Each of Dareth's skeletal fingers convulsed violently before shooting out thin strings of pulsating purple darkness. The strings lashed through the air, snapping onto the group one by one. Idol, being too large and heavily armored, was spared from the binding.
Dareth raised his left hand, laughter rumbling from his hollow chest as five orbs of condensed darkness spun into existence above his palm. With a flick of his wrist, the orbs slammed into Idol, sending the massive figure crashing backward, leaving deep grooves in the ground where his heels dragged.
Yuni tried to cut the string tethered to her with a swift slash of her katana, but the moment her blade touched it, a searing pain exploded through her body. Blood dripped from the corner of her mouth as she stumbled, gritting her teeth.
The agony wasn't hers alone. Across the battlefield, those bound by the dark strings dropped to their knees, chests heaving as the cursed pain coursed through their veins.
Only Jae fought through it, her body trembling but still forcing herself forward. Transforming partially, she managed to clamp her massive clawed hands around Dareth, trying to crush him. Her maw opened wide, gathering smoke and fire to unleash.
But the darkness surrounding Dareth writhed violently, forming dozens of blackened arms that grabbed Jae and hurled her into the ground with a thunderous crash. Dust and shards of stone shot into the air.
Whoosh!
Aralia charged in next, her greatsword flashing in a wide arc. But before the blade could reach him, the darkness formed a dense shield, deflecting her strike and rebounding with a solid blow to her chest.
She shot back like a ragdoll, only for Theo to sprint forward, sliding across the cracked floor just in time to catch her. He grunted under the sudden weight, his knees buckling slightly.
"Shit, you're heavy... those barbarian genes are no joke," he gasped out, half-laughing despite the chaos around them.
Yuni, regaining her footing, ripped three daggers from her belt and hurled them at Dareth. He swatted them aside with a contemptuous flick of his hand. But in doing so, he missed Yuni slipping behind him and slashing at the strings connected to his back.
For a heartbeat, the control of the darkness faltered.
Seeing the opening, Volhcard thrust his staff forward, and a torrent of crackling lightning roared out. It struck Dareth dead-on, the flash illuminating the room with blinding light.
Dareth screeched, a terrible, distorted sound that rattled their bones.
"You coordinate well... but it's still not enough!" he roared, the darkness writhing as it reformed faster than before.
Before he could fully recover, a furious blast of fire erupted from Jae's maw, slamming into him and pushing him back. The darkness around him shrieked and writhed, unable to completely shield him.
Bang!
The ground shook as Idol, battered but unbroken, charged back into the fray. Slamming his heavy frame into Dareth, he wrapped his massive arms around the undead mage, lifting him off the ground before driving both mechanical axes deep into Dareth's ribcage.
Cracks spiderwebbed across Dareth's body, and for the first time, the ancient lich let out a genuine cry of pain.
But it wasn't over yet.
The darkness still churned.
Exhausted and furious, Dareth moved his fingers with a twisted grace, the darkness condensing around his entire left arm, swirling like a storm.
Bang!
Crash!
With a single violent swing, he slammed Idol aside, sending the mechanical giant skidding across the ground, tearing deep trenches into the stone floor.
Standing tall once more, Dareth threw his head back and screeched, the sound vibrating through the broken walls of the chamber.
"This battle has gone too far! I will not tolerate this insolence any longer! Why won't you accept it—you are nothing before Aldir!"
His voice was like a blade against their ears, sharp and heavy with mana. The weight of his words settled in the air, pressing against their minds.
But Yuni stepped forward, crouching low into a stance, her katana gleaming under the dim, flickering light. Her eyes burned with unfiltered rage.
"Hah?! You're the one who's pathetic! You think you stand a chance against Aldir?" she snapped back, her voice slicing through the heavy atmosphere. "You're just a whining, rotting sack of bones—and even your shitty apprentice's had enough of you!"
Whoosh!
She dashed forward, weaving between the writhing tendrils of darkness that lunged for her. Pivoting on her heel, she narrowly avoided being crushed, her blade flashing as she carved through the swarm of black.
At the same time, Aralia charged in, swinging her massive greatsword with a battle cry. The blade crashed into Dareth's broken ribcage with a sickening crunch. Sticky and their split forms followed, latching onto Dareth with their many tentacles, pinning him further in place.
Dareth tried to roar, but before the sound could escape his ruined mouth—
Bang!
Theo fired, the shot blasting into Dareth's jaw, snapping the bone apart. Chunks of skeletal remains scattered across the ground.
Jae, burning with fury, slammed her claw into his torso, the impact forcing Dareth down to one knee.
"You keep preaching about the 'greater good', about 'saving the world', about how we're not enough to stop Aldir," Theo said, loading another round into his blunderbuss with a sharp snap. His gaze gleamed with a deadly mix of seriousness and mockery.
"Yet here you are—getting torn apart by a ragtag group of nobodies."
Gritting what remained of his shattered teeth, Dareth tried to gather the darkness again.
But it was too late.
Yuni and Aralia sprinted in tandem. Yuni slashed upward with her katana, aiming to cleave Dareth in half from the waist. Aralia followed a heartbeat later, swinging her greatsword down from above, aiming to split him from skull to spine.
"You're more pathetic than a devil, shitty master," Volhcard said, his voice low but cutting.
As the twin blades met their mark, a massive surge of darkness erupted from Dareth, writhing madly, desperate to heal him.
But Volhcard was ready.
Slamming the butt of his staff into the ground, he unleashed a blinding pulse of light. Chains of holy mana exploded outward, wrapping around Dareth with a metallic snap, locking his body in place.
The darkness and the miasma evaporated into nothingness, dissipating into the cold air.
Dareth's monstrous form crumbled away, leaving behind his original skeletal mage form, broken and sagging under the weight of his defeat.
Breathing heavily, Aralia wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. She stepped closer, towering over the ruined Dareth.
"We win," she said simply, her voice quiet but heavy with finality. She met Dareth's dimming gaze without a shred of pity. "So tell me, 'master of Volhcard'—what does that say about you?"
Dareth said nothing.
The once-proud mage could only stare back at them, his broken jaw hanging uselessly, the glow in his hollow eyes dimming like a dying ember.
"How...? How...?" Dareth gasped, clutching at his broken chest as he struggled to stay upright. "I offered my body to the God of Death and Life... I became akin to a demigod... I had full control over miasma and darkness... So how...?"
His voice cracked, disbelief etched across every inch of his skeletal form.
The group stood together, weary but standing. Jae shifted back to her human form, barely managing to hold herself upright, clutching her burned side. Sticky let out a soft gurgle, calling to their split selves, which swiftly returned to their main body. The little slime hopped toward Aralia, who gently scooped them up and placed them atop her head once more.
Volhcard stepped forward, his staff dragging slightly against the cracked stone. He stared down at his former master with a look not of anger, but profound disappointment.
"Because you doubted the Almighty Glorious Life," Volhcard said, his voice trembling with restrained emotion. "You doubted yourself... and you doubted me. Most of all, you abandoned hope. You let fear consume you—and look where it led you."
Dareth opened his mouth to respond—but the air grew cold, unnaturally cold.
The atmosphere turned heavy, thick enough that breathing became a struggle. A shiver ran down everyone's spines—except for Idol, who merely adjusted their stance, mechanical optics whirring as they scanned the room.
Faint footsteps echoed beside Volhcard.
Before anyone could react, a violent gust of wind slammed into Volhcard, sending him skidding back across the floor.
And standing now behind the broken Dareth was none other than Aldir.
His figure was untouched by the battle, his white coat immaculate, and a small, sly smile curled across his lips. His golden eyes gleamed with amusement.
"You put on quite the show, Dareth," Aldir said mockingly, his voice calm yet sharp enough to cut steel. "But alas... you were never anything more than entertainment for these brave little adventurers."
Everyone's eyes widened in horror.
They tried to move, to lift a weapon, cast a spell—but their bodies refused to obey. It wasn't fear that rooted them in place. It was something far worse: a binding force woven straight into the fabric of the world itself.
"Well," Aldir said lightly, stretching his arms above his head, "I suppose it's time to end this little game. It was fun while it lasted. You would've made a marvelous court jester, Dareth."
Without hesitation, he plunged his right hand into Dareth's cracked ribcage.
There was no scream—only the wet, sickening crackle of magic as Aldir's hand gripped something unseen within Dareth's core.
Slowly, the air shimmered, and a swirling orb of pure mana revealed itself—twisted and blackened, seeping miasma.
Aldir yanked it free with a savage motion, and a shockwave exploded outward.
Everyone was blasted off their feet, crashing against the walls, pinned by the same invisible force. Groans filled the room, bodies slumping as the weight bore down on them.
Dareth let out a final, rattling gasp—then crumbled into ash at Aldir's feet, the darkness that once protected him scattering like smoke.
Aldir turned the dark mana core over in his hand, admiring it like a prized trophy.
Above them, the roof cracked open with a deafening boom. Thunder tore across the blackened sky, and from the breach seeped an endless mist of darkness and miasma.
The heavens themselves seemed to weep for Dareth.
Everyone instinctively knew what they were witnessing—the wrath of the God of Death and Life. Furious at losing a vessel. Furious at being mocked by mortal.
Aldir, however, merely looked upward.
A sadistic grin split his face as he gazed into the swirling blackness above.
"Don't even think about it, you coward," he said coldly, voice rising to a sharp bark.
A wave of nausea swept over everyone.
This man—this mortal—was mocking a god.
The thunder cracked louder, the darkness twisting and writhing in fury, threatening to descend—
Until Aldir stomped his left foot against the ground.
The entire building trembled. Cracks split through the stone and the very air around him seemed to rip apart.
"Don't even dare," Aldir hissed, venom laced into every word.
And then—just like that—the darkness recoiled.
The clouds above dispersed as if erased by unseen hands. The god fled.
The oppressive weight vanished, and the group collapsed to the ground, gasping for air.
Aldir simply smiled.
He turned his back to them as if they were nothing more than ants. With a casual flick of his left hand, a rift opened in the air—an abyssal tear.
From it emerged a towering being—thirteen feet tall, its body a mass of swirling abyssal matter. Its eyes were burning white voids, soulless and ancient.
"I pray you defeat him," Aldir said, amusement still thick in his voice.
Then, without so much as a glance back, he stepped into the rift and disappeared.
Leaving them face to face with a being born of pure Abyss.