The abyss shuddered, not from Vemy's strike, but from the god's laughter echoing like a thousand collapsing stars. The fractured piece of its halo floated in space for a moment—before dissolving into streams of molten light.
The Ring God spread its arms wide. Dozens of halos unraveled, not breaking, but reforming into a spiral of infinite layers that consumed the void. Where before it seemed vast… now it felt endless.
"You think you've wounded me?" the god's voice thundered, layered with a resonance that bent the fragments of space around it. "You've only given me reason to awaken."
The halos folded into its body, sinking beneath its skin like molten chains. Its divine silhouette warped—shoulders broadening, limbs stretching, eyes splitting into concentric rings of burning light. The abyss itself recoiled as the god stepped forward, radiance spilling like oceans of fire.
Vemy's wings quivered against the crushing weight. Even his Ring of Defiance cracked at the edges, straining to hold form. His spear trembled in his grip—not from fear, but from sheer pressure of clashing existences.
If this is its true form… his teeth clenched. I can't match it alone.
Lightning arced at his side. Akiar reappeared, storm-torn but unbowed, eyes sparking with wild defiance. He spat blood, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and grinned.
"Looks like you finally pissed it off."
Vemy smirked through the strain. "Guess we'll die impressive, at least."
Akiar's storm surged outward, wrapping itself around Vemy's Prismarine fire. Sparks licked at shards of crystal, stormclouds weaving into the fractured ring until it began to hum with a new vibration.
For a heartbeat, their energies fought—storm and flame, lightning and crystal. But then, like breath syncing, they aligned.
[Synchronization Detected.]
[Duo Technique Unlocked: Tempest Inferno.]
The fractured ring blazed, lightning crackling across its shards as storm-fire burst from Vemy's wings. Akiar raised his hands, channeling thunder straight into Vemy's spear until it burned like a sun.
The Ring God's eyes widened faintly, as if acknowledging something it hadn't seen in eons.
"Mortals… learning to weave their chains together."
It raised its hand. A ring-blade of pure annihilation spun into existence, crackling with divine power.
Vemy's grip tightened. His wings flared. His ring screamed with stormfire.
"Let's tear its world apart."
Together, they lunged—spear and storm colliding against the god's burning blade—
And the abyss itself split open.
🔥 Cliffhanger: The Ring God has revealed its true form. Vemy and Akiar, pushed to the brink, awaken their first combined technique: Tempest Inferno. Next clash? It's not just survival—it's creation vs. annihilation.
The abyss trembled, not from Vemy's strike—but from the laughter that followed. The sound was vast, breaking apart the silence of voidspace like shattered glass.
The fractured shard of halo he had struck dissolved into molten light, streaming back into the god's form.
The Ring God spread its arms. Its remaining halos began to unravel, layer by layer, folding inward. The perfect symmetry collapsed, not destroyed, but condensed into something denser, hungrier. The abyss grew darker as its brilliance grew sharper.
"You think you've wounded me?" Its voice was no longer calm. No longer amused. It thundered through the void with a resonance that bent reality itself. "You've only given me reason… to awaken."
The last halo sank into its frame. Its silhouette warped, chains of light binding its limbs as its body expanded, shoulders broadening, arms lengthening, features sharpening into divine severity. Its eyes split open into concentric rings, each burning like a miniature star.
The pressure tripled. Every fragment of stone collapsed, shredded into dust. Vemy's fractured ring cracked along its edges, shards trembling in resistance. His wings twitched against the crushing gravity.
Too strong. His breath came ragged, his blood still hot from the Senso Bean, but the Prismarine within him surged, raw and defiant. Even broken, his fire refused.
"Still alive, huh?" A voice crackled beside him.
Akiar reappeared, storm-wreathed, lightning dancing across his battered frame. His clothes were torn, blood streaking down his jaw, but his grin was sharp as ever.
"Looks like you finally pissed it off."
Vemy smirked through blood-stained teeth. "Guess we'll die impressive, at least."
Akiar's storm lashed out, arcs of lightning wrapping around shards of Prismarine fire. The fractured ring pulsed, vibrating as storm met crystal, sparks dancing along its jagged edges. For a moment the energies resisted each other—fire too volatile, storm too wild. But then, like two breaths syncing, they aligned.
[Synchronization Detected.]
[Duo Technique Unlocked: Tempest Inferno.]
The ring blazed with stormfire. Lightning stitched the cracks of Prismarine flame, reforging its broken edges into something sharper, wilder. Vemy's wings erupted with both fire and lightning, each beat leaving thunder in their wake.
The god tilted its head, faint recognition shimmering across its divine face.
"Mortals… weaving chains together."
Its hand rose. A ring-blade of annihilation spun into being, its edges warping space as it turned.
"Then break together as well."
The god swung.
The blade carved the void apart, ripping fragments of reality into ribbons.
Vemy surged forward. His spear burned with stormfire, lightning coiled down its shaft, Prismarine shards orbiting it like razors. Akiar's storm roared at his side, funneling through him, amplifying every strike.
They met the god's blade head-on.
The collision was apocalyptic.
Shockwaves split the abyss, sending rifts tearing into infinite black. Lightning snapped like divine whips, Prismarine fire seared into spiraling arcs, while the god's annihilation blade devoured everything it touched.
The three forces pressed, clashed, screamed against each other—until the void itself split.
Vemy's arms nearly shattered under the force, but Akiar's storm surged into him, holding his body upright, forcing the spear to drive deeper.
"DON'T. BREAK!" Vemy roared, veins blazing with Prismarine glow.
The fractured ring behind him spun wildly, shards slicing outward, cutting into the god's arm. Divine ichor spilled, glowing molten gold.
The Ring God's voice trembled for the first time—not in pain, but in thrill.
"Good. More!"
Its free hand lashed out, a second halo forming like a guillotine.
Akiar moved first. Lightning split from his hands, thousands of bolts chaining together, striking the halo before it could descend. The ring shuddered, slowed, and Vemy seized the opening.
He thrust.
The spear pierced deeper, Prismarine stormfire detonating on impact. The god staggered a step backward—just one step, but the abyss roared as though a world had shifted.
[Critical Strike Registered.]
[Tempest Inferno Combo: Stage Two.]
The fractured ring shattered and reformed instantly, its shards now spinning faster, sharper. New glyphs etched themselves into the Prismarine glow, inscriptions Vemy had never seen before.
Akiar's storm wrapped around him tighter, funneling lightning straight into his veins until his wings became streaks of stormfire. His body screamed, nerves burning alive, but his eyes blazed.
Vemy and Akiar shouted as one.
"TEMPESSSSST INFERNO!"
They struck together.
The god's chest was engulfed in Prismarine stormfire, lightning exploding outward, carving jagged rifts of burning light across its form. Chains of divine radiance shattered. Concentric eyes blinked in fury.
For the first time, the Ring God staggered to its knees.
Silence followed.
Then the god's voice, no longer booming, but sharp, low, vibrating through marrow.
"…Mortals. You would burn yourselves to defy me?"
Vemy panted, blood dripping from his mouth, spear trembling but unbroken. "Not to defy you…"
He raised his weapon, wings spread wide, stormfire burning brighter than ever.
"…to surpass you."
The abyss convulsed as the god roared, halos bursting outward in spirals of annihilation. The next clash would decide everything.
🔥 Cliffhanger: Vemy & Akiar unlocked Tempest Inferno, striking the Ring God's true form hard enough to stagger it. For the first time, the god kneels—yet it rises hungrier than ever.