The room, once a cavern of oppressive silence, erupted into chaos. Lilith, her face contorted in a mask of fury, unleashed a torrent of raw elemental energy. The air crackled with unseen forces, and the ground trembled beneath their feet.
Axel, caught in the maelstrom, felt his body strain against the immense pressure. Every cell within him screamed in protest as the raw power threatened to tear him apart.
Gizmo, his voice a panicked whisper, urged Axel to resist. [Axel, focus on your core! Ground yourself! Draw strength from your core!] Axel, following Gizmo's instructions, desperately sought a point of stability within the chaos.
He visualized the miniature sun within his core, channelling its energy outward and creating a shield against the encroaching storm. Elemental energy started flowing out of Axel's dual cores, spinning rapidly around each other.
A small barrier made of thunder and glowing light came to life. Axel, while crouching, lay within this small barrier.
Large cracks formed and were instantly filled on the barrier within seconds. Axel knew he couldn't keep this up, and his energy would be exhausted within moments. The room, a whirlwind of colours and chaos, would soon collapse under further strain.
The air grew thick with the scent of ozone, and the metallic taste of blood filled Axel's mouth. It felt like hours, but only mere seconds had passed. Axel was now exhausted and battered; all his energy reserves were spent, and he would soon lose consciousness.
This past hour had been the most eventful one ever for Axel in both of his lives. But before the worst would come to pass, something strange occurred with Lilith.
The borrowed time was over for Lilith.
Just as Axel's consciousness began to slip away, fate intervened.
The ancient seals binding Lilith flared to life with terrible finality. Chains of golden light materialized from the very air, their surfaces etched with primordial runes that pulsed with the heartbeat of creation itself. The black-red mist surrounding Lilith darkened to obsidian, then hardened like cooling magma across her form.
The Seal/Formation instantly reinforced itself, and the layer of black-red blood mist started turning darker in colour and solidifying.
"THIS IS NOT THE END, BOY!" Her voice transcended sound, vibrating through Axel's bones like the tolling of some infernal bell. Each syllable carried the weight of a thousand curses, prickling his soul with needles of pure malice. "I WILL COME FOR YOU AND SLAY YOU MYSELF!"
A brilliant white orb - no larger than a pearl but containing the light of a newborn star - shot from Lilith's forehead. It moved with impossible grace, slipping through Axel's barrier as if it weren't there before embedding itself in his brow with the finality of a divine decree.
Lilith was now completely covered with the solidified mist and nowhere to be seen.
The cavern fell silent.
Where the Demon Queen had stood, only seamless stone remained. The very air seemed to exhale in relief.
Axel sighed in relief, knowing that his life was not in immediate danger for now.
Axel simply lay down on the floor and shut his eyes. Soon, he was fast asleep.
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'Hey Gizmo, how long was I sleeping for?' asked Axel after waking up.
[Approximately half an hour. Don't worry, I have healed your body for now, but you must find food soon as it consumed a lot of your energy to heal you,] replied Gizmo.
Axel just nodded to Gizmo's advice and sat with his legs folded, staring at the wall where Lilith had been sealed.
It still looked like a dream to him. He was puzzled over the question of how he had survived this ordeal.
'Gizmo, before I start looking for some food, you have some explaining to do,' said Axel in a contemplative voice.
[You are right, but just to be clear, I did not orchestrate the events that have transpired and was simply an observer for the most part. Let me explain from the beginning what has occurred and, most importantly, what you have gained from all this. Because believe me, you have just hit a jackpot,] said Gizmo in an ecstatic voice.
Gizmo, being the AI, had records of tales and events that had transpired throughout the cosmos but was still shocked at the scenario that had just played out in front of it.