The Warden staggered, his clawed hand dragging deep scars across the floor as he caught himself. The shadows around him flickered like a dying flame, and for the first time since the battle began, he looked… vulnerable.
Mukul's heart hammered against his ribs. He could see Priya barely standing, her silver aura burning dangerously thin. This was it—their only chance. If they hesitated, everything would collapse.
"Now!" Mukul's voice cut through the chaos, sharp and commanding.
Ansh, still clutching his blade, pushed himself upright. Kavya, though her arms shook from exhaustion, notched another arrow and drew until the string bit her fingers. Even Raghav, bruised and staggering, gritted his teeth and forced his body forward.
They moved as one, answering Mukul's call.
Mukul lunged first, his blade blazing with the remnants of Priya's light. He cut through the swirls of shadow that tried to reform around the Warden, each strike fueled by a fury deeper than his pain. Sparks lit the air as steel met darkness.
The Warden snarled, raising his claws to block, but he was slower now. Weaker.
"You think this changes anything?" the Warden hissed, his voice fractured, as though the shadows themselves were fraying. "I am endless. I am—"
His words were cut short as Kavya's arrow sliced across his mask, leaving a jagged crack that glowed with pale fire. The monster reeled back, clutching his face.
Ansh seized the moment, letting out a ragged cry as he swung upward, his blade biting deep into the Warden's side. Black ichor sprayed across the ground, sizzling as it hit Priya's flames.
The Warden roared, a sound so raw it shook the walls. He flung Ansh aside with a blast of shadow, but Mukul was already there, stepping into the gap.
Every muscle in his body screamed. His arms trembled. But his resolve burned hotter than the pain.
"For Priya. For all of us."
He drove his blade forward, straight into the crack on the mask.
The impact rang out like thunder, the steel plunging deep. Light exploded from the fracture, silver and red threads weaving through the black. The Warden screeched, his form spasming, his shadow-body unravelling piece by piece.
The air itself seemed to resist him now. The station trembled as if rejecting his presence.
Priya, swaying on her feet, raised her trembling hands and whispered the final words of her ritual. The dome flared, pouring its strength into Mukul's strike. The light surged through the blade, through the mask, and into the Warden's core.
The monster's scream was deafening, a roar of rage and denial that ended in a sound like tearing fabric. His form collapsed inward, shadows peeling away, until only fragments remained—flickers of darkness twisting before vanishing into nothing.
Silence.
The dome of light guttered, then shattered into sparks that rained down softly. Priya crumpled, her body giving way, but Mukul caught her before she hit the ground.
Her eyes fluttered, exhaustion etched across her pale face. "Did… it work?" she whispered.
Mukul's throat tightened. He glanced around—the shadows were gone, the suffocating pressure lifted. For now, at least, the Warden was beaten.
"Yes," he said firmly, though his voice shook. "You did it, Priya. We all did."
Ansh groaned as he pulled himself up from where he'd landed. Kavya stumbled over, lowering her bow. Raghav leaned against the wall, his chest rising and falling heavily.
They were battered, bloodied, but alive.
Mukul looked down at Priya, her breathing shallow but steady. A swell of gratitude and fear surged in his chest. She had risked everything, and though they'd won this battle, the cost was written in the fragile rise and fall of her chest.
The team exchanged silent glances. Relief mingled with dread—they had struck back, but none of them believed the war was over. The Puppeteer's hand was still unseen. The Warden had been a weapon, not the mastermind.
And somewhere in the shadows of the world, the true enemy was already watching.