The cavern trembled with fury as Mary's saber cut through the air, its glowing blade singing a song of power and destruction. The Abyssal Beast howled in response, thrashing with increasing violence, sending dark tendrils crashing against the cavern walls. Each strike seemed to split the darkness further, as if the creature was unraveling itself with every moment.
Mary's heart raced, her pulse quickened with the urgency of their task. Lucian's distorted form on the altar seemed to pulse with unnatural energy, as if the very fabric of his being was tied to the Beast. His laugh—low and mocking—echoed throughout the cavern, rattling her resolve.
"You can't kill what's already dead, Mary," Lucian's voice rang, coming not from his body, but from the Beast itself, its twisted, shifting form.
But Mary wasn't deterred. She couldn't afford to be. This was the moment. The battle that would decide the fate of the world. Her teeth ground together as she leaped toward the altar, her saber raised high, eyes locked on Lucian's weakened figure.
"Focus! We have to sever the bond!" Mary shouted over her shoulder to Lela, Eris, and Loosie.
Lela's spear lashed out, cutting through the shadows of the Beast with precision. Her focus was singular—Lucian was the source, the anchor that tied the creature to the world. If they could break him, the Beast would cease to exist.
Eris was already in motion, her hands weaving intricate gestures as she gathered magical energy, her incantations pulsing in the air like a storm about to break. Her powers were growing stronger, her connection to the arcane deepening with every moment.
Loosie, agile as ever, darted between shadows, her daggers flashing in quick bursts. Each of her blades struck with deadly accuracy, striking at the tendrils of the Beast, pushing them back one by one.
The Abyssal Beast continued to writhe in agony, its dark, amorphous form splitting and reforming with every strike. The ground beneath them shook, the cavern seemingly alive with the force of its rage. But despite their combined efforts, it wasn't enough to halt its rampage.
The cavern felt like a pressure cooker, the air thick and heavy, suffocating with the weight of the magic and violence swirling around them. The walls seemed to press in closer with every heartbeat, the shadows tightening.
Mary's eyes locked onto Lucian's twisted, unmoving figure. His body was still, yet his dark aura radiated outward like an invisible storm. The runes on the altar glowed brighter, and she knew—this was it. They had to act now, before it was too late.
But then, as if sensing her thoughts, Lucian's form jerked violently, and a torrent of dark energy erupted from the altar, sweeping across the cavern like a tidal wave. The force was so great that it sent them all sprawling to the ground. The very air seemed to crackle with power, warping their senses.
"Enough!" Lucian's voice came again, but this time it was no longer distorted. His voice was clear, and it held a terrifying finality to it.
A blinding light erupted from his body, casting the entire cavern in a stark, unnatural glow. The shadowy tendrils of the Beast recoiled, but they quickly reformed and grew stronger, as though the light was feeding them.
Mary's breath caught in her throat. "He's… he's merging with the Beast," she whispered, horror creeping into her voice. "Lucian's becoming the creature!"
The shadows, once separate and alien, now appeared to coalesce into a singular, massive form. Lucian's face emerged from the darkness, contorted and twisted, his once-beautiful features now morphed into a grotesque mask of suffering. His eyes, glowing with malice and madness, locked onto hers.
"You could never understand," Lucian said, his voice now layered with the twisted undertones of the Beast. "The power I sought—this was always the plan. To become more than human, more than vampire. I am beyond death now, Mary."
The Abyssal Beast roared in agreement, its voice a guttural sound, a mixture of Lucian's and something far darker, something ancient. The ground trembled again, and the very air seemed to vibrate with raw, unchecked power.
Mary's fists clenched. This was worse than she had imagined. Lucian's plan hadn't been just about power—it was about becoming the power itself, merging with something older than time, something that would not only break the world but consume it.
She glanced around at her companions, her resolve hardening. They had to stop him, now.
"Eris, Lela, Loosie!" she shouted. "We have to attack together! Focus everything on breaking the altar!"
"Right!" Lela shouted back, her spear raised as she darted forward, slamming it into the stone with all the force she could muster. The sharp point of her weapon sliced into the altar, sending a ripple of energy through the cavern.
But it wasn't enough. The altar didn't shatter. Instead, the stone began to mend itself, the cracks slowly healing as if the abyssal power was feeding back into it, growing stronger.
"It's too late!" Lucian's voice rang out with cruel delight. "You cannot stop me now. The Abyss is mine to command."
Mary's blood boiled, and she surged forward, her saber flashing as she cut through the air toward Lucian. But as she neared him, a wave of dark energy slammed into her, throwing her back with brutal force.
Eris was right behind her, launching a torrent of magic toward the altar. Her incantations became frenzied, her power crackling in the air, but still, the altar resisted. The Beast's presence wrapped around them like a suffocating cloud, and Mary could feel her strength begin to wane.
"We have to destroy it!" Loosie's voice cut through the chaos. "We can't let it keep feeding off us!"
But as the words left her mouth, the cavern suddenly went silent. For a single heartbeat, there was no sound, no movement, just the oppressive weight of Lucian's presence.
Then, with a surge of dark energy, the Abyssal Beast lunged.
It was a blur of motion, its tendrils twisting and snapping like serpents, aiming straight for Mary and her companions. There was no time to dodge. No time to react.
"NO!"
The words were barely out of Mary's mouth before the tendrils reached them.