The creature rose like a mountain of darkness, its body a shifting amalgam of twisted faces, clawing hands, and broken weapons from the fallen. Its roar shook the chamber, rattling the obsidian pillars until dust rained from above. Each scream within its form was a player who had once stood where they now stood — and failed.
Carlos tightened his grip on the Blade of Ascension. Its golden fire flared in answer, but even that brilliant flame seemed dim against the vastness of the thing before them.
"Stay close!" he shouted, his voice echoing over the cacophony. "We fight as one, or not at all!"
The beast struck first.
Its arm, longer than any tree trunk, swept across the chamber. Lys dove forward, rolling beneath the blow, loosing an arrow mid-motion. The shaft glowed, enchanted by her own blood sacrifice, and struck deep into the beast's shoulder.
The creature shrieked, and dozens of voices shrieked with it.
"Keep hitting it!" Lys cried.
Thalor answered by charging, shield raised. His cracked armor blazed with light as he slammed into the beast's knee. The impact made the ground quake, forcing the monster to stumble.
"Now!" Thalor roared.
Carlos leapt forward, the Blade of Ascension singing as it cut through the air. He drove it into the beast's chest, golden fire searing through shadow. The monster convulsed, its wails like thunder.
But shadows poured from the wound, forming spectral warriors with glowing red eyes.
Rina darted into the chaos, spinning her daggers with deadly precision. She sliced through one phantom, then another, her movements a blur of speed and grace.
"Too many!" she hissed. "They just keep coming!"
Maren raised her staff. Her fear clawed at her ribs, but she pushed it down. Blue light flared, spreading in waves that burned through the specters. She whispered incantations, weaving a protective shield around her companions.
Her reflection's voice whispered in her mind — unleash me.
"No," she muttered under her breath. "Not like that. Not anymore."
Instead of destruction, she channeled balance. The air rippled, and the shadows faltered.
The beast retaliated.
Its maw opened wide, and from within came not fire, not lightning, but despair itself. A wave of suffocating hopelessness rolled over them. Carlos staggered, visions flooding his mind — his mother's face turning away from him, the weight of loneliness pressing down.
Lys dropped to one knee, hands shaking. "I can't… not again…"
Rina clutched her chest, her smirk gone, tears streaming unbidden.
Even Thalor faltered, his shield trembling.
The monster loomed higher, feeding on their despair, growing stronger with each broken thought.
But then Carlos remembered.
Not his own strength. Not his weapon. Not even his triumphs.
He remembered them — the faces of his companions.
He forced himself upright, teeth gritted. "Listen to me!" he shouted, his voice raw. "This thing is every failure that came before us — but we are not them! We are not alone!"
He grabbed Lys's shoulder, dragging her to her feet. He locked eyes with Rina, forcing her to meet his gaze. He raised his shield beside Thalor, and reached for Maren's light.
One by one, they rose.
The despair still pressed on them, but together, their bond burned brighter.
Maren lifted her staff, and her voice cut through the storm: "We are more than our fear!"
Blue light flared. Lys's arrows ignited with holy fire. Rina's blades crackled with shadow-wrapped energy she finally dared wield without shame. Thalor's shield blazed with unbreakable light. Carlos's sword roared like a sun reborn.
Together, they struck.
The chamber became a battlefield of fire and shadow, light and darkness colliding in waves that shook the Citadel to its foundations. The beast thrashed, screaming as the five warriors carved into its form, severing the chains of the souls bound within.
Each strike freed another voice — screams of anguish turning to sighs of release. The monster shrank, weakening, its colossal frame collapsing under the weight of unity it could not withstand.
Finally, Carlos drove the Blade of Ascension into its core.
The beast's body split apart, exploding into streams of shadow that dissolved into the air like smoke in sunlight.
For a long moment, silence reigned.
The five of them stood together, weapons lowered, chests heaving. Then Rina laughed — broken, breathless, but real.
"Well," she gasped, "if that wasn't team-building, I don't know what is."
Lys chuckled weakly. Thalor sheathed his sword with dignity, though his hands shook. Maren's smile was small but steady.
Carlos looked at them all, pride swelling in his chest. "We survived because we chose each other."
The Helm's voice whispered again, softer this time.
"Unity forged. The path to Realm Three opens."
Before them, the obsidian floor cracked open, revealing a stairway of light spiraling downward into a void.
Their trials were not over. The Helm had more realms waiting.
But for the first time, Carlos knew with certainty — they would face it together.