"Master, hold on longer, the life force is transferring into the bodies," the Lich King reminded Adam.
Adam squirmed in agony as his life force was drained into the Hands of Death. Adam's vision went blurry as flashes of Emily, Lyra, and his families appeared in his mind. Lyra, still connected, urged Adam to hold on longer and focus.
"If you lose conscious, your life may be at risk! Focus on your breathing," Lyra kept repeating via neuro-link.
Last Stand and Mana Battery
At the civilization, everyone was formulating a desperate plan. "The demons should not attack in close combat, or Serbas may use them to replenish his power. So we need to avoid any more death and attack him from long range. I need a strong mana source to replicate the binding spell. It takes too much toll on me before unbinding serbas. This way i can bind him at long range before he could even reach the civilisation." Lyra explained.
"How about we focus our mana inside a small barrier for Lyra to absorb?" one of the newly awakened heroes suggested.
"Take out the mana pods, I'll reconfigure them into something similar to mana crystals," Lyra instructed. "Everyone can focus their mana into the mana pods. The amount of mana needed must be high enough to create the spell. Everyone else, focus on stopping Serbas. Stall him long enough for me to bind him." Everyone quickly moved the mana pods out as Lyra reconfigured them one at a time.
"Serbas is closing in, everyone get into your positions," Vlad shouted. The creatures moved in unison, commanded by the surviving demons, preparing for Serbas's attacks.
The Butcher's Entrance
An explosion vibrated the ground as Serbas dropped onto the field at high speed. As the dust settled, Serbas stood in a deep crater. Surrounding him was a vast battlefield populated by creatures, demons, heroes, Vlad, Azrael, and Johan. The silence filled the air.
"Anyone in my way of those humans will not survive. This isn't a warning, your lives end here," Serbas spoke with chilling bloodlust.
The creatures lunged towards him in unison. Serbas slowly moved his middle finger upwards, and all the creatures floated into the sky. He showed the middle finger as he looked directly at Vlad. The creatures floating in the air splattered into a bloody mess. The blood and corpses swirled into the sky, forming a gigantic, swirling meatball above Serbas. Everyone was shocked by the grotesque power Serbas wielded. The ball was crushed, squeezed into a smaller, dense sphere. Serbas's mouth expanded wide, and he ate the ball of corpses.
Projectiles and elemental attacks rained down towards Serbas from all directions, creating a destructive explosion. Serbas emerged, standing above them in the sky. He created small, black liquid spheres that floated everywhere. Serbas smiled as the black liquid moved like a bullet, piercing through multiple skulls of creatures, and aiming for the skulls of the demons and heroes.
Barriers and elemental attacks were cast to nullify the black liquid, but it suddenly exploded in unison, creating a barrage of explosive power and blinding light. The destruction knocked many of the demons and heroes unconscious, while some sustained brutal injuries.
The Desperate Counter
Suddenly, from behind, Azrael sliced Serbas cleanly from the head down with his scythe. As Serbas's body began to merge back, Azrael continued, "Grim Reaper Death Slash!" The scythe created a mirror image, continuously slicing Serbas into pieces.
Azrael began to absorb the blood of Serbas, and his body went into further EVOLUTION. Azrael's mind flooded with Serbas's memories as the blood flowed into him. The mana forced Azrael's body to burn, and black blood streamed from his eyes. Azrael's vision blurred as he saw Serbas's body re-emerge itself from the pieces.
Serbas's hand formed and grabbed Azrael's neck. "What a fine specimen in my hand!" Serbas's mouth appear and began to speak.
Vlad's bats ate up pieces of Serbas, and a mist fogged the air. Chains appeared, pulling Serbas's fingers off. Waylen managed to grab Azrael off Serbas and teleported his body beside Lyra as the last of the mana pods were converted by Lyra.
"It is ready! Everyone pour your mana into the mana pods!" Lyra shouted.
Vlad's blood sent out multiple vials of mana potions to the heroes to use as they touched and transferred their mana into the mana pods. Vlad's bats started bursting into blood as the field rained with Vlad's own life force.
Serbas formed back his body, and in an instant, his body was squeezed by an invisible hand. Serbas didn't notice where the person was or what was grabbing and squeezing him.
Serbas's body turned purple as poison seeped into the invisible hand, making it visible. The poison deteriorated the hand, and more hands continuously grabbed him. As Serbas saw the direction from which these hands were coming, he opened his mouth and shot out a beam of mana towards it. The mana was blocked by another invisible hand, acting as a barrier. The beam continued to break through layers over layers of hands.
Then, a dagger stabbed Serbas's head, pulling his head away as his body was held by the invisible hands. The beam tore through the ground as Serbas's body exploded with his head like an atomic bomb.
Everyone within the radius was blown away, and many of the creatures vaporized from the explosion. Johan, within the close proximity, even with multiple layers of hands protecting him, was flung away, and part of his body was burned from the explosion.