The colossus's eyes burned white as it lurched forward again, its claws gouging troughs into the pavement. Cracks spidered outward from each step, buildings groaning with the weight of the thing's existence.
Lucen's grin sharpened. 'Almost there. Just need one good push.'
Selindra barked orders like gunfire, her staff slicing through the air as sigils flared across the battlefield. Hunters obeyed without hesitation, dragging civilians through half-collapsed corridors, throwing up barriers where the tide pressed hardest.
Varik met the colossus head-on. His blade cut upward, not against flesh but against the concept of space itself. The world bent around his strike, and for a moment the creature's upper body separated from its lower half, before abyssal crystal stitched it back together with a scream.
Lucen stepped forward, mana already boiling through his veins.
[Shockweave Bolt.]
A jagged arc spat from his palm, splitting into five forks that hammered into the swarm flooding behind the colossus's heels. Bodies convulsed and burned, collapsing into twitching heaps.
[+50 EXP] ×5
[+250 EXP]
Lucen laughed under his breath. "Closer."
Another cluster surged from an alley to his left, claws scraping against concrete as they swarmed in.
[Frost Spire.]
The ground ruptured in a jagged pillar of ice, impaling three at once and sending shards spiraling outward to skewer the rest.
[+200 EXP]
[+200 EXP]
[+200 EXP]
[+200 EXP]
[+200 EXP]
Hunters nearby faltered, staring at him as though they weren't sure if he was helping or simply entertaining himself. The carnage piled higher at his feet, Lucen stepping through it with an easy smile.
'Not much further now. Let's finish this.'
The colossus howled again, its jaws opening wide. Shards of crystal peeled back, forming a prism around its chest as energy built, a glare of raw abyssal light searing through the distorted skyline.
Selindra's voice snapped, sharp and furious. "Lucen, don't you dare…."
Too late. He was already moving.
[Cataclysm Vector.]
Crimson lines erupted around him, cutting into the air, jagging upward into a collapsing funnel. The colossus's blast fired, slamming into the vectors, and reality bent. Energy spiraled, compressed, and snapped inward, imploding before detonating with a thunderous roar.
The resulting shockwave leveled a block of buildings. Hunters dove for cover. Civilians screamed.
The colossus reeled, its chest cracked wide open, abyssal crystal shattered and glowing.
[+10,000 EXP]
[Level Up!]
[Level: 41]
[Mana Pool: 370/370]
[Stat Points Available: +5]
Lucen laughed outright, mana thrumming hotter, sharper, louder in his veins than before. His system window pulsed across his vision, bright and clean.
'Finally. Took you long enough.'
Selindra's fury cut across the street like a blade. "You reckless, arrogant…."
"Effective," Lucen interrupted, grinning wide. "Don't forget effective."
Varik's voice was steady steel. "It's not down yet."
The colossus was still standing, swaying on fractured legs, its torso glowing molten from within. From the cracks, new limbs forced their way out, twisting shapes, half-formed horrors tearing themselves free of its body.
Selindra's jaw clenched. "Secondary spawns. Of course."
Dozens more fell into the ruined street, shrieking, their limbs twitching wrong, as though unfinished. Their eyes lit white as they fixed on the hunters below.
Lucen's smile widened. "Now this is a festival."
He stepped forward, sparks already leaping across his hands.
[Soundlash.]
The whip cracked across the air, severing three spawns at once, their bodies folding inward before they hit the ground.
[+400 EXP]
[+400 EXP]
[+400 EXP]
[Ignition Burst.]
Lucen met the last head-on.
[Shockweave Bolt.]
Lightning snapped across its body, locking its limbs as it convulsed.
[Crater Bloom.]
The ground detonated upward, a shockwave crushing its chest inward.
[+3,000 EXP]
Lucen wiped smoke from his cheek, smiling faintly. 'Yeah. This is fun.'
The colossus shrieked above them, its body tearing open wider, as if the rift itself was bleeding through it. The skyline bent wrong, glass towers leaning sideways under the distortion.
Selindra's voice cracked through the chaos, cold and absolute. "If we don't end this now, the core district collapses entirely!"
Varik's blade swung again, steady as judgment. "Then we end it."
Lucen's grin widened, mana burning hotter than ever.
'Level 41 already, a quarter to 42… This thing might just push me further than anyone expects.'
He raised his hands, power thrumming like a storm.
"Alright, big guy. Let's see if you can survive this."
—
The colossus reeled, its crystal-plated body groaning as Varik's blade carved another smoking trench through its torso. Shards the size of cars rained down around them, embedding into asphalt, sparking with residual mana.
Lucen rolled his neck, flexing his fingers. The air was thick with smoke, ozone, and the tang of blood.
Civilians were nearly clear of the quadrant now, the Association squads dragging stragglers through the fractured streets. The fight belonged only to hunters now.
The swarm hadn't slowed.
Crawlers poured from the cracks in the colossus's body, a tide of claws and white-fire eyes, their screeches weaving into a single nerve-grinding chorus.
Selindra's voice rang sharp as her staff cut arcs of emerald light into them. "Hold the perimeter! Do not let them past the barricades!"
Hunters screamed, steel clashed, mana detonated. The street shook with every impact.
Lucen watched, his grin curving slow. 'This is chaos. And chaos pays.'
He snapped his hand out.
[Abyssflare Lance.]
The air cracked. Darkness spiraled into form, twisting into a spear of black fire threaded with crimson sparks. It hummed, unstable, reality itself twitching around its shaft.
Lucen hurled it.
The lance screamed across the battlefield, carving a perfect line through a wave of crawlers. The air along its path warped like boiling glass, the street fissuring beneath it.
When it hit the far wall, the explosion was more absence than force, a vacuum implosion that sucked everything in before shattering outward in a storm of annihilation.
Silence followed, just for a heartbeat.
Then came the system chime.
[+500 EXP]
[+500 EXP]
[+500 EXP]
[+500 EXP]
[+500 EXP]
[+500 EXP]
…
[+8,500 EXP]
Lucen laughed low. "Oh, that's juicy."
Hunters nearby froze, staring at the collapsed street, the sheer absence where dozens of creatures had been.
Selindra's eyes snapped to him, cold and razor-sharp. "What, spell, was that?"
Lucen tilted his head, smirk widening. "Custom build. Little something I whipped up. Like it?"
Her eyes narrowed, suspicion coiling, but she turned back as another wave slammed against her barriers.
Varik didn't look. He never did. But his voice carried. "Stay controlled, Lucen."
Lucen stretched his fingers, abyssal heat still curling in his palm. "Controlled's a relative term."
The colossus roared again, its voice bending the world. It reared back, massive claws glowing with runes that spiraled down its arms. Mana gathered, a torrent about to crash down over the entire street.
Lucen's grin sharpened. "Not on my watch."
[Nullbind Grasp.]
From the cracks in reality, tendrils of abyssal shadow lashed upward, coiling around the colossus's arms. They sank into the runes, choking them off mid-cast. Sparks burst. The gathered energy guttered, then imploded against its own limbs in a blast of fractured light.
The beast screamed, staggering, crystal plates cracking wide.
[+12,000 EXP]
[Level Up: 42]
[Mana Pool Increased: 390]
[Stat Points +5]
The window flickered alive in his vision. Lucen smirked as the glow bathed him.
'Finally. About time this system paid up.'
Selindra had felt it, everyone had. The colossus faltered, the swarm thinned, and Lucen's mana flared higher than before.
Hunters gaped. Some cheered, thinking the tide was turning.
Lucen only chuckled. "And now for the encore."
He stepped forward, shadows coiling at his heels.
[Riftstep.]
The world cracked. He vanished, reappearing midair above the colossus's head. The shift rattled his senses, vision twisting sideways, stomach lurching, but the beast's eyes widened below him, too slow to react.
Lucen raised his hand, abyss burning hot enough to sting his bones.
[Cataclysm Vector — Abyssborne Variant.]
Crimson lines tore into existence, jagging through the air in chaotic spirals. They collapsed inward, all at once, around the beast's skull. Space itself screamed, crushing down.
The explosion that followed wasn't sound. It was silence, absolute, obliterating silence that ate noise, color, and light.
When it ended, half the colossus's head was simply gone, erased into nothing.
The titan staggered, body shuddering as feedback cracked its form.
System messages cascaded.
[+25,000 EXP]
Lucen landed lightly on fractured pavement, coat flaring with smoke and ash.
He dusted his gloves off, smiling faintly. "Support fire."
Varik's gaze slid toward him. Steel eyes unreadable, but knowing. Always knowing.
Selindra's jaw clenched, her voice low with fury. "You're going to explain what that was."
Lucen tilted his head, smirk lazy. "Maybe. But first—"
Another roar split the sky.
The rift pulsed, tearing wider.
And from it, something else began to crawl.