The spear plunged downward—
And the world shattered into silence.
For one frozen instant, Rick thought he had died. The abyss itself seemed to hold its breath. The spear of shadowflame should have ended him, should have torn his chest open and consigned his soul to nothingness. Yet it did not.
The weapon halted, mere inches from his heart.
It vibrated, trembling violently as if caught between two colliding storms of will—one black and endless, the other fragile yet defiant. Heat and cold radiated in waves, searing his skin, cracking the broken marble beneath his feet. His breath came ragged, his arms numb as he gripped his sword tighter.
And then—he saw them.
Behind the veil of writhing shadowfire, beyond the monstrous horns and fangs, crimson eyes flickered. Not the abyss's eyes. Not the Watcher's.
But human eyes.
"R…ick…" The voice rasped, fractured and trembling, every syllable dragging chains of agony behind it. "…help… me…"
Devil's voice.
Rick's heart clenched. The sound was weak, barely more than a ghost's whisper, but it carried more weight than the abyss itself.
Before he could speak, the void roared.
"ENOUGH!"
The Watcher's voice thundered like collapsing worlds. The ruined dome trembled as cracks split wider, black fissures plunging downward into endless chasms. Out of them poured shadows like tidal waves, lashing across the battlefield with hunger sharp enough to cut air itself.
Rick barely had time to raise his blade. A strike slammed against him like a mountain falling from the sky. His knees buckled, sparks exploding from the clash, scattering across the suffocating dark like dying stars.
Piu staggered back to her feet, blood running down her face, her broken staff glowing faint white. Her breaths came short and ragged, but her voice carried desperation strong enough to shake stone.
"Devil! Don't give in! Fight him—please!"
Her magic flared, weaving into threads of light that lashed toward the chains binding Devil. For a heartbeat, the glowing lines hissed against black metal, searing cracks into the abyssal bindings. Chains snapped. Hope surged.
But the abyss was merciless.
New links erupted instantly, sharper, heavier, wrapping like serpents around Devil's throat and chest. They cut deeper into his flesh, dragging him back into the Watcher's maw.
"No—!" Piu's scream cracked, her staff splintering further as the backlash hurled her into the rubble.
A roar split the void. Flames burst like dawn as Sun threw himself forward, battered but unyielding. His body was scorched, his breath uneven, but his fists still blazed. He hurled a punch that tore through a wall of shadow, lighting the abyss in molten gold.
The impact struck Devil's chains, shattering links into fragments that sizzled into nothingness.
"Then we'll burn every last one!" Sun bellowed, his flames flaring so bright they pushed the dark back an inch.
And through the storm, another voice rose—calm, aged, steady.
Babasaheb.
"The abyss thrives on division," he said, every word straining with effort, but carrying the weight of wisdom carved in fire. "Alone, we cannot sever it. Together—our will must become one!"
Rick's chest heaved. Blood dripped from his hands where his blade's grip bit into his flesh. His arms trembled, but his heart… his heart steadied.
He raised his blade high, voice cracking through the suffocating dark.
"Then we strike as one. Not for victory—FOR HIM!"
Their powers converged—steel, flame, light, rune. They collided into the abyss like a rising sun. The void screamed, tearing itself apart under their united will. Chains cracked and splintered, bursting into fragments that rained like shattered obsidian.
Devil collapsed forward, falling to his knees. His claws dug into the fractured ground as crimson eyes flared once more—human, desperate, alive.
His trembling hand reached out, seizing Rick's arm.
"Rick…" he whispered, voice raw. "…still here…"
Time seemed to still.
Piu sobbed, her magic flickering but no longer breaking. Sun's flames steadied, no longer wild but resolute. Babasaheb's aura brightened like silver dawn, cutting lines of light through the shadows.
For the first time in what felt like eternity, victory seemed possible.
But the abyss had not yet spoken its last.
The ground heaved. The cracks split wider, vomiting endless black. Something vast, something older than nightmares, began to claw its way upward.
First, hands—arms of shadow as large as towers, claws like mountains. Then a torso, shifting and unformed, blacker than black, leaking rivers of nothingness that devoured the floor.
The Watcher's true body.
A silhouette of endless hunger. Its eyes glowed like collapsing stars, pits of annihilation that devoured thought and faith alike.
Its voice split the world, deeper than any abyss.
"If the host resists… then I shall consume the vessel, the soul, and the world entire."
Reality trembled. The ruins of the dome collapsed into nothingness, the broken marble and shattered pillars swallowed whole. Space itself warped, bending inward toward the Watcher's shape.
Rick stumbled back, his blade quivering.
"This… this thing… it's breaking through."
Sun clenched his fists, flames guttering against the void's pressure.
"Then we stop it here," he growled, his eyes fierce. "Or we stop existing at all."
Chains erupted again, rivers of black fire surging toward them. Piu's scream tore through the battlefield as the bindings lashed around her arms and throat, forcing her to her knees.
"Rick—we can't fight both! Not Devil and that thing!"
Rick's heart froze. She was right. Even together, they were breaking.
And then—
Devil convulsed. His body arched, muscles straining, chains ripping deeper into his flesh. Black fire surged up his side, half his face consumed in writhing flame. His voice split into two tones, human and abyssal, clashing like broken bells.
His hand rose—trembling, desperate, doomed—clutching the spear once more.
Rick's chest cracked with dread.
"No! Don't! Fight it—damn you, fight it!"
Devil's crimson eyes flickered weakly, like candles in a storm. His lips parted, the words barely audible beneath the abyss's roar.
"End me… before it's too late."
The Watcher laughed—a sound like galaxies dying.
The abyss quaked, collapsing into its own hunger. Chains burst across the battlefield like rivers of night, coiling around Rick, Piu, Sun, Babasaheb—dragging them toward the abyss's maw.
And then—Devil moved.
The spear ignited, brighter and hungrier than ever. His silhouette towered within the void, half consumed, half free. His every step shook the battlefield, torn between salvation and damnation.
His face twisted in torment, his crimson eyes flashing one last time through the veil of black fire.
"…forgive me…"
The spear plunged downward—
And the abyss swallowed everything in blinding black.