They didn't answer. Ferinish, eyes wide open and one of her hands bleeding, gripped the hilt of her blade. Aurora, inside her robot, faced the man wearing a faceless mask.
The man interlaced his fingers, the sound of his mechanical hand echoing like cracking bones. As if, somehow, his arm had become flesh, a fusion of technology and carnage.
"Well, allow me to introduce myself. You may have known me as Skyler Fogue in NeonyRain, but that was just a highly successful program. Call me Slady, if you wish. My goals don't involve hurting you, so I kindly ask that you step aside-"
In the blink of an eye, Ferinish lunged forward with a slash that tore through the air but was stopped by a clawed mechanical hand.
Aurora moved behind him, charging up an energy blast, but with a single motion of his arm, he redirected her shot toward Ferinish, who dodged it.
"Well then, I'll do what I must."
He walked calmly toward his grand creation. Ferinish attacked with countless strikes too fast to follow, and Aurora tried to land a punch.
But the robotic hands blocked every assault.
"Please, my dears, I know you're angry with me. But I didn't act out of malice. I never would."
Multiple lasers fired toward the Pillars. Ferinish dodged, then launched herself at Slady with her blade, but an invisible barrier absorbed the hit.
"I considered that possibility as well."
Reality shifted into a forest of massive carnivorous plants. Slady remained above them, watching as the two women fell.
"Please, behave yourselves."
Ferinish cut through the plants and leapt to the top.
"Not after everything you've done!"
As she advanced, Slady dodged each strike with a neutral expression.
Each swing carved through the scenery behind him but never touched the man or his creations.
Aurora teleported above him and tried to kick, but one of his hands grabbed her and slammed her armored body into Ferinish.
When both hit the wall, reality shifted again, trapping them in ice. With a tap of his cane, the ice sharpened to deadly points.
"I don't want to hurt you. I only wish to finish my work."
"No…"
Aurora's robotic voice echoed.
"Hm?"
"We won't let you cause more destruction!"
She shattered the ice and flew at him. Slady bent backward at a ninety-degree angle to dodge. In a surprise attack, Ferinish burned the platform and sliced off the man's head.
It flew away. The Pillars stared seriously, but within seconds, his head reformed and his eyes returned to their sockets.
"Well, look at that, you really got me!"
He laughed, but the smile vanished instantly.
"I assure you, Aurora, no innocent has been harmed by my actions. Everything was a consequence of truths hidden from everyone's minds. I have never killed anyone with my own hands, not at the beginning of my plan, nor now."
"How can you say that?!"
Ferinish stepped toward him, her hair beginning to ignite.
"Many died because of you! If you hadn't played God, none of this would've happened."
"…"
The man took a deep breath and… agreed?
"I take full responsibility. In truth, NeonyRain had been infected by this Inférius long before. I only allowed the world to perceive this dimension when the timing was perfect. But I made sure no one got hurt. Even unseen, I ensured people could enter and leave the city safely."
He placed his hand on his chest.
"But despite my efforts, many lost their lives: Lucy… Mariane… some found happier fates than they ever could in reality. I accept that burden."
"You… created all of this? How could you?"
Aurora's tone was firm. Slady, arms crossed, stared at the towering structure.
"I wanted revenge for those who died in my arms. I did this to find my victims, and I won't allow myself to face punishment until it's all over."
Ferinish frowned and aimed her blade at Slady's head.
"You made me feel emotions for a lie. I'll never forgive you!"
Furious, Ferinish ran to kill him. Aurora advanced with her.
Ferinish's strikes grew more desperate, trying to pierce his flawless defense. Aurora tried to hack him, and Slady counter-hacked her.
Her armor sent electric shocks through her own body. His claws opened to catch Ferinish's attacks.
He was cut repeatedly but regenerated each time.
"STOP!"
The claws whipped out like tentacles, attacking everything around. Slady knelt, the claws merging into his hands to form a sphere of Renkai Energy.
Ferinish tried to approach, but the energy's intensity burned her heart from within. Aurora's systems began to fail.
"I won't let anyone stop me again!"
The energy exploded, engulfing everything in white light. When the scene returned, the structure was intact. Slady was regenerating, screaming in agony as each bone and organ reformed.
Ferinish lay against a wall. Aurora's armor had powered down. Both were too exhausted to fight.
The man activated a system that drained all Renkai Energy. He looked at the two women and sighed.
"They're safe…"
His gaze lingered on Ferinish longer than usual. Standing, he typed something into the structure's console.
"The machine has absorbed enough energy. Now it'll work!"
With a snap, two Destroyers crashed through the wall. Without hesitation, Slady smiled.
"You're screwed now, Hades and Mara!"
He rushed toward the woman cloaked in shadow, aiming his staff to kill her in one blow.
But a dark figure with eyes full of hatred appeared behind him.
"Slady…"
With his sword, the shadow attacked. Slady blocked with his claws, grappled the figure, launched himself from the wall, and threw him into the lava.
Moments later, the figure reappeared, slashing toward Slady's leg. He kicked him in the face, the blade-skirt around his waist cutting through the shadowy being.
Suddenly, an ethereal hand enveloped Slady, trying to crush him, but he sliced through it.
"Well, it's been a while, hasn't it?"
The Destroyer of Lust, Mara, smirked wickedly.
"Likewise. But now you'll die."
"Two against one? You think you stand a chance against humanity's most powerful Destroyers?"
The Destroyer of Wrath, Hades, spoke in a cold voice.
"Not only do I think so, I'm sure I'll make your father weep for your deaths. Deep inside me."
He removed his coat and shirt, revealing a dark, glowing mark covering most of his torso and neck.
As the battle began, Ferinish awoke, her mind foggy. Her eyes turned to the barrier surrounding the arena.
"That man… doesn't want us hurt…"
She looked at her hand and sword, and all the ignored pain returned in a wave. She just had to let it go.
Hearing her sob, Hades turned toward her, flying in her direction. But Slady's claws grabbed him.
"Don't you dare touch her!"
He slammed him into the ground. Mara attacked with ethereal strikes, but he cut through them all.
"I never thought such a beautiful man could do so much."
She was growing aroused by him, which was a bad sign.
The fight raged brutally. Slady used his cane to deform their bodies. Still, the Destroyers were relentless.
With an artifact in hand, he pressed it against his mechanical arm, pulled Mara from the air, and struck her chest, leaving a cursed mark between her breasts.
Hades, eyes wide with rage, slashed wildly. Slady blocked with his cane and claws. When darkness tried to engulf him, his mark absorbed it.
"That bastard is using his Sinner's Mark against us!"
With his mechanical hand inside the mark, flesh fused with metal and darkness. Hades shot forward like a missile with his shadow blade. Slady prepared to counter.
Another explosion filled the barrier with darkness. Ferinish struggled to move.
"I can't let him face them alone."
When the darkness cleared, the victor stood revealed.
Slady was on his knees, coughing blood. Hades and Mara, cursed, tried to flee but were too weak from Renkai depletion.
Leaning on his cane, he whispered,
"Finally… after twenty-five years, you can rest in peace, Raizer, Raintalya, Johnye, and Natasha. Satan and his children will no longer curse this world."
With a tap of his cane, shadows wrapped around the siblings, ready to crush them.
"Die-"
"Who said I'd allow that?"
Suddenly, the shadows vanished. Slady froze as his mouth and eyes began to bleed.
He fell, vomiting blood, liters pouring out, merging with Hades and Mara's bodies, restoring their Renkai Energy.
Moments later, they stood before him, their faces colder than ever.
"Thank you, Father Krythos. You've served us well,"
Mara said with a smile.
"Your children won't waste this chance."
The barrier shattered. Mara's ethereal hand hurled Slady against the rocks. Ferinish and Aurora were thrown far away with him.
"What happened?"
Aurora woke as her armor lit up. Slady and Ferinish's eyes met. His mechanical gaze seemed to apologize without words.
"Maybe it's time everyone learned the truth about you, Slady. Who you really are. The Theatrical Assassin. The Assassin of the Century. And, lest we forget, the Servant of Truth."
He destroyed the machine with a slash. An invisible explosion released a wave of returning memories.
Ferinish remembered the innocent romance, the embraces, the soft kisses.
The truth about losing her blue flames... it was his fault.
He lied to her, claimed he'd never harm innocents, all to hide himself.
He abandoned her.
Aurora remembered the suspicious man she once judged for a crime against a family. His confession of centuries of murder.
And the destruction he unleashed upon Libretãnhya to escape.
It was never the "Third Renkai Awakening." It was him all along.
The invisible explosion rippled beyond that world. Faller and Victoria recalled their friendship. Elisa and Shaphira remembered Ferinish's care came too late, he had been there from the start, but abandoned them too.
Now all was revealed. No more lies.
In the dimension, Mara laughed hysterically, as if her greatest joke had been heard.
"Look at you, Slady! You've lost everything again!"
His hand began to pulse.
"Now you owe me a bit of your… pleasure."
Skyler felt his life energy being torn from his core. It didn't hurt, but it was agonizing.
He convulsed, groaned, his eyes rolling back as foam spilled from his mouth in agony.
"Such a delicious man you are!"
Mara moaned with pleasure, slapping her flushed cheek.
"So much power, so much knowledge, you're perfect for me!"
Ferinish watched Slady's torture in silence. She should have felt satisfaction, but instead she wanted to protect him. She couldn't.
Aurora tried to understand Ferinish's thoughts but couldn't. She only saw a man watching everything he'd built crumble.
Slady was now weak, naked under the ethereal hand.
"This is your body without modifications? Fool."
Satisfied, Mara pinned him to the wall. Hades approached and touched his face.
"In the end, you're still the same, nothing. Empty, emotionless, powerless, a slave to the only feeling you've ever known: hatred for us."
His sharp nails dug into the mechanical arm and tore it off brutally. Slady screamed, his voice echoing through Inférius. The arm had become part of him, metal serving as flesh and veins.
"You'd look better without those eyes."
He ripped out both mechanical eyes. Ferinish vomited for real. Aurora no longer felt hatred, only pity.
Slady's scream was a glimpse of true hell.
His body went limp. Hades tore him from the ethereal sludge and exposed his naked body to the women: a warning of their fate.
Before he could move closer, Slady's remaining hand lifted his cane and dispelled the ethereal hands, sending the two Pillars through a portal out of Inférius.
Mara tried to stop it but failed.
Ferinish's last sight was Slady's body displayed as a trophy.
With a sigh, Hades hurled the body across Inférius at incredible speed. Mara, blushing and satisfied, asked,
"You didn't kill him, did you?"
"No. He'll remember everything he once was but never reach his peak again. Two hundred years of knowledge wasted on revenge."
Though Hades spoke coldly, a faint smile hinted at satisfaction. In an instant, he vanished. Mara chuckled to herself, realizing something.
"For the first time in many years, he smiled."
She disappeared too, leaving that ruined land abandoned.
That nightmare was finally over.
(Thus ends Volume Four.)