Sssllnnng—

A burst of light tore through the sky as something bright and serpentine whipped around Nergal's leg!

Sssllaaap!

A blazing rope of yellow and orange fire.

The rope blazed hotter, scales of light flickering like the skin of some ancient dragon. It tightened instantly, hissing as it seared through the black sludge. The monster froze, blinking in confusion, before a second whip shot from the same direction—

Sssllaaap!

It cracked through the air, wrapping around his left arm.

"GRRRRLLLL!!"

The creature roared, a guttural, ear-splitting noise that rattled windows across the ruined street. Its body jerked violently, trying to tear free, but the fiery bindings only tightened, glowing hotter with each struggle.

Azrael blinked through the dust and pain as she looked up and saw… Valra.

"Holy shit… She can cast at this level?" Azrael gasped.

Valra stood in the centre of a colossal magic circle that had unfolded beneath the cracked asphalt, each line etched with burning sigils. The runes pulsed with deep orange light, rotating slowly like celestial gears. Her brown hair lifted with the heat, her clothes in tatters, her entire body wreathed in flame.

Her brown eyes glowed brighter than the fire itself—like a Flame Goddess!

Valra's lips curled in a grim smile.

She raised her right hand towards Nergal, fingers trembling but firm, and clenched her fist.

At her command, a third whip of fire burst from the circle, slicing through the air in a blazing arc.

Ssssllaaaap!

It coiled around Nergal's remaining arm, wrapping it tight. Then another followed—catching the monster's chest, its waist, its other leg. One by one, the whips of flame lashed out, binding it in a web of molten chains.

The creature thrashed wildly, pulling against its restraints. The entire city block trembled as its colossal body heaved back. It clawed at the nearest building, using it as leverage, black sludge spreading like roots across the wall. With a violent jerk, it tore the building in half, chunks of concrete raining down.

BOOM!

The explosion of debris scattered, but the whips held. Steam hissed where the molten whip touched the sludge.

"GRRRRRLLLL!!!"

Nergal screamed again, sinking one massive hand into the ground, dragging deep trenches through the road, trying to crawl away. But every inch it moved, Valra's circle expanded… its lines glowing brighter, the ground beneath it burning molten orange.

Valra gripped her hand tightly, her fingers trembling open as if Nergal's resistance was acting on her fingers!

Her fingers almost opened, but she clenched tighter and tighter as cuts started to appear on her skin, as if invisible knives were slicing her flesh from within. Blood welled beneath her nails.

"Come on! You're not stronger than me. BURN!" she gritted her teeth, voice breaking but wild.

Then—

CRACK!

One of the fiery whips snapped.

Valra gasped sharply, coughing blood. The light in her veins flickered, but she didn't fall. She stammered but still stood up... The flames on her body flared even hotter, outlining her in pure golden light.

"Not yet…" she hissed, raising both arms.

From the circle, two new whips burst forth. They lashed across Nergal's chest and shoulders, wrapping tighter, binding him once more.

Azrael watched in awe, barely able to breathe… 'What the fuck did my son get into?' she wondered in shock.

Nergal tried one final time to resist—He clawed at the ground, tearing up roads and signs. His enormous form strained against the bindings, the crimson spark inside him pulsing violently. The black sludge around his mouth writhed like a nest of snakes. He let out a roar that shook the earth.

Valra's voice rose above it, strong and steady:

^Incendium Aeternum!^

As she finished her words… her humongous magic circle ignited!

As if she had ignited the spark!!

The entire ring exploded in light as something massive formed within it—a titanic hand made entirely of molten lava, and lava splashed from the magic circle, its lava splashed on the ground, melting everything that touched it.

Nergal froze…. his monstrous head turning toward it.

His hollow eye widened as the molten hand reached out slowly.

Then it closed around him.

The fingers dug into his skull, flames searing through his black flesh.

"GGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!"

He screamed, not just his scream only but the scream of hundreds of people echoed along with it as if they were in pain too.

Valra didn't care, just clenched her and the hand clenched, pulling downward. The whips of fire twisted in unison, dragging him closer, closer to the heart of the circle.

Valra stepped back, her gaze locked on him… her body trembled something inside her breaking away as if something that made her mage started to crack but she closed her eyes as she remembered… Gorgo's words,

"You're the one who came into his life with lies and manipulation, so you'd better see this through to the end!"

Gorgo's voice rang in her head. Valra flinched,

'She is right… My love is nothing but Lies and Manipulation.'

She opened her golden hue flames-filled eyes, "This is for Leo," she muttered, as she whispered one final command, as something inside her cracked,

^Solis Ruina!^

BOOOOM!!!

The giant hand yanked him down into the centre of the burning circle. The street exploded into a vortex of light and flame, swallowing Nergal whole. The impact shattered glass across streets.

The flaming vortex raged like a storm of the sun, swallowing the ruined street.

Inside it, Nergal's silhouette twisted in agony. His body convulsed and tore apart, yet refused to die, the crimson spark still there, sparking even more furiously and suddenly... The core of his chest split wide open—

CRRRKKKK—

A jagged line of crimson light ripped him from throat to stomach, and from within that split, hundreds of black, skeletal hands burst out, clawing at the air.

They were human-shaped but made of black sticky liquid, fingers stretching, reaching, crawling upward as if a hundred trapped souls were trying to drag themselves free. Their nails scraped the edge of the vortex, leaving trails of sparks.

"GRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLIIIIIIIWWWWW!!!!!"

The sound that followed wasn't one voice but thousands—

Screams, cries, whispers—all overlapping, echoing through the air like the chorus of the damned.

Valra's eyes widened. Her flames wavered for the first time. The circle under her feet trembled, breaking apart at the edges.

"No… no, stay down!" she shouted, forcing more power into the spell.

She coughed more blood.

The countless black arms grabbing melted concrete, pulling pieces of road, even tearing chunks of the nearby buildings to climb back.

The flames spun faster. The heat scorched her lungs; her body shook violently as she kept the whips tight. Her knees buckled, every single muscle of her body screamed for rest, but she refused to fall.

It was almost free.

"NO!"

Valra screamed as her circle cracked apart. Flames erupted upward like a volcano, her body surrounded by blinding light.

Nergal's face emerged from the vortex, half melted, half reformed… a grotesque black sticky hollowed face.

His face seemed to be grinning as if he overpowered everyone… but then his hollow eyes saw… Azrael, holding the gun, stood before him as she said with a wicked grin,

"Go to Hell, asshole!"

Then—

BANG!

A single silver bullet tore the air!

It flashed like a comet, slicing across the glowing smoke and piercing straight through Nergal's forehead.

The impact burst with blue particles shimmered out like fireworks and... For a heartbeat, everything froze.

Nergal's red eyes rolled upward. His head jerked back into the vortex, and the bullet detonated inside him.

The colour of the vortex changed.

The yellow-orange flames of Valra's magic turned blue at the edges… deep azure spreading outward like veins of cold fire. Then the two colours merged, twisting together into a storm of yellow, orange, and blue that filled the sky.

BOOOOOOM!!

The vortex exploded upward, painting the entire street in light. Every window shattered, buildings flew, cars, trees, everything was hurled away, even Valra and Azrael thrown back by the force, sliding across the ground.

The screams of hundreds of voices turned into one final shriek…. long, high, and fading into silence.

The firestorm raged for several seconds more, then began to fade. The whips turned to dust. The magic circle cracked apart, its runes dissolving like embers in rain.

The air grew still… The light dimmed.

The flames vanished completely.

Valra was coughing hard, her arms trembling, sweat and blood running down her face.

Azrael dragged herself closer, wincing in pain, a faint grin breaking through the exhaustion.

"That's one hell of a sunset you made there…"

Valra didn't answer. She stared at the crater where Nergal vanished, "It's… over." As she raised her hand… the flames flickered before dispersing in her hand, and when Azrael saw this,

"What have you done?" Her voice turned to pure horror!

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