The moment Lilith's eye opened, the den screamed.
Cracks split the walls like veins of lightning, molten lava surged from glowing fissures, and the air turned thick with the stench of burning sulfur and seared flesh. The very atmosphere pulsed with malevolence. Shadows writhed with life. Monsters once lurking in fear now howled in ecstasy as Lilith's corruption awakened them.
They bloated and contorted, their bodies splitting and reshaping into grotesque parodies of their former selves. Limbs elongated into jagged claws, eyes bulged with veins thick as worms, and jaws unhinged wide enough to swallow a man whole, revealing serrated teeth gnashing in spasmodic hunger. The ground beneath Nova cracked, glowing like a furnace beneath thin ice. Scarlet's scream caught in her throat just as Lilith's voice boomed—a soul-rending cacophony of a thousand damned voices crying out in unison.
"You dare challenge me in my domain?"
The earth liquefied without warning, devouring Nova and Scarlet in a whirlpool of fire and darkness. They plummeted through an endless void, the heat of hellfire scorching their skin. Screams, not their own, echoed from every direction.
When they finally crashed onto the jagged plateau, it was like slamming into broken glass.
This new realm—Throne—was a nightmare born from scripture and sin.
The sky above was a festering bruise of crimson and black, streaked with ash and glowing embers. Rivers of fire slithered through valleys of charred bone, coiling like living serpents. Skeletal hands reached up from the banks, fingers twitching, as if clawing for salvation that would never come. Towering obsidian mountains ringed the horizon, their peaks speared with impaled corpses—some still writhing.
At the heart of this nightmare stood a monolithic throne, forged from fused skulls, rusted iron, and hellstone. Its twisted spires pierced the heavens. Chained at its base writhed an abomination—Lilith's hybrid beast.
It was a monstrosity, a blasphemous amalgamation of every horror Nova and Scarlet had ever faced.
The creature's mottled green torso bore the armored plates of the stone golem, pulsing beneath semi-transparent flesh. Eight spindly, spider-like legs—each tipped with venomous stingers stolen from the flesh-eaters—sprouted from its sides, clicking as they dug into the obsidian ground. Its head twisted with snarling wolf maws and hollow-eyed doppelgänger faces. A serpent's tail, thick and ridged, lashed behind it, dripping acid that hissed and bubbled on contact.
Across its body, corrupted runes glowed like infected wounds, pulsing in rhythm with Lilith's heartbeat.
"Kill them," her voice hissed, reverberating from every corner of the Throne.
The hybrid lunged with a metallic screech. Nova barely leapt aside, but not before the creature's stinger grazed his arm—searing his flesh and causing him to cry out. Scarlet reacted with a flash of divine light, hurling a radiant bolt at its chest—but the blow deflected harmlessly off the golem-plates.
The monster's tail whipped forward. Acid spewed in a high arc, droplets hissing through the air. Scarlet rolled, her cloak catching the edge of the spray—it smoked, burned through, and fell in tatters.
Nova lunged, blade raised, but the hydra heads intercepted him. Their snapping fangs caught the blade mid-strike, grinding down with unnatural strength. One head opened its jaw and laughed—a grotesque echo in Scarlet's own voice. Others spat venom, hissing taunts. Nova wrenched his blade free, but not before venom splashed across his wrist, blistering his skin on contact.
The ground convulsed violently. Illusions erupted in their wake—visions of Thalara ablaze, Nova's lifeless body pierced by arrows, Scarlet cradling his corpse in a wasteland of ash. Scarlet gritted her teeth, summoning a radiant barrier—but even as it formed, spectral wolves howled into existence, phasing through the light like ghosts.
Nova cut them down, but each kill left a jagged wound on his body. Blood stained his tunic, but he pressed on.
The monster slammed both fists into the ground—cracking it open. Geysers of lava erupted skyward. Scarlet reacted instantly, levitating Nova with a surge of magic just in time. He landed hard on the creature's back, driving his sword into a glowing rune—but the blade shattered like glass.
The hybrid shrieked, bucking wildly, and hurled Nova into a mountain of bones.
From its pores, it vomited a swarm of locusts—each with a screaming, human face. They descended upon Scarlet, crawling into her robes, burrowing into her skin, feeding on her essence. She screamed, her body glowing as magic poured from her wounds.
Nova, dazed but furious, grasped a jagged skull from the pile and whispered a curse. It burst into hellfire, sending the locusts shrieking into ash. But the damage was done—Scarlet collapsed to her knees, arms torn and bleeding, her aura flickering like a dying star.
The hybrid pounced again, its hydra heads regenerating, fangs gnashing.
One whispered, "She'll die because of you."
Another hissed, "You're weak."
The third sneered, "Thalara is already ash."
With a roar, Nova leapt, tearing a fang from a snarling mouth and driving it into the nearest eye. The monster thrashed, howling in fury, as ichor sprayed.
Scarlet, trembling, pressed her hand to the cracked stone and summoned a nova of light. Flowers burst forth, glowing with healing magic—only to wither and die instantly in the infernal air. The hybrid's tail lashed out, striking her across the side, drenching her in sizzling acid. She screamed.
Nova threw himself over her, shielding her body with his own. The acid ate through his back, skin curling and blackening, but he didn't move.
The spider-legs stabbed into the stone, weaving a web of shadow. Tendrils of darkness wrapped around them, anchoring them to the ground. Scarlet's magic flickered, her hands trembling. Nova clawed at the web, but each strand regrew faster than he could tear.
The creature loomed over them, heads drooling, jaws opening wide.
Nova reached for anything—his sword broken, his arms weak—and found a shard of obsidian, jagged and sharp. With a cry of desperation, he leapt, plunging it into the hybrid's primary rune.
The creature convulsed, shrieking, its entire body writhing. For a moment—just a heartbeat—it seemed like the tide had turned.
But then Lilith laughed.
"Fool. This is my design."
The rune absorbed the shard like a leech drinking blood, and the wound healed before Nova's eyes.
Scarlet, bleeding and shaking, pressed her palm to Nova's chest. "Together," she whispered.
Their magic fused—a burst of white-gold and crimson fire surged forward, blasting into the hybrid's chest. The creature howled in pain, its body torn open. But within its chest lay a black, pulsing orb—Lilith's eye, watching them.
The flesh regrew. Stronger. Faster.
The hybrid surged forward, seizing Scarlet by the throat and lifting her into the air. Her boots kicked helplessly. Nova tried to run—but a spider-leg stabbed through his thigh, pinning him.
The hydra heads leaned in, their saliva sizzling against Scarlet's cheek.
"Nova—!" she gasped.
Lilith's throne ignited, radiating power.
"Your hope ends here."
****Nova flashbacked to the morning****
[System Alert:
New Skill Unlocked – Blitz stop time]
The words seared across Nova's vision.
A blinding flash.
A question.
Do you want to use the skill – Blitz Stop Time?