The abyss screamed.
Thousands of beasts surged from the broken mirrors, their bodies twisted, their mouths gnashing with jagged teeth. Some crawled like spiders, others flew like shattered birds, wings dripping shadow.
Anna didn't wait. Her wings flared wide—half radiant light, half black fire—and she dove into the horde.
"Twilight Slash!"
Her blade swept across the plain, unleashing a crescent of purple-black flame that carved through the first wave. Shadows shrieked and burst into smoke, leaving only sparks in their place.
Kael landed beside her, sword already wreathed in cursed flame. His eyes burned crimson, his body trembling from the unstable power coursing through him.
"Stay close," he growled. "Don't give them an opening."
Then he moved—faster than shadow. His blade tore the ground open, black rifts swallowing entire packs of monsters. The plain shuddered as abyssal screams rose all around them.
But more poured in. For every beast they cut down, two more clawed out of the abyss.
Anna spun mid-air, wings flaring to shield Kael as he unleashed another wave of cursed fire. The flames roared outward, and Anna channeled her light into them—twisting shadow and radiance together.
The blast erupted like a solar eclipse, searing through a dozen beasts at once.
Kael staggered back, clutching his arm. His flesh cracked like molten glass, flames spilling from the fractures.
"Kael!" Anna shouted.
He gritted his teeth. "Don't stop—keep fighting!"
Before she could argue, the Entity's laughter shook the battlefield.
From the shadows, three figures emerged. Avatars of the Entity—one wielding a massive hammer of obsidian chains, another a serpent of endless coils, and the last a burning wraith with wings of black fire.
They attacked at once.
The hammer-warrior slammed down, shaking the ground. Kael leapt to meet it, his cursed flames clashing against the titan's strength. The serpent coiled around Anna, jaws snapping. She sliced through its body, only for it to reform and strike again.
The wraith swooped toward Elena's prone form.
"Elena!"
Anna's heart lurched, but before the wraith could strike, a burst of blinding light erupted from Elena's chest. A radiant pulse surged outward, knocking all three avatars back in a storm of brilliance.
Elena gasped, trembling, her hand falling limply to her side. "Go… finish it…"
Anna's fury ignited. She carved through the serpent again, this time burning it with twilight fire until it dissolved into ash. Kael drove his cursed sword straight through the hammer-warrior's chest, shadows exploding outward.
The wraith shrieked, retreating into the dark.
The ground rumbled. The battlefield shifted.
The Entity's voice thundered across the Veil. "Enough games."
The remains of the fallen beasts and avatars swirled together, forming a colossal shape. Shards of ash and bone fused into a throne that towered above the abyss. Chains of light and shadow bound it to the plain, pulsing like veins.
And upon it, the Entity sat.
Its form was vast, its eyes burning like black suns.
"Kneel," it commanded. "Or burn with your world."
Anna's breath caught in her chest. Kael, panting, lifted his sword.
The Throne pulsed once—like a heartbeat.
And the abyss opened wider
The abyss trembled as the Throne of Ashes rose higher, its colossal form crowned by a burning halo of ruin. The sky itself wept black fire, dripping like molten tar across the battlefield. Each droplet hissed into ash, birthing skeletal beasts that crawled toward Anna, Kael, and Elena with gnashing maws.
Anna tightened her grip on her blade, its edge wrapped in twilight flame. "We take the Throne down—together."
Kael's lips twisted in a half-snarl, half-smile. The curse burned across his veins, shadows lashing from his arms like whips. "You'd better keep up, Anna. If I lose control, I'm burning this thing—and maybe us with it."
Elena's breath came ragged, her light fraying, but her eyes blazed. "Then we make sure you don't lose control." She raised her staff. Sacred Veil – Dawnburst! A cascade of radiant shards burst outward, slicing apart the crawling beasts before they reached them.
The Throne's voice rumbled like an earthquake:
> "Kneel, mortals. You are embers before the pyre."
It raised its blade—a sword of voidstuff larger than mountains—and swung. The strike cleaved through space itself, erasing everything in its path.
"Move!" Anna hurled herself forward, wings of shadow and light unfurling. The impact missed her by heartbeats, but the shockwave blasted Kael and Elena across the broken ground.
Kael slammed into jagged stone, coughing blood. "Tch… you call that a swing?" He rose, shadows igniting around him. Eclipse Fang! His cursed blade howled as he slashed upward, cutting a crescent of black fire that clashed against the Throne's blade. The collision tore the battlefield apart, rivers of molten ash splitting the ground.
Anna dove beside him, their auras colliding—her twilight flame feeding into his shadowfire. Together they pushed the Throne's strike back a fraction, enough to stagger its mountainous frame.
Elena's voice rang sharp through the chaos. "Don't forget me!" She leapt into the sky, her staff blazing. Sanctum Radiance! Pillars of light chained the Throne's limbs for a fleeting second.
"Now!" Anna cried. She gathered her power, her blade glowing with fused radiance and darkness. Twilight Nova! The explosion lit the abyss, a star blooming in her grip as she struck the Throne's chest.
For the first time, the colossus staggered. A fissure of light split its armor.
Kael barked a laugh, blood running down his chin. "Heh. Didn't like that, did you?"
The Throne roared. Shadows poured from its wound, coiling into lances of void aimed at Elena.
"Elena!" Anna's heart clenched.
But Elena stood her ground, her light flickering. "Don't you dare hold back—!" She slammed her staff into the ground. Sacred Aegis! A radiant dome blossomed, intercepting the lances. The impact shattered her barrier, flinging her to her knees. Blood trickled down her lips.
Anna's fury ignited. She spread her wings wide, power rippling. "You will not take them!"
She clashed again with the Throne, blade against blade, sparks of twilight raining across the battlefield. Kael surged beside her, his cursed flames coiling around her aura, the two forces weaving together in chaotic beauty.
"Anna!" Kael shouted through clenched teeth, shadows crawling up his throat. "If I lose it—"
"You won't." She met his eyes, steady and fierce even as her arms trembled against the Throne's strike. "Because I won't let you."
For a heartbeat, the abyss itself seemed to still.
Kael's grin returned—wild, desperate, alive. "Then let's end this together!"
Their blades roared as one. Twilight Eclipse Strike!
The combined attack split the Throne's sword in half, shards of void scattering like dying stars. The battlefield shook as the colossus reeled back, its crown of ash flickering.
But instead of falling, the Throne laughed—a sound like worlds collapsing. Its broken sword melted into liquid shadow and reformed, twisting into a jagged spear that pierced the heavens.
> "Impressive. Then face me not as a throne… but as a god."
The abyss convulsed. The Throne sank into the ground, merging with the Veil itself. Towers of ash erupted, forming a battlefield alive, pulsing with its will. A colossal form rose, crowned anew—an Ashen Godform, eyes burning with voidfire.
Anna's grip tightened. Kael's cursed flames raged higher. Elena staggered to her feet, staff trembling but raised.
The next clash would decide everything.