Freed from his bonds, Orion lunged forward with murderous intent and without a shred of hesitation.
CRACK!
The Witch's head exploded into a shower of gore.
The moment she died, the cubic ward imprisoning the Deathly Soul-Reaper shattered. The eight blood serpents at its corners popped like bubbles, their power source gone.
But the fight wasn't over.
From the lowest level of the Black Tower, four figures shot upward. They were the Gatewardens—winged guardians who were each arch lords in their own right, tasked with defending one of the tower's four cardinal directions. The battle had unfolded so quickly that their unsealing process had only just completed.
They didn't attack individually. Instead, they cast out their chains, weaving them together to form a spherical cage of energy, trapping both Orion and the Deathly Soul-Reaper inside.