Boom!
An explosion erupted from a single point, unfurling a green cloud and igniting the atmosphere, enveloping the entire vicinity.
With a swift 'whoosh,' an afterimage darted by, crashing into a massive tree within the expansive forest.
Emerging from the splinters was a man clad in tattered clothing, bleeding profusely, with one of his eyes missing.
From the deep wound in his eye, blood streamed down as dark smoke ascended.
"Solmen!" a booming voice, with an inhuman echo, resounded.
From the dark green smoke emerged a hulking giant with white skin and a bald head, his skin tainted with a slowly spreading green hue that pulsed continuously.
He wielded a giant axe the size of a small tree. His neck was adorned with a necklace of human-sized skulls.
His breath was fiery as he spoke. "You have caused me great pain, forcing me to join forces with these two abominations."
Two other figures emerged from the green smoke.
One was an elderly man, approximately sixty years old, yet still muscular. In his hands, he held a staff around which four balls of fire rotated constantly.
The last figure was a woman wielding a great sword. She stood around six feet nine inches tall, muscular, and clad in gold and white decorated armor. Her hair was brown as earth, yet she was as beautiful as the world itself. She appeared to be between forty-seven and forty-nine years old and was constantly surrounded by a golden light, especially her sword.
These were the High Giant warrior of the Sparrow Mountain, Yarggha; the High Mage of True Fire, Thomas V. Hexxion; and the High Paladin of the Goddess of Light and Gold, Tennessa Qua Vligmor.
These were individuals of immense strength and renown, and at this moment, they were united against a single person.
The High Dark Mage, Solmen Theollius Merlin, a descendant of the Archmage Merlin.
Solmen had long abandoned the path of light magic to pursue dark magic, as he lacked talent for the former and was driven by personal selfish motives, among other reasons.
"Solmen, the disgraced descendant of the great Merlin. Where have you hidden the treasure of the Mage Tower? Answer truthfully so we may at least free your soul instead of subjecting it to the eternal torment we have planned for you," Thomas stated with little emotion as one of the fire orbs transformed into a fiery snake, coiling in mid-air.
"What makes you think it is in my possession?" Solmen replied with a faint smirk, observing their injuries as he calculated inwardly.
They had been pursuing and battling him for four days and three nights without respite.
They had accumulated injuries, albeit less severe than his own.
"Where have you taken the Goddess Fruit of Divine Light? The temple has been unable to locate it. That fruit is a divine relic of the Temple of Golden Light, not something for filthy dark mages to handle," the paladin declared as she conjured three swords of light, reducing the glow surrounding her.
"The vice chief's corpse... I have little to say. My next move is to take your head, so answer my question before I act," the giant spoke with booming rage, his axe's jewel glowing red as the axe radiated heat, warping the surrounding space like a large fire distorting the air.
"You have posed too many questions... How am I to address them all at once?" Solmen replied, straightening his posture slightly.
'I did not anticipate them joining forces against me; I was caught off guard... that demon had alerted them to my whereabouts.'
'This combination, only I am capable of fostering such peace in this world—a demon aiding a paladin, a giant, and a mage. Ha, I am simply the best,' he thought with a smile.
Seeing his smile, his adversaries immediately launched their attack.
'I knew you had no intention of sparing me, not even my soul. I would rather fight and deny them what they seek than die and grant them their desires... For that is who I am, a very petty person,' he thought.
"Dark Veil," he whispered as he released the seal on the spell from his lower left thigh.
A dark, semi-transparent curtain descended, blocking a blow from the giant's axe, absorbing the force as the curtain flew in a dark swerve, encircling Solmen to redirect the force of the attack toward the approaching paladin, who crossed two swords of light to block the blow while sending the last one at great speed directly toward Solmen's head.
The fiery snake absorbed another fire orb, growing larger in size, spiraling towards Solmen with the intent to coil him, facilitating the others' attacks.
Solmen produced a cracked purple glass-like orb resembling starry skies, channeling his mana into it while whispering, "Force Field."
The orb cracked further as it emitted visible waves, forming a dark blue transparent bubble around Solmen.
"Reinforcement: Dark Veil," he called out to the slightly dimmer dark curtain, which merged with the force field, rendering it darker.
The sword of light caused the force field to shake violently, as Solmen's head felt like it was splitting from a headache, blood flowing from his nose.
Then the flaming snake coiled around the force field, making it tremendously difficult for Solmen to concentrate as blood pooled in his remaining eye.
Dipping his finger into his bleeding eye socket, he began drawing a symbol on his forehead while retreating into a corner, surrounded with no escape routes.
By then, the giant had already charged up his axe, the heat causing the surrounding oxygen to vanish.
With each step he took, the ground bent and melted, his vines trembling, and his skin turned orange, his fiery breath intensifying.
With a sudden shout, he brought down his axe. The axe shattered the force field and the dark veil into glass-like fragments, the axe continuing downward with its shockwave striking Solmen, who was already in shock from the destruction of the force field, especially the dark veil.
Blood burst from his mouth, eyes, ears, and even his head veins.
Yet the shockwave roused him from his stupor as he smashed against a giant rock resembling a mountain-like hill.
"Sacrifice the remaining ninety percent of my lifespan, my eye, my ability to walk, two of my three vessels, and my beloved Jenneuq," Solmen recited in ritualistic demon tongue.
"This scoundrel just made a reckless sacrifice to a demon... considering his level and the price, it must be a demon duke," the paladin warned the others, as paladins were fluent in demonic languages and tongues.
In the next moment, from the pool of Solmen's blood, an oppressive aura unfolded, followed by an oppressive red wave that blasted the attackers away. The blood spread as a being with reddish-blood skin, five horns, two pairs of arms, and two long iron-spiked tails emerged.
It donned black and gold armor, its hair lustrous and cascading like flowing water, dark and glistening. It wielded a great sword with one arm, a great shield with two, and a mirror with the last.
"Behold the Dark Duke of Grief, Baalaja, and perish, mortals," the demon proclaimed as its presence solidified in the mortal realm.
"You summoned a demon into this world; your death shall be more excruciating," the paladin's gaze turned icy, recalling the shame she felt in receiving help from a demon to corner Solmen.
In the following moment, three more swords of light were conjured, gold seeped from the earth as a shield of gold was conjured, inscribed with multiple golden light symbols that detached and began rotating.
The giant fire snake compressed its size, turning blue as a result. Even when compressed, it was still as large as three adults stacked atop each other.
The remaining fire orbs merged into a single orb, which separated into hundreds of blue flaming arrows, circling the battlefield.
The true fire mage then produced two objects: a pear-sized blood-stricken eye that emitted a psychic wave continuously and an hourglass filled with many runes and symbols, releasing electrical strikes constantly.
The giant recited something in ancient Jotunn, summoning three transparent forms. One emerged from the earth, resembling a giant boar, another from fire, resembling a Firehawk, and the last from the air, resembling a relentless horse.
These were spirits, as giants and spirits shared an intimate relationship. Giants are descendants of the first giant, a sibling to the world tree, which the spirits worship alongside other races. Giants forge lifelong contracts with spirits.
With the spirits, special rocks and diamonds from the earth, a raging fire spreading like a cloak, and a hailing wind that constantly intensified, merged to form a flaming magma armor for the giant. His axe's jewel glowed as the wind and fire spirit empowered the axe. His speed increased explosively with the wind spirit's aid.
"It seems I am destined to perish here," Solmen remarked.
"Dark Veil: Mantle," he whispered as the shattered fragments of the dark veil shifted into dark clouds that flew towards him, reforming into a tattered mantle that draped over him.
'It appears there are only skeletons buried here,' Solmen thought after sensing his surroundings with necromancy.
"I will manage... Undead Summoning: Skeletons," he whispered, his voice sounding eerie as darkness shrouded his face.
From beneath the earth, about a hundred skeletons, mostly in fragments, rose.
"Undead Reformation: Skeleton Giant Knight," he whispered once more.
The skeletons shattered, leaving behind dirt and impurities, and the pure bone fragments merged, reforming into a giant bone knight with armor made of bone, wielding a giant black bone spear. Its eyes glowed green, as flames of green shone brightly.
"Lowly contractor, are you prepared to meet your end?" the demon inquired as the mirror glowed red.
"Simply fulfill your duty, Baalaja," Solmen replied.
In the next moment, chaos erupted as everyone engaged in battle.
For the next hour and thirty minutes, landscapes were continuously reshaped.
An hour and forty-seven minutes later, the giant was riddled with multiple ball-sized holes, bleeding profusely, green smoke rising from them.
The mage of true fire was beyond recognition, his outer skin melted away, his left eye entirely black from dark blood. His staff was cracked in multiple places.
The paladin fared better as she constantly healed herself, maintaining an advantage against dark mages and demons. Yet her entire left arm had mutated into three tentacles that moved uncontrollably. Her once-long hair was burned until she was bald, and her armor shattered in multiple places, revealing massive bruises she couldn't immediately erase.
The demon was missing an arm, and his shield was broken in multiple places, one of his tails missing.
Solmen was on his last breath, his ribs exposed, his heart black and beating slowly. His skull was split, exposing his brain, and he was losing his vision.
"Contractor, you are on your own... I shall take my payment and depart now," the demon chuckled as he slowly began to dematerialize.
"Baalaja, the agreement was for two hours and thirteen minutes..." Solmen spoke weakly.
"You did not use the original summoning ritual and performed a hasty summoning; there are loopholes to exploit... You trusted a demon with your life? Kekeke," the demon duke cackled as he continued to dematerialize.
He had done little during the fight, leaving Solmen to handle most of it. Such is the nature of demons.
"The demon is returning to the demon realm; quickly capture Solmen so we can seize his soul for interrogation," the giant urged as they advanced toward Solmen, who was slowly raising both arms to form a symbol.
'Demons are untrustworthy, humans are cruel, giants are unforgiving... this seems utterly hopeless,' Solmen thought.
"Fortunately, I am always prepared for situations like this," Solmen muttered under his breath as both arms clasped together.
Then he spoke in a language unrecognized by the world...
In the next moment, all the chaotic energies that filled the surroundings, produced from their battle, began swirling in circles. The dematerializing demon paused... then, with a look of horror, he screamed as he transformed into a vast dark red closure of energy that merged with the chaotic energies.
The advancing trio were petrified by a vast presence that descended onto the battlefield from the storm of chaotic energies.
"This madman, what have you done?! What is this?!" the paladin exclaimed in horror.
The mage's eyes widened inhumanly as cold sweat poured endlessly from his forehead.
The giant was the most horrified as his very existence began to reform.
"Basic Energy Spell: Energy Spear [Chaos Version]," Solmen uttered a basic spell empowered by the chaos presence and chaotic energy.
Three spears conjured from the chaotic energy impaled all three of them.
They couldn't resist as their lives slowly ebbed away.
"I re-engineered the excessive ownerless energies of the battlefield to create a magic array capable of producing power akin to the divine. Sacrificing the demon duke, a high-level existence, and everything I offered to him, I managed to produce this watered-down version... but it suffices to end you all," he stated as their life sparks extinguished.
'What I did not reveal was that I required the demon duke to be between planes to employ this spell. I shall soon perish, thanks to you all, and even more so due to the spell's backlash. Even my soul may be destroyed along...'
By then, forty percent of the chaos energy and presence had already been expended.
"But before that..." he said as he used the chaotic energy and presence to warp space, retrieving the corpses of all the fallen.
Deep within an underground mountain in an unknown territory, a giant complex was dimly lit with light-emitting stones.
Suddenly, the space became unstable. Three corpses, multiple pieces of equipment, and a living person fell.
"I shall ensure your associates cannot retrieve your bodies or belongings..." he stated as he slowly began disintegrating.
Out of habit, he cast a spell he always performed before leaving home.
A mid-tier spell,
"Preservation Magic: Room."
After all, death was but another form of leaving home.
Subsequently, his world turned dark as he faded into nothingness.