Difar tried relentlessly to break through. With each impact, I saw Isabella's health decrease by almost half. She continuously healed herself, so she health would go back immediately.
But it was still terrifying to watch...
Valtheim had once again disappeared and tried to devour the Cursebreaker. But now, Stella was beyond her. She took to her new power very quickly and held off the Void monstrosity with ease.
I began manifesting as much power as I could into one final attack. I summoned the black gauntlets onto my hands and channeled the powers of the thirteen Deus Arms.
Of Bravery: Aegis Shield, Aegis Armor, and Crown of the Hero.
Of Compassion: Healing Aura, Scepter, and Loving Embrace. As I activated these abilities, I pulled as hard as I could on my Blessing skill despite my curse... It was agonzing.
Of Justice: Chains of Justice, Guilliotine, and Scales of Judgement. A set of scales appeared above all of us and tethered everyone with red threads. A massive iron jaw sprouted from the ground and locked Difar's dragon form in place.
Of Willpower: Phaseblades, Instant Weapon, and Heart of Steel.
Of Intelligence: Multiply, Magnify, and Cloak of the Mastermind.
Of Charity: Weather Master, Tornado Shuriken, and Nature's Gift.
Of Faith: Faithful Weapon, Manifestation, and Light Spear. Vengeance appeared in his physical form and began channeling his abilities alongside me. The power drew heavily on my crippled blessing skill...harming me further and draining my health.
Of Honor: Battle Ax, Heavy Weapon, and Warrior's Code.
Of Strength: Blast Hammer, Force Impact, and Arms of Asura.
Of Hope: Blast Radius, Overdrive, and Limit Break.
Of Redemption: Hand Cannon, Remote Weapon, and Eagle Eyes.
And finally...I drew upon Vengeance. Dual wield, Shapeshifting Weapon, and Fury Form.
More weapons appeared and my power flared outward explosively.
He needs to die...he needs to die right now! I'LL HIT HIM WITH EVERYTHING I HAVE AND MORE!!!!
I allowed the Eye of Destruction to awaken and the black gauntlets on my hands became heavier with raw destructive power.
The blessing skill continued to strain itself against my curse. Causing me searing agony all over. But I ignored it as much as I could.
Finally...Vengeance and I shot forward as the several thousand weapons surrounding us pointed and opened fire on Difar.
"THIS IS FOR AVERNIA, YOU MONSTER!!! FOR EVERY WORLD YOU'VE DEVOURED!!! ULTIMATE EXTERMINATUS!!!!"
Isabella and Cassandra moved out of the way as Kelvastiol attempted to shield Difar with her body.
She was utterly annihilated as our attacks cut through her and blasted Difar with extreme power. I felt Isabella channeling divine power into my body as the weapons continued to attack. I let go of Vengeance and swung my claw at his eye. It was shining with the white flames of purified divine energy.
The Shadow Dragon was consumed by our might and disappeared without a trace. We were blown back as the attacks finished.
I was caught by Isabella and Vengeance landed without issue. Moments later, the Fury Form dispersed.
It...it didn't work!? How!? How is he still alive!?!?
I looked on as Difar's dragon form shrank back and disappeared. Difar was down on his knees clutching his left eye.
"AAHHHHHHHHHHHH MY EEYYYYEEEEEE!!!!! MY EYE!!!! AHHHHHHH IT BURNS!!!! BY THE ABYSS!!!! AAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"
He let go for a moment and I could see a claw mark had been left over his eye. The left side of his face was partially destroyed and smoldered with white embers.
Furthermore...it wasn't regenerating.
Difar continued to howl in agony as Valtheim appeared in front of him.
"VALTHEIM!!!! VALTHEIM!!!! GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!! TAKE ME TO THE ABYSS!!!!" Difar screamed.
"O-o-orders...received...ceived... I...I...I...obey. Obey...I obey... Kill...interlopers.... Erase...devour...vour....devour...destroy. I will...destroy....obey..."
She cloaked Difar in a Void eye and he disappeared. Then she looked at me and smiled sinisterly.
"How dare you...harm lord...lord...lord...D-difar. I'll...kill. Kill...you all...."
Valtheim took as step towards us and I severed the Elder Core from Tanavol.
"No...we're leaving. We'll deal with you another day," I said.
The ground began to rumble as the remaining monoliths in the surrounding area started to collapse.
"As...as...as if....as if you have...a ch-ch-choice...?" Valtheim said.
"Isabella, get everyone to the ship. Use your teleportation...whatever you have to do..." I said.
My body was in intense pain. I couldn't move at all.
Isabella nodded and teleported me to the ship. I was placed in the captain's chair and I looked out to see everyone moving quickly towards the Cursebreaker.
Stella continued to fight Valtheim and repel her, but...
Valtheim began to fight with more chaotic intensity. Multiple Valtheims appeared and tried to attack from every angle. But Stella held firm as the remaining crew members boarded through Isabella's teleportation.
Finally...
"HANG ON, EVERYONE!!!!" Rastair shouted.
The Cursebreaker lurched and flew away from Valtheim.
With the remaining strength I had, I allowed Eris to activate Black Mask. She opened a portal to the Order realm and we flew through it.
Luckily...it closed before Valtheim could travel through it.
Although, that didn't matter anymore.
She appeared behind the ship as soon as we exited it.
Without the Elder Core, there was no longer any interference preventing her from traveling freely.
We moved quickly to the crystal castle owned by Estelyn.
"What are we doing here!?" I said.
"You have an agreement to keep, don't you!?" Rastair said.
"IS THIS REALLY THE TIME!?!?" I shouted.
"Master, I will keep Valtheim at bay. Please focus on evacuating Estelyn and her people," Stella said.
"Tch...fine..." I said.
I felt Isabella's power flow into me and stood up. She teleported us into the castle below. We now stood before a very panicked Estelyn.
"M-Mizik!? You're alive!?!?" Estelyn said.
The ground was shaking violently at this point.
"NO TIME TO EXPLAIN!!! TANAVOL IS BREAKING APART!!! GET EVERYONE IN HERE NOW!!!" I shouted.
"Y-yes!!! Right away!" Estelyn said.
She held out her hands and many portals appeared in the room. Approximately fifty incubi and succubi appeared around us in the throne room.
"Everyone! We're leaving!" Estelyn said.
"Let's go," Isabella said.
Before she could start teleporting people, something blasted the ceiling off of the castle. A massive tentacle made of energy had blown a hole in the roof.
"ALRIGHT! EVERYONE INTO THE GRAVITY LIFT!!! MOVE IT!!!" Rastair's voice said.
The gravity lift was deployed and everyone ran towards it. After a minute or so, Isabella and I followed.
And as soon as we were on the ship, Isabella teleported us back to the bridge.
"GET US OUT OF HERE!" I shouted.
"One second..." Rastair said as she hit a button.
"Stella is entering the ship once again..." Virtus said.
"Aaaand done! Let's go!!!" Rastair said.
She hit a button and the ship shook as several anchors connected to the bottom of it. The Cursebreaker was pulled through and sent straight to Excelsis.
We passed through the barrier without any issues and connected to the platform.
My heart was beating a mile a minute...
"Is it over...?" Isabella said cautiously.
"No... We're safe for now, but there might be a new problem on the loose..." I said.
"Valtheim," Cassandra said.
I nodded.
"Darling, Valtheim might be capable of acting on her own now. If that's the case..."
"Creation is in even more danger than ever before. Valtheim needs to die," I said.
"Will it be okay? Can we win?" Isabella said.
Stella entered the bridge and dropped to her knees. She breathed a sigh of relief as she saw me.
"I think we'll be fine as long as we have Stella..." I said.
"I'm positive that I can help!" Stella said with a smile.
"Right...and I'm really sorry about-"
Stella held up her hands.
"No! Master...without that, I would've been overwhelmed. None of us would have survived that battle. It hurt a lot...but as long as it was for my Master, it's perfectly fine!" Stella said.
"Sheesh...how did these girls get so loyal to you, anyway?" Aldaril said.
"I couldn't explain it even if I tried..." I said.
All of us relaxed as I looked out on the landscape of Excelsis. The massive and glorious city we now called home. Our fortress.
We were now one step closer to victory. All we needed was a bit of time.
Sure, I lacked the potency required to fully kill Difar there...but that didn't matter.
With enough effort, I was certain that I could pull it off. And the Eyes of Tanavol had given us so much to experiment with. I couldn't wait to get started.
But as these thoughts crossed my mind I laid my had back on the chair and closed my eyes.
I was tired...
Tanavol had been a nightmare, but it was finally over.
Soon...we would begin our fight against Valtheim. It was only a matter of time.
END OF PART 5: EYES OF TANAVOL