated screamed of love, courage, and hope. This positive aura flooded the whole runic space and completely changed its structure.

From the never-ending space made up of extremely complex runes came a void of absolute darkness that was illuminated by the rays of a single celestial body.

Within the darkness of the void, this sun seemed to be the evidence and answer to all calamities and disasters, it seemed to be the antithesis of doubt and the last ray of hope within a morose day.

Lucius opened his eyes to observe the beauty that was in front of him and a pure smile appeared on his face.

This was what martial arts were at the end of the day…

Art.

The expression of a whole life's experience and struggle, the interaction of the self and the external.

At the center of this sun, a figure could be seen.

Umbra seemed like a God that had descended upon these mortal lands as his aura was completely different.

His once short orange hair had turned into golden flames that screamed of courage and hope, and his once-massive body expanded, even more, completely dwarfing Lucius. Umbra's green eyes turned white as he looked at his opponent straight in the eye.

"Go ahead." Said Lucius, his smile becoming even more pronounced.

Umbra smiled back before the sun expanded even more reaching an absurd size, almost completely covering the void they were in.

His arm cocked backward while still in his martial pose. Every single one of his movements had a primal air to it as if he was a mighty figure from the primordial eras.

The world stilled and the star that encompassed the void exploded creating a massive supernova explosion that destroyed the void around them.

All the energy from the explosion gathered and saturated every single cell and atom that constituted his body and soul.

Behind Umbra, what was once a massive Sun of Hope had turned into a Supermassive Blackhole of despair and death. The pressure this black hole exerted was so powerful even Lucius had to activate some of his protective measures.

Despite the darkness and gloominess of the Blackhole Umbra's figure remained divine and absolute as his aura still held the Hope and love of all his people. This created a beautiful contrast that amazed and surprised Lucius even more.

[Fall of man.]

His fist slowly punched forward until it had fully extended.

Ignoring all existing concepts of space, time and defense, Lucius found Umbra's massive hand piercing through his body.

Wild energy invaded his body and soul as it constantly tried to destroy his ego and soul. On top of that, he could feel a dream-like force constantly trying to pull his mind into an illusion full of death and despair.

Tears of dark blood flowed out of Umbra's eyes and his aura exploded again.

[Spark of Hope.]

Before Lucius could even react he felt the willpower of countless beings pressing down on his ego, threatening to destroy him.

Behind Umbra, the illusory figure of trillions of beings stayed. They all had warm smiles full of love as they stared at their son of hope.

Together, their hopes and dreams fueled Umbra with godly strength.

Another punch landed on Lucius, creating another hole in his already bleeding figure. Then another and another and another.

Umbra seemed to be in a trance. His punches seemed infinite as he took no breaks nor did he ever show mercy towards Lucius. Every punch had the intention of reducing his opponent to dust.

Lucius's body was constantly regenerating but Umbra's punches were too fast as his healing factors couldn't keep up with the speed and strength of these punches.

The last punch of punch landed and all the light within Umbra's eyes faded, leaving an abyssal darkness that could freeze any soul.

He looked at the figure in front of him.

Lucius's young body was constantly bleeding from every orifice and the numerous wounds Umbra had inflicted, his organs were spilling out and his ego was barely holding on to sanity as the trillions of beings behind Umbra still tried to destroy him mentally.

Despite all of this his eyes were clear and calm. He looked at Umbra and his smile faded.

"That's it?"

Lucius' soul burst into power and his body instantly healed.

His wings reappeared, proudly spreading, creating a massive gust of void energy. The runes within his pupils brightened up and started rotating as he gazed at Umbra with an apathetic gaze.

"I was expecting a lot more but that's already good enough."

A thick green book carrying an ancient aura appeared in his hands and he threw it toward Umbra.

"If you're good enough I'll be seeing you very soon. Hopefully this time you'll be strong enough to witness my martial art."

Lucius vanished and Umbra was left alone within the dark void.

The illusory crowd behind him faded and he regained his normal appearance.

Blood trickled down his nose and eyes as the last techniques he had used had taken too much out of him.

His grasp on the book Lucius had thrown at him tightened and his eyes regained their unbreakable effervescence.

"He said his name was Lucius…"

"Soon…"Muttered Umbra as he vanished as well.