>>Amber

Persephone's back arched violently, her body stretching as bones cracked and shifted grotesquely. Her pale skin darkened, taking on an eerie, shadowed hue, and her limbs grew longer, more angular.

Her legs and arms extended unnaturally, the fingers on her hands becoming elongated claws that dripped with thick, black miasma.

Oh no

"We're attacking," Hael said and I nodded. We brought our hands up and combined our power to burn her.

Her hair, once a flowing cascade of platinum, now writhed like serpents, lengthening and twisting, each strand glowing faintly with an ethereal, malevolent light. It whipped around her head as if alive, glowing brighter with every passing second.

And she began to grow again.

We fired, it was a flamethrower attack, filled with all the holy power I could conjure. The fire engulfed her. Her body burned.

We heard her screaming but we didn't stop, we kept going. Both of us were ready to exhaust the last bit of mana we had left. My heart pounded in my chest but then it began to slow down as my body began to shut.

No!

We can't, We have to keep going.

The power of the holy flames were so high, the heat was making both of us sweat, it cleared all the miasma around us.

We kept going, and going. We had to stop her.

From her back, two massive, jagged wings had erupted—wings made not of feathers or bone, but of dark, swirling miasma that billowed and shifted like smoke.

The flames we had summoned roared with a deafening intensity, crackling and sizzling as they consumed everything in their path. Hael and I stood our ground, pouring every last ounce of energy we had into the fire, aiming directly at Persephone's transforming body.

I could feel my heart pounding against my chest as if it would explode, each beat growing slower, heavier. My body began to tremble, muscles tightening under the strain of holding this power for so long. Every part of me screamed to stop, to rest, to surrender to the exhaustion, but I fought it back. I couldn't stop now—not when we were so close.

Beside me, Hael's breaths were labored, his face contorted with concentration. He, too, was nearing his limit. His magic flowed through me, intertwined with my Holy power as we pushed together. Persephone's grotesque transformation continued through the flames. Her elongated limbs cracked, her skin blistering beneath the fire, but her piercing screams gave me a glimmer of hope.

She was suffering. We were hurting her.

But our strength was failing.

The holy fire from his hand and the holy power from mine began to flicker. It sputtered for a moment, like an engine trying to restart after running dry, only to roar back to life. Hael and I forced ourselves to push more, push harder, our bodies trembling with the sheer effort it took to keep the flame alive. Sweat poured down our faces, mixing with the ash and the remnants of miasma swirling in the air. The heat was unbearable, and my vision blurred as I blinked through it, focusing on her through the flames.

Persephone's wings—massive and jagged, born from the darkest pits of miasma—were now visible through the flames. They billowed and surged like storm clouds caught in a violent wind, swirling chaotically as the flames ate at them. But still, she didn't stop moving. Her body shifted again, growing taller, more monstrous, more terrible.

No... I thought, the weight of despair settling in my chest. Why isn't she falling?

"Keep going!" Hael's voice was hoarse beside me, filled with determination that mirrored my own.

I nodded, though my body barely had the strength left. My fingers were shaking, my legs trembling beneath me, but I wouldn't let go. I couldn't. Together, we had to finish this.

And together we gave out one final burst of energy that went and consumed even more

But our powers were fading.

Flickering

Sputtering

And then eventually died.

I gasped, my breath ragged, as the flames vanished completely, leaving us in near darkness. My knees buckled, but I forced myself to stay upright, leaning on Hael, who was barely standing himself. We both kept our eyes ahead.

!!!

And then we saw her

Persephone was still standing. I blinked through the haze, trying to focus on her—on what was left of her. The hulking, twisted creature that had emerged from Persephone's body had stopped growing, her massive wings now folded behind her like a terrible cloak of darkness. The flame and holy power had burned her, but she was still there,

Then, in the silence that followed our attack, a gust of wind swept through the battlefield, carrying with it the stench of burnt flesh. The smoke began to clear, the dust settling around us.

Through the haze, I saw her.

My breath caught in my throat.

Persephone had shrunk. She wasn't the towering monster anymore.

There, in the midst of the lingering steam, stood a girl—no taller than five feet, her skin charred black, her hair gone, her body trembling but upright. Her form was small now, almost human, but the malevolence in her eyes burned hotter than the flames had. She glared at us with pure hatred, her chest heaving as if she had barely survived our onslaught.

But she had survived.

The miasma swirled around her hands, thick and dark, coiling like serpents around her fingers. It dripped from her nails, pooling at her feet like liquid shadow. Her breathing was ragged, and for a moment, I thought she might collapse. But she stood firm.

She was waiting. Waiting for us to fall first.

I felt my legs give out from beneath me. My body was failing—too weak to keep fighting, too exhausted to even stand. We were out of time. Out of strength. And she was still standing.

Persephone's lips curled into a small, twisted smile as she took a step toward us. The ground beneath her shifted with the weight of her presence

"Is that all?" she rasped, her voice sharp, but it carried a quiet fury that made my blood run cold. "You thought... that would defeat me?"

My heart sank. We had thrown everything we had at her. Everything.

She took another step closer, the miasma curling tighter around her fingers. Her blackened skin glistened with the remnants of the flames we had used to try and destroy her, but now she was more terrifying than before. She was focused, her rage tempered, and her eyes bore into mine with an intensity that sent shivers down my spine.

I tried to move, but my limbs wouldn't respond.

I couldn't fight. I couldn't even stand.

And still, she approached.

Persephone raised her hand, the miasma swirling faster now, gathering like a storm cloud in her palm. I watched helplessly as she prepared to strike again. There was nothing left we could do to stop her.

In one swift, fluid motion, she unleashed the miasma.

It shot out like a wave of darkness, crashing into us with a force that felt like the weight of the world bearing down. I barely had time to react before it slammed into my chest, knocking the wind from my lungs. My vision blurred instantly as the miasma wrapped around me, seeping into my skin, my mouth, my very soul.

I tried to scream, but no sound came out.

Beside me, Hael let out a sharp gasp, his body convulsing as the miasma enveloped him as well. His eyes widened in shock, and then they rolled back into his head as the dark energy began to take hold. My own body followed suit, convulsing violently as if struck by lightning. Every muscle, every nerve was alight with unbearable pain, the miasma worming its way deeper into me.

It was unlike anything I'd ever felt before.

The pain was all-consuming, like fire coursing through my veins, burning everything it touched. My limbs jerked uncontrollably, my back arching off the ground as if my body were being pulled apart from the inside out. It felt like the miasma was devouring me, swallowing my very essence, suffocating me in its dark grip. I could feel it inside, twisting around my heart, squeezing tighter and tighter until it felt like it would burst.

This was the end. We had no mana left, not even to protect ourselves from the miasma. I could still feel the Holy power in me but I didn't have any mana to bring it forth.

I let out a ragged choking breath.

She was now going to kill us.

I wanted to reach out to him, to tell him we had to keep fighting, but my body wouldn't listen. My hand twitched, fingers trembling as they reached for him

"Hael," I managed to call out to him, my hand still going over to his as I turned my head to look at him.

I felt his hand come and take mine in his.

Tears streamed down my face as I lay there, convulsing on the cold ground, my body a puppet to the dark magic controlling me.

"Amber," He called my name, "My Heart," His voice was a mere whisper. He tried getting closer to me, crawling towards me but it was too hard.

"Don't..." I squeezed his hand tight. I couldn't bear to watch him in pain, "I'm so sorry," I had such an important task to do, yet I failed.

I was a hope for the whole world.

Hael looked at me, "The world... doesn't... matter... to me..." He said, "Only you... do." He kept his eyes on me that were now darkening.

"Romantic," Persephone came and stood over her, her charred form looking at us, "But it's either you or me." She watched us, "I'll end you fast as an act of mercy."