NOVEL NEXT Chapter 141: An endless dark abyss
Clarissa raises her hands to the sky, her skin reddening, blistering under spreading burns.
Thousands of shards of rock rise all around her, floating in midair.
«...you saved my life... now it's my turn to do everything I can to save yours! Elemental Invocation • Earth: Golem!»
In seconds, the countless fragments gather into one massive shape. First, a spherical body forms, five meters wide. Then, thick legs and arms emerge, heavy and imposing.
The rocky giant takes shape and immediately begins to roll forward, gaining speed as it charges Cassian. In just moments, it reaches an unbelievable speed of 300 kilometers per hour.
That speed, combined with its massive weight...
—SBAM!
At the moment of impact with the shadow veil, the golem bounces back, its stone body shattered into a rain of debris.
The elemental invocation drains a huge amount of Clarissa's energy, yet it isn't in vain. Another crack opens in the barrier where the golem struck with the force of a wrecking ball dropped from nearly four hundred meters high.
Even the strongest magical shield cannot remain intact after such a devastating impact. The new cracks close instantly, but once again Cassian is forced to draw more energy from his already weakened defense against Hakuto's plasma sphere—now dangerously close to impact.
«I don't have the strength to cast Golem again, but I can't stop now that we're this close! Elemental Invocation • Earth: Rock Pillar!»
A thick, sharp column of stone bursts from the ground in front of Clarissa. It shoots forward like a massive spear, once more aiming at the same weakened point in the veil.
«These brats are starting to get on my nerves,» Cassian mutters, no longer calm but, for the first time since the fight began, visibly frustrated and annoyed.
He suddenly spreads his arms wide, and a black storm explodes outward in every direction.
The stone column shatters into rubble before it can even hit its target. Chantal is blown back, rolling across the ground for dozens of meters, unable to keep her Blood Word Burst active.
Only Hakuto and Velshekar endure, but they are on the brink of collapse—the effort of holding the plasma sphere and the massive crimson disk is draining them dry.
Clarissa collapses to the ground. Casting Rock Pillar has consumed the last of her strength. She doesn't even have the energy to stand or escape the searing heat of the plasma. But Shin rushes in, pulling her away from the deadly zone no human could survive.
Yet Chantal refuses to give up. Step by heavy step, through pain and exhaustion, she moves forward again. From her palm erupts the last Blood Word Burst her strained body can still cast.
But they are not the only ones suffering from fatigue. The menacing cone of shadow that had pushed back inside the plasma sphere now recoils again—and this time it thins out.
And more than that—deep cracks begin to spread across the dark veil where Velshekar's disk and Chantal's beam strike. This time, they do not close.
«Damn you... damn you inferior beings!» Cassian snaps.
Another wave of black wind spreads out, but it's weaker than before. It isn't enough to stop the desperate assault of Hakuto, Velshekar, and Chantal.
The plasma sphere sinks lower and lower... the tear caused by the disk grows wider and deeper. The circular blade wrapped in green flames cuts further inside, just as Chantal's beam drills deeper through.
They're almost there—they all know it.
A desperate scream of pain and rage bursts from their throats together. The cries of those pushing every last fragment of energy from every cell of their bodies.
Until...
—CRACK!
The black barrier shatters like glass struck by a stone.
A piercing scream erupts along with blood from Cassian's mouth as the massive disk severs his right arm. A heartbeat later, Chantal's crimson beam tears through his back and bursts out of his stomach.
The cone of shadow blocking Hakuto's descent vanishes—and at that same instant, so does the plasma sphere.
Hakuto falls straight down over Cassian's head. Nothing remains between them. His diamond-like sword, shining like quartz, rises high, wrapped only in the Sacred Flame.
«Die, you bastard!»
—SLASH!
The blade crashes through Cassian's skull, cutting vertically. In an instant, the dark mage is split in two—his body halves collapse to the ground in a pool of blood and entrails.
With the disappearance of the plasma sphere, the air quickly cools and becomes breathable again. Shin and Clarissa rush to support Hakuto and Velshekar, drained beyond their limits.
Even Chantal struggles to stay on her feet, just as exhausted as the others.
«Did you see that, Dad? We did it...» Hakuto whispers, his voice faint, a tired smile on his lips as he looks at Shin.
«Yeah, you were incredible, Hakuto!» Shin exclaims, his eyes shining with joy.
A look full of fatherly pride... but in an instant it shifts into something far darker. Uneasy, then outright terror, as he realizes the shroud of shadow covering the countryside has not vanished.
He doesn't even have time to fully process it before, not far from them, the dark carpet begins to bubble like a pool of tar.
«No... this can't be... this can't be...» Velshekar murmurs, her voice trembling with fear at the sight before her.
From the bubbling pool, a cloaked figure rises—Cassian Thalukvar, perfectly intact, without the slightest wound or sign of fatigue.
«That monster... I cut him in half... how can he still be alive?!» Hakuto cries, the same bone-chilling terror spreading through everyone else.
«It disgusts me to think that you pitiful inferior beings even imagined, for a moment, that you had overcome the will of Nyratalir. I am darkness, and darkness is me. To challenge me is to try to light an endless abyss with a single candle. And to believe your pathetic strength could defy Nyratalir is the gravest insult you could offer—an offense that cannot be forgiven,» Cassian declares, his voice dripping with pure disgust.
The dark mage stretches his arms toward Hakuto and Velshekar. A violent black wind begins to howl, ready to sweep away what's left of his enemies.
But suddenly, Cassian freezes. He lifts his gaze to the sky, confusion flickering in his eyes—along with a trace of rage and fear.
Above their heads, petals of fuchsia energy drift down like snowflakes.