The situation inside the heirs’ chamber had deteriorated beyond what was happening below.
If the courtyard was chaos, this was suffocation.
Helgar had arrived with additional heirs and reinforcents, but they were trapped outside the chamber. The corridor leading in was completely overwheld, void bodies stacking over one another in relentless waves. Rifts still pulsed along the walls of the passage, tearing open space and spilling more creatures into an already impossible choke point. There was no route through. No angle of entry. Every attempt to push was swallowed within seconds.
No path forward.
Inside the chamber, the air felt heavier.
Arthur stood at the rear of the room, positioned directly in front of the unconscious Thal’zar heirs. Their humanoid forms—ears and tails marking their lineage—remained limp and unresponsive, still suffering the aftermath of whatever Icarus had done to them. They had not stirred once. Whether from exhaustion, mana corruption, or deeper tampering, none of them could stand.
Arthur did not look away from the enemy.
In front of him, Garrika and Lysandra faced the intelligent Void creature alone.
The chamber itself bore the scars of earlier impact. Stone was fractured. Sections of wall were missing where the creature had crashed through. Dust still hung in the air, illuminated by unstable mana currents flickering from broken enchantnts.
The intelligent Void creature stood near the center of the room.
And between it and the heirs stood only two figures.
Garrika, already breathing heavily, claws flexing as her transformation settled deeper into her muscles.
Lysandra, blade steady, posture controlled despite the widening cracks across the floor beneath her boots.
Outside, Helgar’s forces were still trying to break through.
Inside, it was already a losing battle.
The difference in power did not need to be stated.
It was visible in how the intelligent Void creature stood without adjusting its stance. In how the fractured stone beneath its feet remained undisturbed despite the mana pressure radiating through the chamber. In how neither Garrika nor Lysandra could force it to move more than half a step.
Garrika moved first.
Her transformation deepened fully, muscles tightening, claws lengthening as she launched forward with [Lupine Rush], the explosive burst closing the distance in an instant. The floor cracked beneath her acceleration as she collided with the creature’s torso and imdiately followed with [Beast Claw Barrage], her arms becoming a blur of tearing strikes aid at its chest, ribs, and partially retracted wings.
The claws hit.
They struck again.
And again.
Stone had fractured under less.
The void flesh did not.
At most, shallow marks traced across its surface before sealing almost imdiately. The creature shifted slightly, more in acknowledgnt than reaction.
Garrika did not hesitate.
She adjusted her angle mid-motion and lunged for a visible joint near the shoulder line, jaws snapping shut as she activated [Moonfang Rend]. Her fangs pierced in, mana flaring as she attempted to tear through structural plating.
For a split second, it felt like resistance.
Then it felt like biting into reinforced steel.
The creature’s mana surged outward in rejection.
In the sa motion—casual, almost dismissive—it retaliated.
One arm swept across her midsection.
Claws carved through her abdon, tearing open flesh and armor alike. The impact lifted her partially off the ground before throwing her backward. A large portion of her lower torso was exposed, blood spilling violently across the fractured floor.
The damage was catastrophic.
Garrika collapsed before she fully registered the pain.
Arthur broke formation instantly.
He crossed the distance in two strides, catching her mid-fall before her body struck the ground a second ti. Without looking at the creature, he dragged her backward toward the heirs, positioning his own body between them and the center of the chamber. One hand moved quickly to retrieve a blood-seal item, pressing it against the torn wound as mana activated in a stabilizing pulse.
The bleeding slowed for now, but her condition was critical. Garrika did not regain consciousness.
She lay still in his arms, out of the fight.
Lysandra did not look back.
The mont Garrika fell and Arthur withdrew, the battlefield narrowed into a single axis: her and the intelligent Void creature.
Now it was one against one.
The creature moved first, its body blurring forward with unnatural acceleration. Lysandra answered instantly with [Morgain’s Riftstep], condensing mana beneath her feet and vanishing from the point of impact. She reappeared several ters to the side, the magical afterpressure destabilizing the floor where she had stood an instant earlier.
The next strike ca imdiately.
Again she used [Morgain’s Riftstep], exploiting the brief window of invulnerability to avoid claws that would have ended her outright. Stone shattered where she had been, the chamber cracking further under the force.
Closing distance during a narrow opening, she executed [Morgain’s Pressure Fang], three precise cuts aid at vulnerable intersections along its torso and inner shoulder. Each strike landed with disciplined control, reducing its defensive stability in layered incrents. Black-edged mana flared along the wounds.
The creature barely shifted.
The damage was visible—but minimal.
Lysandra retreated a step, breathing uneven now. Blood trailed from a wound at her side where she had not fully avoided a prior exchange. Her mana reserves were already strained from earlier clashes.
She made a decision.
If incrental pressure would not suffice, she would force a reaction.
She drew in what remained of her mana and committed.
[Morgain’s Final Crescent.]
The blade traced an inverted arc, condensing all remaining force into a single, devastating slash. The black crescent tore through the chamber in a violent sweep, cutting across fractured stone and void flesh alike. The impact burned in its wake, leaving a dark aftertrail that lingered in the air.
The Core Tear effect applied.
For the first ti, the intelligent Void creature took a half-step back.
Its posture shifted.
A real reaction.
The chamber trembled from the force of the strike.
But the wound did not cripple it.
The damage was significant by comparison—but still far from lethal.
Lysandra lowered her blade slightly, her breathing now ragged. Her vision wavered for a fraction of a second as mana exhaustion clawed at her focus. She was injured. Mana low. Body at its limit.
The intelligent Void creature raised its arm.
The killing blow was ready.
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