The moment Aris spoke.
Lumen's expression darkened.
He had felt them too.
Several powerful presences.
Closing the distance rapidly.
If they arrived before Aris died,
Everything would become complicated.
"Then I'll kill you before they get here."
Wrath erupted from Lumen's body.
The sky turned crimson.
The ground shook.
Even Nectronome released a deafening screech, sensing its master's intent.
Aris laughed.
A cold, unsettling laugh.
"Come then."
BOOOOM!
The earth exploded beneath him.
Aris launched himself forward.
Lumen met him halfway.
Their fists collided.
The impact tore apart the clouds above.
A shockwave spread across the Blessed Land.
For a brief moment,
Everything stopped.
Then both were thrown backward.
Nectronome descended from above.
Its massive skeletal arm crashed downward.
Aris raised both hands.
Hundreds of tentacles erupted.
The giant fist collided with them.
CRACK!
CRACK!
CRACK!
The tentacles shattered one after another.
The pressure forced Aris toward the ground.
His arms trembled.
His muscles screamed.
Yet he refused to kneel.
Not now.
Not when victory was so close.
Lumen appeared beside him.
A crimson fist slammed into Aris's ribs.
BOOM!
Several bones shattered instantly.
Aris spat blood.
Before he could recover,
Another punch.
Then another.
Then another.
Lumen attacked relentlessly.
Like a starving beast.
Each strike carried enough force to destroy mountains.
Each strike was fueled by boundless wrath.
Aris blocked what he could.
Endured what he couldn't.
But the wounds were beginning to accumulate.
Lumen noticed.
And smiled.
"You're slowing down."
Aris wiped blood from his mouth.
"You're talking too much."
The bishop laughed.
"Still arrogant?"
"No."
Aris's silver eyes glowed brighter.
"Just tired of hearing you."
Chaos exploded around him.
Thousands of tentacles erupted from the shattered earth.
The battlefield transformed into a sea of crimson horrors.
Lumen's smile vanished.
"Again?"
The tentacles attacked.
Not randomly.
Not wildly.
Each moved with purpose.
Like an army.
Like predators hunting prey.
Nectronome swung one of its colossal wings.
Hundreds of tentacles exploded.
Yet hundreds more replaced them.
The battlefield became complete chaos.
Lumen destroyed dozens.
Nectronome destroyed hundreds.
Still,
More appeared.
The earth itself seemed to be feeding Aris.
"No..."
Lumen narrowed his eyes.
"He isn't using the earth."
The realization struck him immediately.
Aris wasn't drawing strength from the land.
He was drawing strength from something else.
Something beneath.
Something ancient.
Something connected to the doors he kept manifesting.
Aris slowly spread his arms.
The world darkened.
Then,
A giant crack appeared behind him.
The sky split apart.
Crimson light poured from within.
Heat flooded the battlefield.
Lumen froze.
Nectronome froze.
Even the wind stopped.
"What is that...?"
Aris smiled.
A genuine smile this time.
"Underworld's Door."
The crack widened.
Then widened again.
Until it became a colossal gate.
A demonic gate.
Ancient.
Terrifying.
Covered in chains and forgotten symbols.
The door trembled.
Then opened.
BOOOOOOM!
Hellish energy flooded the battlefield.
Countless screams echoed from beyond.
The temperature rose instantly.
Even Nectronome took a step back.
Then,
Something emerged.
A tentacle.
Then another.
Then another.
Then hundreds.
Massive crimson tentacles larger than mountains erupted from the gate.
Each one possessed a will of its own.
Each one radiated ancient malice.
The battlefield trembled.
Aris pointed toward Lumen.
"Now fight me."
The tentacles roared.
Not metaphorically.
Actually roared.
The sound resembled thousands of beasts screaming together.
Lumen stared.
Then laughed.
A deep, mocking laugh.
"Hahaha..."
Aris frowned.
Lumen wasn't afraid.
He was amused.
The bishop extended one hand.
His shadow stretched.
Then expanded.
Then spread across the battlefield.
Something began emerging from it.
One figure.
Then ten.
Then hundreds.
Then thousands.
Aris's eyes narrowed.
The newcomers wore identical robes.
The same symbol.
The same insignia.
A crimson emblem stained with blood.
The Bloods.
Thousands upon thousands stood behind Lumen.
Cultivators.
Sinners.
Warriors.
Assassins.
An entire army.
Lumen smiled.
"Surprised?"
Aris clenched his fists.
"You..."
The bishop's grin widened.
"Of course I'm with the Bloods."
Silence fell.
Then Lumen's expression became murderous.
"That's exactly why you have to die."
Aris felt his heart sink.
The entire situation suddenly made sense.
The ambush.
The betrayal.
The execution attempt.
Everything.
Lumen had never been protecting the Blessed Land.
He had been infiltrating it.
Serving the Bloods all along.
"You sold everyone out."
Lumen shrugged.
"They were useful."
The casual response ignited something inside Aris.
Rage.
Pure rage.
The silver-haired boy slowly lowered his head.
The chaos around him intensified.
The tentacles behind him began thrashing violently.
The sky darkened further.
"You disgust me."
Lumen laughed.
"Good."
Then he pointed forward.
"Kill him."
The Bloods charged.
Thousands surged forward simultaneously.
The battlefield erupted once more.
Aris looked toward the approaching army.
Then toward Lumen.
Then toward Nectronome.
And smiled.
A terrifying smile.
"Let's see who dies first."
The gates of the Underworld trembled.
The hellish tentacles surged forward.
And the final battle truly began.
The battlefield descended into absolute madness.
Thousands of Blood cultists charged forward.
The ground trembled beneath their feet.
Above them, Nectronome spread its eight skeletal wings, blotting out the sky.
Beside it floated Lumen, now glowing with enough wrath to make the heavens themselves seem crimson.
And standing against all of them,
Was Aris.
Alone.
The colossal Underworld's Door loomed behind him.
Ancient.
Demonic.
Endless.
The tentacles emerging from it writhed like living nightmares.
Every movement distorted reality.
Every roar shook the air.
Lumen pointed forward.
"Kill him."
The Bloods charged.
Aris closed his eyes.
For a brief moment—
Everything became silent.
Then he opened them.
Silver light exploded outward.
His eyes were empty.
Void-like.
Cold.
The eyes of someone who had already accepted death.
"Come."
The world shook.
The tentacles surged forward.
A massacre began.
BOOOOM!
One sweep annihilated hundreds.
Another crushed entire formations.
Cultists screamed as they were dragged into the Underworld's Door.
Others were torn apart instantly.
The battlefield became a sea of blood and chaos.
Yet more continued charging.
Endlessly.
Fearlessly.
Madly.
The Bloods had long abandoned reason.
Lumen watched calmly.
"Numbers alone won't kill him."
Nectronome released a thunderous screech.
The giant Archangel moved.
Aris immediately felt danger.
He looked up.
Too late.
Nectronome's fist descended.
BOOOOM!
The impact shattered the battlefield.
Aris crossed his arms.
The force still sent him crashing into the earth.
A crater dozens of kilometers wide formed instantly.
Before he could rise—
Lumen arrived.
A crimson beam erupted from his hand.
Aris barely rolled aside.
The beam erased everything behind him.
Mountains vanished.
Forests disappeared.
The horizon split apart.
Lumen wasn't holding back anymore.
Neither was Nectronome.
The two attacked together.
Relentlessly.
Aris fought back.
Tentacles collided with skeletal claws.
Chaos clashed against wrath.
The heavens cracked.
The earth broke apart.
Reality itself began struggling to withstand the battle.
But slowly—
Aris was losing ground.
His body was reaching its limit.
His wounds had accumulated.
His regeneration had slowed.
Nyx remained asleep.
And he was alone.
Lumen noticed.
The bishop smiled.
"You've done well."
CRACK!
A punch shattered Aris's shoulder.
"You've surpassed expectations."
BOOM!
Nectronome's wing slammed into him.
Blood exploded from Aris's mouth.
"But this is where it ends."
Lumen raised both hands.
Wrath flooded the sky.
Nectronome mirrored him.
The giant Archangel opened all one hundred eyes.
Ancient runes ignited across its body.
Aris immediately felt it.
The attack.
The final attack.
A combination of both their powers.
Enough to erase him completely.
Enough to destroy everything around them.
The sky darkened.
The world trembled.
Even the remaining Blood cultists retreated.
Fear appeared on every face.
Lumen laughed.
"Die."
Crimson energy gathered.
Bone-white light gathered.
The two attacks merged.
Reality cracked.
Space collapsed.
Aris looked upward.
His body screamed.
His instincts screamed.
Everything screamed.
Run.
Yet he remained where he stood.
His silver eyes looked toward the horizon.
And he smiled.
"They're close."
Lumen frowned.
"What?"
Aris laughed.
Despite the blood.
Despite the pain.
Despite death itself staring him in the face.
He laughed.
"I can feel them."
The distant presences were much closer now.
Several.
Powerful.
Familiar.
Hope.
For the first time during the battle,
Hope appeared.
Lumen sensed it too.
His face twisted.
"No."
The bishop immediately poured more power into the attack.
Nectronome did the same.
The beam became larger.
Deadlier.
Absolute destruction.
"We finish this now!"
Aris slowly rose into the air.
The tentacles around him gathered.
Thousands.
Then tens of thousands.
All converging before him.
Every ounce of chaos.
Every ounce of malice.
Every ounce of power Nyx had given him.
Everything.
One final stand.
One final clash.
The heavens trembled.
The Underworld's Door shook violently.
Aris spread his arms.
"Come then."
Lumen roared.
"Nectronome!"
The Archangel screamed.
The combined attack descended.
A beam large enough to split the world.
Aris's tentacles surged upward.
The two powers raced toward collision.
The entire battlefield held its breath.
And just before they met—
A blinding golden light erupted from beyond the horizon.
Lumen's eyes widened.
Aris smiled.
The reinforcements had arrived.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!