Nian Shi’s eyes turned to ice as the Blade of Eternity fully manifested.
The void itself seemed to crystallize around the weapon, reality fracturing under its impossible weight. Distant galaxies trembled as their fundamental laws destabilized merely from its presence.
But just as Nian Shi prepared to strike, Number Four raised his hand.
The remaining Uncreation energy in the void coalesced, swirling into a vortex of absolute nothingness that condensed into a long, black spear.
The weapon seemed to drink all light and concept from its surroundings, its very presence undoing reality.
"Spear of Emptiness," Number Four uttered, his voice flat yet carrying the weight of infinite void.
Both Nian Shi and Yun Lintian were surprised to see this. This wasn’t just some technique—this was a weapon forged from the fundamental law of Uncreation itself, a perfect counterpart to the Blade of Eternity.
The God of Time’s silver eyes narrowed as he observed Number Four’s weapon materializing from the void—a spear of absolute nothingness that seemed to devour the very light around it.
"Interesting," Nian Shi’s voice cut through the collapsing space-time around them, cold and analytical. "To condense the concept of Uncreation into physical form... Yin has indeed raised his dogs well."
Number Four remained silent, the Spear of Emptiness humming with deadly intent.
Nian Shi’s lips curled into a contemptuous smile. "But a copy remains a copy. Did your master think mimicking my Blade of Eternity would grant you true power?"
He didn’t wait for an answer. The Blade moved—not through space, but through the concept of existence itself. Reality fractured along temporal lines as the strike targeted Number Four across all timelines simultaneously.
The Spear of Emptiness met it with perfect symmetry. Where the Blade sought to enforce temporal order, the Spear sought absolute nullification.
The sound wasn’t sound—it was the scream of fundamental laws conflicting. The void around them rippled with paradoxes.
Nian Shi’s eyes glinted as he pressed the attack. "You wield it well for something that shouldn’t exist." His voice remained conversational even as he manipulated time itself. "But tell me—does it anger you to know you’re merely Yin’s discarded prototype?"
Number Four’s silence broke. "We are perfection."
The words emerged flat, devoid of emotion, yet carrying the weight of infinite void.
"Perfection?" Nian Shi laughed—a sharp, cold sound. "You’re a shadow mimicking substance. My blade is eternity given form. Yours?" He parried a thrust that would have erased a lesser being from causality. "Yours is merely the emptiness where something should be."
Their weapons clashed again, each collision rewriting local reality. Stars died and were reborn in the aftermath of their conflict.
Nian Shi’s tone turned thoughtful even as he fought. "The Spear of Emptiness... a poetic name for such an crude weapon. Tell me, does it know it’s just a tool? Or does it fancy itself the hand that wields it?"
Number Four’s attacks grew more aggressive, the Spear leaving trails of nothingness in its wake. "We are the end of all things."
"Arrogant words for a being who can’t even originate his own existence," Nian Shi countered smoothly. He danced through temporal eddies, his movements effortless. "You speak of endings, but you’ve never truly begun, have you? Just Yin’s discarded sketch given temporary animation."
The Mark of Uncreation on Number Four’s forehead flared crimson. "We are inevitable."
"Nothing is inevitable," Nian Shi said, his voice dropping to a deadly whisper. "Not even nothingness itself."
The Blade of Eternity glowed brighter, its light piercing through the void’s darkness. "Shall we test that theory?"
Their final clash began—not as combatants, but as living concepts made manifest. Time itself against the void that sought to consume it.
Yun Lintian watched from a distance, his hand resting on the God Slaying Sword. The philosophical debate woven through their combat fascinated him. Nian Shi wasn’t just fighting—he was probing, testing, understanding this new facet of his ancient enemy.
And in doing so, he revealed more about both their natures than any straightforward battle ever could.
It was probably the first time in a long while that Yun Lintian had become a third party, an observer in such an intense battle without being dragged into it.
Suddenly, the void trembled as Nian Shi’s aura underwent a fundamental transformation.
The silver light of time around him deepened, taking on an ancient, primordial quality that Yun Lintian had never witnessed before. This wasn’t merely the God of Time manipulating temporal forces—this was time itself awakening.
"Let’s stop this little game, shall we?" Nian Shi’s voice echoed with layered harmonics, as if countless versions of himself spoke simultaneously across different timelines. "Let me show you what true primordial power looks like."
Number Four remained impassive, the Spear of Emptiness humming with void energy. "All power returns to nothingness."
Nian Shi smiled—a cold, terrifying expression that held no mirth. "You misunderstand. I’m not using power." He spread his hands, and the River of Time solidified around him like liquid silver armor. "I am power."
The change was immediate and profound. Where before Nian Shi had manipulated time as a tool, now he moved as its living embodiment. Each gesture didn’t command time—it was time itself expressing intention.
When Number Four thrust with the Spear of Emptiness, Nian Shi didn’t dodge or block. The space around the spear simply aged into nonexistence before the attack could complete, causing the thrust to terminate before it began.
"Fascinating," Nian Shi murmured, his eyes analyzing every aspect of Number Four’s existence. "Yin didn’t just create you—he poured fragments of his own essence into you. Like a craftsman making copies of his favorite tool."
Number Four responded by dissolving into pure Uncreation, becoming a spreading stain of nothingness that sought to consume Nian Shi.
The God of Time didn’t retreat. Instead, he reached into the void and pulled forth a concept Yun Lintian had never seen manifested physically—the Hourglass of Beginnings. The artifact shimmered with the light of creation itself, countering the Uncreation simply by existing.
"Did Yin think he could hide his activities from me forever?" Nian Shi’s voice held genuine curiosity as he studied Number Four. "The seal should have contained all his power. Yet here you are—a being of pure Uncreation that shouldn’t exist outside that prison."
Number Four reformed, the Spear of Emptiness now glowing with intensified void energy. "The seal was never complete."
Nian Shi’s eyes sharpened. "Ah. So Yin found a way to leak power through imperfections. Clever." He paced through time itself, appearing at different points simultaneously. "But to create something like you... that requires more than leaked energy. It requires will. Direction."