The Veil trembled.
The Throne of Ashes rose higher, molten cracks spilling from its colossal body as if the abyss itself was bleeding. Chains of shadow clanged with each pulse, anchoring it to realms unseen. Its voice rumbled like a funeral bell.
"Kneel—or burn with your world."
Anna's wings flared wide—half feathered in radiance, half woven from twilight flame. She stepped forward, her sword blazing with a fusion of light and shadow. Her chest heaved, but her eyes blazed with defiance.
"Then let this world see who breaks first."
Clash One: The Opening Strike
The Throne lifted its obsidian blade, splitting into countless spectral copies. Each sword dripped with voidfire, falling like meteors toward the trio.
"Abyssal Execution."
Anna slashed upward. "Twilight Nova!"
Her strike carved a crescent that exploded into violet-white radiance, scattering dozens of blades.
Kael roared, cursed flames spilling from his hands. He lunged, shadows binding to his arms, fangs of night forming from his curse.
"Eclipse Fang!"
He met the falling swords head-on, tearing them apart, though the backlash scorched his veins. His body shook, but he refused to falter.
From the rear, Elena planted her spear, light bursting outward.
"Sanctum Veil – Dawnburst!"
Her radiance wrapped around Anna and Kael like a shield, letting them charge through the collapsing storm.
Clash Two: Chains of Damnation
The Throne slammed its fist into the abyss. From the cracks surged chains of ash, thousands of them, slithering like serpents. Each carried hooks that glimmered with runes of binding.
"Scatter them!" Anna shouted.
She dove low, wings cutting swathes of chains.
"Eclipse-Wing Rend!"
Kael spun with her, cursed flame exploding in spirals.
"Nether Pyre Spiral!"
Elena thrust her spear into the ground, summoning a circle of luminous runes.
"Sanctuary Shatterpulse!"
The chains clashed with their combined powers, snapping and burning away—yet every one destroyed was replaced by three more. The Throne's laughter echoed through the abyss.
Duel Within the Storm
The Throne's eyes locked on Anna. With one swing, its true blade cleaved apart the battlefield, isolating her inside a rift of ash.
Kael and Elena were left to fend against an endless horde of ash-beasts.
Anna stood alone against the Ashen Godform.
Its colossal blade pointed at her heart. "Mortal child… You are unworthy."
Anna gripped her sword tighter, every vein glowing with twilight fire.
"We'll see about that."
She charged.
"Twilight Sever!"
The Throne met her with a downward swing, their blades colliding in a shockwave that tore the Veil apart, fragments of broken stars scattering in the black sky.
Kael & Elena's Stand
On the other side, Kael unleashed his curse like a storm.
"Infernal Eclipse!"
Flames devoured the ash-beasts, though every surge clawed deeper into his soul. His teeth clenched, blood dripping, yet he fought harder.
Elena, her light flickering, screamed defiance.
"Sanctum Spear – Luminous Judgment!"
Her strike speared through dozens of beasts, opening a path for Kael to breathe.
"Go!" she shouted. "Anna needs you!"
Kael's eyes blazed. His cursed wings unfurled, ripping open the air as he launched himself toward Anna's rift.
The Breaking Point
Inside the rift, Anna's sword shattered under the Throne's crushing blow. She fell to her knees, light faltering.
The Throne lifted its blade to end her.
But in that instant—Kael burst through the wall of ash, his curse burning like a black sun.
He caught the Throne's blade with his bare, flame-wreathed hands. The curse devoured his flesh, but he forced it still.
"Not… her…" he growled.
Anna's broken blade reignited in her grasp. Together, she and Kael roared as one:
"Twilight Eclipse – Soul Rend!"
Their combined strike carved a radiant-black arc that slammed into the Throne's chest. The abyss shuddered. The colossus staggered back, cracks racing across its form.
For the first time—
The Throne bled.
The Throne roared, its voice splitting the air. Its cracked body flared, reshaping, fusing with the Veil itself.
Chains snapped. Wings of ash unfurled. Its throne dissolved into its flesh, birthing a towering Ashen Godform, more monstrous than ever.
"You dare… break my throne? Then behold a god unbound!"
The battlefield quaked as the Entity rose higher, darkness devouring the sky.
Anna, Kael, and Elena stood side by side—bloodied, burning, but unbroken—facing the god they had wounded but not destroyed.
And the next strike would decide everything
The Ashen Godform rose higher, its colossal wings blotting out the Veil. Its body dripped molten shadow, every step turning the battlefield into rivers of fire. The Throne was gone; now only the Unbound God remained.
"This realm is dust beneath me."
The First Exchange
It struck—faster than any titan had the right to.
A single wingbeat sent shockwaves that flattened battalions. Kael dragged Anna aside just as the ground caved in, molten ash surging upward like a geyser. Elena's light shield shattered on impact, blood spilling from her lips.
Anna's voice roared above the chaos:
"Focus on its heart! That's where it cracked!"
Kael grinned, half-mad. His curse burned hotter than ever, shadows writhing as though eager to consume him.
"Then let's split it open!"
He launched forward, cursed wings tearing the air. His blade, black-fire drenched, carved an arc toward the Godform's chest.
The strike landed.
The Godform barely flinched. Instead, its molten hand closed around Kael, crushing.
"KAEL!" Anna screamed.
The Shadow Gamble
Kael's ribs snapped, his vision swimming. But he didn't stop. He fed the curse, letting it spiral outward, detonating inside the Godform's palm.
"Eclipse Detonation!"
A blast of shadow-fire erupted, forcing the hand open. Kael tumbled free, coughing blood, his body half-consumed by cursed flame.
Anna caught him mid-fall. Her twilight aura surged around him, fighting to hold his body together.
"You'll die if you keep this up!"
He smirked, blood staining his teeth.
"Then I'll die fighting beside you."
Elena's Desperate Gambit
Elena's voice broke through, her spear glowing brighter than ever. She slammed it into the ground, summoning a pillar of pure dawnlight.
"Sanctum Oath – Dawnfall!"
The pillar speared upward, searing into the Godform's chest wound. The cracks widened, molten ichor spilling like rivers of black fire.
The Godform roared, swatting the light aside, but Elena refused to move. Her body cracked like glass, burning from the inside out, yet she held the pillar steady.
Anna and Kael seized the opening
---
Combined Assault
Anna spread her wings wide, her voice cutting like steel:
"Kael—together!"
He nodded, pouring everything he had left into his cursed blade. She mirrored him, her twilight sword blazing violet-gold.
Their powers twined, shadow and light spiraling together into a single devastating arc.
"Twilight Eclipse – Annihilation!"
They dove at the Godform's chest.
The strike pierced deep, plunging through its heart. Cracks raced outward like shattering glass, entire plates of molten shadow breaking off.
The Godform staggered back—bleeding light and shadow from its core.
The Counterattack
But a god unbound did not fall so easily.
Its wings unfurled wide, and from them erupted a storm of ash-lances, thousands of spears of molten void aimed at everything still alive.
"DOWN!" Anna screamed.
Kael shielded her with his wings, Elena collapsed beneath her fading spear, and the battlefield erupted in carnage. Armies—friend and foe alike—were impaled, the abyss raining death indiscriminately.
When the storm ended, silence fell.
Only three figures still stood.
Anna.
Kael.
Elena.