The world was chaos. The throne room of hell—an endless, blistering cavern of obsidian and fire—shook with each monstrous step Lilith took. Her form defied reason, a constantly shifting nightmare of wings sewn from flayed skin, tendrils of shadow and bone, and a thousand screaming heads, each shrieking in a different tongue of despair. With every beat of her infernal wings, she conjured hurricanes of ash and flame, and the very air bled crimson.
Nova stood in her path, armor cracked and bloodied, but eyes steady—unbroken. He could still taste the lingering bitterness of Lilith's corrupted heart from their last encounter, like molten iron searing down his throat. Behind him, Scarlet knelt with trembling hands glowing in a soft amber light, weaving threads of healing magic through his torn flesh and shattered bones.
"She's not just a demon," Scarlet whispered, her voice quivering. "She's... the end."
Nova didn't reply. He could feel it too—Lilith was more than evil. She was every nightmare given form, every forgotten fear clawing out of the dark. The very stones wept blood beneath her, and the rivers of lava churned like angry gods. But despite it all, he stood tall. Because if they didn't stop her here, the world would burn.
Without warning, Lilith struck. A claw, twisted like a jagged scythe, lashed out faster than thought. Nova moved on instinct, hurling himself in front of Scarlet and raising a crude shield of obsidian ripped from the ground. The blow smashed the stone into a thousand razor shards, but he endured, using his body as the last wall between Scarlet and annihilation. A storm of pain crashed over him, but he stayed standing.
Lilith's cacophony of voices thundered.
"You are NOTHING. Just flesh to be broken. Just a soul to be devoured."
A blast of black fire erupted from her many mouths. Nova grabbed Scarlet and dove, pulling her behind a pillar made from fused, screaming skulls. The fire hit a heartbeat later, incinerating the stone and releasing a stench so vile it curdled breath itself. Scarlet gasped, magic flickering as her concentration shattered.
"I—I can't keep up," she whispered. "Nova... she's too strong."
Nova's mind raced. He couldn't win this with brute strength. Lilith was a force of uncreation. But he remembered the battlefield tactics from his time in the Ashen Rebellion—use the terrain, divide the enemy, misdirect, survive.
He spotted the throne behind her—an enormous monolith of bones, bound in chains of gold and inscribed with writhing runes. Power pulsed from it like a heartbeat. A source. A conduit.
"Scarlet," he said, steady and sharp, "that throne. The runes. It's anchoring her. Break them, and we get a chance."
Scarlet looked up, eyes wide. Then her expression shifted—resolve hardening like steel.
"Don't you dare die on me."
Nova grinned, blood dripping from his lips. "Wouldn't dream of it."
He burst from cover, hurling bones and ash, taunting Lilith.
"Hey! Ugly! You want me? Come and get me!"
Her heads snapped toward him in unison. A tidal wave of acid and fire surged his way. Nova moved like lightning, rolling behind pillars, kicking up dust clouds, slashing at hanging chains to send them crashing down. He didn't need to win—just survive. Just hold her attention.
Scarlet ran. Her body ached with every step, but she made it to the throne. The runes pulsed with dark energy, resisting her touch. Her hands hovered inches away, sensing their malice, their hunger. She inhaled sharply, then closed her eyes. She reached for the core of her magic—not just the healing, but the love that drove it.
She thought of Nova. Of the moments they'd shared. Of laughter under starlight, of near-death and near-kisses. That memory became her shield.
She sang—not aloud, but in her heart. A song of healing, of hope, of light in endless dark. Her magic flared, golden and warm. The runes flickered, then began to dim.
Lilith shrieked in agony and rage. A wall of shadow hurtled toward Scarlet. She screamed as it struck her, throwing her like a ragdoll. Nova saw it happen and bellowed in fury.
He lunged at the nearest of Lilith's limbs—a massive spider-leg—and drove his obsidian shard deep into the joint. Black ichor sprayed, sizzling on contact with the ground. Lilith staggered, her balance thrown.
She turned all her heads on Nova now, and her wrath was apocalyptic.
Nova fought with everything he had. Claws raked his side; he broke them. Fangs snapped at his throat; he shattered teeth with a jawbone club. Her limbs shifted—flesh to shadow, bone to fire—but he adapted, countered, struck. He moved like a warrior possessed, each attack guided by love and desperation.
But Lilith unleashed more. Illusions that clawed at his mind—visions of Scarlet dying, of the world engulfed in flames, of himself broken and alone. He howled in agony, the images almost too much.
Then he felt her.
Scarlet, still alive, crawled back to the throne. Her magic rose again, stronger now. She reached into herself, deeper than ever. She thought not of death, but of life. Not of loss, but of love.
A pulse of light burst from her chest.
[Skill Unlocked: Heart's Resonance]
She reached for Nova, pouring her soul into the bond between them. Power surged through her fingers—a light that burned away shadow, that defied the void.
Nova screamed as the magic hit him—but it wasn't pain. It was clarity. Strength. Purpose.
Wounds vanished. His muscles surged. His senses sharpened.
He was more.
Lilith roared, growing, wings blotting out what little light remained. Earthquakes split the floor. Blood rained from the ceiling. The throne cracked. The world trembled.
But Nova stood tall, radiant with Scarlet's magic.
"This ends now."
He moved—blinding speed, impossible grace. He leapt onto Lilith's back, dodging claws, weaving through her writhing heads. He drove his blade into her spine. Light exploded from the wound, burning her from within.
Scarlet joined him, magic flaring from her hands like twin stars. She soared, wings of light carrying her to Nova's side. Together, they struck—not as warriors, but as one soul in two bodies.
Their magic became a spear of pure light, piercing the heart of the demon queen.
Lilith shrieked—a sound that split the fabric of reality—and her body began to unravel. The throne shattered. The den collapsed. Lava cooled. Fire died.
Nova grabbed Scarlet's hand, holding tight as the world crumbled. They dove through the collapsing portal, tumbling through void and flame and light.
When they landed, it was in the first cave—the entrance to Lilith's domain. The air was cold. Clean. The nightmare was over.
They lay there, side by side, hands clasped.
The throne was gone. Lilith was no more.
And for the first time in an age, the world breathed free again.