Sighing, Uriel reviewed his third reward from his aspect legacy. He had received three relics of the void, each more peculiar than the last. First, he had received Stygia, who was born as a supreme titan with powers related to nothingness and the soul. Then he obtained the mysterious egg that he still didn't know exactly what it was.
[Third Relic: Sword of True Darkness]
"A sword?"
Uriel frowned as he watched the darkness gather around his hand, taking the form of a strange sword. Its blade was long, made of condensed darkness essence that possessed an indescribable edge. As he held it, he felt how he was connected to this sword; his essence flowed freely throughout his body, and his dominion over darkness had been considerably strengthened.
A sensation of power ran through his arm as he wielded it. It wasn't like any other weapon he had possessed before. This sword was an extension of his own existence, a piece of his soul forged in pure darkness. The runes engraved on its surface glowed with a faint violet radiance, revealing its true nature.
Uriel looked at the sword's runes carefully, reading each one as the information flowed directly into his mind.
Dark Creature: [Sword of True Darkness]
Rank: Transcendent
Attributes: [Devourer of Darkness] [Malleable Form] [The End] [Parasite] [Imperishable]
Description: [When the gods and the void creatures clashed, that which remained hidden tore the darkness from existence, shaping it into a sword that brought the end.]
'Strange. It's a sword, but it's also a creature of darkness, though different,' Uriel thought, confused. The dual nature of this object intrigued him; it wasn't simply an inanimate weapon, but a living being with its own will, albeit dormant. He could feel pulses of energy emanating from the blade, as if the sword's heart beat in unison with his own.
Also the fact that it was of transcendent rank. Was the rank tied to his own level? If that was the case, that sword would be as strong as him. The connection between his soul and the weapon seemed to indicate that its power would grow along with his own development as a bearer of darkness.
Uriel paid attention to the attributes, marveling at the possibilities each one offered.
[Devourer of Darkness] Description: "This sword consumes the darkness of the world to strengthen itself. The deeper the darkness, the more powerful it becomes."
Uriel smiled as he read this. In a world where darkness was abundant, this sword would constantly feed, becoming more powerful with each battle. He could feel how the sword passively absorbed the faint darkness surrounding him, as if it were breathing.
[Malleable Form] Description: "Like darkness, this can change its form freely."
This ability was fascinating. He could imagine transforming the sword into shields, chains or any other form his imagination could conceive. The limit would be his own creativity and control over the darkness that composed the weapon.
[The End] Description: "That which this sword cuts will receive the end of all things."
A chill ran down his spine as he read this. "The end of all things" was a phrase that needed no explanation. Any being, no matter how powerful, would meet its end if cut by this sword. Even immortals might fear this attribute.
[Parasite] Description: "This sword can parasitize other beings to divide itself and grant them its blessing."
This was particularly interesting. He could create lesser versions of the sword and grant them to others, extending his influence and power through his allies. He wondered exactly how this attribute would work, but the tactical possibilities were immense.
[Imperishable] Description: "As long as darkness exists, this sword is indestructible."
This was, perhaps, the most valuable attribute of all. As long as there was darkness in the world—and there always would be—his sword could not be destroyed. It was a guarantee that his main weapon would never abandon him.
Uriel's eyes gleamed as he read the attributes of his new weapon. It was perfect for him. His connection to darkness had deepened, and now he possessed a weapon that resonated with his very essence. Although it wasn't as powerful as his void sword, which was a supreme memory of the seventh level, this sword was much more versatile.
"I already want to test it," he murmured with a sinister smile.
Uriel dismissed the sword and gave it a different form. The transformation was immediate and fluid; the darkness spread from his hand like a viscous liquid, covering his arm and reconfiguring into a new appearance. The form he gave it was momentary, that of a tattoo of a long skeleton with numerous sharp legs ending in sharp scythes.
The design ran along his arm from shoulder to fingers, with each segment of the skeleton articulating perfectly to not restrict his movement. The scythes at the tips gleamed with a dark flash, as if eager to test their edge. The contrast between the deep blackness of the tattoo and his pale skin created a truly intimidating image.
"The design is great, so I'll leave it like this for now," he decided, admiring his new adornment.
He could feel the sword pulsing beneath his skin, patiently waiting for the moment to be awakened. It was a strange sensation, having a living weapon as part of his body, but it was also comforting. Knowing he would always have access to this power if he needed it gave him a sense of security.
Finally, with that done, he paid attention to what was happening outside. Through his connection to darkness, he could perceive the world beyond his refuge. There was movement, agitation. Something was changing in the balance of power he had been observing.
He closed his eyes and extended his senses, letting the darkness envelop him completely. He could feel fear, anticipation, greed. The war was brewing, and he would be at the center of it all.
The Sword of True Darkness pulsed beneath his skin, as if sharing his excitement. Uriel smiled, knowing that soon the moment would come to test his new relic.
---
[Point of View: Shade]
Shade cursed as his body crashed against the city wall. The impact was brutal; the black stone bricks cracked under the force, creating a web of cracks that spread like spider webs from the point of collision. Reddish blood came from his mouth as he coughed to catch his breath. His dark body flickered from exhaustion, battle marks covering every inch of his armor.
"Damn it, that bastard is really annoying," Shade cursed, watching how the members of Shadow Garden were falling. Even his transcendent warriors were being overwhelmed due to the exhaustion of the long battle. The scene was desolate: fallen bodies, darkness consuming the weak, and the incessant advance of the enemy hordes.
One month.
That was how long he had kept fighting against Jerom and his immortal army of darkness creatures. Thirty days of uninterrupted combat, without rest, without truce. Thirty days watching his soldiers fall one after another. He had eliminated thousands in fierce battles, massacring creatures of darkness and nightmares without equal, but there were always more. The worst part was that Jerom didn't even seem exhausted; he maintained his same carefree and arrogant attitude, as if all this were just a game to him.
"You're really resilient, I must say," Jerom commented, stopping a few meters from Shade with his sword in hand. His voice was soft, almost kind, but his eyes shone with an ancient cruelty. "Among all those I've fought, you are the toughest cockroach."
Shade, instead of responding, only gave him the middle finger.
"Fuck you."
Jerom moved his sword, cutting off Shade's arm in an instant. The movement was so fast it barely seemed like a flash in the air. The severed arm fell to the ground with a dull thud, and blood gushed from the wound. But Shade didn't scream; he had already grown accustomed to the pain.
"Your soldiers are already falling," Jerom continued, pacing in front of him like a predator playing with its prey. "Your transcendents will soon join my ranks, and then this city will follow. Why do you keep resisting the inevitable? Just surrender and serve me."
"No."
Shade began to stand up. His armor began to heal him as he was surrounded by darkness, the shadows nourishing his being to repair his wounds. From his severed arm emerged a black mist that took the form of a hand, dark and ethereal, but functional.
"I won't do it. I will fight until the end against you."
"Fool."
Jerom launched an attack at Shade, which he blocked. The clash of their attacks was devastating. The wall of Doom trembled under the titanic force of their confrontation, the stones creaking under the pressure of their power. Shade summoned the void sword again, launching a slash that Jerom blocked with ease, as if all of Shade's power were nothing more than a nuisance.
"It's useless. We've fought hundreds of times and you know you can't win. Just surrender and be consumed by my darkness."
With a swift movement, Jerom kicked Shade's chin, sending him flying through the air. The impact was so strong that Shade felt his vertebrae crack. Then, he appeared above him, striking a thrust against his body and sending him back to the battlefield.
Shade descended like a black meteor among a swarm of dark creatures that dissipated from the shockwave. The crater he formed upon impact with the ground was deep, and for a moment, everything around him fell silent.
But it was only a moment.
Thousands of darkness creatures began to emerge from the shadows, their eyes gleaming with insatiable hunger. Shade stood up once more, his breathing ragged, his body trembling from exhaustion.
But he wasn't finished yet.
---
[Point of View: Scarlet]
On the other side of the battlefield, Scarlet—who had abandoned her transcendent form—was fighting against multiple nightmare creatures using her transcendent ability to be immune to attacks, at the cost of a great amount of essence. Each blow she received dissipated in her body, but each one consumed a portion of her energy reserve.
Even if her essence was vast, it was depleting.
The infernal flames surrounding her crackled with fury, devouring the creatures that dared to approach. Her blood-red hair blazed with energy, and her eyes shone with the radiance of the eternal fire within her. But even she could feel the accumulated exhaustion in her bones, the weight of a month of uninterrupted battle.
On the other side, she watched how her other transcendent companions maintained a protection barrier, protecting the awakened and ascended who had withdrawn into the city. The barrier was imposing, a dome of multicolored energy enveloping the main gate of Doom, but even she could see how it was weakening little by little.
Creating an inferno of hellfire, Scarlet created wings of fire she used to fly, reaching the others. She landed in the center of the group, her presence imposing even in her exhausted state.
"Everyone needs to return to Doom," Scarlet said, her voice firm despite everything. "We're leaving."
"No," said Frost.
Frost created hundreds of enormous ice lances, lances that shot toward the army, momentarily holding back their advance. The cold spread from his body, freezing the nearest creatures and creating a temporary wall of ice between them and the city. His face was pale, but his eyes shone with determination.
"We can't leave. If we do, what will happen to the boss?"
"Our job is to protect Doom and its inhabitants," said Sebastian, his voice deep and serious. His hands trembled slightly as he maintained his part of the barrier, but his posture was firm.
"But we'll leave Lord Dark behind," said Lyra, her eyes shining with contained tears. Her light powers flickered weakly, exhausted after so long.
"Look at the situation," said Kael, using a tempest of cutting winds to slice through the nightmare creatures that served as vessels for the darkness creatures. The wind howled around him, cutting and tearing everything that dared to approach. "If we die here, everything will be useless. We'll lose everything we've fought for."
"But..."
"Enough, this is a direct order," Scarlet said, cutting off any discussion. Her voice was authoritative, but there was a hint of sadness in her eyes. "We will move Doom and its entire population toward Twilight."
The other transcendents nodded; some with mixed emotions and feelings, others with resolution, and some sad. No one wanted to abandon Shade, but they understood the logic behind the decision. If everyone died here, there would be no hope for anyone.
Scarlet resumed her transcendent form, sending a new burning inferno at the entire horde. The flames spread like a wave, consuming everything in their path and creating a wall of fire that would separate the defenders from the attackers.
The transcendents, seeing this, decided to retreat toward Doom.
---
[Point of View: Shade]
Shade watched from afar as his companions retreated. A bitter smile formed on his lips. At least they would be safe. That was all that mattered.
He stood once more, his body trembling but his will intact. Before him, Jerom's army stretched as far as the eye could see, an endless tide of darkness and death.
"You see?" said Jerom, appearing before him. "They've abandoned you. Even your allies know this battle is lost."
"They haven't abandoned me," Shade responded, his voice firm despite everything. "They're fulfilling their duty."
"So noble," Jerom laughed. "So pathetic."
Shade raised his void sword, feeling how darkness flowed through it. Around him, the shadows moved, dancing in response to his call.
"This may be my last battle," Shade said, a cruel smile on his lips. "But I assure you, it won't be easy."
Jerom smiled, raising his own sword.
"I hope so."
"...."
The blow was devastating.
Shade felt Jerom's sword pierce through his chest, the cold dark blade penetrating his armor and flesh with ease. The pain was immense, but he didn't scream. He wouldn't. Not in front of this bastard.
Blood poured from his lips as he fell to his knees, his void sword falling to the ground with a metallic clang. His vision blurred, and he could feel his life slowly slipping away. The shadows around him began to fade, his connection to darkness weakening as his consciousness slipped into the darkness.
"Finally," said Jerom, his voice sounding distant and triumphant. "You have fallen."
Shade looked up, seeing Jerom approach, his sword raised for the final blow. The blade shone with a dark and malevolent light, eager to consume his soul. At that moment, Shade felt the weight of a month of battle, of sacrifice, of resistance. Perhaps this was truly his end.
But the final blow never came.
Or rather, it couldn't come.
Shade opened his eyes to see what was happening. Black chains, thick as ancestral serpents, emerged from the shadows and seized Jerom's sword and body. The chains coiled around his wrist, his torso and his legs, immobilizing him completely. Jerom's face twisted into a grimace of surprise and fury.
"Wow, looks like I made it in time."
Shade opened his eyes upon hearing a voice he was already beginning to miss. That sarcastic, arrogant and terribly familiar voice resonated in his ears like the most beautiful melody.
"Wow Shade, I leave for a while and you're already a wreck. You really look pathetic. Wait, let me get the camera, this deserves a picture."
'Hey bastard, why the hell did you take so long to wake up?' Shade asked with a furious shout, his mental voice resonating with a mixture of relief and indignation.
"Well, I had the best restorative sleep of my life," Uriel responded with a lightness that completely contrasted with the situation. "Everyone was there, and you too... oh, there were also gothic girls, blonde girls, redheads, harem, bunny girls, cat girls. It was glorious."
One of Shade's eyebrows twitched violently. Blood continued to pour from his wound, but his momentary fury seemed to give him strength.
"You know what, forget it. I hope you rested well, because this bastard is tough as a rock."
"Oh, don't worry," Uriel said, his smile audible even in his tone of voice. "I just got a new power up."
Shade smiled. A tired but genuine smile. He let Uriel retake control of the main body, feeling how his lord's consciousness spread like a tide of darkness, claiming every fiber of his being.
With a thought, an enormous hand of darkness emerged from the ground, its fingers formed by solid, dense shadows. The hand grabbed Jerom with the strength of a titan, squeezing until the immortal's bones cracked. Then, with a fluid movement, it hurled him like a projectile at great speed toward a great titan that loomed in the distance.
The impact was cataclysmic.
The collision between Jerom and the titan created a shockwave that swept away hundreds of darkness creatures, disintegrating them instantly. The titan, a nightmare beast dozens of meters tall, fell backward with a thunderous roar, its body collapsing under the weight of the impact.
The battlefield fell silent for a moment. Even the stupidest creatures seemed to understand that something had changed.
Standing up, Uriel summoned his new sword. The darkness swirled around his hand, condensing into a blade of absolute blackness that seemed to devour light itself. The Sword of True Darkness shone with a sinister gleam and, surrounded by such dense darkness, began to absorb it greedily.
It was as if the sword were breathing, each inhalation of darkness strengthening its edge and power.
Uriel used part of that absorbed darkness to heal all his wounds. From his chest, the open wound began to close, flesh regenerating at an astonishing speed. The bleeding stopped, the broken bones fused, and within seconds, his body was in perfect condition.
"Uriel!" Scarlet shouted from a distance, her voice a mix of surprise and relief. The flames around her blazed with renewed hope.
"Lord Dark has returned!" Frost exclaimed, his ice lances shining with intensity.
"Ha!" Kael laughed, his winds howling with renewed fury. "Now this is going to get interesting."
"You don't know how much we've missed you," Lyra murmured, her eyes shining with tears of happiness.
"Quiet, everyone," Sebastian said, his voice deep but with a hint of contained emotion. "Let Lord Dark work."
Uriel raised his sword, the black blade shining with a violet radiance. The darkness around him began to move, to stir like a stormy sea. Jerom's creatures, which had been advancing with confidence, began to retreat, their primitive instincts screaming that something terrible was about to happen.
"Listen well, monsters," Uriel said, his voice resonating across the entire battlefield. "I've been sleeping. I've been dreaming. I've been enjoying a well-deserved rest while you had fun with my subordinates."
He smiled, and his smile was more terrifying than any beast's roar.
"But now I've woken up. And I'm in a bad mood."
At that moment, from the distance, Jerom rose among the rubble of the fallen titan. His armor was broken, his face bloodied, but his eyes shone with fury.
"You?" he spat, his voice full of hatred. "The one who hid all this time? The one who let his dogs fight for him?"
"Oh, don't misunderstand me," Uriel said, spinning his sword with elegance. "I didn't hide. I was just... recharging energy. And to be honest, the sleep was incredible. There was this cat girl particularly..."
"Shut up!" Jerom roared, launching himself at him with superhuman speed.
But Uriel was no longer where he had been.
He appeared behind Jerom, his sword already in motion.
"Too slow," he whispered. "And also, rude. You don't interrupt someone when they're telling their dreams."
The blade of the Sword of True Darkness cut through the air, and Jerom barely managed to dodge the blow. But the edge, although it didn't touch him directly, left a mark on his armor: a clean cut that went through the metal like paper.
"What...?" Jerom touched his armor, his eyes opening with disbelief.
"[The End]," Uriel said, reading his sword's attribute. "Everything it cuts will receive the end of all things. Even immortals fear those words."
"I don't care!" Jerom shouted, raising his sword to counterattack.
But Uriel had already moved again, his body flowing like a shadow.