The Harbinger swung a limb the size of a tower pillar.
Ethan dove beneath it, rolling through ash and shattered earth. He slammed his palm against the creature's leg.
"Calamity Surge!"
Power erupted through him.
[All Stats Temporarily Multiplied x3]
For a heartbeat, the world slowed.
He drove his fist upward.
The impact cracked obsidian bone.
The Harbinger staggered.
[Damage Dealt: Significant]
Ethan blinked.
"I can hurt it."
The creature responded by grabbing him.
There was no time to react.
Massive skeletal fingers closed around his torso and lifted him skyward.
Pressure crushed his ribs.
[HP Reduced: 9%]
[Lethal Damage Imminent]
Ethan coughed blood.
"Well," he rasped. "Good thing I've got one of those."
The Harbinger tightened its grip—
Everything went black.
He inhaled sharply.
The world snapped back into place.
He was falling.
[Death's Echo Activated]
[Lethal Damage Negated]
[All Stats Permanently Increased +15%]
Wind roared past his ears as he plummeted.
The Harbinger recoiled slightly, violet flames flickering erratically.
It had felt it.
Death rejecting death.
Authority surged inside Ethan like a tidal wave.
[Authority Increased]
Minor (Death-touched) → Lesser (Death-Bound)
[Hidden Protocol Unlocked: Requiem Protocol – Phase I]
Cold understanding flooded his mind.
He did not know the words.
But he spoke them anyway.
"Requiem."
The shadow beneath the Harbinger rippled.
Then it rose.
Not as flame.
Not as light.
But as a mirror of the creature itself—formed entirely of condensed death-mist.
The Harbinger turned slowly.
For the first time—
It hesitated.
Ethan landed hard, coughing, vision swimming.
The shadow-construct attacked.
Claw met claw.
Obsidian shattered.
The two titans clashed in a storm of black lightning.
[Requiem Construct Strength: 72% of Target]
[Duration: Limited]
Ethan staggered upright.
"So that's what was locked…"
The caravan survivors stared in stunned silence.
One of them—a young woman in silver-plated armor—looked at Ethan with wide eyes.
"Who is he…?"
The battle reached a crescendo.
The construct wrapped both arms around the Harbinger and dragged it backward toward the original fracture in the earth.
The abyss pulsed hungrily.
Ethan felt the timer ticking in his bones.
"Grave Step."
He blinked atop a jagged outcropping overlooking the abyss.
The Harbinger clawed free of the construct and lunged upward—
Straight at him.
Its skull opened, revealing a singular core of condensed void-light.
[Core Exposed]
[Critical Weak Point Identified]
Ethan gathered everything.
Mana.
Authority.
The lingering echo of death itself.
He jumped.
Midair, he thrust both hands forward.
"Requiem—collapse."
The shadow construct detonated.
All its remaining energy funneled into Ethan's outstretched palms.
A beam of pale-blue deathlight pierced the Harbinger's core.
Silence fell.
Then—
The Calamity shattered.
The abyssal fracture sealed with a thunderclap.
The storm vanished.
Moonlight returned.
Ethan fell the remaining distance and crashed into scorched earth.