Elena pointed her scythe, and the world itself screamed as her monstrous army charged. Thousands of demons, dragons, and undead warriors surged forward, a tidal wave of destruction aimed at Silus.
Silus didn't move. He simply stood, a dark silhouette against the chaos. The charging horde faltered, then stumbled. As they reached within a few feet of him, they began to drop—not from a visible attack, but as if their very essence was being unmade by his presence. Flesh withered, bones turned to dust, and souls dissipated into nothingness. The entire army dissolved before they could touch him, leaving only dust and a chilling silence.
"Done showing off, Elena?" Silus asked, his voice flat and devoid of emotion.
Elena's eyes widened, a flicker of genuine fear crossing her monstrous features. She gripped her Scythe of Souls, its blade pulsing with dark energy, and lunged. Silus met her with Death, their blades clashing in a symphony of destruction that tore open the very fabric of the Throne Room. Sparks of dark mana exploded with every block and parry. Silus landed a hit, sending Elena careening through a dozen pillars. He teleported instantly, appearing above her, slamming her back into the earth with a downward strike that created a massive crater.
Elena roared, her aura erupting, turning the sky above the castle black. She channeled all her stolen power into a single, devastating blast of pure energy. It ripped through the air, aimed directly at Silus. As the wave of destruction passed, all she saw was smoke. A triumphant, but shaky, smile touched her lips.
Then, from the settling dust, a figure emerged. Silus. He calmly dusted off his shoulder, as if swatting away a minor annoyance. "After everything," he said, his voice a low growl, "you're still that weak, desperate little girl I knew."
Elena gasped, a primal scream of terror caught in her throat.
"My turn," Silus whispered. He extended a single finger, and a tiny, black-gold spark flickered at its tip. It shot forward, not with explosive force, but with an eerie, quiet precision. The moment it touched Elena, her body ignited. She didn't just burn; she began to unravel, flesh and bone dissolving into agonizing motes of light, only to slowly, painfully regenerate.
She screamed, trying to flee. But as she took a step, she slammed into an invisible barrier—a wall of solidified Void. She desperately tried to shatter it with her scythe, but it threw her back, sending her crashing to the ground.
"I promised you," Silus said, slowly walking toward her, "your death would be painful."
Elena crawled backward, tears streaming down her face, her eyes filled with terror. "Silus, please! Forgive me! I... I loved you!"
His face was a mask of cold fury, utterly deaf to her pleas. He reached her, his hand grasping her head. "You played a good game, Elena," he said, his voice now devoid of even a hint of his former love. "But the Void plays for keeps."
He activated Dissolve, slowly turning her into agonizing dust, then Revived her, forcing her to endure the process again and again. He wanted her to feel every second of her undoing. He then plunged her into the Dark Pinnacle, dragging her consciousness into the absolute blackness of the Void. There, he showed her her deepest fear, amplified a thousandfold: to be utterly alone, forgotten by time, forever screaming into an endless, empty darkness.
After what felt like an eternity, Silus pulled her back. Her eyes were wide, vacant. Her spirit was utterly shattered. He leaned close, whispering the final, devastating words into her ear:
"I never loved you, Elena. I only played the part because they told me to. No one else wanted to look at you."
Elena's last breath shuddered out of her. Her eyes stared blankly at nothing, her soul extinguished.
Silus looked up, through the shattered ceiling of the castle, into the ravaged sky. A cold, determined smile touched his lips. He had promised his parents vengeance. But now, he wanted more. He would not just kill the Gods. He would unmake this world entirely, then create a new one. A world where everyone he had truly loved would live again.