Having killed the Demon Lord, Grace glanced back toward the sky, where the Chosen One and the Demon Knight were still locked in battle. *So killing him doesn't stop the effects of his talismans? That's annoying,* she thought, eyes narrowing. I can't help him or get between that fight. That's too much, even for me.
Then she heard it.
Grace turned toward the scorched air where Rimus had been vaporized. Her expression hardened as his form reassembled, standing there once more, fury radiating off him in waves. "You think a ritual magician like myself wouldn't have failsafes for death!?" Rimus snarled.
He threw his arms outward. His body surged taller, denser with muscle but not grotesquely so. A second tiger tail split into existence, lashing behind him. The fur on his ears and tails darkened, his skin following suit as it took on a deeper, corrupted hue. Two horns tore from his skull, curving upward as demonic power flooded through him.
"𐌁ዪ𐌄ል𐌊!" he roared.
The word hit Grace like a physical force. Her body fractured all at once, fissures racing across her form as if she were made of brittle glass, pieces misaligning midair. The sensation was violent and disorienting—but brief. Light flared, seams knitting together as she repaired herself almost instantly.
Rimus was already there.
He brought both hands down in brutal chopping strikes. Grace snapped her forearms up, catching each blow with a sharp crack of force. He followed immediately with a right-leg swing; she lifted her knee to block, but the impact still hurled her backward through the air.
Rimus did not relent. He tore out another paper talisman, shouting, "𐌃ዐ𐌍'𐌕 𐌌ዐᕓቹ!"
The talisman ignited and disintegrated in his grip. Grace's body locked in place, muscles refusing to respond as three molten beams tore through the air and slammed into her. The outer shell of her body liquefied and burned away, exposing the bright, multicolored crystal core beneath, shining vividly through the damage.
Light surged again. Her shell reformed around the core in moments.
Rimus stared. "So that's why you can do that. You're a homunculi."
He closed the distance in an instant, driving his right palm forward.
It passed straight through her.
An illusion.
"Goddess, you're noisy," Grace said from behind him.
Light warped around Rimus as her magic bent perception itself. The world stretched and twisted. His arms felt impossibly distant from his body, spatial awareness collapsing into chaos. Vertigo slammed into him, nauseating and total; depth vanished, distance became meaningless. He could barely perceive what was inches from his face.
Grace's kick connected cleanly with his head.
Rimus was driven straight down, his body smashing into the ground hard enough to crack it open, fractures rippling outward in a spiderweb of destruction across the surrounding terrain. He groaned, blood spilling from his mouth as he shut his eyes and fumbled into his coat. Another talisman was slapped onto his forehead.
When he opened his eyes, the world snapped back into focus.
He spat blood and glared up at Grace, still hovering calmly above him. Raising his hands, he roared, "Soul Chamber: Fool's Gold!"
Grace lifted her own hands in response, her voice steady. "Soul Chamber: Sun's Wrath."
The outer shells of their Soul Chambers slammed together, invisible forces grinding against one another as Rimus locked his glare onto Grace, pouring everything he had into overpowering her. Grace, by contrast, looked almost bored. Her Soul Chamber pressed forward steadily, inexorably, forcing his back inch by inch. Rimus's arms began to tremble. Sweat streamed down his face as the pressure mounted.
"No… I can't… I won't lose!" he snarled.
He dropped one hand.
The strain intensified immediately, the imbalance threatening to collapse his Soul Chamber entirely, yet he somehow held on, teeth clenched as he teetered on the brink of being swallowed by hers. With a desperate motion, he reached into his coat, pulled free a pale purple stone, and swallowed it whole. Power surged through him. He threw both hands back up, and his Soul Chamber swelled violently, shoving Grace's back at alarming speed.
"You lose, homunculi!" Rimus shouted, laughter breaking from his throat as he felt momentum swing in his favor.
Grace tilted her head slightly. "Fine. I guess I'll actually try."
In the next instant, his Soul Chamber was crushed back so fast he could not even react. The reversal was absolute. One moment he was advancing, the next he was torn free of resistance and dragged inward, his Soul Chamber collapsing as he was forced fully into hers.
The world changed.
Rimus stood in an endless field beneath an open sky, the grass stretching on without boundary. The air was calm, unnaturally so, a gentle breeze carrying petals from violet and gold flowers that drifted lazily through the air, scattering like ash. Across from him stood Grace, one hand lifted toward the sky.
"How… how did you overwhelm me so easily?" he demanded, shock cracking through his voice.
Grace shrugged. "I don't know. I'm just stronger and better than you. Now die."
She brought her hand down.
From the sun overhead, a beam lanced downward at the speed of light. It struck Rimus squarely, not merely annihilating his body but erasing his soul itself, leaving nothing behind—no anchor, no remnant, nothing that could be used to return.
Only once she was certain did Grace's Soul Chamber dissolve, the field shattering away as reality reasserted itself.
When she emerged, Weeping Phantom was staring at her, eyes wide, voice barely audible. "How? How did you… so quickly…"
She trailed off, unable to finish, because the entire battle—from beginning to end—had lasted just over twenty seconds.