Two Second Manifest Monsters, a multi-stage plan, numerous Artifacts, and an unyielding will — all of this was necessary to have any chance against Ardur von Wurhen.

Neither his darkness nor his mind saw anything but victory.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

The dark dome shook, causing Ardur to look up. Even here, among the cold shadows, he felt the heat approaching.

Soon, the trembling arrow, engulfed in amber flames, tore through the top of the dome.

Grk! Grk! Grk!

The shadows that had pounced on Kreyn scattered to the sides, revealing his bloodied body. The shadows tried to head for the dark edge of the dome, but the flames just burned them. The heat was unbearable for creatures of darkness like them.

Watching the flames burn away his darkness, Ardur just let go of his sword and reached forward.

The great arrow struck him squarely, but even though it was a direct hit, Ardur decided to catch it, as his grip tightened around the arrow.

Ardur's face contorted in intense pain, the fire tearing through his sleeve and burning his arm as the impact from the pure force pushed him back, causing his feet to leave streaks on the ground.

But... in the end, Ardur stopped, and his darkness began to recover. As long as he had enough energy, his Order would work. Only his death or his will could stop it.

"Merissa..." Ardur hissed, gazing into the distance. "You had a chance to escape my wrath, but you turned out to be just as foolish as all of them!"

With an angry roar, Ardur threw the flaming spear back. The last thing Kreyn saw before the dark dome closed was a fleeting spark in the sky.

Merissa, who was standing on the skeleton spine over Boneveil Village, expected to see all the darkness disappear under her fire, but instead, her face froze.

"Hey..." Merissa's eyebrow twitched as she watched the approaching flaming star. "You must be joking..."

...

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Drops of blood splattered on the ground, dripping from Kreyn's body, falling from his fingertips and nose.

The light was gone, Merissa's attack was not strong enough to stop Ardur's Order, his darkness engulfed everything around him again, and the shadows wandered around Kreyn, surrounding him like hounds.

Crack.

Ardur pulled his sword from the ground, approaching Kreyn with a powerful, slow stride. He would not allow the shadows to attack Kreyn. He wanted to finish it with his own hands.

The person before him had burned his legacy, forced him back to square one, and turned his blood into nothingness.

Still, besides anger, there was something else in Ardur's gaze: recognition. He understood that if Kreyn had had a little more strength, time, and favorable conditions, the outcome of their battle could have been different.

"What were you planning to do next?"

"Agh?" Kreyn brushed away a trickle of blood. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You destroyed the prison and turned Varthon into a massacre, hundreds of people died. Your actions brought only destruction and nothing more. Let's say you managed to defeat me, what would you do next?"

Ardur turned toward Varthon, remembering the horrific scene he had witnessed earlier.

"These people will hate you. Their desire to tear you apart for what you've done will only help me regain control of the situation. You are too young, and your hot blood has prevented you from thinking pragmatically. There is no point in destroying everything you touch."

"Hah..." Kreyn smirked, throwing his head back. "Is that really true? You... Ardur von Wurhen, a man with your experience and status, really doesn't understand one simple thing?"

Ardur was confused, he couldn't understand what Kreyn was talking about, and his smirk caused an unfamiliar tremor in him.

"These people have no reason to hate me. On the contrary, all their anger and hatred are directed at the Wurhen Family, and I have become their hero!"

Ardur frowned as he gripped the hilt of his sword more tightly.

"Are you delusional? You fed them to the worms! The monsters destroyed their homes, killed their fathers, mothers, and children! Even I can't imagine the anger that must fill their hearts!"

"Yeah, but Ardur, they don't know that."

Ardur's eyes widened when Kreyn threw the red box aside, holding his last Artifact in his hands.

"History is always written by the winners, Ardur, I'm sure you know that as well as anyone, but let me ask you a question."

Kreyn's eyes shone with bliss.

"Why is it always the good guys who win? Why is it that when you read about events that happened ten, fifty, a hundred, or even a thousand years ago, it always seems like the good side won? What are the odds, huh?"

With a bitter smile, Kreyn clenched the stone eye in his hand.

"The victor is always right, Ardur, because the loser is long dead, and if you're dead, neither lies nor truth are available to you, while the victor will use every means to shine the spotlight on himself."

Ardur threw his hand forward, and at his command, a multitude of shadows pounced on Kreyn from all sides. He wanted to finish it all with his own hands, but he didn't know why, but he felt a threat from Kreyn.

'Is he hiding something? Is this Artifact stronger than the previous one? No! That can't be, otherwise he would have already used it! His body couldn't take any more, then... what could he have that I don't know about?'

Crack.

The stone eye cracked as a bright light burst out. The shadows stopped as the bright light burned their bodies, woven from darkness. The dark dome trembled as the darkness receded from Kreyn.

Still, streams of darkness lingered around him, for the power of an Artifact was not enough to rid him of Ardur's Order. Even Merissa's powerful attack could not do that.

But Kreyn had saved this Artifact for last for another reason.

He had to make sure Ardur showed everything he had.

Only then could he counter Ardur's trump card with his own.

A tremor ran through the depths of his inner space as his Bridge shook and the runes swirled around the Manifest, for the time had come to lift the curse.

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