The eclipse pulsed violently as Lyra doubled her army.
Small winged demons—twisted silhouettes with blade-like limbs—burst from the darkness and hurled themselves at Asuma in swarms.
He moved without hesitation.
Steel flashed.
Black flames roared along his blade.
He carved through them midair, burning entire waves into ash before they could reach him. Their bodies disintegrated into shadow fragments that dissolved in the false night.
He surged upward again—
Only to be slammed sideways by a wall of condensed shadow.
Lyra never stopped pressuring him.
Every time he gained altitude—
A beam.
A barrage.
A crushing wave of darkness knocked him back.
He crashed into the streets once more.
Demons pounced instantly.
He tore through them brutally, almost mechanically.
But he could feel it now.
The Blood Primordial's power was thinning.
His aura was dropping.
His veins burned from overuse.
He didn't have long.
One decisive strike.
That was all he needed.
But as he looked up at Lyra—
A memory flickered.
Latriys laughing by the lake.
Her promising Anami she would help him.
His grip faltered.
How could he save her?
"You can."
The whisper slid into his mind.
The witch.
"How?" he growled internally.
"The princess," she replied smoothly. "Her eyes are both the key and the seal to the Noctyrix."
His brow furrowed.
"The key... and the seal?"
She revealed the old covenant—Urillia's great-grandfather and the Holy Church. The Draak Eyes were used to seal the Noctyrix originally. They were designed to dominate the shadow Queen.
"If the princess reaches her core," the witch continued, "she can reverse the awakening and reassert the seal."
"Then what's stopping us?"
"The eclipse," she answered. "It amplifies her dominion. It must fall first."
Asuma understood.
He had to shatter the domain completely.
He drove his sword into the earth.
Then began drawing every ounce of demonic aura into himself.
His veins bulged violently.
Blood seeped from his skin.
The pain was unbearable.
Lyra sensed it.
Her red eyes narrowed.
She signaled the legion.
Demons swarmed him in a tidal wave.
"Asuma!" Leon shouted.
Amira was already moving.
They appeared at his sides, backs pressed together, cutting down everything that approached.
Lightning and wind tore through shadow flesh.
They didn't ask questions.
They didn't hesitate.
They just protected him.
Behind them, Urillia felt the Phoenix Pact drain her reserves as more power flowed into Amira.
She could only watch.
If Asuma failed—
Everything ended here.
The aura around him peaked.
He ripped his blade free from the stone.
And launched himself upward.
Lyra unleashed thousands of shadow hands.
He sliced through them mid-flight, wings burning crimson.
"Shadow Magic: Grip of the First Beast."
A colossal arm of abyss erupted from nowhere and slammed him back toward the ground.
He blocked—
But was crushed downward.
Stone shattered beneath him.
"We need to help him!" Amira yelled.
She rushed in.
Leon followed.
All three braced against the monstrous limb pressing down on Asuma.
"Look at us," Leon grunted through clenched teeth. "Another insane situation."
"Guess we're fated," Amira added, lightning surging through her arms.
"Are we?" Asuma muttered, blood running down his face.
They exchanged a look.
And smiled.
Then pushed.
Together.
With a united roar, they forced the massive arm upward and shattered it into fragments of shadow.
Instantly, they moved as one.
Amira channeled lightning into Asuma's blade.
Leon wrapped wind magic around him, forming a spiraling current.
The synergy was seamless.
Wind accelerated.
Lightning sharpened.
Blood ignited.
Asuma shot upward like a comet.
Lyra reacted—
But Leon's wind diverted incoming beams.
Amira's lightning shattered approaching constructs before they reached him.
For a brief second—
The path was clear.
Asuma reached her.
And roared:
"Fire Magic: Volcanic Strike!"
His blade descended in a blazing arc infused with fire, blood, lightning, and wind.
The impact detonated the sky.
A catastrophic explosion tore through the eclipse.
Cracks spread across its surface like shattered glass.
Then—
The false sun shattered.
Light poured down in blinding torrents.
The Alter Reality collapsed.
Shadow constructs dissolved mid-scream.
The domain imploded in a storm of breaking darkness.
Lyra was hurled backward by the force of the blast.
Talagra reappeared beneath real daylight—
Ruined.
Burning.
But no longer imprisoned in eternal night.
And for the first time since her awakening—
The Noctyrix was exposed.