Elisa's sword trembled in her hands. She breathed deeply, staring at the snake that watched her with disconcerting malice. The creature taunted her, daring her to reveal her true strength.
Then, feeling her own blood trickle down the blade, Elisa lunged forward.
Medusa defended herself, but realizing the blow had truly cut her, and that the wound wouldn't heal, she let out a growl of pure rage.
Elisa dodged the snakes that tried to bite her, decapitating them with quick, precise cuts. When she momentarily moved away from the Destroyer, the creature launched a barrage of snakes in her direction. With clean movements, Elisa cut them down and, in a burst of energy, delivered a powerful kick to Medusa's face.
Spitting blood, the monster grabbed Elisa's legs and hurled her forcefully to the other side. Her body slammed against the pulsating mass of flesh, which enveloped her and began to trap her like a living cocoon.
Suddenly, Medusa groaned, bringing her hand to her face and vomiting black blood. Her colossal form was being brutally attacked by the Pillars. Realizing where Slady was trapped, she understood that the walking venom was also reaching her.
Her serpentine legs shot towards the cocoon, driven by blind fury. But Elisa, still free enough, intervened with her sword, keeping her gaze fixed on the creature's chest. A cruel smile appeared on Medusa's face; the snakes lunged towards Elisa's chin, trying to force her to look at them.
With a violent kick to the monster's stomach, Elisa tore off the hands that held her and, in an upward motion, cut from her chest to the base of her abdomen. Medusa let out a distorted, furious scream. The colossal body swayed violently, throwing Elisa up and down inside.
The three-headed serpent was becoming increasingly insane. The hunters, though exhausted, felt this was the decisive moment. Ferinish leaped into the air, his hand engulfed in flames, unleashing a wave of fire against all the heads. Aurora flew around, launching bursts of energy from a distance. Carolina risked close-range flights, tearing Medusa's skin with her spear, opening wounds that instantly froze and exploded from the inside out.
Faller and Victoria combined their powers: a wave of electrically charged water coursed through Medusa's body, frying it from the outside in.
Elisa felt small shocks running through her body, but remained firm, clinging to the pulsating flesh to watch. Medusa's body began to melt. The creature screamed, enraged:
"I should never lose to humanity! Much less to a human like you!"
Elisa did not answer. She closed her eyes for a moment and remembered moments of affection that still seemed distant, but were immensely real. She looked at where Shaphira and Slady were trapped. She remembered exactly why she was fighting.
With trembling legs, she ran, dodging each attack until she reached the unhealing center: the heart.
The colossal body let out a deafening roar. All the hunters were thrown far away. An intense red glow escaped from the monstrosity. Elisa plunged her sword even deeper, but felt her chin being gripped by the Destroyer's claws, forcing her to look at it while screaming in unbearable pain.
Then came the explosion.
A devastating wave of Renkai Energy spread everywhere. Innocents fleeing were swallowed up. Families embraced in their final seconds. Soldiers looked at photos of loved ones. The leader who had tried to guide the people away only raised his eyes to the blaze that consumed the world.
Brazilovia was completely destroyed. No one was left to tell its story.
Ferinish's eyes opened to witness the catastrophe. Everyone was unconscious. The few "survivors" among the innocent underwent grotesque transformations and fled. His companions, despite their resistance, felt the corrosive energy spreading like a disease.
She stood, using her sword as an anchor.
Debris from the ship was crumbling across the ground, fire was raging, countless corpses lay. But when she reached the body of the great Destroyer…
From the wreckage, Slady emerged from his cocoon, exhausted, his mind heavy and his stomach churning. Seeing the scene, he finally understood that he was incapable of fulfilling his promises.
Elisa was petrified. Her expression was almost one of… recognition. As if, in her last moments, she had remembered everything. Who she was protecting.
She died protecting the man she loved at the beginning of her life and hated at the end.
If Slady's soul was already fragmented, now it was dead inside. His eyes were empty. His lips trembled. For the first time in years, tears streamed down his face.
Before him stood Mara and Hades, with looks of disappointment. The woman with sensual shadows lowered herself and caressed Slady's chin, whispering that he had failed… again.
Hades, without ceremony, lifted Shaphira's body onto his shoulders.
"She will be an excellent vessel for the next Beast Destroyer."
With cold stares, they began to fly away into the skies.
But neither Slady nor Ferinish would just stand by and watch.
Instinctively, their bodies reacted. Slady leaped, trying to reach Shaphira. Ferinish charged at them. Krythos' shadows, as a cruel joke, pulled Slady back.
He didn't give up. His desperation almost frightened the Destroyers. They struck him with such force that the shadows began to suck in everything around them, including Ferinish, who, even resisting with all his might, couldn't escape.
Elisa's petrified body crumbled, leaving only her blood, which mingled with Slady's body over the black marks, as if an infernal force compelled him to remember who was truly responsible for her death.
The sea began to swirl, sucking them into the portal that had imprisoned them. Their last vision was of their own bodies being dragged into that cursed darkness. The portal closed before their eyes, leaving only darkness.
Faced with that nightmare that no one else had witnessed, faced with total destruction and the defeat of a war, even after victory in battle, the sea rose again. The shadows disappeared along with Slady and Ferinish.
Silence filled the scene of devastation.