The Conquerors Path

775  Chapter 773-Combine To Form What? n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

As their fists collided once more, the two halves of Austin battled for dominance. Austin landed a swift knee to 'Austin's' ribs, causing a loud crack to reverberate through the mental world. 'Austin' retaliated with an elbow to Austin's face, splitting his lip open. Both were staggered, bloodied and beaten.

The ground quaked beneath them, the air growing heavier as the mental realm continued to break apart even more, ecen with Luna supporting it. The once vivid blue and red had faded, leaving behind a dull, lifeless grey. It was as if the world itself was tired of witnessing this battle, eager for it to end.

Austin pushed forward with a final roar, his fist glowing faintly with the last remnants of his strength. However, as the 'battle' raged on, some differences started to bloom. The two of them started at the beginning. The two of them had the same strength and understanding, but the one thing that separated them was the fact that the two of them didn't go through the same mental growth.

Austin had fallen into his guilt; he had gone through the hard part of living with his mental capacity fully compromised, and he had risen from it. Austin had found strength in the ones around him; he had learned to accept who he was and live with it, he had gone forth to care for the ones around him.

Austin had broken through the difficulties step by step; he was the one to walk the first difficult path to get everything he needed, and as the fight grew more and more weary, Austin started to remember the ones that made him reach here. He didn't get here fully alone, along the way, he had help, and in no way can he let this one take control and destroy everything, just like he did in his past life.

Austin had lived and gone through worse than this, and he was not willing to fall now. The mental stability that he had gained from everything he went through shone through at the last moment while the weaker 'Austin' started to fall behind. The man had hidden in the darkness, and he only learned and made everything from watching Austin in the darkness.

He didn't live the life, the only reason he was able to go toe-to-toe with Austin was because of the blessing that was given to him, the power of corruption weighing everything down while giving him the strength that he needed to face Austin. But at the final moment, he was the hollowed-out self, not having the emotions that let humans push forward.

Humans are a connection of hope, love, care, and a will to fight for everything they want to fight against, and that is Austin, but that is not 'Austin'. With the madness gone away, all that was left was the hollow self that doesn't thrive on the basic emotions that humans feel at the end of their moment, the last desperate drive to do anything to win, 'Austin' didn't have it and thus...

Austin swung with everything he had, connecting with 'Austin's' jaw, sending him crashing into the cracked earth. The impact created a spiderweb of fissures that spread across the entire realm, and for a moment, time seemed to slow.

'Austin' lay there, panting, his eyes wide with shock and disbelief. He tried to push himself up, but his body refused to cooperate. The strength that had fueled him was gone, leaving behind only a hollow shell.

Austin stood over him, his chest rising and falling with heavy breaths, his body swaying from exhaustion. He could end it now with one final blow. But as he looked down at his darker half, he realised something—this wasn't just about defeating him. This was about acceptance.

"You're right," Austin said, his voice hoarse but steady. "You are part of me. But you don't control me. Not anymore."

With that, Austin reached out his hand, offering it to 'Austin.' The dark half stared at the gesture, confusion flickering across his face.

"If we fight it all against this, we will just fall, we will fail, and we will die. I don't want it, and as much as I hate to admit it, your ruthlessness, your drive to perfection, I need it, I want it. You can't be the one in control, you can't be the leader, but you can be a part of me."

Austin spoke, his gaze calm and controlled. By doing this, he was taking a risk, but it was a risk worth taking. For all the complaints he gave, the only reason the past 'him' was able to reign supreme over the underworld was because he had that darker half to him. While he rejects the major qualities of it, in his heart, Austin knows he needs some of it.

'Plus, I have this instinctual call deep within me that we need to join together.'

Austin thought, a deep-seated desire to just fully devour 'Austin' and make him his. But Austin didn't want to do it that way. The two of them are one. Trying to destroy the beauty present before would just be stupidity. In an ironic way, the two of them need each other; that is the only way the future will be able to thrive for them both.

In this breaking world, both of their thoughts mixed together. 'Austin' could see the thoughts and understanding flowing through Austin, and that only made him bite his lip. With a forgotten smile, he fell to the ground, his gaze towards the top of the sky that was breaking apart.

For a moment, it seemed like 'Austin' would refuse, but then, slowly, he reached up and took Austin's hand.

As their hands clasped, the entire realm began to shake violently. The cracks in the earth and sky spread rapidly, and the once-solid ground crumbled away, leaving only a vast void beneath them. The realm was collapsing, but it wasn't chaotic—it was peaceful, almost serene as if the two halves of Austin's soul had finally found balance.

Austin pulled 'Austin' to his feet, and together, they stood at the edge of the void, watching as the world around them disintegrated. There was no fear, no anger, only acceptance. This was the end, but it was also a new beginning.

As the last piece of the realm faded into nothingness, Austin closed his eyes, feeling a sense of peace wash over him. He had fought, he had struggled, and in the end, he had won.

As everything started to break away, the two Austins broke into smaller and smaller particles, the two of them soon just shining within the darkness, a supreme darkness that nothing could see through. The two Austins were now just bundles of red and blue, the two of them swirling against each other within this darkness, and from within the darkness, two pairs of eyes grew.

One pair of eyes deeply blue, while the other divinely red, the two gazing at the sparkling particles, and before they could do anything, something darker took hold. The two eyes widened in ways they didn't expect as purple eyes larger and darker than the two combined appeared before them, eyes shining with danger and a forgotten past.

The two divine eyes trembled in fear, and before they could do anything, they had to disappear, leaving just the two particles. Soon, under guidance, a change started to take place, slowly but naturally under the guidance of the eyes. The two particles started to swirl around each other, and naturally, they became one for a moment.

A light purple light sparkled within from the combination, but it wasn't complete at all, the purple faded as it came, soon becoming just a combination of shining red and blue, looking divinely beautiful in a different way. Thus, with tired eyes, the purple eyes closed up, soon turning away, leaving the sparkling red and blue, which started to shine brighter and brighter, soon rebuilding the mental world.

...

On the outside, only despair had built within Luna as she watched the mental world of the one whom she came for slowly start to crumble into nothing. And as the last embers drifted away, Luna thought it was all over, her howl of grief about to pierce the world before Luna felt the change. And the moment she did, she flashed away from Austin, her eyes widened like never before.

In front of her, Luna watched with bated breath as two sparkling, beautiful blue and red lights started to surround Austin. They now looked different from before, the blue lightly surrounding him while the corrupted red complimented it. Austin floated up from the ground, and Luna, without hesitation, tried to hide it, but she wasn't worthy to hide it.

Austin's figure flashed, disappearing from everything, and before Luna could react, the world felt it, the humans felt it, the people felt it, the gods felt it, the divine felt it, and the corrupted felt it. They all felt it—an aura so potent that it couldn't have been glanced at, an aura only the select few could understand, the select who had a shiver up their spine.

...

"This is impossible!"

Silvie shouted as she stopped her fight with her sister, her eyes of surprise turning towards Silviya, who also gazed at the change.