The clash grew fiercer.
Flames danced on Seraph's sword — pure white and searing — while Appolyth's burned black, moving with a ghostly rhythm, alive with whispers of the damned.
Seraph swung horizontally, but his blade cut through air — Appolyth had vanished, her speed rising beyond mortal perception.
At first, he was intrigued. Then he saw it.
The truth.
She wasn't getting stronger.
She was feeding.
All around them, thousands of unseen souls screamed as their essence poured into her body. Dark ichor leaked through her skin, bubbling like tar. A maddened smile spread across her lips as the chorus of souls sang through her.
Seraph's voice thundered through the clouds —
"What have you done, Appolyth?!"
She only stared, eyes hollow, consumed.
Her spear rose with trembling hands.
"You should be more worried," she whispered, "about what I'll do to you."
Her weapon slashed — and reality split apart.
Abyssal tears spiraled across the sky as she moved, appearing in flashes around Seraph — from above, from below, from every angle — striking faster than light.
He countered every blow. The heavens shook with each clash.
Finally, he roared — "Enough!"
Seraph vanished.
When he reappeared, the runes on his armor burned with divine frenzy.
His blade descended.
White flame tore through Appolyth's abdomen, then her chest.
She screamed, staggering backward, the sound warping the stars.
Seraph seized her by the head and drove his sword deep through her body. The world burned white.
"You have done what should never be done," he said, voice trembling with divine wrath. "You devoured the innocent and defied the heavens. Your punishment shall be beyond death — you shall be bound for eternity."
Appolyth's eyes widened.
Runes began to crawl over her body — not divine, but hers.
Dark, crimson, alive.
Blood poured from her eyes, ears, and skin as she forced her decaying form to move. She whispered through agony, her voice broken:
"If I fall… I'll drag your light with me."
Then she opened her mouth — and released it.
A storm of corrupted souls, pure and screaming, erupted from her throat. The surge struck Seraph, swallowing his flame in a black tide that tore reality itself apart.
Silence followed.
The world stood still.