The world was ending loudly.

That was my first coherent thought as the giant ice golem brought its foot down again, the impact detonating the ground beneath us in a shockwave of frozen ruin. Earth shattered. Trees vaporized. A crater bloomed outward like a scar being carved into the forest itself.

Kent and I were already moving.

We had to be.

I dashed sideways as the foot slammed down where I'd been half a second earlier, the impact throwing a wall of debris and ice shards into the air. Kent vanished in a flicker of warped space, reappearing above the golem's ankle and swinging his scythe down with a roar.

Silver distortion screamed as his blade cut through reality itself.

Space tore.

The golem's leg… cracked.

Just a little.

Kent landed hard, skidding across frozen ground, and I didn't miss the way his shoulders sagged for a fraction of a second.

"Yeah," I muttered. "That tracks."

I leapt.

Purple fire roared.

Soulflames surged from my hands into the blade I'd forged from them, the weapon screaming like a living thing as I swung. A crescent of violet inferno ripped through the air, heat so intense it boiled the moisture out of the atmosphere, leaving a vacuum snap in its wake.

The arc slammed into the golem's torso.

Fire exploded outward in a titanic eruption, engulfing its upper body in a storm of violet flame. Steel would've liquefied. Stone would've turned to slag. Even magical alloys wouldn't have lasted more than a heartbeat under that kind of heat.

The golem?

It glowed.

The ice blackened, cracked, sagged, entire plates of it melting into superheated slush that hissed and ran like molten glass.

For one glorious second.

I thought we had it.

Then the ice refroze.

Not slowly.

Instantly.

New ice surged from within, reinforced by that sickening ice-blue dualflow energy. The damaged sections thickened, layering over themselves, becoming denser, harder, and stronger than before.

"…You have got to be kidding me," I breathed.

The golem moved.

Its arm split apart mid-motion, reshaping itself into a dozen jagged spears that launched toward us with a sound like shrieking wind. I twisted midair, flipping backward as the spears ripped past me, one grazing my side hard enough to tear flesh and send me spinning.

Pain flared.

White light answered.

Life mana surged automatically, knitting skin and muscle back together before I even hit the ground.

Kent wasn't as lucky.

One of the spears caught him in the shoulder, impaling him and pinning him to the frozen earth. He snarled, teeth bared, and teleported, tearing himself free at the cost of leaving a chunk of flesh behind.

He reappeared beside me, clutching his shoulder, blood steaming in the cold.

"Still alive?" I shouted over the chaos.

"Unfortunately!" he snapped back. "Your turn!"

The ground beneath us rose.

A forest of ice chains erupted upward, hundreds of them, each thicker than my torso and stretching impossibly long. They lashed out in every direction, cracking the air as they moved, seeking to skewer, bind, crush.

We split.

Kent tore space open in jagged bursts, blinking from point to point, his scythe carving paths through the chains, shattering some, redirecting others, but for every one he destroyed, three more took its place.

I ran toward the monster.

flames exploded from my feet, propelling me forward in a blur of violet heat. Chains whipped past me, one slamming into my ribs hard enough to fold me in half mid-stride.

Bones cracked.

I hit the ground, skidding, vision flashing white.

Life mana surged again, violent and desperate, snapping ribs back into place, forcing air back into my lungs.

I coughed once.

Then I got up.

"Stay down!" Kent yelled.

"Not an option!" I yelled back.

The golem reared back, its chest splitting open as hundreds of ice bullets formed within, compact, razor-edged projectiles glowing with dualflow reinforcement.

They fired.

The air became a storm.

I threw up a wall of flames, purple fire screaming as it collided with the barrage. Bullets vaporized on contact, but not fast enough. Several punched through, ripping into my arms, my legs, my side.

Pain stacked.

Healing followed.

Over and over.

My body screamed at me, warning lights flashing everywhere, but I ignored it and charged.

I slammed my blade into the golem's leg, soulflames pouring into the wound like liquid fury. Ice shrieked as it melted, cracked, and collapsed inward.

The leg buckled.

The golem stomped.

The ground detonated again, sending me flying. I crashed through three trees, my back slamming into the fourth hard enough to snap it in half.

I slid down the trunk, breath ragged, vision swimming.

Kent appeared beside me, panting, his scythe dimmer now, space warping sluggishly around it.

"This thing..." he gasped, "doesn't care!"

"No shit," I muttered, pushing myself upright. "It's a walking 'no'."

The golem advanced.

Every step froze the ground anew, ice spreading outward in complex geometric patterns, mana chains interlocking like circuitry. Pillars of ice rose around us, slamming down, boxing us in, trying to crush us between them.

Kent swung wildly, tearing space apart just enough to keep us from being pancaked.

Barely.

"I can't," he started, then grunted as another wave of ice bullets forced him to teleport again. "—I can't get enough control! I can break space, but it's like punching a mountain with a hammer!"

I wiped blood from my mouth and laughed weakly.

"Hey," I said. "You're doing great."

"Liar."

I was, in fact, lying; he was basically useless.

The golem raised both arms.

The sky darkened.

A colossal ice blade formed above us, wider than a city street, longer than a castle tower, its edge humming with lethal cold.

It began to fall.

I reacted without thinking.

Life mana exploded outward from me, a brilliant white dome slamming into place around both of us. The blade hit with apocalyptic force, the impact sending shockwaves rippling through the barrier.

Cracks spiderwebbed instantly.

My knees buckled.

"Sebastian!" Kent shouted.

"I've got it!" I lied.

The barrier shattered.

The blade tore through, slamming into the ground just beside us, the explosion throwing us in opposite directions. I hit hard, tumbling, coming to rest in a crater of my own.

My body burned.

I forced healing through sheer will, light stitching me back together as fast as I was breaking.

I rolled onto my back, staring up at the frozen sky.

And then...

I felt it.

A familiar presence.

Sharp.

Focused.

Like moonlight cutting through fog.

My breath caught.

"…No way," I whispered.

I pushed myself up, senses stretching, not outward, but inward, aligning, listening.

There.

Approaching fast.

My lips curled into a grin despite everything.

I looked toward Kent, who was struggling to his feet, bloodied, furious, unbroken.

"Kent," I called.

He glanced at me, eyes wild. "What?"

I pointed toward the monster.

"Use your strongest attack," I said calmly. "Right now. Make me an opening."

He stared at me for a heartbeat.

Then he smiled.

A feral, reckless grin.

"…About damn time," he said, lifting his scythe as space began to scream around it.

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