The seventh descent trembled beneath the weight of despair.
Broken pillars burned with blue fire while frozen ruins spread endlessly across the battlefield. Black chains swayed overhead like corpses hanging in the dark, and beneath it all—
the abyss watched.
Arthur Ravenheart stood alone at the center of the ruined chamber.
Behind him lay the broken bodies of Lucas, Kierran, Tom, and even Alex.
Above him—
Alexi Ravenheart cried helplessly against her chains.
And before him—
the Half-Corrupted smiled calmly.
"…Look around you."
Its distorted voice echoed softly through the sanctum.
"This is what life truly is."
Arthur's breathing trembled slightly.
Blood dripped from his fingertips.
Every muscle in his body screamed in pain.
The creature stepped closer.
"Hope exists only to make despair hurt more."
Arthur lowered his head silently.
The Half-Corrupted continued walking toward him slowly.
"You fought well."
Its skeletal appendages spread wider behind it.
"But in the end…"
Its black eyes glowed faintly red.
"…the world always wins."
Silence filled the chamber.
Then—
the System suddenly appeared before Arthur.
Bright crimson warnings flickered violently across his vision.
[ MAIN MISSION STATUS: CRITICAL ]
[ TIME REMAINING: 00:30:00 ]
[ FAILURE CONDITIONS ]
> Death of User, Death of Alexi Ravenheart , sealing of Lucas Vroygen, Kierran Daredevil , Tom Hamsworth and Alex Lionheart
[ WARNING ]
[ PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS: 0.4% ]
Arthur stared at the timer silently.
Thirty minutes.
That was all they had left.
The Half-Corrupted noticed the System flickering before him.
"…Still relying on hope?"
Arthur's fists slowly clenched.
Purple Aether flickered weakly around him.
Then—
something else appeared.
Another window.
One he had seen before but never paid attention to it .
[ ATTRIBUTES READY TO USE . REQUIERD RANK ACHIEVED ]
[ ABSOLUTE BLACK ]
The entire chamber suddenly became colder.
Even the shadows stopped moving.
The Half-Corrupted's smile faded slightly for the first time.
The System continued.
[ ABSOLUTE BLACK ]
[ DESCRIPTION: The user may draw energy from all darkness, shadows, and blackness within the surrounding world. ]
[ EFFECTS:
Shadow manipulation
Darkness assimilation
Resonance amplification
Temporary physical enhancement ]
[ WARNING: User body not fully compatible ]
[ MAXIMUM ACTIVE DURATION: 00:20:00 ]
Arthur's breathing slowed.
Then the chamber darkened.
Not naturally.
The darkness itself began moving toward him.
The shadows beneath broken pillars.
The blackness within the abyss.
Even the darkness cast by the chains overhead—
all of it slowly flowed toward Arthur.
The Half-Corrupted stepped backward instinctively.
"…What… is this?"
Arthur slowly lifted his head.
And for the first time—
his eyes had changed completely.
The purple glow vanished.
Now—
they were pitch black.
The darkness surrounding the chamber wrapped around Arthur like living smoke.
Shadows spiraled around his body violently.
Blue flames still burned from one arm.
Ice still consumed the other.
But now—
darkness itself answered him.
The System flickered again.
[ ABSOLUTE BLACK ACTIVATED ]
[ REMAINING DURATION: 00:19:59 ]
The entire seventh descent exploded.
Arthur vanished instantly.
The Half-Corrupted barely reacted—
Arthur's fist slammed directly into its face with enough force to distort the chamber itself.
The creature's body launched across the sanctum violently before smashing through multiple pillars.
Arthur moved again immediately.
Not running.
Teleporting through shadows themselves.
Every dark surface became his path.
Black tendrils erupted from beneath the creature and wrapped around its limbs instantly.
The Half-Corrupted roared and shattered them—
but Arthur was already above it.
Blue flames exploded downward while ice erupted from the ground simultaneously.
The collision detonated violently.
The entire battlefield shook.
Arthur attacked relentlessly now.
Punches coated in darkness.
Kicks engulfed in black flames.
Shadows pierced like blades from every direction.
The Half-Corrupted blocked desperately—
yet Arthur's speed had become monstrous.
Each strike grew heavier.
Faster.
More violent.
Arthur's knee shattered the creature's ribs.
Ice froze half its torso instantly.
Black fire consumed the frozen section completely.
For the first time—
the Half-Corrupted screamed.
Arthur landed heavily nearby while darkness spiraled around him endlessly.
The timer flickered before his eyes.
00:18:12
The creature slowly regenerated again.
But this time—
slower.
Its smile had disappeared entirely.
"…Impossible…"
Arthur stared at it silently.
The darkness around him pulsed violently.
Then—
he spoke.
"…I'm done losing people."
Darkness erupted across the seventh descent one final time.
The explosion from Absolute Black shook the collapsing sanctum so violently that entire sections of the battlefield broke apart and disappeared into the abyss below. Black chains snapped overhead while blue flames and freezing mist spiraled through the ruins like storms colliding.
And at the center of it all—
Arthur Ravenheart still stood.
Barely.
His body trembled violently from exhaustion. Blood ran down his arms and chest while his breathing came out uneven and painful. Every inhale felt like fire tearing through his lungs.
His head pounded endlessly.
His vision blurred.
And his arms and legs felt so weak they barely responded anymore.
Yet Arthur forced himself to move again.
Because the timer still hadn't reached zero.
[ ABSOLUTE BLACK REMAINING: 00:00:14 ]
Across from him, the Half-Corrupted looked just as broken.
Its body was covered in deep cracks from Arthur's attacks. One arm hung uselessly while frozen fractures spread across its chest and neck. Black blood dripped steadily onto the ruined floor beneath it.
For the first time—
the creature no longer looked confident.
It looked tired.
Hurt.
Afraid.
The Half-Corrupted coughed weakly before staring at Arthur in disbelief.
"…Why are you still standing…?"
Arthur wiped blood from his mouth with shaking fingers.
"…Because I have to."
Then he vanished.
The shadows beneath the battlefield exploded upward as Arthur appeared directly in front of the creature and slammed his fist into its chest.
The impact sent both of them crashing through shattered ruins.
The creature retaliated instantly, striking Arthur hard enough to send him skidding across the battlefield.
Arthur forced himself upright again despite the pain screaming through every part of his body.
The Half-Corrupted charged.
Arthur charged too.
The final exchange became desperate and brutal.
Punches collided with enough force to shake the chamber.
Fire erupted from Arthur's right arm while ice spread from his left.
The creature answered with corruption and monstrous strength.
Both of them staggered after every hit now.
Both of them were reaching their limits.
Above the battlefield, Alexi Ravenheart watched helplessly through tears.
"Arthur…"
Her voice trembled with fear.
Because she could see it clearly now.
Her son was destroying himself to keep fighting.
Arthur's breathing worsened.
His knees nearly buckled.
The System flickered again.
[ WARNING ]
[ USER BODY APPROACHING COLLAPSE ]
Arthur ignored it.
The Half-Corrupted looked at him silently for a moment before speaking weakly.
"…You should have fallen already…"
Arthur slowly raised trembling fists again.
"…Not until you do."
The creature roared and rushed forward with everything it had left.
Arthur answered immediately.
Darkness surged around him one final time as he poured every remaining fragment of strength into a single attack.
The battlefield trembled violently.
The abyss below rumbled.
And then—
Arthur's fist collided directly with the creature's core.
A massive shockwave exploded outward across the seventh descent.
Cracks spread through the Half-Corrupted's body instantly.
The creature froze.
Its remaining eye widened slowly.
Then the corruption around it began breaking apart piece by piece.
For the first time since the battle began—
the Half-Corrupted looked truly afraid.
And Arthur—
standing there exhausted, broken, and barely conscious—
continued staring it down as the final seconds ticked away.
The shockwave from Arthur's last strike still echoed through the seventh descent.
BOOOOOOOOOOM.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the battlefield as reality itself seemed to struggle to hold the chamber together. Black chains swung violently overhead, and the abyss below rumbled like something alive waking up.
Arthur Ravenheart stood frozen in place for a moment, breathing so heavily it sounded like every inhale might be his last.
His body was barely holding together now.
His vision flickered.
His legs trembled under him.
But across from him—
the Half-Corrupted did not fall.
Not yet.
Instead, something changed.
A sound like something cracking deep inside the creature's body echoed through the ruins.
Then—
its chest split with light.
Arthur's eyes narrowed weakly.
"…What…"
The Half-Corrupted slowly straightened.
Black blood dripped from its mouth, but now there was something else beneath the corruption.
A second pulse.
A second core.
Hidden deep inside its body, forged through forced evolution during the battle.
The creature laughed softly through broken breaths.
"…You think I would evolve this far… without something left behind?"
The air around it twisted violently as its power surged one last time.
For a moment—
it looked like it was going to end everything.
But then—
it stopped.
Mid-motion.
Its arm, raised to strike, trembled violently.
The second core flickered.
Arthur's strike had damaged both cores simultaneously.
And now—
the creature's body began collapsing from the inside.
Its corrupted flesh cracked open further.
Its regeneration failed completely.
The power that had been building inside it began breaking apart like a collapsing star.
The Half-Corrupted froze.
Slowly looked at itself.
"…Ah."
A soft breath.
Almost amused.
"…So that's how it ends."
Arthur staggered forward slightly, barely able to stand.
The creature turned its ruined face toward him.
For the first time—
there was no hostility in its expression.
Only acceptance.
"…You are not weak, child of ruin."
Its voice had changed.
Calmer.
Heavier.
Like something ancient speaking through a dying body.
"…You are something the world will struggle to understand."
The second core flickered violently again.
Its body began dissolving faster now—starting from the cracks Arthur had created.
The Half-Corrupted took one slow step back as its form continued breaking apart.
Then it paused.
And looked directly at Arthur.
"…Remember this."
The air around it darkened.
Even the abyss seemed to listen.
"…The strongest things in existence are not those who survive battles…"
A pause.
Its remaining eye dimmed slightly.
"…but those who survive what the battle turns them into."
Silence swallowed the chamber.
Arthur didn't respond.
He couldn't.
The creature's body continued collapsing, turning into fragments of corrupted light and ash-like darkness that drifted upward into the broken sky of the seventh descent.
Before it disappeared completely—
it gave Arthur one last look.
Not hatred.
Not rage.
Something closer to respect.
"…Don't disappoint what's coming next."
And then—
it smiled faintly.
"…Smile of Heaven."
The second core shattered.
Its entire existence dispersed into fading corruption and light, dissolving into the collapsing ruins of the seventh descent.
Only silence remained.
Only Arthur remained.
Barely standing.
Barely alive.
And the world—
held its breath.
[CONGRATULATIONS, REWARDS IN PROGRESS ]
The seventh descent had gone quiet in a way that felt unnatural.
No more roaring corruption.
No more collapsing stone.
Only the slow crackle of fading energy and the distant groan of a world still breaking apart.
Arthur Ravenheart stood alone in the aftermath, his body swaying slightly as if even gravity was becoming too heavy for him to resist.
His breathing was shallow now.
Each inhale still burned through his chest like molten heat.
His vision flickered in and out, blurring the ruined chamber around him into shifting shapes of darkness and light.
But through that haze—
he saw her.
Alexi Ravenheart.
Still chained.
Still alive.
Crying.
Arthur's body moved before his mind could fully catch up.
One step forward.
Then another.
"...Mom…"
His voice came out broken and barely audible.
But the moment he tried to take a third step—
pain exploded through his entire body.
Not just his chest.
Everything.
It was as if every wound he had been ignoring all at once finally decided to speak at the same time.
His lungs tightened violently, burning with every breath like they were collapsing inward.
His ribs felt like they were cracking again just from the pressure.
His legs gave out beneath him without warning.
Arthur dropped to his knees.
Then forward.
His hands hit the ground, shaking uncontrollably as he tried to push himself up again—but his strength simply wasn't there anymore.
Above him, Alexi's eyes widened in horror.
"Arthur—NO!"
Her voice broke as she struggled against her chains, tears streaming down her face.
Arthur tried to lift his head toward her.
"…I'm… here…"
But the words barely formed.
His vision blurred further, the world tilting and fading at the edges.
And then—
footsteps.
Soft.
Fast.
Someone had entered the battlefield.
Arthur couldn't focus properly anymore. His sight had become a haze of shifting color and shadow.
A figure moved into his view—
red crop top.
white puffer jacket.
black baggy jeans.
white sneakers.
long black hair.
black gloves.
heart-shaped earrings catching faint light.
and a silver locket resting against her chest.
Layla.
Behind her, faintly through his failing vision, he could also make out two other presences—
Sunny and a silver-haired boy standing further back, tense and silent.
But Arthur couldn't process any of that neither does he know who the other two were .
His vision was too blurry.
Too fractured.
All he saw was a silhouette standing between him and collapse.
The figure knelt beside him quickly, moving with urgency, one hand reaching toward him as if to stabilize his falling body.
Arthur tried to speak again.
"…Mom…"
But it didn't come out right.
His consciousness slipped further.
The last thing he felt was the faint pressure of someone catching him before his body hit the ground completely.
Warmth.
Movement.
A voice he couldn't quite understand anymore.
And then—
everything went dark.
Arthur Ravenheart finally passed out.