Cain and ylin frowned as the battlefield shifted. Catherine's three puppets lood like titans. Each radiated power equal to that of a Late Archdeity. Their fras weren't rely infused with Catherine's energy; they were animated extensions of her soul force, bound to her instincts and guided with her precision.
The Neo-Demon and True Depravita understood imdiately. These constructs were more dangerous than real Late Archdeities. They did not flinch at pain, did not guard their lives, and would gladly self-destruct if it ant taking Cain or ylin down. Catherine could always build more, but the duo had only one life each.
The Colossus Puppet, the Reaper Puppet, and the Dragon Puppet did not waste a breath. They lunged forward in unison, their combined power erupting as they took to the skies.
Cain and ylin's expressions hardened. Their only chance was to break through the puppets and reach Catherine before she buried herself deeper underground. There was no ti to hesitate. Only ti
to act.
Cain t the Colossus Puppet head-on. His flaming sword, Sky
Devourer, clashed with a stone fist larger than his entire body. The impact ignited a cataclysm of scarlet fire and molten lava, shockwaves tearing through the graveyard.
The Neo-Demon gritted his teeth. The sheer weight of the puppet's blow made his arms tremble, bones straining under the force. But Cain did not relent. With a roar, he pushed forward, channeling every ounce of Reaper Touch and the overwhelming destruction of the Doomsday Body. His strike carved through stone-like flesh and unbreakable bone, sending shards of molten rock spraying into the
air.
At the sa mont, ylin faced the Reaper Puppet. Its enormous scythe howled through the air, carrying the decay of death itself. She
t it with her twin blades, Hell and Abyss, her lotus aura burning bright.
The Eye of Pride amplified her strength, flooding her body with power.
The Eye of Envy copied the scythe's force of decay, layering her own weapons with its sa destructive edge.
The Eye of Gluttony devoured the ambient energy of the battlefield, feeding it into her sword light.
Even with all three Eyes of Sin blazing, ylin was only able to match the puppet's strikes. Their weapons clashed, generating waves of destruction that shattered the air. But her edge ca not from strength, but from subtlety.
As steel rang against steel, ylin's eyes glowed. Silent psychic force seeped from her blades, flowing into the scythe, then bleeding through its handle and into the Reaper Puppet's body. Like venom, it sought to corrupt the construct from within, unraveling it from the inside out.
The puppets were mighty, but the Neo-Demon and True Depravita possessed powers unique to their races. Together, they carved slowly into the defenses of their foes.
But there was a third.
The Dragon Puppet took position below them, wings spread wide. Its two heads reared back, one glowing icy blue, the other molten red. With a roar that split the heavens, it unleashed a torrent of frozen fire and burning ice, a paradoxical breath ant to consu everything.
Cain and ylin cursed under their breath, forced to disengage from their duels and flash sideways to avoid the elental storm. Their formation shattered.
The Colossus and the Reaper Puppets wasted no ti. They seized the opening, hamring down blows before Cain and ylin could fully recover.
The duo braced themselves. They could not dodge, so they blocked.
Stone fists and the death scythe struck at once, launching them back through the air. Their bodies trembled, bones cracking, but they regained control before they could crash. With blood in their mouths and fire in their eyes, they lunged back into the fray.
Cold determination blazed in their gazes.
Cain and ylin fought with everything they had, pushing their bodies, minds, and powers to the absolute limit. Again and again, their strikes landed. Deep wounds marred the puppets-cracks in stone, tears in flesh, splintered scales. But for every injury they inflicted, they received one in return.
The Scarlet Throne nded Cain's body in blazes of vitality, flooding every cell with life force. ylin's Depravita constitution regenerated even lost limbs in monts. But this constant healing strained their bodies and souls.
No matter how talented or ferocious they were, Cain and ylin were still only Early Archdeities. Fighting three puppets at the absolute peak of the Late Archdeity rank was pushing them to their breaking
point.
Explosions reigned across the battlefield. Firestorms, shockwaves, and psychic blasts split the sky. The land below withered and cracked
under the weight of their clashing forces.
And then it happened.
Cain and ylin were pinned down.
The Colossus Puppet's massive stone fist pressed down on ylin's
blades, crushing him in place. The Reaper Puppet's scythe hooked against Cain's sword, locking her movent. Both were held immobile, trapped under the force of their enemies.
And behind them... the Dragon Puppet rose.
Its body glowed, veins of fire and frost pulsing wildly. Energy surged
through it, unstable, volatile, like a volcano about to erupt. Its two
heads opened their maws.
Cain and ylin's eyes widened.
If the Dragon Puppet detonated here, it would consu everything within reach. The Reaper Puppet and the Colossus Puppet would be engulfed as well. But that ant nothing to Catherine. To her, sacrificing the puppets to kill the Scarlet King and the True Depravita was a worthy trade.
The energy surged higher, rising to a cataclysmic crescendo. Fire that could burn a sun. Ice that could freeze the void. They were a storm of annihilation that rushed toward Cain and ylin.
For a heartbeat, Cain's eyes lost their composure, allowing sothing
else to arise.
Desire.
Gluttony.
Those emotions surged forth, and ylin responded instinctively.
Using his hunger as a gate, she appeared at his side through her Negative Teleportation, their minds linked as one.
Without words, she knew what to do. She channeled all her strength
into her lotus blades, striking at the scythe that bound Cain, creating just enough of an opening for him to break free.
Cain let Sky Devourer fall from his grip. His golden eyes glowed with the power of the Flow. Raising his left hand, he extended his index
and middle fingers toward the torrent of ice.
The world trembled.
The storm of destruction touched his fingers-
-then vanished.
Every iota of the Dragon Puppet's energy collapsed, devoured by
Cain's body.
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