Tang… Tang… Tang!!!

Sound of a sword and a spear clashing together ran out. 

"Damn it all… Get the fuck out of my way." Said the man holding the sword but he got no response.

He swung his sword towards the other guy but was parried and the guy with spear saw an opening as he thrust his spear towards him stabbing the chest of his enemy, narrowly missing the heart.

"Why?" The spear holding guy asked.

No response.

"Why did this have to be like this… why all of you destroyed our Cosmos… what did we do wrong… not a single soul left not even children you all destroyed everything.. tell me why? Just why?" 

The spear holding guy murmured as he looked at the battlefield.

The sky was died in red the ground was died in red. Endless amount of corpses with fresh blood, organs of the body spilling out everywhere could be seen. 

The man holding the spear looked around in daze as he remembered his old memories… the memories of people smiling and living their lives. 

In sharp contrast to the devastation and destruction here.

Tears of blood started to come out of the man… as he said "Why?"

Ha...haha...hahahahahahaha.

The swordsman started laughing as he plunged his sword towards the spearman but he missed.

"Well… You see our Cosmic Lord needs the source of your Cosmos so well… I guess you understand now… don't you." He said as his wounds started to heal. And he started thrusting his sword yet again… 

The spearman blocked the sword and increased the distance between them.

"You should give up… Our Lord is coming soon and you won't be able to fight him… We will take the Cosmic Source at any cost." He said as he looked at his enemy.

"You should join us… with your capabilities Lord will definitely accept you."

He got no response but he still smiled as he looked at his enemy whose face looked like a broken glass with tears coming out of his eyes.

The spearman took a deep breath and wiped the tears and blood from his face and tightened the grip around his spear as if ready to fight again to end this unending battle.

"You will not get it as long as I am alive." Said the spearman with resolute eyes.

As he said this he closed the distance between them and increased the speed of his attack as his swung his spear which was blocked then he again swung his spear to hit the same spot which was blocked yet again he continued to increase the force of his attacks and he continued to swing his spear making it hard for the swordsman to block it anymore…

It looked like the battle was coming to an end.

Just as the spearman was going to stab the head of the swordsman through an opening he created.

His eyes lost his focus for a moment. 

He looked below to see that a claw has pierced his heart from his back.

Puuuuuuuu… Cough! Cough!! 

Puuu… Cough!!!

Blood spurted out from his mouth… as he realized that he has been stabbed from the back… He looked at the swordsman and then tried to look back…

"My lord." He heard the swordsman saying, as he turned around. 

The spearman saw a face it looked him a primordial beast was looking at him with eyes of indifference. 

The man looked handsome, his hair was dyed in gray same for his eye brows, his pupil was golden with a tinge of black at the centre.

Although he could not see thoroughly the spearman noticed that the man who seemed to be the lord of his enemy was smiling… 

Smiling in amusement as if this was just an entertainment for him... as he pulled back his hand and his heart with it. 

No matter how much the spearman tried to keep his emotions his check he just could not control his anger, his fear towards the man, he couldn't even react. 

The man in front of him had no aura around he looked harmless but at the same time it felt as if an entire cosmos was directly glaring at him. Then he realized…

The spearman stumbled and tried to walk towards the near rock to sit. He tried to find some breath but he already realized that his time has come and he started laughing hysterically.

"Y-you destroyed everything to get it to create that didn't you." The spearman's words froze the smile on the lord's face and the swordsman face turned ugly.

They realized that their plan was no longer a secret and is known to their enemy. 

The spearman ignored this and continued "You will never get... it... cough…cough. Y-your ambition will never succeed and someday you will face an opponent who will give you the same no a hundred times more despair then you caused us. 

Our entire cosmos was turned into dust because of you and I pray that someday the same will happen to you… cough…"

"Where is it? Shadow." Asked the swordsman with a tinge of impatience… but all he got was silence… 

He looked towards his lord and asked in confusion "Lord please enlighten this one."

The man who was silent this whole time as if enjoying a show finally showed a frown and then stated "It's with him."

"What? How is this possible?" The swordsman was flabbergasted.

"Well it doesn't matter anymore since my Lord is here I am sure you will get it."

The Lord walked towards the spearman, the last survivor of this entire Cosmos, the man who was once titled as Shadow!

Shadow looked at the beastly man as the Lord moved his left hand towards the back of his head and then looked straight into his eyes with an emotionless gaze as he said-

"I will have it… The Ephemeral Heart will be mine… at any cost." He then moved his right hand towards the right chest of Shadow and started to channelize his energy towards it.

He slowly put his hand into the right chest of Shadow but…

He couldn't feel anything or rather his hand couldn't pierce through, he tried again but nothing happen, he was about to try again when suddenly…

HAHA…HAHAHAHAHA…HAHAHA…HAHA.

He heard a laugh.

He couldn't process what happened but then the body of Shadow started to glow as he heard something again "With my very life as the compensation I ask the Infinite Void to give the source of this fallen Cosmos which I shall name as Shadow the power to traverse the path which shouldn't be crossed. 

My body shall become its base while my soul shall be its fuel and hence shall it bring this END to a new beginning."

The red sky suddenly turned pitch black and a pressure came which completely froze everything even the man who was indifferent till now turned pale as if he has seen a ghost.

The swordsman directly lost his consciousness.     

"Alas I won't be able to see you being utterly destroyed… but remember one day the same shall fall on you." Said Shadow as his body turned dust and the Ephemeral Heart finally came to complete existence which was a sharp contrast to the eternal existence such as a Cosmos. 

This was not a mere Cosmic Source anymore it was much… much greater.

The Lord tried to move his body to catch the Ephemeral Heart but was not able to do anything because of the pressure of the Infinite Void.

The Ephemeral Heart turned into a ray of light as it vanished into the black sky… leaving behind a dying Cosmos, the unconscious swordsman and the utterly enraged and unwilling Lord… 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

An enraged roar of the Lord rang out and disappeared into the void as the pitch black sky turned red again and the Cosmos started to disintegrate as if it was disappearing from existence.

The Lord turned indifferent again as he picked the unconscious swordsman and said indifferently "I will get it back… at any cost… it will be MINEEEEE." Then he opened a portal and disappeared into it.

As for the Ephemeral Heart… it started to traverse the Infinite Void and it was yet to be known what will come next… A new beginning or an unsettling end.

.....