The obsidian plain was a graveyard of hope.
Rain fell upward, black droplets spiraling into the hollow indigo moon like souls fleeing a dying god. The air tasted of endings—cold, metallic, final.
Kamaki's voice cracked through the storm, half-laugh, half-prayer.
"Remember, guys—this is Vanessa. The only shot we've got is to unite. We're used to that."
Tyrone's scythe hummed, shadow-fire licking the blade. "Yeah, I see that. But compare her to anyone—she makes Kazimir look like a bedtime story. She's brutal."
A breath of frost kissed Kamaki's neck.
Vanessa was there.
Not a step. Not a blur. Presence.
Her lips brushed his ear, voice soft as a guillotine.
"You should always keep your eyes on your opponent."
She flicked his forehead.
The world exploded.
A shockwave of pure nothingness detonated from the point of contact. Kamaki's body became a comet—ragdolling through the air, slamming into the others like a meteor of flesh and bone. The ground cratered. Obsidian shards hung suspended, frozen in the blast.
Tyrone and Lihanna rose first—blood on their lips, eyes burning.
"Get up, you two," Lihanna snarled.
Kamaki staggered to his feet, trembling like a corpse reanimated. "Holy shit—I didn't die. God is good—"
"FOCUS!" Lihanna's voice cut like lunar steel. "Less talking. More fighting."
She charged.
Nodachi ignited—lunar arcs slashing the air in silver crescents that screamed. Tyrone followed, scythe spinning, shadow-fire trailing like a comet's tail.
Vanessa moved.
Not dodging—dancing.
She leaned left, right, effortless. Lunar slashes carved the air where she'd been, freezing rain into black glass. Tyrone's scythe came from below—parried with one hand, spear spinning like a planet's axis.
She flung him.
Tyrone flew, shadow-fire scattering like dying stars.
"You're not getting rid of me that easily!"
He teleported—three angles, four—dark energy leaving afterimages that danced like ghosts. Vanessa blocked all with the spear, eyes never leaving Lihanna.
"FELICIA!!" Tyrone roared. "NOW!"
The ground erupted.
A circle of pale blue fire ignited beneath Vanessa—INFERNO. Felicia's voice was a phoenix's scream. Flames swallowed the abyss, rising into the stratosphere, a pillar of rebirth that turned night into day.
Toto's voice cracked across the feeds: "FELICIA JUST SET VANESSA ON FIRE!!"
The crowd held its breath.
The VIP chamber was silent.
Kazimir's smile was a scalpel. "Good effort. But they'll need more."
The flames died.
Vanessa floated in the aftermath—unscathed. Not a hair singed. Her armor drank the fire, blue lines glowing brighter.
Kamaki stared. Felicia's wings flickered, fading.
"I was hoping…" Felicia whispered.
Tyrone stepped beside her, voice grim. "This isn't an easy fight. We're up against a Disciple of the Nullity. Even united—we're outmatched."
Vanessa descended, boots touching obsidian with a click.
"Giving up already?"
Tyrone bared his teeth. "We're taking you down. One way or another."
"I'll believe it when I see it," she said, almost gentle. "But I do believe in you."
Kamaki blinked behind her—blood flame IGNITED in his fist.
He punched.
She sidestepped.
Elbow to spine—CRACK. Kamaki crashed, cratering the ground. She grabbed his jacket, tossed him like trash.
Lihanna lunged.
Blade met spear—CLANG. Sparks of lunar and abyssal light exploded.
"Hmm," Vanessa murmured. "Let's see if my training did any good."
Lihanna's eyes blazed. "You're about to."
They clashed.
Steel on void—each strike a thunderclap. Vanessa blocked, struck, smiled. Lihanna parried, countered, pushed.
They slid back—charged.
Blades connected.
The blast hurled Tyrone, Felicia, and Kamaki off their feet. Obsidian shattered in a perfect circle.
"We should help—" Felicia started.
Tyrone shook his head. "She's holding her own. Better than us."
Kamaki rose, blood on his fangs. "Doesn't matter. We secure this. Lihanna can't surprise her. Vanessa's not even trying. We take the ribbon while she's underestimating us."
Tyrone's eyes narrowed. "That's it. LET'S GO—CHARGE!"
Vanessa unleashed orbs of abyssal energy—black holes that ate light.
Lihanna's eyes flashed violet-blue. She slashed—lunar blade carving through the void, closing distance.
Vanessa smiled.
Spear met sword—CLANG. Lihanna stumbled, off-balance.
"NO!"
She found her footing. Nodachi hummed—lunar energy surged. One swift slash—
Vanessa backflipped, soaring.
But Lihanna was gone.
"Oh. An illusion," Vanessa mused. "Impressive."
She looked up.
Lihanna descended—a comet of lunar wrath, nodachi blazing like a falling star.
Vanessa blasted—abyssal energy roaring upward.
Lihanna cut through it.
Vanessa leaped back—Lihanna crashed, cratering the ground. She blocked the slashes with her arm, grabbed Lihanna's sword wrist—
ELBOW TO CHEST.
Lihanna flew.
Not up—into the sky.
The world shattered.
Reality folded. The atmosphere turned to abyss—stars, sea life, void. Lihanna fell through dimensions, Vanessa's foot crashing down on her skull.
KICK.
The impact warped space. The plain vanished. The moon screamed.
Lihanna crashed—warped into a pocket dimension, the real world snapping back like a broken mirror.
Tyrone, Felicia, and Kamaki stared—horror.
Vanessa turned, voice calm.
"Nothing to worry about. She's safe. Not dead. Just… finding her way back."
She smiled.
"Your turn."
The abyss blinked.
And the three remaining warriors braced for the end.