The pitch-black sword pierced right through Pulchra's left chest. Fresh blood sprayed, staining the elf girl's white clothes.
The dark entity's hand shook violently. It let go of the sword's hilt and staggered back, its eyeless sockets widening in horror at what it had just done.
"Wh... Why..." the entity stammered, its tone filled with absolute confusion. "Why do these people protect him...?!!!"
Pulchra's body slumped forward. With the last of his strength, Steve forced his broken body to move, catching his slender senior before she could hit the cold ground.
Blood poured heavily from Pulchra's heart, soaking Steve's hands.
"Pul— Pulchra... why?!" Steve's voice trembled uncontrollably, tears spilling over as he looked at the faint smile on the face of the girl who had always been so gentle to him.
Pulchra raised a trembling hand, softly stroking Steve's cheek, which was covered in dust and tears.
"Hah~ cough..." Fresh blood escaped Pulchra's lips, yet her smile didn't fade.
"Thank you, Steve... for all the moments you gave me all this time... cough..." Her hand slowly fell limp. "...Until we meet again."
The elf girl's beautiful eyes closed slowly. Her breathing stopped, leaving a deafening silence at the bottom of the crater.
Time seemed to stand still. Steve bowed his head, tightly clutching Pulchra's body as it began to grow cold. Inside his chest, something that had been sleeping soundly exploded into pieces.
His emotions overflowed past the limits of sanity. His ability system responded to this emotional instability crazily, forcing his skills to hit maximum level instantly!
"You... YOU FILTHY MONSTER!!!"
Steve's eyes snapped wide open, glowing with a blinding white light. An explosion of holy white energy enveloped his body, creating a pillar of light that pierced through the distorted sky.
In the depths of Steve's soul, Unknown who had been watching the sacrifice in silence felt something he hadn't experienced in thousands of years of existence. The feeling of loss.
A rage that didn't stem from ego, but from the pain of seeing his vessel shattered in tears.
Without a single word, Unknown released all his limiters.
He channeled all his remaining Pure Darkness, merging it into Steve's soul without any resistance.
BOOOOOOOM!!!
The pillar of white light was now intertwined with a dense, pitch-black aura.
Light and Darkness two opposing elements now merged perfectly within Steve's body, creating a whirlpool of extraordinary energy that made the entire universe vibrate violently!
Across from him, the dark entity was still frozen, staring at its own hands, now stained with the blood of an innocent. Its head was filled with the dissonant screams of its past.
(Why... why did I kill her?) the entity's mind screamed in panic, its principles and goals collapsing instantly.
(I... I just killed an innocent life for the sake of my goal! I'm no different from that bastard No Name!!!)
However, before the entity could process its mental breakdown, the sound of an air explosion roared, deafening the ears.
Without warning, Steve lunged forward through the vacuum. His right eye glowed brilliant white, while his left eye radiated an aura of absolute darkness.
With a speed far exceeding light, he swung his fist now coated in the two strongest elements in the universe ready to end everything in this final battle!