The air shook with the crushing weight of mana. The ground beneath Arthur and Luciana trembled, cracks splintering outward as if the earth itself was straining to breathe.
From raw mana alone, blood twisted upward, spinning into a tornado that blotted out the darkness above. At its core stood Aran, no longer intelligent, only a towering monster of bone and malice. His skeletal hands clenched the scythe, and with a savage swing, he split the storm apart. The tornado burst open, drenching the battlefield in a rain of blood that hissed against the ground.
But it didn't end there. Three more funnels surged to life, clawing skyward like jagged fangs. They spun away in different directions, surrounding the giant skeleton, before crashing together with a roar. The collision birthed an even larger cyclone, its walls of blood churning around the monster at its heart.
The prison lasted only seconds. The skeleton threw back his skull and unleashed a howl so powerful it shook the air itself. Sound waves ripped outward, shattering the cyclone into streams of blood that scattered in every direction.
The crimson rain had not even touched the earth when thousands of golden swords materialized above Arthur. They launched forward in a blinding storm, slicing through the air with a metallic scream. Blades slammed into the skeleton's body, cracking bone and driving him back. But with a single gesture, he raised his hand, and a translucent shield flared into existence. The remaining swords shattered against it, sparks scattering across the ground.
Arthur and Luciana pressed harder, refusing to give him space. Luciana's form warped in the air, half flesh, half smoke and shadow. She shot forward at a speed that blurred her outline, a streak of darkness weaving between the skeleton's strikes. The scythe carved through empty air, always a fraction too slow. Luciana's claws lashed at him from every angle, sparks and shards of bone breaking free as she struck again and again.
Frustration twisted through the monster. The giant skeleton let out another howl, the sound so sharp it rattled the air. Luciana faltered for only a heartbeat, retreating into shadow, then surged forward again with renewed fury. Arthur backed her with relentless volleys of conjured blades, each strike hammering into bone like a smith's mallet against iron.
Seconds stretched into a brutal minute. Then rage consumed the monster. With a guttural roar, he raised his left hand, and a second scythe formed in his grip, its blade carved from seething green light. Another howl tore free, and from his ribcage spewed a torrent of skulls. Each one screeched as it flew, trailing black streaks through the air as they swarmed toward Arthur and Luciana.
Luciana twisted away, her half-shadow form darting between snapping jaws, claws swiping to break apart the ones she couldn't dodge. The assault forced her back, opening the way for the skeleton's charge. Despite his towering frame, he moved with terrifying speed, closing on Arthur in an instant. Both scythes came down in a crushing arc.
Arthur's twentieth blade shifted, folding into the shape of a shield. The twin strikes smashed against it, unleashing a blinding wave of light. Stone split beneath Arthur's feet, but the shield held.
The skeleton reeled, startled by the resistance. He raised his scythes again, ready to strike. But before the swing could fall, a dragon sculpted from blood surged forward, its jaws wide. It crashed into the skeleton's chest, shoving him back across the battlefield. With a furious slash, he cleaved the beast in two, the blood dissolving into mist, revealing Arthur charging through with his next sword raised high.
The giant skeleton brought both scythes across his body, crossing them in a desperate block. Blade met blade. The collision erupted in a storm of light and rotting mana, the shockwave cracking the air itself as their powers collided.
Their weapons locked for a tense heartbeat before Arthur's sword splintered with a sharp crack. The force shoved him back several meters, but a new blade shimmered into existence in his hand, edges gleaming with fierce light.
The clash continued. Each strike shattered the sword he held, only for another to appear instantly. Sparks flew with every blow, shards of bone and dust scattering, and each hit drove the skeleton backward, its massive frame groaning under the assault.
After several minutes, a golden aura began to bloom across Arthur's armor and sword. His next strike made the skeleton stagger several meters back, the impact ringing through the air like thunder. He pressed on without pause, denying the monster, or even Luciana, a chance to strike. Each swing drove the skeleton further, leaving trails of shimmering light in its wake.
"Forty-five," he whispered, teeth clenched.
The next sword swelled to massive proportions, radiating heat and brilliance, before lunging forward like a falling tower. The skeleton raised its scythe, but the strike shattered it instantly, sending jagged fragments flying.
"Forty-six."
Arthur moved with relentless precision. Another strike sent the skeleton's second scythe clattering from its grasp, the collision echoing like a crack of stone under hammer blows.
"Forty-seven."
His next slash tore through the air in a blinding wave of golden light, hurling the skeleton backward. Mid-flight, Arthur appeared above it, hovering like a specter of vengeance.
"Forty-eight."
Two swords manifested in Arthur's hands. With a swift motion, he hurled them forward, and chains shot out from the hilts, wrapping around the skeleton's massive arms and binding them tight. Suspended in midair, Arthur hovered above the creature, a storm of golden light and relentless motion.
"Forty-nine," he whispered, the blades blazing with golden brilliance, casting long, sharp shadows across the battlefield.
…
On the other side of the battlefield, the corrupted Goddess clashed with Ryan's colossal construct, an abomination forged from his domain. Each time her spells shot forward, they vanished into one of Edgarth's portals, only to reemerge and strike from a different angle.
Leo, Elna, and Briva circled her, attacking from different sides. Their combined efforts kept the Goddess from advancing, but their strikes barely scratched her skin. Frustration mounted, and Briva's hand went instinctively to the band on her wrist. She was about to activate it when Leo's voice cut in, sharp and urgent.
"Don't use that. Your bond with nature isn't deep enough. Force it now, and it'll break you."
Briva's eyes flicked to the two A-rank illusionists locked in a desperate duel nearby. Her jaw tightened. "Then what do you suggest?"
Before Leo could answer, Arlasan appeared beside them. "Varic is safe for now," he reported. His gaze shifted to Leo. "What's the plan?"
"I need you to keep her occupied," Leo said, voice low. "Don't let her notice me."
A pulse of mana rippled outward from him. The world shimmered as his Real Illusion spread over the battlefield. In the blink of an eye, Leo vanished from sight, leaving only a blood-forged double to fight in his place.
The others tightened their grip on weapons and spells, bracing for the next exchange. Briva glanced around in frustration, no animals, no insects, nothing alive to call upon. Her arrows had already proven useless against the Goddess's defense. She adjusted her strategy.
Mana flared around her, feathers of red-gold sprouting from her arms as her body elongated and twisted. With a cry that shook the air, Briva launched upward, her form expanding into a massive eagle. She circled high above, preparing to dive.
Seeing Briva rise into the sky, Arlasan shouted up at her. "Take me with you!"
Her massive talons snatched his clothe, and with a single beat of her wings, she carried him upward.
Below, Elna melted into the shadows. A heartbeat later, a hundred copies of her emerged, surrounding the corrupted Goddess. The deity's hand lashed out between blows at Ryan's monster, swatting illusions apart by the dozen. But for every one destroyed, more flickered back into place.
Leo's clone weaved through the illusions, launching attacks of every kind to convince the Goddess it was him.
While the Goddess was occupied, the real Elna slipped from the darkness behind her. Her dagger dripped with shadow, and in an instant she struck ten times in rapid succession, blades sinking into divine flesh. The wounds barely pierced, leaving only shallow marks that stung rather than crippled. The Goddess snarled and spun to retaliate, only to face Briva's dive.
The eagle dropped like lightning, hurling Arlasan ahead of her. Propelled by her momentum, he struck first, fists pounding into the Goddess's chest and shoulders a dozen times before he hit the ground.
The Goddess screamed, staggering. Briva followed through, her talons raking across the deity's face and sinking deep into her eyes. A second scream tore from the Goddess's throat as she caught one of Briva's wings and began to wrench, threatening to tear her apart.
But Ryan's colossal monster struck first. Its massive fist slammed into the Goddess, hurling her backward across the battlefield. She landed hard, claws digging into the ground, corrupted mana erupting from her body in waves of raw fury.
She didn't see the trap.
Above her, a massive stone pillar hovered, invisible to her gaze. Leo had torn it from the ruins, wrapped it in illusion, and lifted it high with telekinesis. Now he released it. With her eyes already healed, The Goddess glanced up just in time to see the shape shimmer into view, a slab several times her size, its weight doubled by enchantment, before it crashed down, burying her beneath tons of stone.
Before the dust could even settle, Edgarth's doors yawned open. In an instant, he pulled the others to safety, placing them far from the impact zone.
The six regrouped, their eyes fixed on the ruined ground where the corrupted Goddess had vanished, every muscle tense as they waited for what would come next.
Hope sparked in them, a fragile thread against the chaos, just as the ground trembled violently and the stones around them began to lift and swirl. Through the thick cloud of dust, the Goddess emerged, her face twisted with pure rage. She floated upward, and the color of her garments shifted, deepening and swirling until it was as if the fabric held the entire cosmos within it. Stars flickered across it, bright, cold, and tainted with malice.
An elliptical shield began to form around her, faint at first, then solidifying into a glowing barrier of impossible power.
'You need to run' Ilandra warned, her voice sharp with urgency.
Leo's gaze followed the stones as they rose, converging toward the shield as if the Goddess was compressing all her mana into a single, unimaginable point. His eyes widened.
"Run!" he shouted, turning to Elna with the urgency.
Then, the world seemed to tear apart. Two blinding bursts of light erupted simultaneously, one dark as the void, the other bright as the sun, and everything between them was lost in the brilliance of their collision.
…
Arthur raised his sword, ready to strike, when a wave of power slammed into him from afar. Even from here, he could feel the Goddess's presence, immense, suffocating, and impossibly alive.
On the ground, the giant skeleton tried to flee. But Arthur's chains held its hands fast, while writhing tendrils of blood snaked around its feet, anchoring it in place.
Knowing Leo and the others were in immediate danger, Arthur slashed downward. A massive arc of golden light streaked forward, cutting through the battlefield and slicing into the skeleton in a single, blinding sweep.
A moment later, another explosion of void erupted, tearing through the battlefield like a living wound. Pillars and debris near it vaporized instantly, shredded into dust by the raw, uncontainable force. The arc of golden light shot forward, meeting the void head-on.
The collision was like two worlds crashing together. Darkness rippled and twisted, swallowing the space around it, while gold blazed in response, radiating warmth and brilliance that cut through the shadow. Sparks of energy cascaded outward, spinning like fragments of molten stars, and the air itself seemed to crackle and hum under the pressure.
The light and void pressed against each other, neither yielding, each pulse of energy sending shockwaves across the ground. The brilliance was hypnotic, beautiful enough to awe, yet the sheer force radiating from it carried a palpable menace. Even the dust and rubble trembled, levitating and scattering as if afraid. Any ordinary human would have been vaporized instantly by the sheer power concentrated in that clash.
The light didn't destroy the void, but it pinned the explosion in place, holding back its destructive surge. When the dust cleared, Arthur was already moving, charging forward through the smoke and debris as cover. As he reached the Goddess, his sword struck with unerring speed to the Goddess's chest, just above the orb pulsing with her power.
He whispered, almost reverently:
"Divine Rupture."
Arthur's fiftieth sword blazed with golden brilliance as it pierced the Goddess's flesh. Light erupted from the point of contact, flaring across her body like a star being torn apart. Her scream tore through the hall, a sound of rage, pain, and shattered divinity, shaking the very foundations of the battlefield.
Arthur left his sword embedded in the Goddess's chest and floated back. She hung there, suspended, as the attack's energy faded and the golden blade vanished. Yet she didn't collapse. Smoke rose from every part of her body, curling and twisting as if she had been seared alive. Her head remained upright, life still visible in her eyes.
"Edgarth!" Ryan shouted. Without hesitation, his monster's fist shot forward. A massive door opened in front of it and another above the Goddess. The fist vanished into the upper portal and struck from above.
The Goddess's body crashed to the ground with a deafening impact. Luciana's twin blood tornadoes slammed into her hands, pinning her down and keeping her from rising.
Leo sprinted forward, shouting, "Mr. Edgarth!"
A door opened before him, and in an instant he appeared directly beneath the Goddess, who struggled to rise. Her eyes widened at the sight of him, positioned beneath her chest.
Without hesitation, Leo drove his sword into the same scar Arthur had carved and shouted, "Blood Explosion!"
A sphere of blood erupted outward, surging with violent force. The Goddess's eyes rolled back as her power began to wane.
Leo didn't relent. Placing his hand on the orb embedded in her chest, he whispered, "Obscurae."