Temptation of Time: Momoku Will

"This is the end Mikari, all of your manipulations have been unraveled, your elaborate illusion uncovered. You're a shadow in the light now." Victor said while activating his powersuit. "You think I've been hiding... How foolish it seems you're in need of a reality check. I haven't been hiding from anyone nor do you have any idea what's really happening right now." Mikari said while brushing back his short ice white hair. Mikari stood on top of the celestial being Effusio, preparing to absorb it. Mikari's white shadow lord's robe waved in the wind, matching his hair. Mikari's red eyes locked with Victor's blue eyes, looking down on him. "I've planned for a while now to absorb Effusio and finally complete my artifact, Kagamishi. It takes a great deal of energy to jumpstart, but once it's active, the potential the artifact holds is infinite." Mikari said before activating his oppressive red aura. "You don't know what kind of power you're dealing with. Eons ago, you were originally a ninja who was the hero of your planet Kunai. But after the gods betrayed your people and destroyed your world, you aspired to be above the gods themselves... You may have had Kagamishi since birth, but even you still don't understand it completely." Victor explained while activating his powersuit mask. Mikari cracked a slight grin. "And what of you, conqueror of time? You've lived countless lifetimes and still haven't figured everything out. I may look delusional from your perspective, but I've chosen the path of self-mastery. It's only natural to be misunderstood; it's a feeling I'm all too familiar with." Mikari said sorrowfully. Mikari activated Kagamishi, completely disintegrating his robe, revealing the red crystal fused into the chest of Mikari in place of his heart. Kagamishi immediately began using its red aura to devour Effusio, causing Mikari to be filled with energy. "You've actually fused with that artifact...? The gods sealed that within you as a failsafe, and you've decided to embrace it! How foolish! The artifact breaks down your existence and transforms you into a being of will and power. How can you even call that living!" Victor raged at the top of his lungs. Mikari continued to absorb energy until his body reached its limit, expanding then exploding in a massive pillar of energy. The explosion of aura erupted into the sky, vaporizing countless stars above, slowly dissipating after a few unsettling moments. "There's no doubt about it, you're no longer a man, monster, or god. You're something completely different." Victor said. A warp in space appeared next to Victor, Sekai Sora, the god of seals and Mikari's wife, emerged. "He's finally reached that higher dimension he's been striving for, but he still doesn't understand what he's dealing with." Sekai said. "He was able to easily make all of the stars above vanish with that explosion. If we weren't on this celestial plane, things could've been far worse. But let's see what happens to him now." Victor said while walking closer. All of the energy compressed, revealing Mikari with long white hair and one long bang, wearing a white divine robe, his dense white aura covering him completely. Kagamishi transformed from a red crystal to white, but Mikari's eyes became more crimson than ever. "What happened to Kagamishi? This wasn't supposed to happen. Kagamishi is supposed to fuse with Effusio, but why did it turn white instead of becoming crimson like when Delhévia used it?" Sekai said. "I've been repurposing Kagamishi's functions and power since I was a young boy. Thanks to that, we share a symbiotic relationship now. Initially, the relationship was extremely overwhelming, but overtime I'm learning to use its true potential. The artifact isn't inherently evil; it evolves me and reality itself to my will, but there are restrictions..." Mikari explained while descending in front of Victor. "Restrictions...?" Sekai and Victor exclaimed. "Everything and everyone has their limits. Only those who stand above all others can exceed those limits." Mikari taunted while summoning his katana, the infamous black blade of death. Victor activated the homing missiles on his powersuit and charged towards Mikari. "I've had enough of your mouth!" Victor yelled. "Finally, something we all can agree on." Sekai said while preparing two seals. Mikari glared at the missiles, redirecting them. Victor attempted to ambush him from behind, but he countered Victor's katana with his own, then blew him away using his spell Lighting Lance. "Andromeda pentad seal release!" Sekai chanted. Mikari was trapped within a five-ring seal that absorbed the aura surrounding him. Mikari lifted his left hand into the air, creating a dimensional box around him and the seal. "You've decided to side with our enemy just so you can have your way with me. How deep does your obsessive nature go? It's time you let it go already..." Mikari said condescendingly. Mikari activated his spell Coffin of Release, completely erasing the seal along with the area caught in the compression of the attack. Victor started shooting at Mikari with his rail-gun and energy pistol, firing attacks of pure light, Mikari dodged each attack and blocked the final attack using his barrier. "Your words fall on deaf ears." Sekai replied. Sekai activated two of her seals, then began buffing Victor's powersuit so he could press Mikari. Victor rushed Mikari, summoning a phantom axe and slashing his body, but Mikari easily healed the shallow wound. "It's unsightly to struggle like this before your enemies. What a joke." Mikari said. Mikari summoned two wings behind him in the form of dragons, he launched them at each of them, slightly damaging both of them before they could react. The two of them healed and prepared to retaliate. Sekai and Victor charged Mikari with their magic, but his swordsmanship was far too skilled, easily countering both of them and sending them crashing to the ground. "The darkest day of the darkest knight, you come to me... Last Judgement." Mikari chanted. A small orb appeared at the tip of Mikari's left index finger, then fell to the ground. The moment the orb hit the floor, it instantly erupted into a massive wave of white energy, leaving an unfathomable tear in the space around the attack. Victor just barely teleported Sekai away from the attack that would've surely killed her. "What the hell?! He is now encroaching on existence. If we don't end him soon, he'll destroy everything within the Omni-Void itself." Victor said. "Alright, I've already made all of the necessary preparations earlier, so we must hold him off until then." Sekai said while activating a lotus seal. Mikari started fighting more seriously against the duo, making their combo attack difficult, exposing small weaknesses in their technique using his illusionist's dance. His illusionist's dance style he created gradually manipulates and controls all the senses of his targets the more time they spend battling him. He continued his assault until they were exhausted and heavily injured. Mikari watched them gather their strength to attack again with glee. Mikari created a mini black hole and activated it in front of Victor but he teleported away using his powersuit. Victor activated an artifact that warped the space around them, canceling the black hole. Mikari walked toward Victor, unfazed, but then he suddenly appeared in front of Victor, nearly slicing his neck. The two of them began clashing in the air, while Sekai stood on the ground, waiting for an opening. Victor used a faint and put all his strength into targeting Kagamishi with his full power energy blast, blowing Kagamishi out of Mikari's chest. "That was a good attack, but the physical position is irrelevant. We are one." Mikari said. "Of course, but there's one thing you didn't account for." Sekai said. "And what's that?" Mikari said. Suddenly, Effusio became unstable, covering the realm in white and red aura, distorting time and space. "You bastards! I won't let this stop me. Oh heavenly realms converge, Ultimate Helix!" Mikari chanted. The entire area became encased in a white box, then it released, canceling everything within, suppressing Effusio. "That was troublesome. I'll have to think of a way to deal with that." Mikari said while grabbing Kagamishi and placing it back in his chest. Suddenly, all of Mikari's energy began to be sealed, and he immediately knew it was Sekai doing so. He began forcing Kagamishi to evolve him... Mikari's robe turned into a white silky substance, flowing around his skin. Mikari's brown skin became black with white claws and white cheetah-like legs. Two long eldritch tails in the form of white dragons grew from his lower back. "What the hell is happening to him?!" Victor asked. "I combined a seal when I first attacked him. The seal I used is named after him, the Volare seal. It slowly suppresses the energy of any being and gets stronger the more energy exerted. Him using one of his ultimate abilities was enough for the seal to activate," Sekai explained. Four eldritch-looking wings grew from Mikari's back, all with sharp tendrils at the ends. His face morphed into a demonic skeleton with six eyes and a white third eye in the center of his forehead. Mikari released a loud roar, shaking the realm before transforming his hands into katanas. He teleported in front of Sekai. He stabbed and slashed at her, creating a massive wave of white energy that destroyed the landscape, heavily injuring her. But Sekai endured his attacks, just barely holding on. Mikari grabbed her with his wings, attempting to finish her with his dragon tails, activating his most powerful attack Trigram Fragor, but Victor kicked him hard in the face, activating a seal of his own named Mindox. It momentarily stunned him, but Mikari quickly learned how to counter, then transformed his hands into scythes while attacking Victor. Victor was pushed against the plane below, struggling to hold on under Mikari's scythe's pressure. Mikari suddenly weakened from Mindox , and Victor used this opening to kick him with a roundhouse. Mikari's appearance regressed to his original short-haired human appearance. His white hair returning to his natural black hair he had before Kagamishi. Mikari's robe began flaring up like white fire. "I'm being sealed away! This wasn't supposed to happen yet, not here, not now, dammit! I refuse to be stopped by the likes of you. Only those with power can exert their will. I can't be held down! I'll never accept this pathetic future you seek to protect! I'll never...!" Mikari yelled in disbelief. Mikari's seals interrupted his words, crucifying him on pillars of energy. "You don't need to be a god to obtain free will. You need only seek, and you'll find," Sekai said. "Bullshit! What would you know of free will when you've only ever bound yourself to others? Know wonder Amaterasu banished you from heaven, you hypocritical bitc..." Mikari said before his seals interrupted him, teleporting him away, leaving a cross behind. "Why must you be so impetuous..." Sekai said while teleporting away. Victor, a silent observer, watched the events unfold from afar. He knew that Mikari's fate had been sealed for now, but he couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for the man. Mikari found himself in the underground gaol, a desolate realm known as "Lost." This isolated prison was specifically designed by Sekai to contain him. As he materialized, he felt the weight of his new attire. Sekai had created a specially made robe called Cloakie, designed to seal his Kagamishic power. It was a tight-fitting black garment, enchanted with multiple seals. A white cloth draped around his shoulders acted as a barrier, suppressing his aura. Years turned into eons as Mikari sat sealed on a black chair in the inescapable darkness of the underground gaol. He was left alone with his thoughts, contemplating his actions and doubling down on the path he had chosen. In solitude, he began to reach a new understanding of his goals. Kagamishi continued to evolve him beyond comprehension eventually allowing Effusio to completely fuse with him. Occasionally, Mikari's wife would visit him, her presence providing a glimmer of light in his dark existence. As eons passed, Mikari's grew stronger. He delved deeper into his own mind, unlocking his potential, discovering new ways to harness his power. Although Mikari was defeated through the combined efforts of Sekai Sora and Victor Temporis he knew the reason for his loss wasn't solely those two doing... TO BE CONTINUED