The air was heavy with blood and silence.
Dzeth stood amidst the remnants of battle, his daggers dripping with the lifeblood of the now-fallen Hydro Paladin. His eyes were locked onto the mangled form of Syiro—her head severed, her body crumpled like a broken doll. Not far away, Hwang lay against the cracked stone wall, blood flowing from his mouth, his breathing ragged.
Dzeth's knees weakened. "No… I won't lose any of you…" he whispered, voice cracking as he collapsed beside Syiro.
He gently picked up her lifeless body, holding her close. "Not like this… not after everything…" A tear fell from his eye and landed on her cheek. He turned to Hwang, who was barely conscious, coughing blood with every breath.
There was only one way.
"Bloodbane Drain Arts…" Dzeth muttered under his breath, raising both hands as red energy began to swirl around his arms. It was a forbidden art, used only by those willing to pay a part of their own life for another's.
His hands glowed red as he pressed his palms against Syiro and Hwang's chests. A powerful surge of energy exploded from his body, and the entire Stage 4 chamber began to tremble. Bloodbane Drain Arts transferred life essence into the fallen just enough to pull them back from the brink of death.
Syiro's severed head slowly began to mend with her body, as the red energy stitched together muscle, bone, and soul. Hwang's internal bleeding stopped, and his eyes widened.
Dzeth screamed as part of his own life drained away. His hands trembled. His skin grew pale. But he didn't care.
He couldn't let them go.
Moments later, Syiro's fingers twitched. She gasped for air. Her eyes fluttered open.
"Dzeth…?" she whispered.
"I'm here," he said, forcing a smile through his pain.
Hwang coughed but sat up, breathing heavily. "You… saved us…"
Dzeth nodded slowly, barely able to stay on his feet. "I won't… let my family die."
Together, the three stood wounded, but alive.
A short while later, they moved towards the entrance of Portal Level 4.
The energy was far more sinister here. The light dimmed as they stepped in, like they had entered the throat of a beast. Stage 1 unfolded before them, revealing chaos in motion.
"Akanza!" Syiro shouted.
There, in the middle of the battlefield, stood Akanza surrounded by dozens of armored Cursed. His swords spun in deadly arcs, clashing against steel and bone.
Dzeth's eyes widened. "He went in without us…"
"Let's help him," Hwang growled.
Without hesitation, they dashed into the fray.
Akanza was holding his ground, but the numbers were overwhelming. One Cursed lunged with a massive axe, but Akanza spun low and sliced through its knees before finishing it with a vertical slash. Another jumped on him from behind but a Crimson Flame bolt from Syiro's palm blasted it mid-air.
"You're late," Akanza smirked, slashing two more Cursed as Dzeth and Hwang joined him.
"Sorry," Dzeth replied. "Had to do some resurrection work."
The battlefield ignited. Dzeth's daggers danced through armored Cursed, slashing joints and piercing through weaknesses in their armor. Syiro's flames painted the battlefield with light, while Hwang and Fenrir tore through the front lines like raging storms.
Akanza's dual-blades locked with a larger, heavier Cursed Knight. Their swords sparked with every strike, until Akanza finally parried and drove his blade straight through the knight's visor.
The last of the Cursed screamed, then fell.
-
Stage 1 cleared.
They didn't pause. Their momentum carried them to Stage 2, where a swarm of elite Cursed archers and assassins awaited them in a shadowed fortress. Arrows rained, but Dzeth opened a Dimensional Barrier, shielding the team. Akanza dashed through the side path, flanking the archers.
Syiro took the center, igniting the ground beneath her in a wide flame wave, while Hwang launched Fenrir into the air to tear through the enemy's archers from above.
Dzeth warped from shadow to shadow, slashing throats and vanishing before enemies could react. They fought as one precision, rage, and survival driving them forward.
They pushed through the fortress in a relentless wave of power.
-
Stage 2 cleared.
Stage 3 was a labyrinth of mirrored illusions. The cursed manipulated reflections, making it almost impossible to determine friend from foe.
Dzeth closed his eyes. "Don't trust your sight trust your instinct."
With every step, they destroyed false versions of each other. Syiro almost burned Akanza by accident, but Dzeth grabbed her wrist just in time. "That's the real him!"
Using Dimensional Pulse, Dzeth sent shockwaves that shattered all illusions, revealing the true enemies.
They were fast shadow assassins with blades coated in toxin but Dzeth outpaced them, leaving afterimages while his daggers made contact with perfect precision.
One by one, the illusions were destroyed.
-
Stage 3 cleared.
They gathered their breath. Blood stained their gear, exhaustion heavy in their bones. But they kept moving.
-
Stage 4.
As they stepped forward, they saw him.
A towering knight of void-colored armor, glowing faintly with purple static.
Void Paladin.
His presence bent the space around him. The air was cold. Too cold.
Dzeth's pupils shrank. "That armor… no doubt. A Void Paladin."
Hwang gritted his teeth. "Let's do this together."
Syiro's flames ignited again. Akanza's blades shimmered. Dzeth summoned the entirety of his Divine Army. Millions surged forward like a celestial tide, golden armor reflecting the dark abyss before them.
The Void Paladin raised his hand and shadows emerged from the ground. Dark soldiers. Millions of them. A perfect counter.
-
War began.
The Divine Army clashed with Void's Legion, sky and earth ripped apart by the sheer magnitude of power.
Dzeth moved first, warping behind the Void Paladin, aiming his daggers at his neck but was parried effortlessly.
Clang!
The Void Paladin countered with a black shockwave, sending Dzeth crashing into a stone pillar.
Hwang and Fenrir charged. The beast bit into the Paladin's side while Hwang struck from above. But the enemy's armor was nearly impenetrable.
Syiro launched a barrage of fire blasts, each one brighter than the last. Akanza coordinated with her, slicing through shadow clones trying to flank her.
-
The battlefield was chaotic.
Thousands died every second. Divine soldiers and Void minions alike vanished in bursts of energy.
Dzeth returned, blood trickling from his forehead. He clashed with the Void Paladin again, this time using Dimensional Rift to break time slightly, slowing the world.
He struck faster. Harder.
Still, the Void Paladin adapted, slashing Dzeth's side and driving him into the ground.
Hwang took his place, Fenrir catching a blade meant for Dzeth. "You're not dying today!"
Akanza stabbed from behind but was thrown back by a Void burst.
Syiro screamed and unleashed Crimson Destruction, burning away hundreds of shadow soldiers and finally charring a part of the Void Paladin's armor.
For a moment, it looked like the Void Paladin was weakening.
But he roared, and the sky above split. The entire battlefield was torn asunder. Dzeth and the others struggled to stand in the gravitational pressure.
The Void Paladin raised his sword. "Now perish."
He dove down sword aimed at Dzeth.
"DZETH!!" everyone screamed.
But just before the blade struck
Clang!
A second blade intercepted.
Standing there was another Void Paladin but different. Radiating Divine aura.
Void Paladin (Divine).
"Get up," the newcomer said. "You're not alone."
The clash between the two Void Paladins was unlike anything seen before. One of darkness. One of celestial balance.
The shockwaves alone destroyed entire legions on both sides.
Void Paladin (Divine) fought like a storm every move fluid, devastating, holy.
"Let's end this together!" Dzeth shouted.
He activated Heavenly Dimension.
The domain closed around the enemy Void Paladin, trapping him in an endless mirror of dimensions.
With a single nod, Void Paladin (Divine) and Dzeth combined their final strike.
A double slash light and void cut through space, time, and armor.
The Void Paladin screamed, his body torn apart as the explosion consumed the battlefield.
When the light faded, only silence remained.
The Divine Army knelt. The shadows were gone.
-
Stage 4 cleared.
Dzeth fell to his knees, breathing heavily.
Syiro and Hwang stumbled to his side. Akanza stood quietly, watching the Divine Paladin vanish into mist.
"Who… was he?" Syiro whispered.
Dzeth smiled weakly. "Someone who believes in this fight…"
They gathered what remained of their strength.
The portal to Level 5 appeared ahead of them, swirling like a storm waiting to swallow them whole.
"We rest here," Dzeth said. "Just for a moment."
They sat in silence, the ruins around them echoing with memories of the battle.
Ahead was the unknown.
But they would face it together.