The crimson plain trembled as Daniel Voss raised the golden baton.
With a single, precise flick of his wrist, the Symphony of Dominion activated at full Pantheon Tier 1 power.
Golden musical notes exploded outward like a living orchestra. The five summoned souls surged forward in perfect harmony — Elias leading the charge with his spectral spear, Reyes swinging the fire axe, Mara directing kinetic redirects, and Vannia's parents shielding the sisters with translucent barriers.
Daniel conducted.
Every movement of the baton rewrote local reality for a fraction of a second.
The Red Knight swung his colossal greatsword in a devastating overhead arc meant to cleave the entire plain in two. Daniel countered with a sharp upward flick — the blade froze mid-swing, caught in a golden measure of silence. Then he brought the baton down.
The Red Knight was slammed into the ground so hard the stone shattered for fifty meters in every direction.
Daniel didn't stop.
He conducted a brutal, precise sequence — Pestilence Type 3 amplified by 300%, Absolute Immunity reinforcing every strike, Summon Soul turning the five allies into an unstoppable chorus of vengeance.
The pipe reappeared in his free hand, now glowing with platinum-white edges. He closed the distance in a blur and unleashed a storm of conducted strikes:
A descending cut that cracked the Red Knight's armor.
An amplified Plague Sovereign blast that forced black-violet lightning into every joint of the red plate.
A reality rewrite that made the Red Knight's own infinite level momentarily work against him — his harvested souls turning rebellious inside his body.
The Red Knight roared in fury as he was beaten back, greatsword swinging wildly but never landing. Each blow from Daniel carried the weight of the entire Pantheon's judgment. Armor plates shattered. Red lightning flickered and died. The god was driven to one knee, helmet cracked further, white eyes burning with rage.
"You… insignificant conductor!" the Red Knight bellowed.
Daniel raised the baton for the finishing measure.
But the Red Knight suddenly laughed — a broken, hateful sound.
"Fine," he snarled. "If the Pantheon wants to play games…"
He slammed both hands onto the ground.
**Phase Two Activated.**
A torrent of corrupt red energy erupted from the Red Knight's body like a volcanic explosion. Thick, oily, pitch-black tendrils shot outward in every direction, laced with screaming faces and stolen system fragments. The energy was pure corruption — the accumulated evil of every human who had ever abused a system.
Daniel's baton faltered.
The corrupt wave slammed into him like a tidal wave of pure malice. Even with Absolute Immunity, the sheer volume and narrative weight of the corruption forced him to step back — one involuntary step, then another.
His platinum-white interface glitched violently.
```
[Warning: Pantheon System Under Extreme Pressure]
Corrupt Energy Overload Detected
Reaper System Phase Two: "True Face of Humanity"
Effect: Temporarily weakens divine authority within radius
Chosen-0007 pushed back — Symphony of Dominion efficiency reduced by 47%
```
The golden notes around Daniel flickered and dimmed. The summoned souls cried out as the corrupt energy clawed at their forms, trying to drag them back into oblivion.
Vannia and Mia staggered as the red-black wave washed over them, forcing them to their knees.
The Red Knight rose slowly from the crater, armor regenerating with sickening wet sounds. His shattered visor now leaked thick red energy, and his voice had become a distorted chorus of a thousand screaming humans.
"You see?!" he roared, spreading his arms as the corrupt energy continued to pour out of him. "This is what humans truly are when given systems! This is the harvest I have cultivated across infinity! Your precious Pantheon cannot sanitize what is already rotten!"
The Red Knight took a heavy step forward, the ground melting beneath his boots.
Daniel planted his feet, golden baton still raised, but the corrupt energy pushed against him like a physical wall, forcing him to brace.
The Red Knight laughed again — louder, more unhinged.
"Now the real symphony begins, Conductor. Let's see how long your pretty baton lasts when faced with the true face of every system user who ever chose evil."
The crimson plain was now drowning in thick, screaming red-black corruption.
Daniel stood his ground, eyes narrowed, baton glowing defiantly against the tide.
The battle had entered its darkest phase.
And the Red Knight had just revealed the full depth of his infinite malice.