The path from the labyrinth chamber led downward, where the air thickened with malevolence. A stairwell of jagged obsidian spiraled into a vast hall, the air vibrating with a hum that burrowed into their bones. Every footstep echoed not just in the stone, but in the mind.
At the center of the great hall, a throne of void crystal pulsed with life, and from it rose a figure.
It was grotesque.
A Falzath enforcer. Towering over eight feet, its frame fused flesh and crystal. One arm had transformed into a jagged lance of violet void matter, and its back bristled with spines that whispered in tongues never meant to be heard.
Its face was hidden behind a blackened helmet, but its voice was clear as thunder.
"So the Knight Princess walks again. Zera Dragonheart... you should've stayed dead."
Zera's eyes widened. Her sword pulsed.
"Dragonheart?" Shin glanced at her.
"I... I don't remember. But that name... It's real."
The Falzath beast raised its arm, and the ground shattered beneath its feet.
"Enough."
It charged.
The impact of the enforcer's lunge cratered the stone floor. Shin was the first to move. His tails flared wide, crackling with violet foxfire. In a blur, he vanished and reappeared behind the monster, blade drawn.
"Yoshimatsu—High Frequency Mode."
He slashed.
A shockwave tore through the hall, cleaving a massive rift through the wall. The enforcer twisted, absorbing the hit with its crystalline arm. Void energy sprayed like blood.
"Your tricks are sharp," the beast growled, "but your soul is softer than your blade."
Laverna darted in, a blur of kunoichi speed. Her jamadhars whirled with wind magic, and she spun through a cyclone she created herself, slicing at its legs and gouging out shards of void crystal. With every impact, debris exploded from the beast's body, sending chunks of stone flying.
"You want soul?" she snapped. "We've got more than you can devour!"
But the enforcer slammed the ground.
A wave of despair exploded outward. The environment warped. The air grew heavy. The walls bled shadow. Laverna hit the ground hard, coughing blood.
Zera stood tall.
"Your fear-magic won't work on me."
The beast chuckled. "You think power makes you immune?"
Zera raised her blade. "No. But purpose does."
She closed her eyes.
A wind swirled around her. Blue lightning danced across the edge of her blade. Her armored skirt fluttered like a banner in the storm. Her grip tightened.
She gathered light, not just from the hall, but from within. Her will, her fury, her sorrow. All compressed into the sword.
Zera channels her magical energy, a brilliant blue light gathering around her blade. It's not just a simple glow; the air itself seems to crackle with power. She takes a stance, reminiscent of a knight preparing a sacred rite, then unleashes a swift, devastating cleave.
"Dragonheart Slash!"
The blue sword flared—blinding, divine, like the sword of legend.
Zera roared.
She swung.
A radiant arc of energy exploded from her blade, cleaving across the battlefield and slamming into the enforcer. The beam of power vaporized everything in its path. Stone shattered. The floor collapsed. Void screams echoed as the creature staggered backward.
Its body smoldered. The entire eastern wing of the chamber had disintegrated.
But it didn't fall.
The enforcer laughed, voice now twisted.
"YES. Despair more. Struggle more. We feast on your light!"
Void tendrils erupted from its back, tearing through the ceiling. The room cracked and tilted, debris crashing down.
Shin growled. "This ends now."
He leapt forward, lightning trailing behind him. His tails became spears of force, whipping around and impaling the tendrils before they could reach Zera.
"Laverna!"
"On it!"
Laverna vaulted off Shin's tails, spiraling midair, her weapons glowing with a dense spiral of wind and fire energy. She aimed for the beast's throat.
The enforcer swung its crystal lance.
But Shin stepped in.
Clang!
Their blades clashed. The sound was deafening. Sparks exploded like stars.
Shin's eyes burned crimson and gold.
"You won't touch them."
He struck with three quick slashes, each one faster than the last. Time itself stuttered as his movements blurred, each strike breaking a part of the monster's guard.
Laverna landed her blow.
The elementally-infused strike pierced into the creature's jaw, sending it crashing into the wall, which collapsed under the force, burying it in rubble.
The chamber fell quiet.
For a moment.
Then the rubble shook. A massive shard of obsidian exploded outward.
The enforcer rose again—its body cracked, half its face gone, revealing void crystal veins beneath its skin.
It howled.
The floor shattered beneath the trio, falling into a lower chamber—an arena lined with mirrors of black glass.
The enforcer dove with them.
But this time, Shin led.
His blade surged. The air around him became a storm.
"Soma Style Form Four: Mangetsu!"
He unleashed a barrage of arc slashes as if reflecting the moon on water. With sweeping, circular slashes that flowed like the full moon's arc across the night sky, Shin spun through the chamber.
Each motion utilized the full length of his blade, slicing with clarity and devastating reach. The cyclone of cuts shattered every obsidian mirror, the fragments launching like cursed stars. Every shard found its mark, gouging into the beast's exposed void core as the air itself seemed to wail in response.
Zera followed up, piercing through the debris. Her blade ignited again with pure fury. She struck with a scream, and her blade buried itself deep into its chest.
The beast gasped.
Laverna landed on its shoulders, jamming her weapons into its neck.
Then all three unleashed their powers at once.
A tri-colored eruption—red, gold, and blue—ripped the creature apart.
The enforcer howled one last time before disintegrating into void ash.
What remained was a single crystal.
A pulsing, corrupted core of violet light, encased in obsidian glass.
Shin approached it cautiously. His tails flared, shielding the others as he reached out.
The moment his hand touched the crystal, visions slammed into his mind.
Cities crumbling. Forests wept black rain. People screaming in tongues, consumed by despair.
At the center of it all: a figure.
Voryn.
Its voice was ancient. Cold.
"Essaterra shall fall. Hope will rot. The void will feast."
Shin stumbled back, clutching his head. The crystal shattered, its message delivered.
Zera stepped beside him, gripping his arm. "Voryn… that name. It was whispered before my village burned. It was him."
Laverna placed a hand on Shin's back. "Then he's next."
Shin stood, breath ragged but firm.
"No more running. We stop this—together."
The wind howled through the ruined chamber. Rain began to fall through the cracks in the broken ceiling, washing away ash and blood.
Three warriors stood beneath it, scarred, but unbroken.
Their path was clear.
Essaterra would not fall.
Not while they still drew breath.