The clearing crackled with tension. Carna stood motionless at its edge, her flesh-whips twitching. The smell of scorched bark hung thick in the air. Across from her, Eleanor and Katya fought with a steady rhythm; Sunfire pulsed from one, raw energy crackled from the other. The ground was blackened and gouged. Both sides were bruised and bleeding.
Carna broke the strained silence. "Two against one? Come on now that's hardly fair."
Katya scoffed, a defiant smirk on her lips. "You ripped my teammate through a vine wall. Fair's off the table."
Eleanor surged forward first, her axe dragging a trail of sunlight.
"Divine Art: Solar Fang!"
A narrow crescent of Sunfire arced toward Carna, slicing through trees like paper. Carna's flesh whips lashed out, slapping the arc aside with a crackling hiss. Steam rose where her mutated limb sizzled from the heat.
Katya followed up, her fists pulsing with emerald energy.
"Divine Art: Burst Jab!"
She vanished in a blur of green light, appearing behind Carna mid-punch. Carna twisted, blocking with her forearm. The impact sent a shockwave through the clearing. Carna gritted her teeth and whipped her arm forward, but Eleanor had already come around to her side.
"Sunfire Slash!"
The glowing axe cut through Carna's defense, narrowly missing her ribs. The edge seared her side, a molten gash opening on her skin. Carna shrieked in pure, uncontrolled rage.
"You worms!"
The air around them shifted, growing heavy and thick.
Flesh spiraled outward from Carna's arms, forming jagged blades, thorny and pulsing. She crouched low, her eyes burning with unsettling passion.
"Divine Right: Bloodlace Bloom."
Whips and tendrils exploded, tearing through the air. Eleanor leapt back, using the flat of her axe to shield her face. Katya ducked behind a gnarled tree, vines tearing around her. The ground pulsed; blood-red flowers bloomed beneath them, giving off waves of a sickly sweet scent.
"Cover your mouth!" Eleanor yelled, her voice strained. "It's some kind of hallucinogen!"
Katya quickly covered her nose and mouth, but still staggered, dizziness clouding her vision. Carna moved like a ghost, appearing in front of her with a whip raised.
But Eleanor was faster.
"Sunfire Crash!"
She slammed her axe into the earth, sending a wave of burning gold outward. The searing flame consumed the blooming flowers, forcing Carna to fall back. Katya caught her breath, her eyes clearing.
"...Thanks."
"Don't thank me yet. She's not done."
Carna rose from the flames, her skin blistered but healing fast. Her eyes had changed; animal-like now, pupils narrowed to slits, gleaming with cold fury. Her whips burst outward again, thicker, studded with wicked barbs.
"Enough games. Time to make angels bleed."
She shot forward with terrifying speed. One whip slammed Katya into a thick tree. Katya grunted, bounced back immediately, and slammed her fists together, channeling her energy.
"Divine Art: Overdrive Pulse!"
A surge of radiant energy blasted Carna back just long enough for Eleanor to close the distance.
"Solar Requiem!"
A full-force axe swing slammed into Carna's middle, launching her into a massive boulder. The ancient stone cracked, dust rising like smoke.
Still, she rose, slowly, painfully, but her eyes were fixed on them with chilling intent.
"You. Will. Be. Beautiful."
Her arms twisted, shaping into needle-thin lances, glistening with a horrific, wet sheen.
She charged, a creature of pure evil.
Katya blocked the first lance with her forearms. Eleanor ducked low, swinging for Carna's legs. The battle became a blur of motion: light, speed, pain. Carna was fluid, every motion inhuman, a grotesque dance of death.
But she was slowing.
Katya landed another heavy punch to her ribs, a sickening crunch echoing in the clearing. Eleanor's axe struck her shoulder, breaking through muscle and bone with a wet tear. The goddess screamed, stumbling backward, finally showing true pain.
"Now!" Eleanor shouted.
Katya nodded, gathering a massive amount of emerald energy in both hands, her gauntlets humming.
"Divine Art: Twin Pulse Breaker!"
She struck the ground with both fists. Pillars of blinding emerald light erupted around Carna, caging her.
Eleanor didn't hesitate.
"Divine Art: Sunflare Execution!"
She leapt, spinning mid-air, her axe blazing with incredibly bright, blinding gold. She came down with a roar,
And the axe struck true, cutting through Carna's immobilized form.
A final, blinding burst of golden flame engulfed the clearing.
When the smoke cleared, Carna was on her knees, burned, broken, her form flickering as her divine essence unraveled. Yet, a faint, unsettling smile still touched her lips.
"You won't stop her…"
Carna, the Sculptress of Pain, was weakened, a ghostly image of her former self.
The goddess was a mess of torn silk and dark, oozing blood. Her whips hung at her sides like dying limbs. Her breaths were ragged, her tranquil grace replaced with something hollow. Disbelief was in her eyes.
Katya stepped forward, her gauntlets still glowing faintly. One sleeve was burned off, but her smirk remained. "You're still standing? Damn. You really don't know when to quit."
Carna looked at them, her lips twitching into a smile that was too gentle for the wreckage around her. "Flesh tears, bones break, but beauty, beauty is eternal."
Then her knees buckled.
She collapsed slowly, her breath catching in her throat. The whips detached from her wrists and slithered lifelessly into the dirt. Light began to gather around her, signaling her end.
Eleanor and Katya watched in silence.
As Carna exhaled, her body began to disintegrate into radiant particles. Fine golden essence lifted from her form and scattered into the dense canopy above. Her Divine essence returned to the ether.
She faded like a memory.
Katya exhaled. "Well. That was disgusting."
Eleanor leaned on her axe, a weary satisfaction settling over her. "Yeah. But at least that's over."
Katya glanced around. "Guess this means we're not dead. Yet."
The forest rustled unnaturally. Vines trembled, shifting deliberately with chilling intention.
A low pulse echoed through the roots beneath their feet, like the deep, rhythmic heartbeat of something ancient waking up.
Far deeper in the forest, among moss-covered ruins, Hector stood perfectly still. His dark robes fluttered gently. He rested one palm against the ancient bark of a colossal tree, its roots pulsing with a vibrant, ominous green light.
He opened his eyes, the golden depths alight with power. Whispering leaves carried his words.
"One has fallen. The Sculptress of Pain… scattered to dust...What a shame."
He stepped away from the tree, radiating ancient power.
"But not to worry… My time has come."
Back near the broken clearing, Katya cracked her knuckles. "So what now?"
Eleanor hoisted her axe onto her shoulder. "Now? We should find the others."
She started forward, golden light burning in her eyes, leading the way towards the next challenge.
Katya followed. They walked in silence for the time being.