What rose from the ground was like a literal nightmare.
It was like the world itself opened up and a pillar of Corrupted flesh rose from it.
It was covered in eyes and mouths... It had thousands of tentacles all tipped with the heads of Corrupted dragons.
Then it curled and looked directly at us with a single gigantic eye at the top. It opened its massive maw full of razor sharp teeth.
"RRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooo!!!!"
"By the gods... That is definitely worse than the Eldritch horrors..." Vakra said. Then he looked at me. "Good luck!"
He quickly backed away and started calling his forces to converge and attack the monster.
"Hey, Mizik...? This is a dream, right?" Isabella asked with a look of worry on her face.
"This is reality..." I said.
"Mizik! I'm retreating to a safer distance! I'll call my undead to support you!!!" Aldaril shouted.
I nodded and he disappeared.
"Looks like it's just us for now..." I said.
At that moment, the remaining battleships, airships, fighters, and aircraft carriers within striking range began an all-out assault against the Corrupted Source.
The mouths all simultaneously opened and dark purple orbs slowly flew out as the attacks bounced harmlessly off of the creature.
Once the orbs were free, they darted across the sky like bullets and slammed into the Elysium military crafts.
Isabella formed barriers to protect them, but they were shattered.
"This...this is ridiculous! How are we supposed to kill this thing!?" Isabella shouted.
Suddenly, all of the dragon-headed tentacles turned towards us and began charging power in their mouths.
A moment later, they let loose with a barrage of black lasers.
Instead of letting Isabella block them, I grabbed her arm and teleported us a short distance away.
The ground was obliterated where we stood and the Corrupted Source looked down at us.
"RRRROOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooo!?"
The monster made a howling noise as it looked at us...
Before thinking about it, the two of us let loose with a barrage of light streams, flaming spears, and exploding bullets.
None of our attacks, worked, unfortunately...
Actually, it was more accurate to say that Isabella's attacks were slightly effective.
Mine did absolutely nothing.
Even worse, I was beginning to doubt that she had the offensive power to actually take this thing down. She was built for defense, after all.
We had no other choice but to use our full power.
"Isabella! Go to 100%. I'll get the potions ready for Overdrive," I said.
"Mizik, we haven't tested those, yet! We might destroy the world!"
"We don't have a choice! If we don't kill this thing, the world is doomed, anyway!"
As I spoke, the remaining ships on the water were completely annihilated by the purple orbs. And more began slowly floating towards us.
"ISABELLA!" I shouted.
"Understood!" She said.
We tapped our heart cases and increased the output to 100%
Our power exploded even more than it already had and Isabella managed to block the orbs with her barriers.
Then the dragon heads began charging their lasers again. This time she got in front of me and raised her shield.
"BOLSTER!" She shouted.
Her presence hardened significantly as she braced for impact.
The dragons fired and her barriers were immediately destroyed.
She took their attacks all onto her shield. When the attack had finished she sighed in relief.
"That...kind of hurt, actually... But I should be okay..." She said.
"Do yourself a favor and try not to let that hit you again!" I said.
She smiled weakly and nodded.
Then I felt a presence of divine power appear behind us. Along with three others.
I turned and saw Iris standing with Leiso, Jallah, and Carlos.
"Mizik! Isabella! We'll support you all the way!" Iris shouted.
The Corrupted Source locked its eyes on Iris.
"HOW ADORABLE! A LITTLE GODDESS STANDS AGAINST ME? AND WITH HER TINY SOLDIERS, NO LESS!"
"THAT THING IS ONE OF DIFAR'S COPIES! A FALSE SOURCE!!! KILL IT WITH EXTREME PREJUDICE!" I shouted.
Iris' look of disgust towards that thing turned into a volatile rage as she gritted her teeth.
"ENFORCERS!!! ASSEMBLE!! READY YOURSELVES FOR BATTLE!!! TODAY WE TAKE A STEP TOWARDS AVENGING IGNITUS!!!" Iris shouted.
"SIR!!!" They all said in union.
This felt right...our allies were all here.
"RRRRROOOOOOOOOOOooooooooo...."
"Son of a bitch... That is one terrifying monster..." Jallah said.
Iris began radiating divine power and assumed her divine form. Her scales were levitating behind her back.
She extended her hand and they tipped completely.
"Pure unfiltered evil of the worst kind. Just like its Master..." She muttered.
Then she snapped her fingers and the three Enforcers began radiating a more intense energy.
Carlos summoned fire and blood bullets to launch at the Corrupted source.
Jallah rained lightning from above at it.
And Leiso formed swirling geysers of water and blades to sever the heads.
Iris fired a barrage of teal-colored divine energy blasts at the monster's body.
"We can't let them get revenge before us, can we?" Isabella said.
"No, we can't. Let's give it everything we have!" I said.
I tossed Isabella an Overdrive potion.
"Use it when I give the word!" I said.
She nodded at me as she caught it.
I jumped from the ground and flew straight at the False Source with both blades in hand.
Just before I impacted, a dragon tentacle lunged at me and I narrowly avoided it.
It opened its mouth.
"You think I'll just let you get close?"
"I was kinda hoping you would, actually!"
I flew around the monster and rapidly began firing miniature ether blasts as I strangled and impaled the dragon heads with magic chains and javelins.
I summoned a barrage of lightning to attack it as well.
My attacks seemed more effective, but it was missing something.
A deciding factor.
I needed more power.
I contacted Isabella with telepathy as I continued dodging attacks and striking any time I could.
"Isabella! Can you channel your divine power through me!?"
"I don't know. But I can try!"
"Do it, sister! Help Mizik!"
Seconds later, I was hit with a beam of light as I felt her support surround my body.
My swords began glowing brighter and at that point, I could finally sever the dragon heads.
"BASTARD!!! IS THERE NO END TO YOUR ANNOYANCE!?"
Just then, the main body of the monster split and formed seven dragon heads.
I'M REALLY STARTING TO HATE DRAGONS!!!
Each of them picked a target and began attacking us individually.
They sprouted mouthed tentacles that fired lasers and Corruption orbs.
They didn't bother to attack Isabella, but she worked hard to shield all of us from the attacks.
"HELL YES!!! ISABELLA IS TANKING IT!!! Now...it's my turn!" Jallah shouted cheerfully.
Then he shot towards one of the heads and slammed his fist into it.
It reeled back from the impact as half of its face exploded and it slammed into the ground.
I literally saw the space around it warp from the intense impact that Jallah's attack created.
Leiso was currently strangling one with water as she tried to sever it from the main body. She also stabbed another one in the eye with several iron spears.
More mouths appeared on the dragon heads a they continued attacking in all directions.
Isabella continued blocking them with barriers. She would occasionally send out pulses of light to nullify the attacks it used.
Soon, I saw gravity begin to warp as bolts of azure chaos energy struck the dragons from all directions.
Vakra was supporting us again in his skeletal form.
Legions of undead began to appear as chains bound the dragon heads.
Lastly...
I flicked my thumb over the cap of the vial I held.
"ISABELLA!!! DRINK UP!!!" I shouted.
Both of us drank the potions at the same time.
I felt my vision blur and my entire body began to push itself to the very brink.
My magic power was exploding outward so violently now... My strength became clear and I leveled my swords at the dragon heads.
They were too distracted to notice...
I felt Isabella's support again and the pale light on my swords blazed like a divine inferno.
I changed them into maces and activated lethal strikes.
Instantly, I moved forward without teleporting and impacted one of the heads with both maces.
The attack caused a violent shock wave to obliterate the head... The movement also cratered the ground below.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU!?!?"
I heard one of the heads shout in Cain's distorted voice.
"I'M AN ENFORCER!!!" I shouted.
They all instantly locked onto me and even the tentacles began firing in my direction.
But at this point, they couldn't reach me.
I effortlessly dodged their attacks and changed my maces into swords.
Then I flew around and rapidly severed the tentacles from the body.
I couldn't tell how quickly I was moving, but my attacks had actually become instantaneous. Every strike sent waves of energy that obliterated parts of the ground and destroyed the Corruption along with it.
Cain could no longer reach me.
As I continued my rapid assault, I noticed that Isabella had started completely nullifying the Corruption in the entire zone with pulses of light. She was weakening the Corrupted Source significantly with it.
Lastly, everyone stopped attacking as they looked on in awe.
Jallah dropped to his knees.
"KICK HIS ASS, MIZIK!!! SHOW HIM THE WRATH OF IGNITUS!!!!" He screamed in desperation.
Eventually, I felt like the time was right.
The heads fused back together into the previous monster while the tentacles tried to regrow. It opened its mouth and began charging an attack.
"This is for Avernia...for my family and friends...FOR IGNITUS!!!" I shouted as I dived straight into the maw of the creature.
And as the beam fired off, I allowed myself to smile.
I could nullify the attack and kill him in a single move.
I readied my swords as I continued straight down.
"EXTERMINATUS!!!!"
My swords blazed with crimson magic and divine energy as I unleashed a rapid and destructive combo attack at the monster.
The beam it fired couldn't get through Isabella's light pulses and barriers. At the same time, I obliterated it with my sword strikes...
The Corrupted source was completely annihilated.
After that, I landed on the ground and dropped to one knee as the potion wore off...
I immediately lowered my power output back to 25% and looked on at the destruction.
My attack had destroyed the ground.
Many deep chasms caused by my sword strikes could be seen.
The monster continued crumbling to dust and once it ended, I saw Cain down on his knees on the solid ground in front of the chasms.
He looked heavily damaged and parts of him were continuing to crumble.
"You... This isn't...the last you'll see...of me... Difar is still so much...stronger..." He said.
"I'm well aware. And I'm prepared to deal with it. But for now...victory is finally mine," I said.
"I'll get you... You'll pay for this, Mizik... We'll see each other again... Don't you dare die on me!" Cain said.
Then several cracks appeared all over his body and divine light began shining through.
Without a single sound, Cain's body shattered into light. The pieces crumbled to dust in the wind.
Immediately following it, every trace of the Corruption began to vanish from the area...
I felt the feeling of impending doom also vanish.
More like...it was as if I had been feeling a tiny fraction of it ever since Cain had arrived on Delvandal.. But that, too, disappeared.
Lastly, I saw a message appear on my status menu.
{World: [Delvandal] has been successfully cleansed of all Corruption. You have fulfilled your duty as Chosen Hero.}
{Exp gained: 5,000,000,000}
I saw my level shoot up significantly...
I was now level 389. And my stats continued to rise even higher...
I looked over at Isabella, whom knelt down next to me.
She looked at me with tears streaming down her face.
"Did we...finally win? Did we avenge Avernia?" She said.
I placed my hand gently on her cheek.
I didn't smile, but I had a feeling that she knew how I felt.
"Yeah...for now, anyway. Delvandal is free. And this is only the beginning," I said.
Isabella smiled at me and stood up
"I'll stand with you forever. We'll destroy the Corruption once and for all," Isabella said.
A moment later, a black portal opened just next to where Cain had been destroyed.
Everyone stopped their celebrating as a dark robed figure emerged from it.
The robe was somewhat bulky and the individual wore a hood with a mask...
I recognized it immediately.
Actually...how could I ever forget?
The image had forever been burned into my memory.
"Infection...failure...? World...Delvandal...?" Valtheim said.
After that, the shadow dragon landed just beside her.
"I AM FULL OF SADNESS! THE FRAGMENT OF MY GLORIOUS MASTER HAS BEEN DEFEATED!!!" She roared.
"Failure...go back..." Valtheim said.
Without a single movement from Valtheim, a rift opened and consumed the shadow dragon just before Zangriol landed nearby.
"Damn you...KELVASTIOL!!!"
He was covered in deep wounds, but seemed fine.
"Wh-what? What is she doing here!?" Iris said fearfully.
"What in the name of the Creator is that unholy abomination? Words cannot express... That is a monster among monsters!" Vakra said.
"Valtheim...Avatar of the Void..." I said.
"That thing is Valtheim!? The one you told me about!? THAT THING IS AN EXISTENTIAL THREAT TO ALL OF CREATION!!! NEVERMIND THE DAMN SOURCE! THAT ABOMINATION NEEDS TO BE PURGED!!!" Vakra shouted.
I slowly stood up and walked towards Valtheim. She reached down into the pile of ashes that Cain had become.
"Data retrieval...complete..." She said as she looked at a small purple crystal floating in her hand.
She clutched it and the crystal disappeared.
"VALTHEIM!!!" I yelled at her.
She slowly looked up and over at me.
"Chosen Hero...Mizik Iratus... I will not...eliminate..." She said coldly.
"What are you doing here!?" I asked.
She simply stared.
"CAN YOU UNDERSTAND ME!?" I shouted angrily.
"I...understand..." She said.
"Then answer me. What the hell are you doing here!?"
"Irrelevant..."
"Don't you dare ignore me! ANSWER MY QUESTION, YOU BITCH!!!" I shouted.
She slowly took off her mask and stared into my eyes.
I flinched at her gaze but didn't break eye contact.
"Why...?"
"Ah...why what?" I asked.
"Why answer...? What purpose...does it serve...?"
Actually, she made a good point... Even I had to admit it...
She had no reason to explain anything to me. She gained nothing from it.
"Ugh...where is Difar?" I asked.
She continued silently staring at me.
Then Vakra approached her.
"You...how were you created? What are you!?" Vakra asked.
She turned her gaze to Vakra and he didn't react to it at all.
"Anomaly...paradox... Do you serve...Lord Difar...?" Valtheim asked.
"I serve no one. I am Vakra. Will you speak to me?" He asked.
"Non-ally...enemy...against Lord Difar... I will inform...of your existence..."
"How were you created?" Vakra asked.
"Irrelevant..."
Oddly enough, she seemed fixated on Vakra for some reason...
Vakra extended his hand and blasted Valtheim with azure chaos energy. He tried to crush her with gravity as well, but she didn't even flinch.
Then, he simply threw a rock at her.
It passed into her body and disappeared.
"My theory is confirmed. She's not really here," Vakra said.
"She's clearly standing right there!" I said.
"Valtheim. Are you here?" Vakra asked.
"...No..."
"There you have it. Valtheim...where are you?" Vakra asked.
"Everywhere."
Her answer sent chills down my spine...
Before anyone could utter another word, she turned her head upward and placed her mask over her face.
"Waste of time... Anomaly...paradox..."
After she spoke, a portal opened above her.
I stepped forward and fell to my knee. I clutched Vengeance and still prepared to attack.
"Don't bother, Mizik," Vakra said.
I looked over at him and out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Valtheim had turned towards me.
Then she flew up into the portal and disappeared.
"Why? Can't we defeat her?" I asked.
Vakra shook his head.
"That thing isn't something you can simply kill like any other enemy. It's an image of her true form. A projection. Non-existent in this world or any other. Besides, even if you attack, she won't fight back. She wasn't here for you," Vakra said.
"You don't think she was checking on me?" I said.
"No. If she wanted you, you would have been her priority. You wouldn't be alive," Vakra said.
"I guess I should be thankful..." I said.
"Hopefully she can be eliminated, somehow... But until that happens, you should give up on killing Difar," Vakra said.
"I can't do that. I have to-"
"Mizik. I'm going to be completely honest with you, here. That was, by far, the most terrifying thing I've ever seen. Anywhere. Something like that is a mockery to all of creation. She shouldn't exist. You CANNOT kill that thing. No one here could possibly come close to even wounding her! As far as I'm concerned, she's invincible," Vakra said.
"She has to have some kind of weakness...right? It should be possible somehow," Isabella said.
"It might be, but we'll have to wait. For now...perhaps we should celebrate? I'm in the mood for a few drinks..." Vakra said.
He had a good point.
It would probably be better to slow down and celebrate while we could.
Yeah...I'd like to have a drink, too...