Aris's body began to merge with Nyx's immense malice as he blocked Lumen's attack.
Lumen immediately leapt backward, sensing the sudden change.
"What are you?!"
His shout shook the dungeon walls.
"As I told you before..." Aris spoke, his voice layered with Nyx's own. "I am the devil."
Their presences collided.
It was not merely a clash of power, but a struggle between life and death itself.
"It doesn't matter!" Lumen roared. "This is your end, brat!"
He charged forward.
His Wrath surged violently, feeding upon every hateful emotion directed toward him. The air trembled beneath his rage.
In an instant, he crossed the distance.
Even with Nyx enhancing his senses, Aris could barely react. The world seemed slowed around him, light itself crawling through space—
Yet he could not see Lumen.
A fist slammed into his abdomen.
The impact tore through him.
Aris felt his rage, malice, and darkness being ripped away as he was hurled backward.
CRASH!
His body smashed through the dungeon wall. Stone that could supposedly endure world-shattering force shattered around him.
Pain exploded through his body.
His ribs broke.
His soul felt as though it were leaving him.
"AGHHH!"
He collapsed among ancient runes and broken stone.
Lumen slowly approached.
"All bark and no bite."
A twisted smile spread across his face.
"I feel amazing."
The emotions stolen from Aris flooded through him like an addictive drug.
Drunk on power, Lumen savored every step toward his victory.
The dungeon trembled.
Debris rose into the air.
Lumen's Wrath bent the surroundings to his will, forming a colossal cross from the shattered remains of the dungeon.
The giant structure floated above Aris.
"Goodbye, Aris the Traitor."
The cross crashed down.
BOOM!
The world shook.
Yet beneath the rubble, a strange emotion emerged.
Joy.
The enormous cross shattered apart.
A sinister laugh echoed through the ruins.
"Hahaha..."
"This is fun, Lumen."
Aris rose.
Nyx's aura was gone.
It had not disappeared.
It had merged completely.
Lumen's eyes widened.
"You... what are you?"
"Does it matter?" Nyx answered through Aris. "I will protect this child."
Then he vanished.
A sonic boom followed.
He appeared before Lumen at a speed matching his own.
Lumen finally understood.
A complete soul-bond with a Mystic Beast.
"Nonsense!"
He struck.
At the same moment, crimson-black tentacles erupted from Aris's body.
They wrapped around Lumen's fist.
The substance resembled living chaos—a jelly-like mass that greedily devoured the power within his Wrath.
Aris spun backward and delivered a powerful kick.
BOOM!
Lumen crashed into a distant wall.
He grunted and immediately charged again.
Behind him appeared a thousand distorted forms of invisible force.
Aris answered with an army of tentacles.
The two collided.
The already-damaged dungeon could no longer withstand their battle.
The ceiling collapsed.
The walls crumbled.
Shockwaves rippled across the Blessed Land itself.
Earthquakes spread for miles.
It was said the land could endure the wrath of a thousand stars.
Today, even it trembled.
When the dust finally settled, the dungeon was gone.
A vast forest now lay flattened around them.
Aris and Lumen stood facing one another in the center of the devastation.
Neither carried a single wound.
Looking around, Aris searched for signs of life.
Lumen noticed.
"You are fortunate."
He spread his arms.
"This is Icuthara—the land of the undead. No living being resides here."
Aris grinned.
Without warning, tentacles erupted beneath Lumen.
They shot upward, attempting to strangle him.
Lumen dodged.
"Playing dirty now?"
"You have no right to say that, Lumen."
More tentacles emerged from every direction.
At the same time, Aris launched himself into the sky.
Dark energy gathered around him.
The tentacles below began to pulse with terrifying power.
Lumen's expression darkened.
"This is the end, Lumen."
Aris raised a hand.
"World-Eating Sea."
The tentacles unleashed countless beams of darkness and chaos.
The attacks descended from every direction.
The sky shattered.
The earth cracked.
Lumen vanished beneath a sea of terror and corruption.
The attack tore a hollow wound into reality itself.
For a moment, there was silence.
No response.
No movement.
Nothing.
Then Aris saw it.
A beam of crimson light burst through the destruction.
Lumen.
He was charging directly toward him.
His entire body glowed red.
Behind him, countless invisible arms twisted and stretched through the air.
The arms formed an enormous shape.
A summoning circle.
Aris's eyes widened.
Nyx remained in control.
And Nyx understood exactly what was coming.
From within the hollow scar in reality...
A silhouette emerged.