The world was dead.
The rain no longer fell.
Every droplet remained suspended in the air, frozen like a thousand glass pearls abandoned by time itself.
The flames consuming Eryndor no longer illuminated anything.
They had become black.
Absolutely black.
They devoured light instead of producing it.
Darkness stretched endlessly across the horizon.
The gutted skyscrapers were nothing more than ghostly silhouettes standing in the night.
Even the advertising holograms had vanished.
As though the entire city had been erased from existence.
At the center of that silent apocalypse, Vapula advanced.
Slowly.
His spear rested upon his shoulder.
Rings of black energy rotated around its blade, tearing space apart with every revolution.
Each step made the ground tremble.
Each breath released purple vapor that corrupted the air itself.
And yet...
he smiled.
Always.
— Magnificent...
His voice echoed through the ruins.
— This is what a true battlefield looks like.
Several dozen meters away, Seven struggled to stand.
His left arm still hung uselessly.
Broken.
His entire body screamed in agony.
Every movement sent pain shooting through his bones.
But that was nothing compared to the pressure now emanating from Vapula.
It was different.
Deeper.
Older.
As though something was watching from behind the demon's eyes.
Something hungry.
Nils approached.
His breathing was uneven.
Blood still dripped from his fingers.
— Seven...
— Get back.
— Huh?
— Get back.
The angel's tone left no room for argument.
His eyes never left Vapula.
He was observing.
Analyzing.
Calculating.
Ever since the activation of the Chao Mode...
something had felt wrong.
Suddenly, Vapula burst into laughter.
Then he vanished.
The air exploded.
The demon reappeared before them in a sonic detonation.
His spear descended.
The ground shattered.
Seven grabbed Nils by the jacket and hurled him out of the trajectory.
A second later, an entire avenue disappeared beneath the impact.
The asphalt erupted upward.
Nearby buildings collapsed.
A shockwave tore through multiple city blocks.
Then...
Vapula's ether increased.
Only slightly.
But it increased.
Seven narrowed his eyes.
Vapula reappeared atop a ruined skyscraper.
— Run, little angel.
— ...
— You cannot win.
His aura swelled.
Again.
As if nourished by something unseen.
The demon slowly raised one hand toward the sky.
— Nigrum Astra.
The darkness above Eryndor fractured.
Dozens of glowing points appeared.
Black.
Black stars.
Suspended within the void.
Then they fell.
The city trembled.
The demonic meteors crashed all around them.
Entire districts were annihilated.
Explosions erupted one after another.
One.
Two.
Ten.
Twenty.
Each impact transformed the streets into oceans of black fire.
Seven leapt between the detonations.
His torn wings struggled to keep him airborne.
But that was not what caught his attention.
It was something else.
After every act of destruction...
Vapula's ether increased.
Again.
And again.
And again.
The demon noticed.
His grin widened.
— Oh?
A black meteor crashed behind him.
His aura exploded outward.
— Did you see something?
Seven remained silent.
His gaze swept across the ruins.
The destroyed buildings.
The pulverized avenues.
The twisted metal carcasses.
Then Vapula.
Then the ruins.
Then Vapula again.
Again.
Again.
Until he understood.
— I see.
The demon burst into laughter.
A huge laugh.
Almost joyful.
— HAHAHAHAHA!
The sky vibrated.
— THERE!
He pointed directly at Seven.
— At last, an opponent worthy of this battlefield!
Demonic ether exploded around him.
— You figured it out!
Seven tightened his grip on his scythe.
— Your Curse.
Vapula's smile widened further.
— Continue.
— You don't grow stronger through wounds.
— ...
— Nor through souls.
— ...
— You become stronger every time something is destroyed.
Silence fell.
Then Vapula slowly applauded.
— Correct.
Space trembled.
— Miseria Rex.
Black flames erupted behind him.
— The King of Ruins.
His gaze became insane.
Hungry.
Brilliant.
— The more the world collapses...
— The stronger I become.
A building behind him crumbled.
His aura immediately increased.
— Magnificent, isn't it?
Seven said nothing.
His mind was already racing.
A strategy was taking shape.
And it was exactly what he needed.
Because he now understood one thing.
He could no longer win a battle of attrition.
Not against this.
Not against a monster that literally fed upon the destruction of the city.
His eyes drifted toward Nils.
Then toward a section of the city that had already been flattened hundreds of meters away.
A vast empty zone.
A desert of pulverized concrete.
Nothing left to destroy.
Nothing left to absorb.
Then...
he smiled.
A subtle smile.
Almost invisible.
And for the first time since the battle had begun...
Vapula felt a chill run down his spine.
— Nils.
— Yeah?
— I figured out how to kill him.
The boy blinked.
— Seriously?
— Yes.
Seven slowly raised his scythe.
His blue eyes met the demon's.
— But I'll need three minutes.
Nils' smile vanished.
Three minutes.
In a fight like this...
that was an eternity.
— What are you planning?
Seven inhaled deeply.
His ether began to condense.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
Like an invisible tide.
— The Abode of the Dead.
Even Vapula stopped smiling.
For a fraction of a second.
Then his expression darkened.
For the first time.
As though he had heard a name he already knew.
Something ancient.
Something even demons disliked mentioning.
And amid the ruins of Eryndor...
the true battle finally began.
---
The first minute was hell.
Seven remained motionless at the center of the devastated battlefield.
Eyes closed.
His twin scythes planted into the ground.
Around him, ether accumulated slowly.
Too slowly.
Every second felt like an hour.
And Vapula understood immediately.
— So that's it...
The demon lowered his spear.
— You're preparing something.
A crack widened across his grin.
— I love it.
The air exploded.
Vapula vanished.
Then reappeared mere meters from Seven.
His spear sliced through space.
— Sepulcrum Bellum.
Hundreds of demonic spears erupted from the earth.
Like a forest of infernal stakes.
They surged upward from every angle.
Seeking to impale Seven.
But a figure burst forward.
Nils.
— Not today!
His bat ignited with blue ether.
He shattered the first spear.
Then the second.
Then the third.
Each impact ripped a cry of pain from his throat.
His arms trembled.
His muscles tore apart.
But he continued.
The stakes exploded around him in showers of blue sparks.
Vapula laughed.
— You truly think you can protect him?
Another wave appeared.
Larger.
Faster.
Nils gritted his teeth.
Then leapt.
The teenager charged directly through the storm of spears like a possessed man.
Demonic metal tore through his arms.
His shoulder.
His back.
Blood splashed across the concrete.
Yet not a single weapon reached Seven.
Not one.
At the center of the battlefield, the angel continued gathering ether.
The countdown moved forward.
Two minutes remaining.
Vapula sighed.
— Pathetic.
Then he raised his hand toward the sky.
The black flames throughout Eryndor began converging.
Thousands.
Tens of thousands.
As though the entire city burned solely for him.
— Rex Ruinae.
The ruins disintegrated.
Collapsed towers.
Burned vehicles.
Destroyed bridges.
Everything became black dust.
And that dust was absorbed into Vapula.
His aura doubled instantly.
The ground collapsed beneath his feet.
Even space itself seemed unable to endure such power.
Nils felt his blood run cold.
For the first time...
he truly understood.
They were fighting a monster.
Not a demon.
Not a soldier.
A living catastrophe.
Vapula looked toward Seven.
— You're right.
His voice echoed across the city.
— I've already lost.
Silence fell.
Nils blinked.
Then the demon's smile widened.
— Because soon there will be nothing left to destroy.
Seven slightly opened one eye.
Vapula was laughing again.
Still laughing.
Always laughing.
— But that changes nothing.
His aura exploded.
— I still possess enough power to kill you a hundred times.
The demon vanished.
The next instant—
Agony exploded through Nils' chest.
He coughed blood.
Vapula's spear had pierced straight through him.
Time seemed to stop.
The teenager looked down.
The black spearhead protruded from his back.
His entire body trembled.
— NILS!
Seven's scream echoed through the ruins.
Vapula smiled.
Then violently ripped the weapon free.
Nils was launched dozens of meters away.
His body bounced across the concrete.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Before finally stopping.
Blood spread around him.
And despite everything...
he still tried to stand.
His legs shook.
His arm refused to move.
Yet he stood anyway.
— Haha...
Blood flowed from his mouth.
— That... kinda hurts...
Vapula remained silent.
Then his gaze changed.
For the first time.
He was truly looking at Nils.
— Why?
Nils spat blood.
— Huh?
— Why stand up?
The demon tilted his head.
— You know you're going to die.
— ...
— So why?
The boy remained silent for several seconds.
Then he smiled.
A simple smile.
Tired.
Human.
— Because he's my friend.
Silence.
Even the flames seemed to hesitate.
Vapula stared at him.
For a long moment.
Then he burst into laughter.
A huge laugh.
Wild.
Almost sincere.
— HAHAHAHAHA!
The demon raised his spear toward the sky.
— Magnificent.
Black ether erupted.
— Truly magnificent.
Then his expression turned cold.
Murderous.
— Dies Irae.
The world screamed.
The sky fractured.
Black storms appeared above Eryndor.
Violet lightning struck the ruins.
The remaining buildings were obliterated.
Columns of black fire tore through the city.
Reality itself seemed to be dying.
Nils felt his legs give out.
This time...
he could no longer move.
It was over.
Vapula advanced.
Slowly.
His spear rose.
The final blow.
Then...
something changed.
The demon stopped.
His smile disappeared.
The air had changed.
Completely.
The wind had stopped.
The flames had stopped.
The noise had stopped.
As though the universe itself were holding its breath.
Vapula turned around.
And his heart froze.
Seven stood there.
Eyes still closed.
An immense tide of ether spiraled around him.
Thousands of luminous particles drifted through the air.
Like souls.
Like memories.
Like the dead.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
The angel opened his eyes.
A deep lapis-lazuli blue emerged.
Profound.
Infinite.
Terribly calm.
At that moment—
Vapula understood.
This was not a technique.
Not a spell.
Not even an Arcane.
It was an authority.
A law.
A truth.
Something that had existed before kingdoms.
Before wars.
Before demons.
Before angels.
And for the first time in centuries...
Vapula felt fear.
Real fear.
Pure.
Instinctive.
Primitive.
The angel slowly raised his head.
Then his voice crossed the ruins of Eryndor.
Calm.
Gentle.
Inevitable.
— Arcane: Abode of the Dead.
The darkness answered.
And throughout the city...
the dead opened their eyes.