The air still hummed with the echo of Noel's last strike.

The Fourth Pillar staggered backward, blood tracing a thin line down his jaw before vanishing in the heat that shimmered across the chamber. His breathing was harsh, uneven — each exhale burning with unstable mana that flickered crimson along his skin.

Noel rose from his crouch, Revenant Fang dragging a shallow line through the molten floor as he straightened. Selene and Noir stood behind him, silent, their eyes fixed on the enemy who somehow remained upright.

Albrecht's golden light flashed in the distance — the constant clash with the Third Pillar still raging beyond the haze. Every impact from their duel rattled the walls, but here, the focus had narrowed to one fight.

The Fourth Pillar drove his sword into the ground, forcing his body to stand straight. The molten cracks beneath his feet pulsed like veins of fire, his aura rising again in unstable waves.

The faint tremor of red light around him began to sharpen — pain replaced with fury.

Noel didn't wait. He lunged forward, flames erupting from his boots.

Steel met steel — sparks burst outward like shrapnel. The sound was raw, relentless, echoing through the ruins as both fighters pushed for control.

The Fourth's movements were violent, desperate. He swung faster, harder, his blade splitting the air with enough force to tear it open. Noel ducked under a strike, his hair brushing the heat, then countered with a tight slash across the man's shoulder.

The impact drew another burst of red light — the Pillar snarled, his aura flaring out like a shockwave. The blast sent Noel skidding backward across the scorched stone, boots carving trails of smoke.

Selene lifted her wand instinctively, forming a ring of frost to shield them from the wave. Ice cracked under the heat but held.

Noir crouched low beside her, eyes glowing faintly violet. "He's burning himself from the inside," she growled.

Noel wiped blood from his lip, eyes narrowing. "Good. Makes it easier to end this."

The Fourth Pillar raised his blade again, the crimson glow brightening until it nearly blinded them all.

The Fourth Pillar roared — a guttural, broken sound that shook the floor. His blade split the air, and the crimson glow around him erupted into a storm of energy. The light bled through every crack in the ground until the ruins glowed like molten metal.

Noel raised Revenant Fang and stepped forward, mana surging through his veins. "Ignition Surge!"

Fire wrapped around the blade, burning black at its edges. He met the incoming strike head-on, the impact blasting both fighters apart. The shockwave tore through the frost Selene had formed, scattering it into glittering shards.

Selene planted her feet, her wand glowing faint blue. "Frost Wall!"

A new wall of ice rose before her, thick and uneven, catching the edge of the blast. The temperature swung wildly — heat and cold crashing until steam filled the air.

From the other side, Noir appeared from the haze, already moving. Her massive shadowed body darted forward, claws dragging along the ground. "Shadow Step!"

She vanished into her own darkness, reappearing behind the Pillar, jaws snapping. Her fangs clashed against his shoulder plate, sparks and black mana bursting outward.

The Fourth turned instantly, his sword cleaving upward in a red arc. Noir twisted aside, the blade grazing her flank, leaving a burning line that hissed against her fur. She growled, anger deepening the glow in her eyes.

Noel used the opening. "Fire Arc!"

A crescent of flame streaked through the haze, slicing into the Pillar's side. The blow staggered him — briefly — before his aura flared again, hotter, denser.

From above, a voice thundered through the chamber.

"Keep pressure on him!"

Albrecht.

He dropped into view from the higher platform, golden flames spiraling from his hands as he landed. "Solar Divide!"

A massive arc of light swept forward, colliding with the Fourth Pillar's counterstrike. The explosion split the battlefield — half red, half gold — shaking every wall around them.

Selene's voice cut through the roar. "Gravition Hold!"

Invisible weight slammed the Pillar to one knee. His sword scraped the floor as he strained to stand, mana convulsing under the gravity's pull.

Noir lunged again from behind, her claws dragging him down while Noel advanced from the front. Flames licked around his boots; the floor cracked beneath each step.

The moment was closing in — four forces converging on one target.

But the Pillar didn't yield. His body glowed crimson from within, and the veins along his arms burst with light. The cracks in his armor turned white-hot.

Albrecht's eyes narrowed. He recognized it immediately. 'Self-destruction.'

"Back!" he shouted — but it was already too late.

The Fourth Pillar exploded in a flash of scarlet light.

The explosion ripped the floor apart. For a moment, it was all heat, noise, and shattering light.

Selene reacted first, thrusting her wand downward. "Zero Point Burst!"

A sphere of gravity collapsed around her, drawing the fire inward before it could consume them. The flames folded into a dense core, then imploded with a hollow boom, leaving only rolling smoke.

Noir burst through it, half-shadow, half-beast, her body crackling with residual mana. "Abyss Howl!"

The roar scattered the smoke and slammed into the Fourth Pillar, throwing him across the chamber.

He hit the far wall hard, leaving a crater, but still forced himself up. His armor hung in fragments, skin glowing through the cracks like molten glass. The red aura leaking from him wasn't power anymore — it was decay.

Noel didn't hesitate. He launched forward, fire and lightning coiling around his legs. "Stormpiercer!"

He vanished into a streak of blue-white light and reappeared at the Pillar's chest, Revenant Fang already mid-swing.

Steel met steel again — but this time the clash sent a shockwave that bent the air. Sparks and molten droplets scattered across the floor. Both men spun apart, boots scraping stone, the sound drowned beneath their breathing.

Selene called, "Frozen Lance!"

A dozen lances of ice shot from her wand, piercing through the haze toward the target. The Pillar's aura shattered half of them, but three struck true, burying into his shoulder and thigh.

He staggered.

Noir surged forward to press the attack, shadows snapping around his legs. "Umbra Rift!"

The ground darkened beneath him; jagged tendrils coiled upward, slicing through the remaining armor and anchoring him in place.

Noel appeared again, blood running from a cut above his brow, eyes locked on the faintly glowing fissures spreading across the man's chest. Each crack pulsed like a heartbeat ready to burst.

The Fourth Pillar tried to lift his sword — his arm trembled, energy leaking in thin threads of red light.

Noel exhaled slowly, voice a rough whisper. "It's over."

He raised Revenant Fang. Flames coiled tighter. The air began to twist, the hum of mana deepening as the weapon drew in the last remnants of his strength.

The next hit would decide everything.

The chamber trembled under the weight of collapsing magic.

Every flame, every wisp of mana in the air, seemed to lean toward the center—toward the moment about to unfold.

Noel's blade burned with coiling fire, the black edge flickering like a dying star. The Fourth Pillar's eyes glowed red, fury mixing with fear as his body struggled to obey him. He still tried to raise his sword, but his arm barely moved.

The tendrils from Noir's Umbra Rift held him fast, digging deeper into the cracks of his armor, hissing with every pulse of heat.

Selene stood just behind Noel, the frost beneath her boots spreading like veins through the floor. Her wand trembled, mana swirling at its tip. "Frozen Lance!"

A flurry of ice spears shot forward, impaling the ground around the Pillar, closing off every path of retreat.

The impact shattered stone, trapping him in a cage of frost and shadow.

From above, another explosion shook the chamber. Albrecht's golden light flashed across the ceiling as he clashed with the Third Pillar, both of them little more than blurs of power. His flame cut through gravity waves like blades, keeping her from interfering.

Here, below that storm, everything slowed.

The Fourth Pillar bellowed one last defiance, tearing at the shadow binds with raw force. The veins of red light along his body expanded, his mana twisting violently.

Noel didn't wait. "Ignition Surge!"

The fire exploded around him, consuming the ground at his feet. He leapt through the haze, Revenant Fang wreathed in black flame.

The Pillar swung blindly—too late. Their blades collided once, the sound sharp and final. A shockwave rolled outward, flattening debris and snuffing out the last torches.

For an instant, everything was still.

The red light in the Pillar's body flickered weakly, then cracked open in dozens of lines.

Selene's frost turned white-hot from the heat, Noir's shadows hissed as they recoiled, and the entire chamber filled with blinding crimson light—

—then silence.

When it cleared, the Fourth Pillar was on his knees, armor split, sword lowered. Noel stood before him, smoke rising from his shoulders, Revenant Fang humming faintly in his grip.

The end had arrived.

The crimson light faded into drifting embers.

The roar of battle above dimmed, the echoes of Albrecht's golden strikes blending with the distant crackle of melting stone.

Noel stood motionless.

His chest heaved, his body trembling from exhaustion, Revenant Fang still buried deep through the Fourth Pillar's chest. The blade pulsed faintly, absorbing the last threads of crimson mana leaking from the corpse.

For a heartbeat, there was no sound. Only the faint hiss of cooling metal.

The Fourth Pillar's head tilted forward. His mouth moved, as if to speak—but nothing came. The light in his eyes flickered once, then went out completely.

The body slumped forward, disintegrating into red dust that scattered across the floor and vanished like smoke.

Noel didn't pull his weapon free immediately. He just stared, jaw clenched, the afterimage of the fight still burning behind his eyes.

Selene approached slowly from behind, her boots crunching over frost and debris. She didn't say anything—just placed a hand lightly on his shoulder.

Noir padded forward too, shrinking back into her smaller form, fur blackened in patches from the heat. She pressed her head against his leg, a quiet rumble escaping her throat.

Noel finally exhaled. The sound came out rough, tired. "...It's done."

The chamber was silent again, save for the distant thunder of Albrecht and the Third Pillar still locked in their clash.

Then—

[You have killed the Fourth Pillar.]

[Do you wish to claim your reward?]

The system's voice rang in his mind, cold and mechanical, cutting through the stillness.

Noel froze. His grip tightened unconsciously on Revenant Fang, eyes unfocused for a moment as the message lingered in his vision.

He blinked hard, dismissing it with a breath. "Later," he muttered.

Behind him, Selene lowered her wand, her face pale but calm. "One less of them."

Noir's tail flicked. "One down."

Noel nodded slowly, gaze drifting to the glowing crystal at the far end of the ruined hall. It remained untouched—still shining faintly, still pulsing with that steady, unreadable rhythm.

His expression hardened.

He wiped the blood from his cheek and straightened his stance.

'One down,' he thought again, eyes narrowing on the light. 'But this isn't over.'

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