The abomination continued to attack wildly.

Its tentacles smashed through mirror after mirror, tearing apart reflections of Adam without pause. Each strike was precise and violent. But no matter how many images it destroyed, it could not locate the true Adam.

The mirrors regenerated too quickly, and the creature's attention remained fragmented.

Adam had already adapted to its aura of dread. Moreover, it was stripped of its concealment ability. And so all it could do was keep attacking and taking down all the mirrors.

It seemed to possess limitless strength and endurance, and no matter how many mirrors appeared, it would shatter them all.

It had never once faced a foe like Adam. All who stumbled onto his domain in the past had been corrupted by it. But Adam was different.

So it had taken a different approach to battle, turning into one of attrition. It could attack relentlessly, but how long could Adam keep the spell active?

At one point, he was bound to run out of mana. And that was the moment when it would strike!

Despite the chaos, however, one thing never changed.

The glowing, arched gate at the center of its mass was constantly shielded. Several thick tentacles remained coiled around it at all times, intercepting any attacks and blocking all angles of approach. Even while lashing out blindly, the abomination never exposed the gateway.

Then, the atmosphere inside the cavern changed.

Simultaneously, the innumerable eyes of the abomination narrowed.

Rank 4 Spell: Amplify Gravity!

Gravity surged without warning, ten times heavier in an instant. The effect was immediate and absolute. The mirrors in the chamber shattered all at once, unable to withstand the sudden pressure.

Reflections collapsed into fragments that fell and dissolved before they could hit the ground. The endless lattice vanished, leaving the cavern empty once again.

And then…

Adam appeared!

He stood firmly on the fractured ground, bloodied but upright, the Staff of Calamity gripped tightly in his hands. Unlike the mirrors, he did not falter under the increased gravity.

Although the abomination had returned to the state of concealment once again, he looked directly at it. He knew where it was. And he knew where the gate was.

Then, he muttered in a cold voice filled with unshakable resolve:

"Expand."

BOOOOM!

The staff obeyed his command, elongating into a massive pillar and launching forward like a battering ram. It shot straight towards the glowing, arched gate embedded within the abomination's core.

The creature reacted at once. Its tentacles and tendrils surged inward, attempting to shield the gateway to deflect or halt the incoming black pillar.

But the gravity worked against it.

The abomination's limbs were heavily strained. Its movements slowed and were dragged downwards by the crushing force. Meanwhile, the Staff of Calamity drove on, punching into the glowing gate.

Cracks appeared along the surface of the staff as it forced its way inside, the space around it warping and distorting.

This artifact was made from precious materials, including the spine of a powerful ancient serpent. It was forged together by Lord White and Magus Syvarin Ven'mir. No doubt it was a great artifact worthy of being wielded by an expert of the Greater Universe.

Yet, when it came into contact with the mysterious gate, it started to crack open!

More tentacles wrapped around the pillar, coiling tightly, pulling and pushing in a desperate attempt to force it back out. Instead, the opposite happened. Bit by bit, the abomination's own mass was dragged back.

Its swirling mass of appendages staggered as the staff continued to advance into… the Beyond!

By now, the abomination had fully retracted its aura of dread and even stopped bothering to conceal itself. It was now fully visible for Adam to see as it desperately tried to deal with the staff.

Adam's heart churned with overwhelming emotions. He knew what he had to do next. His heart ached, but he knew it had to be done.

He gritted his teeth and roared in snaketongue:

"I said… EXPAND!!"

HIIISSSSSS!!!

Behind Adam, a massive silhouette rose into existence, coiling through the air like a living shadow. The outline of a colossal black serpent emerged, its pair of topaz eyes gleaming with cold intelligence.

Then, the pillar expanded again.

The Staff of Calamity shuddered as its length increased far beyond its previous limits. All the seals placed on it by Lord White came undone, resulting in Adam receiving a vicious backlash. He bled profusely from his facial orifices, but he endured nonetheless.

It was now or never!

The staff drove deeper into the arched gate. More cracks appeared on the surface of the staff. At the same time, the space around the gate distorted violently, folding and twisting as the structure began to fail.

The abomination was dragged forward despite its resistance. All of its attention was on preventing the massive pillar from denying its purpose.

Several of its limbs tore free under the strain as it was forced into the collapsing gate.

The silhouette of the black serpent behind Adam hissed once again. With the presence of its spirit reinforcing it, the staff surged forward once more.

In one decisive motion, the staff pushed to its absolute limit, bringing down calamity upon the abomination.

The gate began to phase in and out of reality, its structure unable to withstand the force of the staff. The abomination was pulled in all at once, its writhing mass collapsing into the arch as it was forcibly exiled.

Adam endured the unbearable pain and thrust the staff straight into the gate with all his might.

On the verge of completely breaking apart, the staff still obeyed the will of its master. The countless tentacles and tendrils of the abomination vanished beyond the threshold, followed by the last remnants of its core.

Light flared, bathing the dark cavern in an otherworldly glow.

As the last of the abomination's limbs vanished beyond the portal, so did the Staff of Calamity. The gate sealed itself shut before fading away from this world.

The abomination was gone, cast beyond the realm from which it had emerged.

All that was left in its wake was scorched stone and warped space.

Having exiled the abomination and erased the gate, whatever little strength Adam had left in his body faded away.

His consciousness slowly slipped away, and he collapsed to the ground.

As darkness engulfed him, he thought he glimpsed a fading vision:

A black serpent slithering away until it vanished completely.

Leaving behind nothing but a void in Adam's heart…

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