Darkness exploded from Aris.
The earth shattered beneath his feet.
The sky trembled.
Silver light and crimson chaos intertwined around his body like living storms.
Lumen's eyes widened.
"What is this...?"
The bishop could feel it.
Aris was changing.
No.
He was evolving.
The power flooding through him wasn't merely Nyx's strength.
It was something deeper.
Something hidden.
Something ancient.
Aris slowly raised his head.
His silver eyes had become completely emotionless.
Cold.
Empty.
Terrifying.
Nyx watched silently.
She knew that look.
And she didn't like it.
"Aris..."
The young man smiled.
A smile devoid of warmth.
A smile that belonged to something else.
"I see now."
The words left his lips softly.
The air around him distorted.
Thousands of black cracks spread through space itself.
The endless army of bones hesitated.
For the first time—
Fear appeared among the undead.
Lumen clenched his fists.
"Kill him!"
The command echoed across the battlefield.
A hundred thousand skeletal soldiers charged.
The ground shook violently.
The army stretched beyond the horizon.
A white sea of death rushing toward a single figure.
Aris remained still.
Not moving.
Not blinking.
Simply watching.
The first soldier reached him.
Its blade descended.
Aris raised one finger.
A tentacle erupted from his shadow.
SPLAT!
The skeleton exploded.
Then another tentacle emerged.
And another.
And another.
And another.
Within seconds—
Thousands of tentacles burst from the ground.
The battlefield became a forest of writhing crimson horrors.
The soldiers charged fearlessly.
They never reached him.
Tentacles pierced skulls.
Crushed ribcages.
Shattered weapons.
Tore entire formations apart.
The army was being slaughtered.
Not defeated.
Slaughtered.
Aris slowly floated into the sky.
Silver light engulfed him.
His golden hair danced wildly in the chaotic winds.
Below him—
The battlefield became a massacre.
"Impossible..."
Lumen muttered.
A skeletal giant swung its axe.
A tentacle wrapped around it.
CRUNCH.
The giant collapsed instantly.
Thousands more followed.
The ground was covered in shattered bones.
But something strange happened.
The remains didn't stay on the battlefield.
Black mist rose from every destroyed soldier.
The souls.
Their souls were being extracted.
Aris extended his hand.
The mist flowed toward him.
Then entered his body.
Power surged through him.
More.
And more.
And more.
Every fallen soldier became fuel.
Every soul became strength.
Lumen immediately understood.
"Stop him!"
Nectronome screamed.
The Archangel descended.
Its colossal skeletal hand slammed downward.
The sky itself seemed to collapse.
Aris glanced upward.
Then casually pointed.
A mountain-sized tentacle erupted.
BOOM!
The two attacks collided.
Shockwaves spread across the continent.
The heavens cracked.
The ground split apart.
Aris didn't move an inch.
Neither did Nectronome.
The battlefield froze.
Then—
Aris vanished.
Lumen's instincts screamed.
Too late.
A fist slammed into his jaw.
BOOM!
The bishop became a crimson meteor.
He crashed through mountains.
Aris appeared above him instantly.
A kick followed.
Then a punch.
Then another.
Then another.
Every strike carried chaos.
Every strike carried malice.
Lumen barely managed to defend himself.
"What happened to you?!"
Aris didn't answer.
The young man's eyes remained empty.
Cold.
Detached.
As if he no longer viewed Lumen as human.
Lumen gritted his teeth.
Wrath erupted from his body.
Invisible arms appeared behind him.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
Each arm carried enough force to level cities.
They attacked simultaneously.
Aris raised his hand.
Chaos erupted.
The invisible arms collided with countless tentacles.
The sky became a battlefield.
Explosions illuminated the heavens.
Space shattered repeatedly.
Reality groaned beneath the pressure.
Far below—
The last skeletal soldier fell.
The army was gone.
Every soul had been consumed.
Aris slowly descended.
His aura expanded.
Then expanded again.
And again.
The pressure became overwhelming.
Lumen's expression darkened.
"No..."
The bishop could feel it.
The boundary.
The limit.
The wall.
And Aris had just reached it.
CRACK.
Something inside Aris broke.
Silver light erupted across the world.
The clouds vanished.
The winds stopped.
The very land trembled.
Aris had reached the peak of Apostasy.
One step away from Purged One.
One step away.
Yet despite that—
The pressure radiating from him rivaled Lumen himself.
Silence covered the battlefield.
Then Lumen laughed.
At first softly.
Then louder.
Then maniacally.
"Hahaha!"
Aris stared at him.
Lumen wiped blood from his mouth.
"Good."
His crimson eyes glowed.
"Good!"
The bishop pointed at Aris.
"Now this is worth killing!"
Nectronome descended beside him.
The Archangel's hundred eyes locked onto Aris.
For the first time since its summoning—
It viewed him as a threat.
Aris glanced at the two enemies.
One Purged One.
One Archangel.
Both stronger than him.
Both capable of killing him.
Yet he felt calm.
Terrifyingly calm.
"This is troublesome."
Lumen frowned.
"You should be dead."
Aris finally spoke.
His voice sounded distant.
Almost inhuman.
"And yet..."
Chaos gathered around him.
Thousands of tentacles emerged.
The sky darkened once more.
"...I am still here."
Lumen's grin widened.
Nectronome spread all eight wings.
The battlefield trembled.
The final battle was about to begin.
And neither side intended to survive it.
The battlefield fell silent.
For a brief moment, the world seemed to hold its breath.
Aris floated above the shattered landscape.
Below him lay the remains of mountains, forests, and ancient ruins.
Ahead stood two monsters.
Lumen.
Nectronome.
Both stared at him with murderous intent.
Then—
Lumen moved first.
BOOM!
The air exploded.
A crimson shockwave followed in his wake as he shot forward faster than sound itself.
"Die!"
Thousands of invisible arms erupted behind him.
Each arm carried enough force to flatten cities.
They descended upon Aris like divine judgment.
Aris calmly raised his hand.
"Chaos Manifestation."
The space around him cracked.
Hundreds of colossal tentacles erupted from those cracks.
The invisible arms collided with them.
BOOOOM!
The sky shattered.
Shockwaves raced across the horizon.
Entire mountain ranges collapsed from the force.
The clash lasted only seconds.
Then Lumen broke through.
His fist struck Aris directly.
CRACK!
Aris felt ribs shatter.
Blood escaped his lips.
Yet before Lumen could celebrate—
A tentacle wrapped around his arm.
Another around his leg.
Another around his neck.
Lumen's eyes widened.
"What—"
Aris yanked.
BOOOOM!
Lumen was slammed into the earth.
Then again.
And again.
And again.
The ground cratered repeatedly.
Entire sections of land vanished beneath the impacts.
Lumen roared in fury.
Wrath exploded from his body.
The tentacles instantly disintegrated.
"You little monster!"
Before Aris could respond—
A massive shadow covered the battlefield.
Nectronome.
The Archangel descended.
Its hundred eyes glowed crimson.
Its eight wings unfolded completely.
The pressure alone forced the clouds away.
The giant raised both skeletal arms.
Ancient runes ignited across its bones.
Nyx's voice echoed weakly from within Aris.
"Move!"
Aris disappeared.
A fraction of a second later—
Nectronome's attack landed.
The world exploded.
A pillar of destruction erupted upward.
The ground split apart for hundreds of kilometers.
Even the ocean far beyond the Blessed Land trembled.
Aris reappeared in the sky.
His eyes narrowed.
"That would've killed me."
Nectronome screamed.
The sound alone shattered mountains.
Then the Archangel charged.
Eight wings propelled its colossal body forward.
Space warped around it.
Aris shot forward as well.
The two collided.
BOOOOOM!
The impact generated a shockwave visible from the edge of the continent.
Aris's fist struck Nectronome's skull.
Nectronome's claw struck Aris's chest.
Both were sent flying.
Aris coughed blood.
The Archangel lost several skeletal plates.
Neither seemed concerned.
The battle intensified.
Nectronome swung its massive wings.
Bone spears rained from the heavens.
Millions of them.
The sky turned white.
Aris stretched out his hand.
"Touch of Chaos."
Darkness erupted outward.
Everything it touched transformed.
Stone became magma.
Air became corruption.
Bone became ash.
The descending spears disintegrated.
The heavens burned.
Even the holy ground below blackened and cracked.
Lumen watched with growing concern.
"His control is increasing..."
For the first time, doubt entered his mind.
Then his expression hardened.
"No."
He would not lose.
Not here.
Not against a sixteen-year-old.
Wrath exploded around him.
The crimson aura surrounding his body doubled.
Then tripled.
Then quadrupled.
The air screamed.
Lumen laughed.
His voice echoed throughout the shattered land.
"I've broken through!"
The crimson light intensified.
The pressure became unbearable.
Aris immediately sensed it.
Lumen had become stronger.
Much stronger.
The bishop clenched his fists.
Power surged through every vein.
"Purged One!"
The declaration shook the heavens.
His recent feast on negativity had pushed him even further.
Aris frowned.
"This keeps getting worse."
Lumen grinned.
"Afraid?"
"No."
Aris slowly raised his hand.
"Annoyed."
The bishop's grin twitched.
Then vanished.
A moment later—
Both disappeared.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
The sky erupted with explosions.
Neither could be seen.
Only shockwaves marked their positions.
Punches collided.
Kicks landed.
Tentacles lashed out.
Invisible arms struck back.
The battle reached a level where even sound struggled to keep up.
Meanwhile—
Nectronome joined once again.
Its colossal fist descended.
Aris barely dodged.
The attack obliterated everything beneath it.
Lumen immediately followed.
A crimson beam erupted from his palm.
Aris blocked it.
Another beam came.
Then another.
Then another.
The attacks never stopped.
Lumen and Nectronome fought together flawlessly.
Like two halves of the same nightmare.
Aris was gradually being pushed back.
His tentacles were being destroyed faster than he could regenerate them.
His body accumulated wounds.
His breathing grew heavier.
His power was immense.
But he was still only at the peak of Apostasy.
They were both Purged Ones.
The difference showed.
Lumen smiled.
"You cannot win."
Aris remained silent.
Nectronome slammed into him again.
Blood sprayed through the air.
"You cannot survive."
Another attack.
Another wound.
Another explosion.
"You cannot save anyone."
Lumen's voice echoed like poison.
Aris's fist clenched.
His silver eyes trembled.
Not from fear.
From determination.
Far away—
He could feel it.
Faint.
But real.
Several powerful presences.
They were approaching.
Fast.
Very fast.
Aris smiled.
Lumen noticed.
That smile made him uncomfortable.
"What are you smiling about?"
Aris laughed.
Blood dripped from his lips.
"You feel it too, don't you?"
Lumen's expression darkened.
The bishop immediately extended his senses.
Then—
His eyes widened.
Someone was coming.
No.
Several people.
Powerful people.
Aris's smile widened.
"I can feel them."
The chaos surrounding him intensified.
Silver light illuminated the ruined world.
His eyes became completely blank.
Almost inhuman.
Almost divine.
Or perhaps demonic.
"I just need to hold you off a little longer."
Lumen's smile disappeared.
Nectronome let out an enraged scream.
The battle had entered its final stage.
And reinforcements were drawing near.