Cain's eyes were cold and sharp. Every breath burned in his chest, every muscle coiled like a drawn bow. He had no ti to hesitate-if Osiris managed to escape or call for aid, the opportunity to slay him would vanish like smoke.
He forced his aura to erupt outward, unleashing every reserve of Neo-Demon and Depravita energy within him. The air split with a thunderclap. Black mist and scarlet fire spiraled together around his form, warping space itself. His sword, Sky Devourer, roared in answer. Imperium drew in the chaos of the battlefield-siphoning radiation, shattered essence, even the remnants of divine energy left by their previous clashes. Every trace of power beca fuel, feeding the blade until its edge burned white-hot with annihilation.
Cain vanished, reappearing behind Osiris in a blur of darkness. The sword fell like judgnt.
"Aaaahhhh!" A scream tore through the ruins.
Osiris staggered forward, his golden armor splitting apart as Sky Devourer carved a massive gash across his back. The blade's corruptive energy sank into his flesh, spreading like ink through water. Black light pulsed beneath his skin, searing and devouring his life force.
But that wasn't all. The strike carried a psychic brand-an insidious whisper that slithered into Osiris's mind, clouding his thoughts with weakness and despair like a virus.
Yet Osiris was no common foe. He had stood at the pinnacle of the ArchDeity rank for millennia, and such beings did not crumble easily.
Grinding his teeth, he roared, forcing every ounce of power within him to the surface. The ground trembled as radiant energy burst from his body, bathing the battlefield in golden light. He spun, his fist gathering divine might, compressing it into a miniature sun.
When he struck, it was like a solar eruption, the fist trailing wings of fire and light. The power within that blow could erase mountains, burn oceans, and unmake entire dinsions.
Logic said Cain should retreat, but he was not a creature of logic.
His golden eyes flared, and he released his grip on Sky Devourer. The blade hung in the air, spinning slowly as Cain stepped forward into the attack. His left hand rose, fingers extended.
The mont Osiris's blazing fist collided with Cain's fingers, the impossible happened.
The solar inferno was snuffed out.
Every shred of divine energy behind the strike vanished as if it had never existed. The air fell silent. Osiris froze, confusion flashing through his eyes as his power evaporated upon contact. Nothing in the Third Realm should have been able to nullify an ArchDeity's energy like that
But before he could comprehend what had happened, Cain's right fist blurred forward.
The energy that had been absorbed now surged through him, channeling down his arm like molten lightning. He drove the strike straight into Osiris' face.
"BOOOOM!"
The explosion that followed shattered the sky.
Light and fla engulfed everything. Osiris was hurled backward like a teor, his once-perfect visage scorched and broken. His golden skin blackened, his eyes burst, and divine ichor spilled down his cheeks. The mighty warrior crashed into the earth, carving a crater. Before he could even stir, Cain appeared above him. No hesitation. No rcy.
Sky Devourer flashed once more. The blade pierced Osiris's chest,
driving through armor and bone. The sound was like a thunderclap as the sword split his spine and pinned him to the ground.
Cain's hand plunged after it, tearing through the shattered ribs and sinking into the divine cavity. He grasped the still-beating heart of the ArchDeity and ripped it free.
For a mont, everything was silent except for the sound of Cain's ragged breathing. Exhaustion clawed at him-his energy reserves burned nearly dry. Every nerve scread in protest, but when he looked at the glowing heart in his hand, a grim smile broke through the pain.
"All worth it," he whispered.
With a wave of his hand, scarlet flas wrapped around the organ, sealing it within an aura of containnt before it vanished into his
spatial ring.
He turned his gaze back toward Osiris. The man was still alive-barely. His body twitched, life essence leaking from the gaping hole in his chest. Even heartless, he refused to die.
It was not good news for the man. The resilience of Osiris ant his soul dinsion still lingered, aning that it could be sealed within
the Scarlet Throne.
Cain smiled as he was ready to seal the man in the crimson realm, but then he froze.
A sudden chill pierced his spine. His eyes widened.
The ground beneath him quivered, then ruptured.
Two colossal hands erupted, monstrous constructs made of black tendrils and corrupted matter. They crashed together with a sound like mountains breaking, enclosing Cain within their crushing grasp. The impact alone created a shockwave that leveled the surrounding ruins.
The monstrous hands began to squeeze. Bone groaned, air imploded, and light warped beneath the pressure. It felt as if the very world were trying to pulverize him into nothing.
Then, from the center of the storm, a blinding arc of energy erupted
upward.
Cain roared, forcing his aura to detonate once more. A surge of black-crimson light exploded from his body, tearing through the tendrils and vaporizing half the monstrous fingers. He broke free, tumbling through the air.
He staggered, body trembling, bruised and bleeding. Cracks webbed across his skin like glass about to shatter, and the bones in his arm scread with pain. Yet he was alive.
Osiris was not. His body had been crushed beyond recognition, reduced to a bloody sar beneath the remains of the ancient
fortress.
Cain exhaled once, steadying his pulse. But his relief didn't last.
The ruined hands began to retract, lting back into the back of the figure that rose from the ground.
Tall, poised, and wrapped in immaculate black.
The newcor's presence was a paradox-refined yet monstrous, graceful yet wrong. He wore a perfectly tailored black suit and tie, his
form slender and symtrical to the point of inhuman precision. A featureless black mask covered his face, reflecting faint glimpses of the chaos around him like a mirror that did not belong to this world.
The air grew heavy with his arrival.
Cain's heart sank. He knew that presence.
"Black Mask..." he muttered, clenching his fists.
According to the intelligence from the Life Path, this being was no ordinary ArchDeity. He was second-in-command of the Freedom Path
in the Third Realm, a being so powerful he was said to have one foot already in the Alpha-Oga Overgod rank.
The masked figure straightened his tie, his voice cutting through the smoke like ice. "I was wondering who has been silently slaughtering so many of our soldiers," he said. "And it turns out to be the Scarlet
King himself."
His tone carried both amusent and ancient nace, the kind that resonated deep in the bones.
"It seems," he murmured, "that my bait worked perfectly."
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