The Devourer roared with limitless fury as it charged through the frozen wasteland, tearing through reality itself in its mad rush toward Azrael, who had been hurled millions of kilometers away.
Nevaeh, trembling, could no longer bear the despair or the screams echoing across the frozen abyss. Her divine axe, Rita, began to burn brighter than the very hells of creation as her aura ignited into a sun of divine rage.
Nevaeh: I can't take this anymore! —she raised her axe, her voice breaking through the storm— That thing must already be weakened!
With a roar of defiance, she charged forward, her golden weapon blazing like the birth of a new star. Just as the Devourer leaped into the air, ready to crush the buried Azrael beneath its colossal form, Nevaeh unleashed a burning sun, a sphere of divine energy so bright and hot it rivaled a multiverse of supernovas. The explosion struck the monster directly.
Nevaeh:I won't let you hurt them any longer!
Azrael's eyes widened as the frozen sky erupted in blinding light. Rising from the shattered ice, he regenerated his broken arms and the deep wounds that covered his body.
Azrael: That was… incredible. I knew it, you have the potential to surpass me, even at my best.
Nevaeh: (blushing) N-no… that's impossible. You're too powerful at your peak.
Azrael: (chuckling softly) Maybe… but someday, you will. —His gaze sharpened as he watched the dense fog left behind by Nevaeh's sun.— That must've hurt him, though I doubt it killed him.
Nevaeh: Yeah… I can feel it too. He's still alive.
The mist grew thicker, swallowing sight and sound alike. Azrael closed his eyes, extending his perception, and then he felt it. The Devourer's energy had weakened, yet its presence was infinitely more terrifying.
A roar shattered the silence. The ground split apart as the fog exploded outward, and from the crater emerged a new form of the Devourer, no longer massive, but condensed into a four-meter titan, its aura a storm of unstoppable power. Its body was sheathed in reinforced ice, shards of crystalline frost jutting from its arms, and its eyes blazed with pure, murderous rage.
Azrael: This isn't good… his energy just skyrocketed!
Nevaeh: This can't get any worse-
In the blink of an eye, the Devourer was already in front of her. One movement, faster than thought, ripped through the air as it swung a blow powerful enough to rend space-time itself.
Azrael lunged forward, shoving Nevaeh aside and taking the strike head-on. The impact obliterated his arms and shattered half of his torso.
Azrael: Grrh… faster… and stronger than before!
He crashed into the frozen ground, cushioning the fall with his control over gravity. Nevaeh rushed toward him, swinging her blazing axe, but the Devourer caught the weapon effortlessly.
Nevaeh: It can't be-!
The creature hurled her skyward, its mouth opening as freezing energy condensed inside. The very air turned solid around her.
Azrael:Nevaeh,NO!
Ignoring his agony, Azrael forced his body to move, flooding himself with gravitational energy. His muscles tore, his wounds bled light, but he refused to stop.
Azrael: Damn you! I won't let you hurt her!
With his final reserves, he unleashed everything. Reality itself trembled. Space folded in on itself. Gravity twisted wildly. Snow began to rise into the heavens, and the frozen mountains and seas levitated as the world cracked beneath his power.
The Devourer roared and charged, grabbing Azrael by the neck.
Azrael: Got you… right where I wanted, monster.
He gripped the beast's arm with his left hand and raised his shadowed blade with his right.
Azrael: THIS… ENDS… NOW!
He screamed as his sword came down, time itself slowing to a breath. The Devourer struggled, its titanic might straining, but Azrael multiplied its gravity infinitely, pinning it in place.
Nevaeh: (crying out) Azrael, no! That's suicide! That thing will kill you first!
Azrael: I WON'T DIE!
Nevaeh froze, her voice faltering. She wanted to stop him, but her tears fell as she chose instead to honor his resolve.
Azrael smiled, and then struck.
The slash connected. A blinding wave of destruction engulfed the frozen hell, tearing through dimensions, distorting space and time themselves.
When the light finally faded, Azrael was still standing. Barely. But the Devourer was not dead.
As the dust cleared, the monster's massive hand gripped Azrael's wrist,the same hand that held his sword. It had caught the blow.
Azrael's strength failed him. The Devourer flung him aside like a broken doll, then conjured a massive icicle spike that pierced his stomach, impaling him against a frozen mountain.
Nevaeh: (screaming through tears) HOW DARE YOU!
She poured every last drop of energy into her weapon and charged. The Devourer sensed her intent before she moved. She struck with divine fury,but he dodged and countered with a brutal knee to her chest.
Still, she refused to fall. She conjured a miniature sun inside the monster's open mouth.
Nevaeh: If this doesn't kill you… it'll turn you to ashes for centuries!
But the Devourer, cunning and cruel, exhaled an arctic breath that froze the sun before it could detonate, launching it away.
Nevaeh: No… it can't be-
Its claw came down toward her head,ready to erase her completely.
And then.
A flash.
Null appeared. Faster than sight. Beyond logic. He pushed Nevaeh aside just as the blow shredded the air where she had stood.
Nevaeh: (wide-eyed) I'm… alive?
She looked at Null,but he was no longer the same. His body flickered, glitching like broken code. His face distorted, darker than the void itself, and his eyes displayed glowing text: [ERROR], then [ANOMALY], alternating every two seconds.
Nevaeh: Null? Is that you… or what are you?
Meanwhile, far away in theForest of the Creator, Alcanor opened his eyes beneath an ancient tree.
Alcanor: Hm? What is this disturbance? Azrael? No… he's nearly dead. Nevaeh? No… Then who? Why can't my omniscience perceive it? Could it be… Null?
He stood, a faint smile curling his lips.
Alcanor: So I was right… an anomaly beyond existence itself. A being even my all-seeing eye cannot detect. (laughs softly) Null,if your power now shakes the infinite layers of the Red Moon's reality, I can only imagine what will happen when you reach me.
In an instant, Alcanor vanished.and reappeared in the Frozen Hell, unaffected by the apocalyptic cold.
Alcanor: And there's no way I'm missing this.
Null —no longer mortal, but pure Anomaly— looked at the Devourer.In a heartbeat, he vanished from sight,reappearing right before the monster.The Devourer swung with all its might,but Null stopped the attack with a single hand.