Ten demons charged.
"LEFT FLANK!" Lucian moved like a ghost. His blade tore through two demons before they could scream.
Jayden went right. Shadow Step. Strike. Black lightning burned essence.
[LOW RANK DEMON ELIMINATED]
Three more replaced it.
"They're endless!" Marcus crushed a skull. "How many are there?"
"Too many." Lucian's essence flared. Space warped. Five demons collapsed into singularities. Dead instantly.
Jayden's eye tracked him. Every movement perfect. No wasted motion.
He's on another level.
"KID!" Lucian pointed at the fortress. "The barrier. It's tied to those pylons. Destroy them!"
Four black pillars. Essence crackling between them.
"On it!" Jayden broke from the fight. Shadow Step closing distance.
A demon intercepted. Massive. Mid rank.
[MID RANK DEMON]
[SPEED: 67.3 UNITS. POWER: 73.8 UNITS]
It swung. Claws like swords.
Jayden ducked. Blade up. Black lightning met flesh.
The demon's arm severed. It howled.
"DIE ALREADY!" Jayden's second strike took its head.
[CORRUPTION: 27% → 29%]
Rising. Too fast.
He reached the first pylon. Slashed.
His blade bounced. The pylon hummed.
"Essence reinforced!" Lucian appeared beside him. "Together. On three!"
They struck simultaneously.
Space time essence met black lightning.
The pylon cracked. Exploded.
The barrier flickered.
"THREE MORE!"
They split up. Racing.
Elena reached the second pylon first. Her Glacial Eternity Blade froze it solid. Zain shattered it with one punch.
Marcus tanked demons at the third. His armor cracked but held. "HURRY!"
Jayden and Lucian hit it together.
Destroyed.
One left.
Ash appeared.
Standing on the fourth pylon. Smiling.
Half demon features. Horns. Red skin. Human eyes.
"Lucian. You brought friends." His voice was smooth. Wrong. "How sweet."
"ASH!" Lucian's killing intent exploded. "IT ENDS NOW!"
"Does it?" Ash gestured.
The portal behind him pulsed. Twenty demons poured through.
"Shit." Jayden's eye counted them. "High ranks mixed in."
"The barrier stays." Ash's smile widened. "And in forty minutes, enough demons arrive to conquer this world."
"We'll kill you first." Lucian vanished.
Appeared behind Ash. Blade aimed for the throat.
Ash caught it. Barehanded.
"You're weaker than last time." Ash twisted. Lucian's blade shattered.
Jayden moved. Shadow Step. Strike low.
Ash kicked him. Casual. Devastating.
Jayden flew fifty feet. Crashed. Ribs broke.
[CORRUPTION: 29% → 31%]
He's too strong.
"JAYDEN!" Cinna's healing hit him. Bones snapped back.
Marcus charged. Elena's ice covered the ground.
Ash stepped through it. Unaffected.
Grabbed Marcus by the throat. Lifted him.
"Impressive durability. For a human."
Slammed him down. The ground cratered.
Elena's blade struck. Froze Ash's arm solid.
He flexed. Ice shattered.
"Pathetic."
Jayden stood. Blood dripping. Enrage?
[ENRAGE MODE AVAILABLE]
[WARNING: CORRUPTION WILL HIT 45%+]
Not yet. We need him vulnerable first.
"Lucian!" Jayden called. "The pylon! Destroy it and he's exposed!"
Lucian understood. Nodded.
"Everyone! Buy me thirty seconds!"
They charged.
Marcus tanked. Zain flanked. Elena froze. Cinna healed.
Jayden attacked nonstop. Shadow Step. Strike. Step. Strike.
Ash laughed. "THIS is your best?"
He caught Jayden mid teleport again. Slammed him into Elena.
They crumpled.
Twenty five seconds.
Lucian's essence built. Space time warping. Reality bending.
"EVERYONE DOWN!"
They dropped.
Lucian released it. "VOID SEVERANCE!"
Space itself cut. The pylon split perfectly in half.
The barrier collapsed.
Ash's smile died.
"You fool. Now the demons pour through unrestricted!"
"Don't care." Lucian appeared in front of him. "You die first."
They clashed.
Apex versus Unknown.
The impact cratered the ground. Demons scattered.
"CLEAR THE DEMONS!" Jayden rallied. "LET LUCIAN HANDLE ASH!"
The twenty demons attacked.
Perfect.
Jayden's eye blazed. Combat Prediction calculated every trajectory. "Marcus front! Elena left! Zain right! Cinna CENTER!"
Formation.
The demons hit.
Marcus's durability absorbed eight. Elena froze five. Zain crushed three.
Jayden killed four himself. Shadow Step chaining between them.
[CORRUPTION: 31% → 33%]
[LOW RANK DEMON ELIMINATED x4]
Thirty seconds. All twenty dead.
Lucian and Ash still fought. Even.
"He's stalling!" Jayden realized. "More demons coming!"
The portal pulsed. Ten more emerging.
"We end this now!" Jayden's eye met Lucian's.
Understanding passed.
"KID! Can you handle demons for two minutes?"
"YES!"
"Then I'm going all out!" Lucian's essence exploded. Apex level power unleashed.
The sky cracked.
Ash's expression shifted. "You'll kill yourself "
"WORTH IT!"
Reality shattered.
Jayden didn't watch. "TEAM! HOLD THE PORTAL!"
They positioned. Guarding the portal mouth.
Demons poured through. One. Three. Five.
"KILL THEM AS THEY EXIT!"
Perfect chokepoint.
Marcus held the line. Elena froze them solid. Zain and Jayden executed.
Cinna healed nonstop.
[TEAM SYNERGY: 89% → 94%]
Working like one organism.
Behind them, Lucian and Ash tore the landscape apart.
Space folded. Time reversed. Essence burned.
"HE'S WEAKENING!" Lucian's voice. "ONE MORE MINUTE!"
"WE DON'T HAVE ONE MINUTE!" Forty demons at the portal. "THEY'RE OVERWHELMING US!"
A roar shook the fortress.
Something massive emerged.
Elder Demon.
[ELDER DEMON A+ RANK]
[SPEED: 112.4 UNITS. POWER: 118.7 UNITS]
"Fuck." Marcus manifested full armor. "WE CAN'T BEAT THAT!"
"LUCIAN!" Jayden screamed.
"BUSY!"
The Elder Demon charged.
No choice.
"ENRAGE!"
Power flooded. Jayden's essence exploded.
[SPEED: 89 → 118 UNITS]
[ATTACK: 81 → 101 UNITS]
His eyes turned fully crimson. Black lightning wreathed him.
[CORRUPTION: 33% → 47%]
Don't care. Kill it first.
He moved.
Faster than the demon could track.
Shadow Step. Strike. Black lightning tearing flesh.
The demon swung. Jayden was already gone.
Strike. Step. Strike. Step.
His blade found the throat.
Black Lightning Tier 3. Full power.
The demon's head separated.
Fell.
Dissolved.
Jayden collapsed. Enrage ending.
[CORRUPTION: 47%]
Wanderer territory. Shit.
"JAYDEN!" Cinna reached him. "Your corruption "
"I'M FINE!" He forced himself up. "LUCIAN?"
An explosion.
Ash flew backward. Essence bleeding.
Lucian stood. Barely. Half his body burned. Dying.
But Ash was worse.
"You actually... hurt me..." Ash laughed. Blood dripping. "Impressive."
"The portal." Lucian pointed. "Close it. NOW."
"How?" Jayden reached the mechanism. Essence powered. Complex.
"Destroy the core!"
"WHERE?"
"The throne! Inside!"
The fortress entrance. Open now.
"I'll go!" Jayden sprinted.
"KID!" Lucian threw something. A vial. Glowing purple.
Jayden caught it. "What "
"Azalea Eternis essence. Drink after you destroy the core. It'll save you."
Understanding clicked. The corruption cure.
"You've had this the whole time?"
"Only enough for one person." Lucian smiled. Sad. "Make it count."
Jayden ran.
Into the fortress. Down stairs. Deeper.
The throne room. Massive. The portal behind it.
And sitting on the throne. The core.
A crystal. Pulsing. Alive.
Jayden raised his blade.
Something grabbed him.
Ash. Teleported.
"Did you really think "
Lucian appeared. Tackled him.
"GO!"
Jayden didn't hesitate.
Blade down. Black lightning channeled.
Strike.
The crystal cracked.
Again.
Shattered.
The portal screamed. Imploded. Demons still inside were crushed.
Silence.
Jayden drank the vial.
[CORRUPTION: 47% → 12%]
Instant. The weight lifted.
He turned.
Lucian and Ash were gone. Teleported away.
The team rushed in.
"Jayden!" Elena helped him stand. "The portal?"
"Closed."
"Lucian?"
"Fighting Ash. Somewhere."
They heard it. Distant. Explosions.
But they couldn't reach it. Too far. Too weak.
They waited.
An hour later. Lucian returned.
Alone.
Covered in blood. Limping.
"Ash?"
"Escaped. Through a backup portal." Lucian collapsed. "To Kaelos. Another world."
"Then we follow "
"Not yet." Lucian looked at them. Really looked. "You're strong. For your age. But Kaelos? You'd die in minutes."
"Then we train."
"You will. Under me." Lucian smiled. Genuine. "Welcome to hell, kids."