The hollow scar in the sky trembled.
Then it split open.
Aris froze.
Something was coming through.
At first, it was only a silhouette hidden beyond the darkness. Then the silhouette grew larger.
And larger.
And larger.
The air itself began to scream.
"What the..."
Aris unconsciously took a step back.
Even Nyx had gone silent.
The thing emerging from the rift was enormous.
No.
Enormous wasn't enough to describe it.
The creature eclipsed the sky.
Eight colossal wings stretched across the heavens.
Yet they weren't covered in feathers.
They were bone.
Living bone.
Each wing was forged from pure Anthronite.
The legendary ore that even Apostasy-ranked weapons struggled to damage.
The creature's body was a grotesque fusion of ribs, vertebrae, and twisted skeletal growths.
Its neck stretched unnaturally long.
Its hollow skull hung above the battlefield like a second moon.
Within that skull floated countless eyes.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
Each one staring in a different direction.
Watching.
Waiting.
Judging.
Aris felt every one of them land on him.
A chill ran down his spine.
"Nyx..."
His voice was unusually quiet.
"Are you seeing this?"
The ancient beast didn't answer immediately.
When she finally spoke, her tone was grave.
"Yes."
A rare emotion crept into her voice.
Concern.
Aris swallowed.
That alone was enough to tell him how dangerous the creature was.
Lumen's laughter echoed throughout the shattered landscape.
"Hahaha!"
He pointed toward the heavens.
"Look at your face!"
Aris glared at him.
"Who wouldn't be worried?!"
Lumen's grin widened.
"You should be."
The creature fully emerged from the rift.
The world shook.
Mountains cracked.
Ancient forests bent under the pressure.
The very sky seemed unable to withstand its presence.
Then,
The creature screamed.
The sound wasn't loud.
It was worse.
It was ancient.
A sound so old and unnatural that reality itself recoiled.
The scream swept across the Blessed Land.
Ruins collapsed.
Clouds scattered.
Even space rippled.
Aris covered one ear.
"What the hell is that thing?!"
Nyx finally answered.
"A Force Summon."
Aris blinked.
"A what?"
"A Force Summon."
The ancient beast sounded annoyed.
"Pay attention."
"Not really the best time for a lecture!"
"It is if you wish to survive."
Aris grimaced.
Fair point.
Lumen slowly rose into the air.
Crimson energy swirled around him.
His Wrath continued growing stronger.
"This..."
He spread his arms dramatically.
"...is Nectronome."
The giant skeletal creature opened all of its eyes.
One hundred burning pupils locked onto Aris.
"The Archangel of Bones."
The title sent a strange feeling through Aris's chest.
An Archangel?
That thing?
It looked more like a nightmare born from death itself.
Nectronome slowly raised one skeletal hand.
The movement alone generated hurricane-force winds.
Aris cursed.
"That's an angel?"
"Different worlds have different definitions."
Nyx sounded unimpressed.
"Trust me. You do not want to meet the fallen ones."
Aris didn't even want to imagine it.
Lumen laughed.
"Terrified yet?"
"No."
Aris smirked.
Then immediately pointed at the giant monster.
"Okay, maybe a little."
For some reason, that answer irritated Lumen.
The bishop's eye twitched.
"Good."
Crimson Wrath erupted around him.
"Because fear is the only thing you'll feel before you die."
Aris's silver eyes narrowed.
"You talk too much."
Lumen vanished.
The air exploded.
Aris's instincts screamed.
He barely raised an arm.
BOOM!
Lumen's fist collided with his guard.
The impact shattered the ground beneath them.
Aris shot backward like a cannonball.
His body tore through several ruined structures before he regained control.
"Damn!"
Before he could breathe,
A shadow engulfed him.
Aris looked up.
And immediately regretted it.
Nectronome's hand was descending from the sky.
The hand alone was larger than a mountain.
"Oh, come on!"
Aris kicked the air.
Chaos exploded beneath his feet.
He narrowly escaped.
The colossal palm struck the earth.
The resulting shockwave erased an entire mountain range.
Not damaged.
Erased.
The mountains simply ceased to exist.
Silence fell across the battlefield.
Aris stared.
Then slowly looked toward Nyx.
"...I don't think we're winning this."
Nyx snorted.
"You just noticed?"
Lumen's laughter echoed again.
"You are finished."
His crimson aura expanded.
Nectronome spread its eight wings.
The heavens darkened.
The earth trembled.
One man.
One archangel.
Against a single sixteen-year-old boy.
Aris wiped blood from the corner of his mouth.
Then grinned.
"Good."
Lumen frowned.
"Good?"
Aris cracked his neck.
A sinister smile spread across his face.
"If you're going to try killing me..."
Silver light ignited within his eyes.
"...at least make it interesting."
For the first time,
Lumen stopped smiling.
And Nectronome's hundred eyes narrowed.
The moment Aris finished speaking,
Nectronome moved.
The sky shattered.
No warning.
No buildup.
The colossal Archangel simply vanished.
"What?!"
Aris's eyes widened.
Something massive appeared above him.
Too fast.
Far too fast.
Instinct screamed.
Chaos surged around his body as he threw himself aside.
BOOM!
A skeletal fist crashed where he had been standing.
The impact split the earth apart.
A canyon hundreds of meters deep appeared instantly.
Shockwaves rippled across the Blessed Land.
Mountains collapsed.
Forests flattened.
The sky itself groaned.
Aris felt cold sweat run down his neck.
"That was close..."
"Focus!"
Nyx roared.
Lumen appeared beside him.
A crimson fist slammed toward his ribs.
Aris barely raised his arm.
CRACK!
Pain exploded through his body.
Several bones fractured instantly.
He was launched through the air.
Before he could recover,
Nectronome's tail-like spine whipped across the battlefield.
Aris crossed both arms.
BOOOOM!
His body became a streak of silver.
Everything behind him exploded.
He crashed through dozens of mountains.
Rocks rained from the heavens.
Dust filled the air.
For several seconds,
Nothing moved.
Then a hand emerged from the rubble.
Aris dragged himself out.
Blood dripped from his lips.
His vision blurred.
"Still alive..."
"You sound disappointed."
Aris laughed weakly.
Nyx growled.
"This is not the time."
Above them, Lumen floated calmly.
The bishop looked almost bored.
"Is this all?"
Crimson flames danced around his body.
His aura had grown stronger.
Much stronger.
The endless wrath he absorbed from the battlefield continued feeding him.
Aris wiped blood from his mouth.
"You're really annoying."
Lumen smirked.
"And you're really weak."
The words struck harder than the punch.
Because they were true.
Aris was only at the peak of Apostasy.
Lumen was a Purged One.
Nectronome was also comparable to a Purged One.
He was fighting two opponents above his rank.
And somehow surviving.
For now.
"Let's end this."
Lumen raised one hand.
Nectronome mirrored the gesture.
The giant archangel opened all one hundred eyes.
The world darkened.
Aris felt danger unlike anything before.
"Nyx..."
"I know."
Dark energy gathered around Nectronome.
Wrath gathered around Lumen.
The two powers merged.
Reality twisted.
Space cracked.
The attack hadn't even been released yet.
Aris gritted his teeth.
"This is bad."
"No."
Nyx sounded grim.
"This is catastrophic."
The combined beam descended.
A pillar of red and black light swallowed the sky.
Aris roared.
"CHAOS TENTACLES!"
Hundreds of massive tentacles erupted around him.
They intertwined.
Layer after layer.
Forming an enormous shield.
The beam struck.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
The first layer vanished.
The second layer exploded.
The third shattered.
The fourth melted.
The fifth disintegrated.
Aris watched helplessly as every defense he created was erased.
The beam continued descending.
"Too strong!"
He poured more power into the tentacles.
More.
More.
More.
Yet it wasn't enough.
The attack tore through everything.
The force alone ruptured his skin.
Blood burst from his eyes.
His nose.
His ears.
His mouth.
Aris screamed.
"AGHHHHHHHH!"
The Blessed Land trembled.
Ancient structures collapsed.
Rivers changed course.
The land that had supposedly endured the wrath of a thousand stars was beginning to crack apart.
The beam finally broke through.
Aris's defenses shattered.
The attack struck him directly.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
His body disappeared into the horizon.
Forests vanished.
Mountains exploded.
Valleys were carved into existence.
Everything in his path was annihilated.
Miles away,
Aris crashed into a mountain.
Then another.
And another.
Finally, he came to a stop.
A massive crater formed around him.
For several moments,
Silence.
Then Aris coughed violently.
Blood splattered the ground.
"I..."
He struggled to breathe.
"...I'm fine."
Another mouthful of blood escaped.
"At least..."
Cough.
"...I think I am."
Nyx sighed.
"You're terrible at lying."
Aris laughed painfully.
"Yeah."
For the first time since the battle began—
He felt afraid.
Not for himself.
For everyone else.
If Lumen won...
The Blessed Land would fall.
Countless people would die.
He couldn't let that happen.
No matter what.
No matter the cost.
"Keep holding on."
Nyx's voice softened slightly.
"Help will come."
Aris slowly stood.
His body screamed in protest.
Every movement hurt.
Yet he stood.
Far in the distance—
Lumen wasn't giving him a chance to recover.
The bishop raised one hand.
The ground shook.
Then exploded.
Countless skeletal soldiers emerged.
Thousands.
Then tens of thousands.
Then hundreds of thousands.
An endless army of bone and ruin.
Aris stared.
"...You've got to be kidding me."
The army stretched beyond the horizon.
Every soldier carried ancient weapons.
Every soldier radiated power.
Every soldier wanted him dead.
Even Aris's confidence faltered.
He was sixteen years old.
Just sixteen.
Yet he stood alone against an army.
Against a Purged One.
Against an Archangel.
Against an entire organization.
His heart pounded.
His blood boiled.
The fear should have crushed him.
Instead—
Something else emerged.
Excitement.
Adrenaline.
A smile slowly formed on his face.
Nyx noticed immediately.
"...Aris."
"Yeah?"
"There is something wrong with you."
Aris laughed.
"Probably."
For a moment, silence passed between them.
Then Nyx spoke.
"Aris."
Her voice was serious.
"I have one final option."
Aris already knew what she meant.
"You'll give me your remaining power."
"Yes."
"And you'll fall asleep."
"Yes."
The ancient beast hesitated.
"After that..."
Her voice lowered.
"...you'll be alone."
Aris looked toward the endless army.
Toward Lumen.
Toward Nectronome.
Then he smiled.
A calm smile.
A terrifying smile.
"I've faced worse."
Nyx snorted.
"You absolutely have not."
Aris laughed.
"Maybe."
His silver eyes brightened.
"But this land is worth fighting for."
The smile disappeared.
Only determination remained.
"So give it to me."
Nyx fell silent.
Then darkness erupted from her body.
Boundless power flooded into Aris.
Chaos.
Malice.
Destruction.
Ancient power surged through every vein.
The earth beneath him shattered.
The sky darkened.
Silver light engulfed his body.
Lumen's smile vanished.
For the first time—
The bishop looked concerned.
"This..."
He frowned.
"...is troublesome."
And high above the battlefield—
Nectronome's hundred eyes slowly narrowed.