Cryus looked up—and saw Gravio advancing toward Imperial, who was locked in battle against Ari and the others.
Gravio raised his hand, conjuring a massive iron spear, dense with gravitational pressure.
He hurled it toward Imperial's back—his blind spot.
The projectile moved so fast that air itself bent around it.
In a blink—
Blood sprayed.
Everyone froze.
Even the clash of steel fell silent.
Imperial looked back in shock. The spear had pierced through a body—but not his.
It was Cryus.
The iron spear on his heart .
The lightning general stood between Imperial and death, the spear buried deep in his chest. Blood streamed down his armor as he fell to one knee… then collapsed completely.
"Dad… DAD!!!"
Imperial's scream ripped through the silence.
In his mind, chaos: screams, death, memories of everyone he loved—his father, his mother, Ari, little Emi—falling again and again.
He shook, clutching his head. No… stop…
Darkness swallowed it all. Black. Silence. Nothing.
The battlefield—once roaring with fire and thunder—fell into a pin-drop silence.
Even Jimmy, who had been charging from behind, stopped in disbelief.
He took another step—but a sudden dark wave of magic erupted from Imperial's body. The energy was so dense it crushed the air itself.
Jimmy was thrown back instantly, eyes wide in fear.
Imperial slowly rose, twin blades in hand. His eyes burned, not with light—but dark lightning.
Gravio smirked. "What's wrong, Red One? Aren't you going to cry over your father's—"
He never finished the sentence.
In the blink of an eye, Imperial appeared behind him.
Gravio's head fell from his neck before his words even reached the ground.
But the fight didn't stop.
Ben, Morgan, and Lucy—all three charged alongside Gravio's reanimated shell.
Their attacks crashed against Imperial's invisible barrier of magic, unable to even touch him.
Gravio broke through, roaring, but Imperial caught him by the face and slammed him into the ground—ten meters deep, the earth itself shattering.
Ben, Morgan, and Lucy were thrown back into the ruins, their bodies broken and burnt.
Gravio crawled out, blood dripping down his forehead, laughing.
"Heh… now this is getting interesting. Show me, Imperial. Show me what it feels like to face death!"Cryus's Final Moments
Nearby, Elara and Ari were kneeling beside Cryus. Elara's hands glowed with healing light, Ari pouring every bit of energy she had—but Cryus's body refused to heal.
Cryus's eyes found Imperial, standing in the distance like a storm given form.
He smiled faintly.
"Finally, I understand… you did love your family. Even after all this time."
"now I remember the day you were born… and why I left you. The whole thing is my fault. So I decided to come here and help you but—"
"I wish I could tell you everything—but my time's run out."
"Now it's all in your hands, my son."
His lips moved one last time, but no sound came.
His heartbeat faded.
Cryus Alden—was gone.
The ground beneath Imperial split apart, unable to withstand the sheer force of his unleashed magic. Waves of power rippled outward, bending the air itself — the wind grew dense, pressing against everything around.
Everyone present felt it. Fighting Imperial now… was nothing like before.
In an instant, Imperial vanished.
A flash — and his hand clamped around Gravio's head.
With terrifying speed, he dragged Gravio across the ground, carving a trail of destruction through the earth. The impact shattered the soil, forming a deep scar behind them before Imperial slammed him through a crumbling wall.
The wall exploded into fragments — but Imperial didn't stop. He kept dragging Gravio through the ruins, one shattered wall to another, each impact booming through the air like thunder.
Gravio gritted his teeth and forced himself upright, his aura flaring violently. He summoned a colossal construct — a giant metallic golem descending from the clouds, its massive form blotting out the sun.
It plummeted toward Imperial like a meteor—
—but before it could strike, Imperial's magic waves pulsed outward, crushing the air itself and shattering the golem into countless fragments. The broken shards were hurled back into the sky by his overwhelming pressure.
Before Gravio could react, Imperial's fist smashed into his jaw, sending him flying backward. But midair, Gravio twisted and countered — his knuckles cracked against Imperial's ribs, forcing him back.
In the next instant, Imperial disappeared again, reappearing behind him.
A frenzied hand-to-hand clash erupted — fists met fists, kicks met kicks — each strike detonating like an explosion, shaking the battlefield apart. The ground trembled, unable to bear the weight of their power.
Both were now engulfed in raw magic —
Imperial wreathed in blinding dark-blue lightning, Gravio surrounded by dark-purple gravitational waves. Each collision split the air and tore the void between them.
From the sidelines, Lucy, Morgan, and Ben charged forward —
—but Erika, Magna, and Zeran Drake intercepted them, weapons drawn, magic flaring.
No one else dared step in.
The clash between Imperial and Gravio had surpassed mortal limits.
Gravio roared: "Absolute Push!"
The air compressed in an instant. The world itself bent toward Imperial.
The ground beneath his feet fractured and sank as the pressure multiplied.
Imperial's body strained, muscles tensing — but his glare never wavered.
A silver glow spread through his eyes — time slowed.
He could now see Gravio's movements seconds before they happened.
Imperial lifted his hand, darkness surging around him.
"Dark Room."
A dome of black void expanded, swallowing them both.
The world outside disappeared — replaced by an endless dimension of pure shadow.
Gravio wasted no time.
"Gravity Art: Singularity Crush!"
Tiny black spheres orbited his hands — each one imploding the space around it, tearing reality itself. They launched like bullets, detonating in rapid succession, warping the void.
But Imperial read every path before it formed — his lightning-fast steps slicing through the dimension, his silhouette flickering between explosions.
The dimension trembled. The air folded.
Gravio raised his hand again — and a massive dark-purple hammer materialized, glowing with condensed gravitational energy.
He spun it once — the air shrieked — and vanished.
In the next instant, he was in front of Imperial — the hammer swung down like a meteor.
Boom! Boom!
Each strike shattered the void, craters of black light bursting with every impact.
But Imperial's silver eyes gleamed, predicting every move, shifting through the strikes like a shadow between thunderclaps.
Then — the hammer suddenly expanded, becoming massive, its gravitational pull impossible to resist. It crushed Imperial completely — or so it seemed.
In a blink, the two switched places — Imperial behind him, calm and unflinching.
The hammer slammed straight into Gravio himself.
A shockwave tore through the dark field — the void itself shook.
Gravio coughed blood but grinned, wild and exhilarated.
He raised a trembling hand, dark-purple light gathering at his fingertip.
"Gravity Art: Nova Singularity!"
A dense sphere expanded — pulsing faster — until it detonated in a cataclysmic blast.
The shockwave threw Imperial across the dimension, rolling across the cracked ground.
For the first time in his own domain, Imperial was thrown back.
He rose slowly, electricity crawling along his arms, blood streaking down his face.
His expression — calm, cold… but behind his silver eyes, rage burned.
Gravio stood bleeding, smiling, eyes bright with madness.
He spread his arms wide.
"Gravity Zone."
The dimension shifted again, purple light consuming everything.
Gravio's power spiked, the weight of a mountain pressing from every direction.
Imperial countered, shadows twisting around him.
"Dark Magic: Abyssal Guard."
A dense black shell formed, swirling with ghostly eyes. The crushing force slammed into it — cracks spread, smoke coiling from Imperial's palms — but he held firm.
He vanished —
and reappeared behind Gravio, his hand glowing with shadow energy.
"Dark Art: Oblivion Step."
Gravio spun instantly.
"Gravity Art: Orbital Pull!"
Space twisted, dragging Imperial into a deadly spiral.
Imperial's roar shattered it.
"Dark Magic: Abyss Rift!"
The void split apart — darkness tearing through the gravitational field. Shadows erupted, wrapping around Gravio's arm and dragging him toward the rift's core.
Gravio slammed his foot down.
"Gravity Art: Anchor Field."
The space around him solidified, immovable. The rift broke apart in shards of darkness.
He lifted the hammer again —
BOOM!
A strike fell like a meteor, crushing Imperial's afterimage.
Imperial appeared above, launching himself skyward.
"Dark Magic: Void Ascend!"
A black spear formed in his grasp — long, jagged, flickering with void fire.
He hurled it.
"Dark Art: Shadow Lance!"
The spear tore through the void, colliding with the hammer —
BOOOOOOM!
The explosion swallowed half the dimension.
Both were hurled back, crashing into fragments of broken space.
Imperial landed, blood on his lip. Gravio rose, chest bleeding, eyes burning.
Their gazes locked.
No words. Just will.
They charged.
Fists collided again and again — each strike bending the void.
Dark smoke and gravitational waves erupted like storms.
Gravio leapt back, gathering his final power.
"Gravity Art: Eclipse Core!"
All his magic condensed into his arm — gravity folding infinitely around his fist until it became a collapsing star.
Imperial's silver eyes glowed brighter — then steadied.
Gravio lunged, the void collapsing behind him.
Just before impact — Imperial vanished.
He reappeared at Gravio's side, one hand on his neck. Calm. Precise.
"Dark Magic: Oblivion Pulse."
The explosion erupted point-blank —
BOOOOOM!
The blast erupted point-blank, tearing through Gravio's body. The dimension itself split — waves of black and violet light crashing, folding, then collapsing into silence.
When the void cleared, only darkness and blood remained.
Gravio's body hung limp, Imperial still holding him by the throat. Blood streamed down onto the broken ground below — a red reflection against the black void.
The Dark Dimension shattered — reality bled back into the world outside.
Everyone watching froze.
Lucy's eyes widened, voice trembling,
"...How? He— he defeated Gravio… in just a few minutes?"
The others stood speechless as the dust settled. The air was heavy, filled with the scent of blood and burnt magic.
Gravio's corpse hit the ground — his eyes still open, the faint trace of a smile on his lips.
Imperial stood over him, silent, his shadow long and cold.
The world had just witnessed the end of a monster.
And the rise of another.