To ruin an Omega - Chapter 436: How Divine

Chapter 436: How Divine

FIA

Something in his expression hardened at that.

The air shifted again.

Magic moved fast, distorting the space around him, and then there were three of him, each one identical, each one watching me with the same cold focus.

I didn’t hesitate.

The broken restraints lifted off the floor before I consciously reached for them, pulled by the same force that had torn them apart. Metal twisted in the air, with the sharp edges catching the light as they shot forward.

Faster than any throw.

They drove straight into the nearest one, punching through his chest with enough force to carry him back and pin him to the wall behind him.

For a second, he stayed there.

Then he dissolved.

Gone like he had never been real.

A fake.

The word settled in my head as the body on the wall disappeared, leaving nothing behind but the mark of impact and the quiet proof that I had wasted energy on something that was never real.

I didn’t get time to sit with it.

The second one came from my left, fast and silent. I felt the shift more than I saw it, the air moving just enough to warn me. I turned into it on instinct, the motion pulling something sharp through my side, but I pushed past it and threw the force out before the pain could slow me down.

It hit him square in the chest.

I felt the connection for a split second, like my hand had actually touched him, and then he was gone from the ground, lifted clean off his feet. His back slammed into the ceiling with a crack that ran through the stone, dust breaking loose around him before he dropped.

He didn’t finish the fall.

He burned out before he could hit the floor, his form collapsing into ash that scattered and vanished before it could settle.

Another fake.

My heart was beating too fast now, hard enough that I could feel it in my throat, in my ears, in the spaces between my thoughts. I forced myself to look, to actually see the room instead of reacting to whatever moved first.

Three had become two. Two had become one.

Somewhere.

I turned slowly, ignoring the way my body protested, trying to pick through what was real and what wasn’t. The air still felt wrong, too full, like the magic hadn’t settled yet.

There.

In the corner.

Valentine crouched over Number Four’s body, his hands pressed to her arm. I could see the magic moving, flowing out of him and into her, steady and controlled, repairing the damage I had done like it was nothing more than a delay.

He chose her.

His game had been to distract me and buy time for himself to bring back his experiment from the brink I had sent her, so I would not have to keep hurting her.

Something about that did not sit right with me. The thought of him still thinking of using our bodies for his own gain.

It made something in me snap tight.

I didn’t think. I didn’t measure it. I didn’t hold anything back.

I reached for him with everything I had.

The force that answered felt different from before, not focused, not precise. It surged out of me wild and heavy, like I had cracked something open that didn’t know how to close again. I didn’t just want to stop him. I wanted to undo him, to break him down to something that had never existed.

He reacted faster than I expected.

Both hands came up, and the shields formed together this time, layered and curved, bending in on themselves instead of standing flat between us.

My attack hit.

For a second, it felt like it worked. The impact drove into the barrier, pushing hard enough that the air itself seemed to warp around it.

Then it turned.

The curve caught it, redirected it, and before I could pull back or adjust, the force came back at me.

There was no time to brace.

It hit me full on as I slammed into the stone wall.

The first thing to go was my spine.

I felt it compress and give, a deep, sickening collapse that sent everything else out of alignment. The pain didn’t stay in one place. It spread instantly, sharp and blinding, tearing through me before I could even process it.

Then my skull.

Pressure built inside my head, crushing down from every side, like something invisible had wrapped around it and decided to squeeze. For a second, I thought it would burst, that I would just end there, reduced to nothing under my own power.

Blood filled my mouth.

It came fast, thick, and warm, spilling over my tongue before I could swallow it. I tasted iron, choked on it, felt more of it push out of my nose, my ears, running down my face as my body gave out beneath me.

I hit the ground hard, and everything tilted red.

I couldn’t see properly anymore. The world blurred into shapes and movement behind a veil of my own blood.

“No!”

His voice reached me like it had to travel through water first, distant and warped.

I forced my head to turn.

It felt like dragging something broken through sand, every inch resisting, but I managed just enough to see him again. Valentine had already shifted back to Number Four, pulling her closer, his hands still working, still trying to fix her.

He wasn’t going to let her die. I heard him say something as he slapped her awake. He wanted her to fix me since he had used most of what he had to give on her already.

It was cruel to witness, and it made me pity her. It also made me understand her perspective. Even if it was just a little bit.

A laugh forced its way out of me.

It didn’t sound right. It was wet, uneven, and breaking apart as it left me, but I couldn’t stop it. Blood bubbled up with it, spilling past my lips as my chest struggled to keep up with the movement.

My hand pressed against my stomach without me thinking about it.

The skin there was torn; I could feel it even through everything else. What I was most worried about was my baby. But the moment my palm made contact, something answered.

The humming came back.

Not the same as before.

This one moved faster, louder, not a steady pulse but something heavy and driving, like it had direction, like it was pushing forward whether I was ready or not. It was not coming from me, though.

Still… it filled me, and my body started to pull itself together.

There was no light this time. No glow, no softness. Just movement. Flesh shifting, bone grinding back into place, organs rebuilding themselves in ways I could feel but not fully understand. It hurt, but not in the same way as before. This was deeper, more controlled, like something inside me, my… my baby… had taken over the process entirely.

I dragged in a breath that didn’t collapse halfway through.

Across the floor, Number Four moved.

She was crawling now, slow and uneven, her body still not fully hers, but responding to him anyway. I could feel it, the pull of his control wrapped around her, guiding her closer.

Closer to me.

I didn’t let her get there.

I hated what I had to do, but I was going to do it regardless. I reached for her hands.

The force snapped out, sharp and focused this time, and I closed it around both of them at once.

I didn’t just break.

I crushed.

The pressure built in a single instant and then released.

Her hands burst apart under it, skin splitting, bone shattering outward in a spray that hit me before I could turn away. Blood covered my face, my chest, warm and thick, mixing with my own.

She screamed.

The sound cut through everything else, high and raw.

I pitied her so much that her pain could only make me laugh in a manic manner.

Something in my chest felt wrong, too light, too open, like whatever had been holding me back before had finally given up. The sound of it, the feel of it, it all fed into something I didn’t try to control.

I lifted my head.

My eyes found him.

Valentine was already looking at me.

He knew.

I could see it in the way his stance shifted, in the way his hands moved before I even acted.

Three shields snapped into place in front of him.

I struck anyway.

The force hit them hard enough to shatter the first two almost instantly, the sound of it sharp and final. The third held for a fraction longer, just enough to slow the impact before it broke and sent him stumbling back.

He caught himself, but not cleanly.

For the first time, his composure didn’t fully recover.

I rose.

Not by pushing myself up. Not by standing.

The force lifted me, pulling me off the ground like weight had stopped mattering. My body followed it without resistance, though blood was still dripping, and my muscles were still settling back into place as I hovered there.

He stared at me.

“What are you?” he asked, and there was something real in it now, something that hadn’t been there before.

I smiled.

I could feel the blood on my teeth when I did.

“What you wanted so badly to create and failed,” I said, my voice steadier than it should have been. “A healer from the age of legend.”

I didn’t wait after that.

I threw another attack.

This time, he was ready.

Five shields formed behind him, layered tight, one behind the other, as he turned and started to move, putting distance between us while the barriers stacked up to take the hit.