It didn't run or charge—it flowed across the stone floor and closed the distance with calm, terrifying speed. Seth braced himself, his core raging like an inferno in his chest and flooding every fiber of his being with primal energy. The creature's shadowy claws lashed out.
Seth met the strike with his gauntlets, and the impact sent a jarring shock through his bones. He was stronger than he had been a week ago, yet this creature was on a whole other level.
Another slash came, this time for his throat. Seth ducked so the claws hissed past his ear and threw a counter. The Dark Elemental slid back with impossible grace, causing Seth's fist to meet only empty air. The next instant, the creature launched a series of simple slashes with the apparent goal of testing his defense. Seth was being toyed with, the space between him and the claws shrinking with every parry and dodge. It was only a matter of time before he was hit.
'Colossus, now!' he said while being pushed back.
A surge of aether left his necklace, and the massive scorpion materialized beside him with a ground-shaking thud. Colossus wasted no time and slammed his pincers together. The jagged layers of Quartz Armor crystallized over his body at the same time the shimmering brown barrier of Desert Aegis expanded around him and Seth.
Seth lunged forward while aiming a punch at the Elemental's face. Taken aback by the scorpion's emergence, the creature dissolved into a dark streak and flowed away. Seizing the opportunity, Colossus charged, and a deep, chitinous hum echoed from his maw.
The pulse of aether washed over the Dark Elemental Executioner. Halting, the creature turned its featureless head as it felt the spell's compulsion. A cold wave of malice surged out of it; it was partially resisting, but it also seemed to accept the challenge, as if daring the scorpion to withstand what it was about to do.
With a burst of aether, its forearms began to writhe. The shadows within them coiled, hardened, and sharpened, until the two vicious, scythe-like blades of solidified dark energy erupted once again from its limbs, each humming with destructive power. The creature then rushed with murderous intent toward Colossus as Seth ran toward them.
The next breath, the Elemental became death itself, its shadow scythes moving in arcs too fast for eyes to follow. The first blade struck Colossus's armored carapace; Quartz Armor, which had withstood the claws of countless Elementals half an hour ago, shattered with a high-pitched shriek in a single attack. Continuing on its unstoppable path, the scythe sheared through the thick chitin beneath as if it were a simple piece of parchment and carved a deep gash across the scorpion's flank.
Colossus let out a screech of agony that echoed in Seth's mind. The scorpion's Desert Aegis flared, its brown aura pulsing while the spell tried to slow the onslaught, yet the Dark Elemental Executioner's second scythe was already descending. It dug into Colossus's shoulder, tore away a large chunk of his shell, and sent a spray of dark blood into the air.
Already dashing toward them, Seth pushed aether into Huntbound Rush and activated his Swift Eagle Bracelet. Colossus could not withstand such strikes. Certainly not for the full duration of the elemental's blade spell.
'Colossus, get back!' he shouted through their bond.
As the surge of energy shot through his legs, Seth cast Beastmaster Rage and surrendered himself to the cold fury of his core.
A red veil fell over his vision. He threw himself between the creature and his wounded companion, and the hard, gray stone of Iron Fists materialized around his gauntlets, accompanied by the azure glow of his Protecting Belt. The Dark Elemental swiped one of its blades at him.
The scythe sliced through the air, and for a beat seemed to rip space itself. Seth ducked underneath the lethal arc, then launched himself forward, driving his fist into the creature's abdomen and forcing it back.
With a hiss, the Dark Elemental countered, its blades turning into a flurry of slices. Driven by his core, Seth weaved through the relentless slashes. All the Agility from his spells and artifacts allowed him to turn into a ghost, darting in and out of the lethal whirlwind as he searched for an opening. But before he could find one, the Dark Elemental connected with a slash. A single cut, which completely drained all the aether from his Protecting Belt.
Behind him, Colossus could only watch, being too slow to participate in the clash. Seth's Iron Fists screeched with each deflection, the stone shells on his gauntlets being sliced apart and forcing him to pour a constant stream of aether into the spell just to regrow what was being actively destroyed.
Then, as suddenly as they had appeared, the shadowy blades finally dissolved and retracted back into the Elemental's forearms. The onslaught was over.
An abrupt silence fell over the city, broken only by Seth's ragged breathing and a pained hiss from Colossus. Wasting no time, Seth charged back in to throw his own attacks. For now the advantage was theirs.
No longer having to deal with the penetrating spell, Colossus joined the fray with a charge. Air seemed to blur around the massive scorpion as he ripped through the space between them and slammed into the dark creature with an explosion of aether that enveloped a five-yard radius. The Elemental stumbled back, its shadowy form sputtering like a flame in a gale, momentarily stunned.
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Seth didn't know what had just happened, but he wouldn't waste such an opportunity. His gauntlets crackled with the teal aether of Phantom Punch as he lunged in and drove his fist into the Dark Elemental Executioner's torso. The Undead spell crashed against the creature's body and the Elemental staggered, its form flickering violently, but it did not crumble or shatter. Its resilience was unnatural; the thing seemed to absorb the kinetic force in a way that defied logic. It felt unreal that an assassin-like creature could also withstand direct attacks with such ease.
But like he'd done with all the others, he had to break through that thing.
"Let's kill it!" Seth shouted to Colossus.
The scorpion surged forward again to engage the elemental in a desperate grappling match, his pincers clamping down on its limbs while his three tails whipped and stung, buying precious time. Seth coordinated his attack with his partner's, ducking under the claws to batter the creature's body with every blow he could land. Yet even while restrained, the creature still dodged and weaved through most of his punches.
The difference between them and a Peak-Iron was stark.
Yet slowly, Seth and Colossus began to gain the upper hand thanks to Beastmaster Rage and Desert Aegis. The Dark Elemental was forced back more and more, the shadow forming it flickering, unable to land a clean blow. Just a little more and they would put it down.
But then, the creature's form, torn and wavering shadow, solidified once more. A silent roar of pure hatred left its maw, and with a violent surge of aether the shadowy scythe-blades materialized again. They seemed even sharper and darker than they had previously.
Shit, Seth cursed inwardly, looking at Colossus next to him.
The scorpion was battered to the brink of collapse, his shell a web of deep cracks. He'd taken the brunt of the fight—every strike, every blast—to buy them time, and Seth had thrown everything he had at the Dark Elemental, but it hadn't been enough. Now, the creature would be back on the attack. And those shadow blades would cut them to pieces.
The Dark Elemental turned and slashed its scythes in a vicious arc, unleashing a crescent of pure shadow that tore through the air. Colossus immediately cast Sandstorm Dome, and the swirling barrier of grinding golden dust erupted around them. The defensive spell intercepted the attack in a deafening explosion that shook the entire cavern.
We can't win, Seth thought, his mind racing to find a plan. Not in a drawn-out fight. We have to finish it in a single blow.
'Keep it busy,' he said to Colossus while taking a few steps back.
Trusting him, the scorpion lowered his head and charged with his new spell to engage the foe. The Dark Elemental dissolved into a streak of darkness, easily evading Colossus before countering with a flurry of slashes that shattered the last remnants of his Quartz Armor.
Gritting his teeths, Seth seized the rage of his core and drew on the last reserves of aether from his Fine Storing Ring. He then pushed a massive, uncontrolled torrent of power into his right arm and channeled it all into the intricate grooves of Phantom Punch with a single intent: for this blow to kill anything.
Aether began to fuse and hissed around Seth's gauntlet. A skeletal hand of pure, spectral energy took shape; the ethereal fingers formed first, then the wrist, then the arm. The spell was being forged from sheer will and determination. Through Link, Seth could feel Nightmare still absorbing the Seed. They couldn't lose. This victory would strengthen all of them. It would push them a step closer to their goal. They'd drawn a step closer to tearing apart the Faertis and the other greedy Houses. To overthrowing that horrific king. To ending his reign. To avenging his parents.
They had to win.
Just as Seth's Well was about to reach the ten percent mark, Colossus deliberately turned and exposed his grievously wounded shoulder in a desperate act of sacrifice. He knew what Seth was planning. The Dark Elemental immediately took the bait and plunged one of its shadow scythes deep into Colossus's chitin. The massive scorpion let out a shriek of pain while being pinned down.
It was the opening Seth needed—he lunged forward and closed the distance in a heartbeat. The Dark Elemental, still anchored by its own weapon, snapped its head toward Seth as if sensing something amiss, but it was too late. Seth threw everything he had into the punch: his weight, his rage, his purpose.
The world fell silent as the giant, skeletal fist shot forward, the teal aether leaving ghostly trails in its wake. The Dark Elemental tried to twist away, to bring its other scythe up to block, to do anything that would save it, yet it was already doomed. The impact that followed was like a silent implosion of force. The spectral knuckles smashed into the dark creature, and its shadowy form rippled violently like a reflection on water struck by a storm. A silent, aetheric scream tore through its body as Phantom Punch kept advancing, relentless and absolute.
Then came a sickening crunch—not of bone, but of something more fundamental, a sound that one might imagine when a soul broke. The Dark Elemental froze. The scythe-blades around its arms vanished, and an instant later its entire form shuddered before collapsing in on itself in a final, fading shower of shadowy motes that drifted away in the cavern air.
A single, jagged obsidian crystal clattered to the stone floor, the last echo of the predator that had once ruled over this place.
Almost simultaneously, the adrenaline that had sustained Seth vanished. The full weight of his injuries and exhaustion slammed into his body like a punch. His legs buckled. He collapsed to his knees, then fell forward onto the ground and his vision tunneled to black. A low, pained groan escaped Colossus' maw, the shadow scythe having left a deep, gushing wound in his shoulder.
Fighting through the weakness, Seth plunged a trembling hand into his Endless Pouch and took out one of Marcus's potions. He crawled to the scorpion's side and poured the crimson liquid between Colossus's mandibles. A weak thought rippled through their bond.
'Inside… take me inside the necklace.'
Seth complied immediately. The moment Colossus disappeared into the teardrop necklace, Seth pushed his consciousness into the domain. There, he saw Colossus crawling painfully toward the glowing Heart of Brown-Peak Mountain. The brown shell covering the giant scorpion began to crack and fall away in large chunks, revealing the raw flesh beneath.
For a heartbeat, a chill wave of panic seized Seth, thinking that his companion wasn't going to make it, but then he understood.
Colossus wasn't dying; he was shedding his old exoskeleton and forming a new one.
Through their bond, Seth could feel it: a new carapace, even more powerful than before, forged not just from aether but from his partner's unwavering will to protect. To endure. To be the shield his family needed.
Though he was battered and exhausted, Seth forced himself to his feet. Then, his attention was immediately drawn to the single object left behind by the vanquished elemental. The obsidian crystal pulsed with a malevolent inner light, and even from a distance he could feel the pure, dark energy inside. There was no way it was a mere beaststone.
A spell-shard.
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