Argile's scream ripped across the battlefield like a wound torn open, raw and endless, vibrating through the superheated air that still stank of ozone and scorched flesh.
"VICTORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"
The sound carried pure devastation even without a head, the empty space above his robes somehow amplifying the grief until it felt physical, pressing down on every ear like a weight.
The lava around them bubbled and popped in response, sending up small bursts of sulfurous steam that burned the throat with every breath.
"YOU MONSTER!" he howled, the words cracking with fury that twisted into something colder, sharper, vengeful.
His form trembled, robes fluttering as invisible power gathered in the void where his neck should have been, the air growing thick and charged, tasting of iron and storm.
Then the anger sharpened into a prayer, voice rising in desperate command that made the ground itself seem to listen.
"Oh great Cumulus, this inhuman form shall sacrifice his insolent life, in exchange, I humbly beseech you rain down hell on the one they call War, in other words, RAIN HELL ON THIS FUCKER!"
The final words exploded outward, raw and unfiltered, carrying every ounce of loss and rage. The moment Argile finished, the sky answered.
Clouds that had been pale gray moments earlier deepened into a bruised, abyssal hue, swallowing the late afternoon light until the entire battlefield plunged into premature twilight. Lightning crackled in jagged veins across the underbelly of the storm, each flash illuminating the horrified faces of the surviving knights in stark white bursts.
The dark masses condensed with terrifying speed, swirling inward toward a single tiny unstable point high above War's position, the air growing so heavy it pressed on lungs and made hearts stutter. The sky shook. It trembled in fear, the very atmosphere groaning as if the heavens themselves knew what true power of lightning truly carried when summoned at the cost of a life.
Wind whipped across the lava field, hot and violent, carrying the sharp scent of impending ozone and the low rumble that built like distant artillery.
Then it came.
BOOOOOOOOOM!
The giant surge of lightning slammed down on War in a single, blinding column of white-blue fury, wider than a castle tower and hotter than any forge.
The impact carved a giant crater instantly, the ground exploding outward in a ring of superheated rock and molten spray that hissed and spat as it met the surrounding lava.
Shockwaves ripped through the battlefield like invisible hammers, flinging the other thousand knights in the area backward or crushing them outright where they stood.
Bodies tumbled through the air, armor clanging, screams cut short as bones snapped and lungs collapsed under the pressure.
The force sent entire war mounts skidding across the obsidian, their massive frames sliding like toys before they slammed into the tree line with wet, crunching impacts that left blood misting the air. Argile's form glowed with savage satisfaction even as the cost began to claim him.
"HHAHAHAAH! YESSSSSSSS!" he roared, the laugh bubbling up from the empty space of his robes, triumphant and unhinged.
His staff crumbled first, turning to fine gray dust that swirled away on the wind, followed by the edges of his cloak fraying into nothing. His entire form withered rapidly, robes collapsing inward as the last of his life force fed the storm, skin and bone dissolving into motes that sparkled briefly before vanishing. Even as he completely disappeared, the laugh echoed across the land, haunting and victorious, lingering long after the body was gone.
The torrent of pure lightning kept pouring down for a whole minute, a relentless pillar of divine wrath that lit the crater like a second sun and filled the air with the deafening crackle of superheated plasma and the thick, choking smell of vaporized earth.
The surviving team members struggled to hold their ground, boots digging into the cracked obsidian, arms raised against the buffeting wind and stinging heat that lashed at their faces and made eyes water.
They refused to be pushed back, muscles burning, teeth clenched, every breath a fight against the storm's fury. When Argile's laugh finally faded into silence, so did the lightning. The clouds dissipated with unnatural speed, peeling away to reveal a bruised sky once more, and the giant smoke and crater now dominated the center of the battlefield, a smoking pit of blackened glass and twisted rock where War had stood.
The others cried openly at the death of two of their friends, tears cutting clean tracks through the soot and sweat on their faces, but beneath the grief burned a fierce, desperate happiness that their sacrifice had led to the death of War.
Silvet, Lach, and Mira clung to one another in a tight knot of armor and trembling limbs, sobbing into shoulders and hair as the weight of survival settled heavy in their chests. Lach's legs still refused to hold him fully, so he leaned into Silvet's taller frame, her six-foot-three body wrapping around his smaller one like a shield while Mira pressed her burned cheek against Lach's temple, the three of them rocking together in shared mourning and relief. The rest of the team joined the embrace, arms linking in a ragged circle, voices murmuring broken thanks and farewells, the collective hug a small island of warmth amid the cooling lava and drifting smoke. It was finally over. The nightmare had ended.
Clap.
Clap.
Clap.
"BRAVO!" John appeared again, stepping out of the smoke at the crater's edge as if he had never left, holding the charred head of Victor by its singed hair. The giant's face was frozen in a final scream, skin blackened and cracked like overcooked meat, the scent of burned flesh rolling off it in nauseating waves.
"Oh also, I think you burned your friend. HERE." He tossed the head with a casual flick of the wrist. It arced through the air, trailing faint wisps of smoke, and rolled toward them across the cracked ground with a wet, heavy sound that made stomachs turn.