Leo's muscles strained against the giant's fists. Each blow carried the weight of the worlds.
The sound of impact was no longer a series of thunderclaps. It had already merged into a continuous roar. And through the maelstrom, he caught glimpses of movement.
Dark, writhing shapes.
Purging what little light remained.
The hovering black mist surged forward, its tendrils wrapping around the giant's massive form. The darkness pulsed, stretched, and then took shape, like clay molded by unseen hands.
Four new arms erupted from the giant's back. Each was a perfect mirror of its original limbs.
The assault found a new rhythm.
Six arms moved in terrible, perfect synchronization. Each blow landed with surgical precision, guided by an intelligence far beyond mere brutality. The impacts sent shockwaves through Leo's body that reverberated in his soul.
Blood filled his mouth.
Hot.
Each labored breath was a struggle against ribs. He swallowed, the copper taste a grim reminder of his own mortality.
His vision swam, everything started to blur, like a camera lens struggling to focus. His interface, his window into this world's rules, offered nothing.
Silence.
No status window.
Not even an indicator above her head.
She should be...
His thoughts scattered as another wave of attacks crashed down. Each hit felt like being dragged into the depths of an endless ocean, the pressure mounting until his bones creaked.
She should just be...
His vision bled into shadow.
Leo's muscles screamed. He forced himself to move, to try and stand, but his legs won't budge, refusing to cooperate. He raised his head, eyes blazing with defiance.
Until it was met by another devastating combination. The blows sent him crashing back into the crater that had become his prison.
"You cling to numbers like a child to a comfort blanket," the Shadow Elder laughed.
"But this world howls at your need to measure the infinite."
Her voice seemed to distort the air itself.
"There are powers far older than your system, little adventurer. Forces that exist in the spaces between what can be measured and quantified."
Then, a jolt lanced across his face.
For a heartbeat, his thoughts crystallized with absolute clarity. Every sense heightened to a knife's edge. But the moment shattered. The Shadow Elder's suppression continues to bear down.
The giant's six arms spread wide in a twisted parody of an embrace before converging on Leo at once.
Shockwaves tore through the earth in every direction.
The interface flickered faintly at the edge of his vision, then faded completely.
Nothing.
Suffocating and absolute warning.
This power existed outside the system, a chasm so deep and ancient that no measure could ever contain it.
And Leo was sinking into its depths, unable to fight the pull.
After a long silence, the familiar voices finally resurfaced. They began as just murmurs, whispers on a dying wind at the edge of his awareness. Then, each note grew sharper, cutting through the din with chilling clarity.
Their combined plea became an inescapable force.
Help...
The word echoed through his consciousness. It was a haunting chorus of souls speaking in fragmented unity. Children's prayers mixed with the weathered tones of the elderly. The strong voices of adults merging with the trembling whispers of the weak.
Help us...
A broken laugh escaped Leo's bloodied lips. His shoulders sagged, the last vestiges of resistance draining away.
Begging for salvation from a man who couldn't even save himself.
The voices swelled like a dark tide, their desperate pleas weaving themselves into the Shadow Elder's deadly orchestra. Each cry became a note in a twisted composition, a masterpiece of despair that echoed through reality.
Then, they spoke directly to him.
We can help you...
The words slithered through his mind, carrying promises as dark as the mist writhing around him. A bitter smile touched Leo's face as the last rays of light filtered through his blood-clouded vision.
Clear your minds first, he projected into the void.
Whether you want to help or be helped... start there.
The darkness closed in, like curtains drawing shut on a macabre performance. As consciousness slipped away, the tension in his face softened into an expression of strange peace. His thoughts drifted to a face he'd sworn never to forget.
Amanda...
The name passed his lips in a bare whisper, heavy with promises unkept.
I'm sorry... I failed you again.
The last thought faded, swallowed by the chaos. The giant's assault continued, each strike falling on a body that no longer resisted.
Through the veil of encroaching darkness, a single voice sliced through the cacophony.
A sound so achingly familiar, it was like the first breath after drowning. It resonated not in his ears, but in the marrow of his being, anchoring him to a reality he was about to lose.
Help me...
Memories flashed behind his eyes. Laughter under a golden sky. A smile he'd promised to protect. His chest tightened.
Amanda...
The name slipped from his lips, trembling with anguish and resolve. The embers of his will flickered. Fragile, but alive.