The void pulsed like the heartbeat of death itself.
Arkham Asylum hovered above the shattered battlefield, crystalline shards orbiting him like teeth of a godless predator. His presence alone twisted time and reality, bending fragments of collapsed worlds to suffocate anything that dared approach.
Stojian gritted his teeth, shadows coiling violently around him. His green eye burned through the darkness, yet even his power strained under Arkham's absolute will.
"We can't hold them forever," he muttered. "The cores… the cracks… it has to work."
But Arkham did not strike with mere force.
He moved with inevitability.
Void energy surged from his crystalline form, slicing through the void like a blade tearing reality itself. The allies had coordinated perfectly, pushing proxies to the brink—
Yet Arkham's retaliation was merciless.
Adam's void blade ignited as he leapt toward a proxy.
A pulse of Arkham's energy cleaved the air, disintegrating his platform. He plummeted into the void with a scream that reverberated unnaturally, swallowed instantly by darkness.
"Adam!" Stojian roared.
But there was no answer.
Only silence.
Gi Hun twisted gravity to shield a floating shard. Arkham's energy laced through it, crushing him beneath the weight of impossibility. Time itself seemed to slow as he vanished.
"Gi Hun—no!"
Evershift's reality warps flickered, bending space to shield allies. A single pulse shattered his constructs, throwing him into collapsing shards. His form dissolved into nothing.
Arbiter tried to intercept the largest avatars. His dark crystal armor glowed brilliantly, absorbing shards and pulses. But Arkham's strikes were precise. Crystals shattered. Arbiter's body tore apart, scattering fragments into the void as his scream harmonized with the shattering of worlds.
"ARBITER!"
Stojian felt despair claw at him.
But the worst was yet to come.
Arkham's energy reached toward Chronicle Lord—the last ally capable of manipulating probability threads. The Vessel's void extended like living fingers, slicing reality itself.
"Chronicle Lord!" Stojian roared, fists clenching.
Crystals floated around Chronicle Lord, anchoring him. Arkham's shards struck violently, severing crystal after crystal. Probability threads flared and snapped like fragile silk. Chronicle Lord struggled to maintain control, weaving what remained of his threads—
But each shard severed him further.
With a final pulse, the last crystal shattered.
Chronicle Lord collapsed. Eyes wide. Energy dissipating into the void.
Gone.
All of them.
Gone.
The battlefield fell silent.
Shadows twisted violently around Stojian, but his allies were gone—disintegrated, erased, scattered into nothingness. The multiverse quivered under Arkham's omnipotence. Even fragments of reality trembled, unable to withstand the sheer weight of his void power.
Stojian's fists clenched tighter. Shadows writhed violently around him.
"No… this can't be…"
His voice cracked.
He had promised.
I won't let anyone else fall.
I'll protect them.
I'll—
A cold, calm voice resonated through the void.
The Source. Steady. Unwavering.
"Your allies have fallen, but their efforts were not in vain. Arkham's cores and crystals anchor his proxies. Without them, he cannot maintain the same influence."
Stojian's breath caught.
"You must strike now, Stojian. Strike at the anchors."
He exhaled slowly, grief transforming into molten rage.
"I… I understand."
Shadows coiled tighter. Void energy flared outward, wrapping around the remaining proxies trembling under Arkham's will.
Even after the massacre—
Stojian felt the faint pulse of the Source guiding him.
Every crack widened by his fallen allies became an opportunity. The Vessel's proxies faltered, yet Arkham remained intact—omnipotent, terrifying, beyond comprehension.
But Stojian didn't care.
He whispered, low and unyielding, teeth gritted:
"For Adam… for Gi Hun… for Evershift… for Arbiter… for Chronicle Lord…"
His green eye blazed.
"We finish this. No mercy."
The multiverse held its breath.
Collapsed world fragments quivered beneath Arkham's shadow. Allies erased. Cost unimaginable.
But the fight was not over.
Shadows surged. Void energy twisted into lethal blades.
And Stojian prepared.
Not with a Dao Body. Not with a transformation.
With grief. With rage. With everything he had left.
The Vessel's domain trembled.
Cracks were forming.
Soon—
The foundations of Arkham's impossible power would be exposed.