The moment Liam shouted those words, Dame immediately grabbed him from behind. His lightning-charged body crackled violently, the electrical currents biting into Liam's skin and sending painful shocks through his nerves. Even so, Liam gritted his teeth and endured. His system could repair whatever damage the lightning caused, and as a Pagna warrior his body naturally possessed a resilience far greater than an ordinary fighter. Pain was nothing compared to what was at stake.

With a powerful kick, Dame launched off the ground, his hybrid beast limbs and lightning body propelling both of them forward in a sharp, explosive burst. They shot toward the giant puppet like a streak of distorted light, ready to force a direct confrontation. But the puppet, massive and monstrous, had multiple limbs of its own, long, jagged formations of Dark Magic that replaced any sense of symmetry. Not only could it attack Alen with relentless precision, but each limb twisted and lashed toward Liam and Dame as they approached, its awareness expanding across every direction at once.

"Dame!" Liam yelled as several Dark Pulses began forming. The violent energy signatures trembled in the air like unstable stars. "Move left! Right! Then left again, left!"

Liam's system could read the subtle shifts of the Dark Magic, tracing the trajectory before the pulses even materialized. It sensed the tiny distortions and particles gathering in the puppet's limbs, predicting exactly where each blast would be fired. Dame responded instantly, veering sharply in the directions Liam barked out, their combined movement splitting through the gaps with perfect timing.

Dame was faster than Liam by several leagues, that was precisely why Liam needed Dame's body to carry him. Without the hybrid warrior's speed, Liam would have been struck several times already.

As the two drew closer to the puppet's chest, the storm of limbs suddenly changed behavior. No longer were the puppet's extra arms sweeping outward in wide attacks. Instead, the two largest limbs folded inward like giant pillars collapsing toward them, trying to crush Liam and Dame under sheer weight and pressure.

"SIDES!" Liam roared. But in truth, he barely needed to say it. Everyone watching understood from Liam's earlier directions what he was planning. They knew this moment would come.

A blur shot upward, B had leapt high into the air, positioning herself near the descending arm on the left. At the same time, powerful spiraling bursts of four-element magic erupted from Londo, Kelly, and Sophie. The combined magical force was destructive enough to shake the cavern, and they weren't the only ones acting. Several of Alen's men who had survived were already channeling what little mana they had left, adding their attacks to the deadly mix.

Liam's system had foreseen that, too. The mass of incoming magic was exactly what he needed.

The twin waves of destructive force, B's swirling Blood Qi attacks and the quadruple-element blasts, collided directly with the puppet's arms. The impact shredded layers of Dark Magic, tearing away large chunks of the corrupted material until the physical earth core inside the limbs was exposed. Cracks raced along the structure, and with a thunderous collapse, both arms shattered and crashed to the ground.

The giant puppet had lost its limbs, leaving Liam and Dame with a narrow window, an opening that would likely never come again.

"Dame, listen, do whatever you can to protect me. Your body can handle it!" Liam shouted over the crashing debris.

They surged forward. This was the moment, the chance to kill the Grand Magus inside.

A jagged mass of condensed Dark Magic burst out from the puppet's chest, forming a sharp spear-like weapon aimed directly at them. Liam swung one of his swords, unleashing an Eclipse Strike. The attack clashed with the dark spear, halting it for a brief moment and allowing them to advance.

But the recoil threw Liam off balance, and the puppet reacted instantly. Another mass of Dark Magic erupted to strike him from the right. Dame pivoted, using Liam's copy sword as a shield, but the moment the Dark Magic touched the blade, the weapon darkened, corrupted, and was swallowed whole.

Liam released it immediately, jaw tightening.

Damn it… one of my favorite swords… this bastard!

The system confirmed what he already sensed, given the sheer density of Dark Magic here, the artifact was likely lost forever. A sword that had helped him a lot in the journey so far. But he still had the all-cutting sword. And this was the moment to use it.

Another whip-like tendril of Dark Magic lashed out from the side, aiming to slice him in half. But Liam did not falter. He thrust his sword straight ahead.

Because he knew, he trusted, that Dame would be there.

Dame, in his hybrid beast form, lightning crackling around him, met the Dark Magic head-on. His hardened, monstrous arms seized the whip-like limb, the corrosive power burning away his beast limbs almost instantly. Still, he held on. Even as the limbs dissolved into black mist, he did not let go. His body was built for endurance, and he used every ounce of it.

It was enough.

Liam drove the all-cutting sword straight into the puppet's chest. The blade slipped through the Dark Magic and the stone-like core as if it were nothing more than soft mud. But it didn't reach Harvey, not yet. It pierced only the puppet's center, not the true body within.

Liam's eyes snapped upward. And there, emerging from the puppet's forehead, Harvey himself rose into view. His head, his shoulders, his upper torso, all sliding out of the Dark Magic construct.

He was repositioning his body inside the puppet.

"He can move inside the giant puppet… just how the hell do we kill this guy?"

*****

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