The throne room seemed to tremble as the Crimson Serpent leader unleashed his aura, an ocean of crimson energy that made the very air quake with his sheer presence. The walls cracked, ancient stone splintering under the weight of his overwhelming power. The five warriors, battered and bruised, felt the suffocating pressure pressing down on their shoulders like a mountain ready to crush them. Every breath felt like an eternity, their bodies trembling from exhaustion, but their determination remained steadfast.
Karael gritted his teeth, gripping his blade so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Blood dripped from his armor, staining the shattered floor beneath him. He stepped forward, raising his sword high, the last vestiges of his strength fueling a desperate attack.
"For all we've lost, for all that's left—this ends here!" Karael roared, his voice shaking the room.
He lunged, his blade a blur of motion as he brought it down with all his might. The sound of the strike reverberated like thunder, the force creating a shockwave that split the ground beneath the leader's feet. But the Crimson Serpent leader didn't flinch. His aura flared, crimson light swallowing Karael's attack whole, the blade shattering into a thousand glittering shards. Karael's eyes widened in horror as he was thrown back, his body hitting the ground with a sickening thud.
Elyas darted in from the side, his twin daggers glowing faintly in the dim light. He moved like a shadow, his strikes aimed at the gaps in the leader's armor. But the leader was faster—inhumanly fast. His blade twisted through the air, meeting Elyas' attacks with a precision that bordered on godlike. With one fluid motion, he caught Elyas' wrist, twisting it until the dagger fell from his grip, and flung him across the room like a rag doll. Elyas hit the wall, his body crumpling to the floor, unmoving.
Dain, his face etched with fury and despair, charged with his rapier, its tip gleaming like a needle of light. His strikes were lightning-fast, each one aimed at the leader's heart. But the leader sidestepped effortlessly, his movements as graceful as they were lethal. With a flick of his wrist, he disarmed Dain, his rapier spinning away, and delivered a savage kick that sent him flying, his body skidding across the fractured floor.
"You're all so weak," the leader sneered, his voice dripping with contempt. "Did you really think you could stand against me?"
Liora screamed in defiance, flames erupting around her, the sheer heat melting the stone beneath her feet. A vortex of fire spiraled toward the leader, an inferno so intense that the room glowed a blinding orange. For a moment, it seemed like the flames would consume him entirely. But as the fire cleared, the leader stood untouched, his aura shimmering like an unbreakable shield.
"Pathetic," he spat, raising a hand. A blast of crimson energy shot forth, slamming into Liora with such force that she was thrown back, her flames extinguished. She landed beside Thane, her body motionless.
Thane's icy aura surged to life, frost creeping along the walls as he summoned a storm of jagged ice shards. They shot forward like a hailstorm, each one aimed with deadly precision. But the leader merely laughed, his sword cutting through the ice with ease, the shards shattering into harmless fragments. In a blink, he was upon Thane, his blade slicing through the air. Thane raised his arms to defend, but the impact sent him crashing to the ground, blood staining the frost beneath him.
The room fell silent. One by one, the warriors lay motionless, their bodies broken, their spirits crushed. The Crimson Serpent leader stood among them, his laughter filling the air, twisted and maniacal. His crimson eyes gleamed with triumph as he surveyed the fallen heroes, their lifeless forms scattered like discarded toys.
"This is your end," he hissed, his voice reverberating like the toll of a death knell. "You were never more than insects crawling toward your doom."
Ryan, who had watched in horror, felt a storm brewing within him. His body trembled, not with fear, but with something deeper—rage, despair, and an unrelenting determination. His vision blurred as his mind screamed for him to act, to fight.
And then it happened.
A surge of energy unlike anything he had ever felt coursed through him, igniting every nerve in his body. His chest burned, and his heart pounded like a drumbeat of war. Purple light erupted around him, crackling and roaring like a tempest. The very air seemed to hum with his awakening power, the shattered floor beneath him glowing with his aura.
Ryan's eyes snapped open, blazing with a brilliant purple light. His sword, once dull and battered, came to life, its blade engulfed in a radiant, otherworldly glow. The purple aura wrapped around him, pulsating like a heartbeat, its intensity growing with each passing second.
The Crimson Serpent leader turned slowly, his smile fading as his eyes met Ryan's. For the first time, there was a flicker of surprise—perhaps even fear—on his face.
"So, you've finally decided to join the game," the leader sneered, though his voice wavered slightly. His blade rose, crackling with crimson energy. "Now you're using 100 percent of your power, are you? Good. Let's see if it's enough to amuse me."
Ryan didn't respond. His grip tightened on the sword, and the purple aura around him flared brighter, casting long shadows across the ruined throne room. The energy surrounding him was suffocating, the sheer weight of it making the walls groan as if they might collapse.
He stepped forward, each movement deliberate, his eyes locked on the leader. The room seemed to still, the air itself holding its breath as the two forces prepared to clash. Ryan's aura blazing like a violet inferno, his sword raised high, and the Crimson Serpent leader's laughter echoing in the void—a promise of the earth-shattering battle that was about to begin.