The battlefield trembled as Ishamon's construct towered over them, a grotesque colossus of twisted metal and stone, pulsing with eerie, golden energy. The remnants of Erisia—shattered ruins, fractured earth—were dragged into its form, each piece solidifying into jagged armor. Its hollow eyes gleamed with the same burning intensity as Ishamon's, an extension of his fury, his will. The squad stood their ground, breathless, waiting for the inevitable assault.
Leo tightened his grip around his blade, his heart pounding like a war drum. "Alright, we bring it down fast. Don't let up for even a second!"
Kouneli flicked blood from his wrist, his crimson aura pulsating. "No need to tell me twice."
Velvet grinned, spinning their axe. "Big guy's slow. We carve it up."
Übel's eyes darted over the battlefield, already analyzing. "It's incomplete. Structurally weak at its joints—hit those hard enough, and it'll collapse. But be careful. That thing isn't just a body—it's Ishamon's control made manifest. If we hesitate, we die."
With a monstrous groan, the construct lunged, its sheer mass distorting the air. A colossal fist slammed down, splitting the earth where they had stood moments before. Dust and debris exploded outward, shrouding the battlefield in a choking haze.
Leo shot forward, kicking off a shattered pillar and launching himself toward the construct's head. His sword carved a burning arc through the air, aimed at its eye. The construct moved faster than expected, its massive hand intercepting his strike. The force sent Leo spiraling backward, but he twisted mid-air, landing in a crouch.
"Damn thing reacts too fast!" he spat.
"Then let's blind it!" Kouneli shouted, already in motion. His blood-weaved spear elongated, surging toward the construct's head. A crimson lance of power punctured its left eye socket, sending cracks rippling through its form.
The construct howled—an unnatural, grating sound—and retaliated, sweeping its arm outward. Kouneli barely dodged, flipping back as Velvet darted between the shifting rubble, axe flashing. Their axe sliced deep into the exposed joints, severing key supports. The construct stumbled, its massive weight unbalanced.
"It's working! Keep going!" Velvet called, flipping away as the construct swiped at them.
Übel raised a single hand. Ether crackled, forming into a sphere of compressed energy. "If you want it down faster, then move."
The squad scattered. A moment later, Übel unleashed the sphere, and it detonated against the construct's chest, sending shockwaves through its body. The cracks spread, golden light pouring from its wounds. It staggered, collapsing to one knee.
Leo saw his opening. "I'll finish it!" He dashed forward, his sword crackling with energy, but just before he could strike, Ishamon's voice rang out, low and venomous.
"You think I'd let you?"
The construct's core pulsed violently, and in an instant, it regenerated, its broken pieces reforming even stronger. The battlefield rumbled as the air grew thick with an oppressive force.
Übel's eyes narrowed. "He's sacrificing his own soul to keep it standing."
"Then we rip him out," Leo growled. "Velvet, Kouneli! Buy me a path!"
Velvet dashed ahead, zigzagging unpredictably, while Kouneli drove another crimson spear into the construct's shoulder, forcing its head to lurch down. Leo propelled himself upward, using the shifting debris as stepping stones. The construct lashed out, but Velvet was already there, parrying its attack with precise, well-timed strikes.
With a final push, Leo shot through the air, sword poised. His blade drove into the construct's core—straight into Ishamon's manifested will.
For a split second, the battlefield froze. Then, the construct let out a soul-wrenching roar as its body fractured from within, golden cracks splintering across its entire form before it detonated in a blinding explosion of ether.
When the dust settled, only Ishamon remained, kneeling in the ruins. He looked up at Leo, breathing heavily, his body barely holding together. "You... actually did it."
Leo lifted his sword. "This ends here, Duke."
But before he could swing, the world shifted.
Leo found himself standing in an endless void, weightless, as if gravity had ceased to exist. A few feet away stood Ishamon, his form flickering, the deepchime's influence fading away. The former Duke turned, his expression unreadable as he gazed upon Leo.
"So, this is it," Ishamon murmured, his voice devoid of malice. "The end of the path I walked."
"Where are we?" Leo asked cautiously.
"Inside my soul," Ishamon murmured. "This is what remains of me."
The emptiness pressed in from all sides, suffocating in its stillness. In front of them, memories flickered like shattered glass, fragments of Ishamon's life.
The first memory unfolded—a younger Ishamon, arriving in Erisia, battered and lost. He wandered through streets lined with crumbling buildings, ignored by those too consumed with their own survival.
Ishamon sighed, looking into the white abyss. "Erisia was once my home. Not by birth, but by circumstance." His gaze drifted as if seeing something long gone. "I was a wanderer, a man with nothing, arriving on its shores battered and broken. I had lost everything, my past buried under the weight of the sea. But Erisia… it gave me purpose. It gave me a reason to live."
Another scene—a discovery beneath the ruined city. The Forge of Sin, pulsing with forbidden energy.
He turned to face Leo fully now, his expression pained. "I uncovered the Forge of Sin in my time as Duke. At first, I thought it a gift, a means to fortify Erisia, to protect the people who had given me shelter. But the power… it twisted everything. What I sought to defend, I destroyed. The kingdom fell, not to outside forces, but to my own hand."
The next fragment—a burning city, its people screaming as their own desires consumed them, twisted into horrors by the forge's influence.
His hands clenched into fists. "And for that, I carried my guilt every single day. The ghosts of Erisia whisper to me even now. Their voices are in the wind, in the silence, in the ruins that bear witness to my failure."
Leo remained silent, allowing Ishamon to speak, to unburden himself of the past.
"I don't expect forgiveness," Ishamon admitted, a faint, almost wistful smile forming. "But at least now, I can rest. I thought I would die in my sin, bound to this shattered land forever. But you… you have freed me."
He took a step back, his form becoming more translucent. "Thank you, Leo. May you carry your burden better than I did."
Leo opened his mouth to speak, but before the words could come, the void shattered like glass.
The battlefield roared back to life. Duke Erisia stood frozen, a peaceful expression settling over his face. Then, his body dissolved into ether, vanishing into the wind.
All that remained was silence.
Leo exhaled, his grip loosening on his sword as the adrenaline faded. Before him, resting atop the cracked earth, was the only thing left of Erisia's fallen Duke—the Forge of Sin, pulsing with quiet, ominous energy.
The battle was over.