Grimmy smiled softly through the chaos.
"…You really are very strong."
Her voice carried an odd calmness, like she was enjoying the fight more than fearing it.
She raised her hand.
The air behind her warped—
and a silhouette formed.
A minotaur of shadow.
Massive. Horned. Ancient.
It stepped forward like a memory given physical violence.
The shadow minotaur roared and charged.
The ground split beneath its hooves.
At the same time—
Desiree's battlefield collapsed into roots again.
But this time, something different reacted.
Death was caught.
Not by force.
But by entanglement.
Shadow roots wrapped around him layer by layer, tightening like a living execution.
"…Tch."
Death narrowed his eyes.
"I haven't used this in a long time."
His body began to glow.
A sudden eruption of color shattered the gloom.
Rainbow light burst outward from his core.
GODS BLOW: TRUE COLORS
One punch.
The entire shadow tree detonated into fragments of light and darkness.
The battlefield went silent.
From the collapsing shadows—
Grimmy walked out.
Her body was heavily injured.
Black blood dripping steadily from her arms and side.
But she was smiling.
She raised a trembling hand.
And gave a thumbs up.
"…We won."
Silence followed.
The shadow army stopped moving.
Goja's presence flickered.
Even the battlefield itself felt uncertain.
Jhonathan stood still among the aftermath.
And for the first time in a long time—
he felt something missing.
A crack formed across the Lich symbol on his body.
Not pain.
Not damage.
Something more subtle.
A loss of something he couldn't immediately name.
He looked down at his hand.
Quiet.
"…So it breaks too," he whispered.
The wind passed over Levincia's coastline.
The war had not ended.
But something inside Jhonathan had changed.
And far away—
Goja began to laugh again.