The first statue moved like stone shouldn't be able to—fast, deliberate, each step cracking the obsidian tiles beneath its feet.
A second followed, then a third. Within moments, the entire courtyard was alive with grinding stone and glowing, hollow eyes.
Felix spun his blades in his hands. "Twenty of them. Maybe more."
Kyle's blood-forged sword grew longer, the crimson steel humming faintly. "Then let's even the odds."
The First Clash
The nearest statue lunged, bringing a jagged stone blade down toward Kyle. He sidestepped, blade flashing upward in a brutal diagonal slash. The blow tore through stone like flesh, black shards flying in every direction.
But the statue didn't fall—it regrew, shadow filling the gap before hardening into solid stone again.
"Regeneration," Kyle muttered. "Figures."
Felix was already in motion, darting between two more statues. His blades clanged against their legs, slicing chunks off, then he flipped backward to avoid a sweeping arm. "We're gonna have to destroy the core!"
"What core?" Kyle shouted back.
Felix pointed to the faint red light deep in one statue's chest. "That one!"
Coordinated Chaos
Gia appeared behind a statue in a burst of shimmering light, a portal spitting her out mid-air. She landed on its shoulder, slammed a portal ring into its chest, and twisted her wrist—half of its torso vanished into nowhere, reappearing ten feet away.
The statue froze for a moment before collapsing into rubble.
"One down!" she called.
Kyle smirked. "I'll take the next one."
The Blood Surge
He drove his blade into the next statue's leg. Crimson veins erupted from the sword, crawling up the stone like living roots. The statue jerked violently as the blood solidified inside, then Kyle pulled.
The entire core ripped free in a spray of red light and black dust. The statue crumbled instantly.
Felix whistled. "Show-off."
Kyle didn't deny it. "Keep moving! Don't let them swarm us!"
The Courtyard Becomes a Warzone
Two statues charged Gia at once. She opened a portal directly in front of her, and they stumbled through—falling from another portal twenty feet above, smashing into each other.
Felix leapt onto one's chest mid-fall, driving both blades deep into its glowing core. The thing convulsed before breaking apart mid-air.
Gia spun another portal open just in time for Kyle to dive through, his sword already swinging. He emerged behind another statue, slicing its core clean in half.
The courtyard was now a mess of rubble, shadow mist, and flickering red light.
The Last Wave
The remaining statues stopped their advance. Their eyes dimmed slightly, and then they began merging—stone folding into stone, shadows binding them together into a single, hulking figure.
It was twice as tall as the fortress gates, arms thick enough to crush them in one hit.
Felix tilted his head. "Oh… that's not good."
Gia frowned. "Kyle—how's your strength?"
Kyle's grip on his blade tightened. "Enough to end this."
The giant statue raised both arms, each hand holding a weapon forged from the shadows of the others—a spear in one hand, a massive cleaver in the other.
It bellowed, the sound shaking the walls.
Kyle stepped forward. "Stay on its legs. I'll take the core."
Gia opened two portals instantly. "Let's make this quick."
The Kill Move
The fight was a blur—Felix's blades flashing against the giant's ankles, Gia opening portals to trip its steps, Kyle running straight up its arm with his sword blazing red.
The giant swung at him, but Gia's portal caught the cleaver mid-swing, sending it smashing into its own side.
Kyle reached its chest, plunged his blade deep into the core, and let the blood surge outward like an explosion.
Red light tore through the entire statue, shattering it into pieces that rained down across the courtyard.
When the dust settled, silence returned.
Kyle looked toward the throne—only to find the final villain standing now, one hand resting lazily on the throne's arm.
"Not bad," the being said softly. "But you've only been fighting my pets."
The air thickened again, darker than before. The real fight was about to begin.
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