The ground still shook beneath Kael's feet as he took another step forward, fixing his eyes on the abominable creature that had emerged from the altar. The aberration pulsed in disjointed rhythms, as if it were alive and dead at the same time. Its hands—dozens of them—waved like nervous tentacles, searching for something, anything, to grab onto.

Asuka staggered over to Kael's side, leaning on her katana as if it were the only thing keeping her upright.

"If this thing is the center of the ritual..." she said through clenched teeth, "then destroying it might end everything."

"Or doom everything," Kael murmured, still analyzing the creature, his eyes glowing with the flow of mana. "But we have no choice."

Klee stood behind them, clutching her small backpack with both hands, her eyes fixed on the creature as if it were a nightmare made flesh. Her explosions could help—but using them inside the church would ruin any protection that remained.

Kael knew that. And the barrier was already shattering under the weight of the external assault.

"You two, get ready. I'll draw her attention."

Without waiting for a response, he fired.

He channeled the wind, blurring his form, and crossed the hall toward the abomination. In an instant, he was in the air, sword raised, ready to deliver a vertical blow with mana condensed on his blade.

The blow fell with force and light.

The monster's flesh screamed—a sound that was not a sound, that vibrated directly inside the skull—and retracted. One of the human arms sprouting from its back stretched out like a snake, trying to grab Kael in midair.

He dodged, spinning in the air and launching three dense energy orbs. The spheres embedded themselves in the pulsing flesh and exploded with bursts of heat, tearing chunks out of the abomination.

But nothing died there. Where there had been holes, new limbs began to grow.

The creature fed on damage.

"It's regenerating!" Kael shouted. "We need to hurt it with pure energy—holy fire or purification spells!"

"Then why did you start with wind and shadow, you idiot?!" Asuka advanced close behind, even limping, her sword wrapped in a silver aura.

Kael smiled with the corner of his mouth. "I needed to test it."

The Oni jumped, spinning her katana in the air. Its blade glowed with ancient energy, enchanted with long-forgotten blessings. The blow cut a straight line through the creature—and for a moment, the abomination actually recoiled, its eyes flashing in agony.

"That hurt," Kael said, landing beside her. "Your blood is cursed, so your blade boils his soul."

"Good to know I'm still useful," she replied, spitting blood.

Asuka barely had time to retreat when a mass of flesh shot up from the ground, trying to wrap around her feet. Kael drew in the air with a gesture and launched a blade of wind that severed the mass before it could grab her. The ground was becoming a living trap—it pulsed, it breathed. The church itself seemed to be corrupted from the inside out.

Klee, trembling, took out one of her larger bombs—an orange capsule with a blue core, spinning slowly.

"You two, get away!" she shouted. "This one is eternal flames!"

Kael and Asuka jumped back the moment Klee threw the bomb.

It spun through the air and landed right on the creature's center.

For a moment, silence.

Then: FWWOOOM!

A tongue of white fire burst from the explosion. The heat wave was so intense that it cracked the stone benches of the church. The creature writhed, letting out a silent scream that tore through the minds of everyone around it.

Klee fell to her knees, exhausted. The energy of that bomb had taken a lot out of her.

Kael looked—and saw. The creature writhed, but did not regenerate. The eternal flames were working. They burned the soul, not just the flesh.

"That's it!" he shouted. "We need to keep this up! Press on now!"

Asuka leaped over a fallen pillar and attacked again, striking the creature with her katana wrapped in purification. Kael concentrated mana and launched a compact sphere of light—an ability he rarely used because it was unstable. It collided with the creature and burst like a dying star, scattering fragments of holy light that burned every hand, every eye.

Outside, the noise ceased. A tense silence hung in the air.

Kael sensed it.

"They... stopped?"

"No. They're... listening," Ahri said. "The thing inside the church is calling. They know she's in danger."

The warning came too late.

With a unified roar, the orcs threw their bodies against the church doors. The barrier was already cracked, and now... it shattered with the sound of glass being crushed.

The entrance exploded. Orcs invaded, eyes glowing, mouths foaming, screaming in forgotten languages. One of them had his face covered by a human skull mask and carried a mace made of vertebrae fused with black iron.

Kael spun around and shouted, "Klee! Rear guard! Asuka, keep the creature on the ground!"

He turned, sword in hand, and faced the first wave.

The blade flashed, tearing throat and skull. But the orcs were out of control, ignoring pain. One bit Kael's shoulder even with his neck broken. Another struck him with the club in the flank.

Kael fell to his knees, coughing up blood.

Klee shouted, throwing a series of small bombs—each one emitting light and sound to disorient the orcs. They staggered. But they did not fall.

Asuka, ignoring her wounded leg, swung her sword in precise, brutal circles. Each blow split an orc in two. But there were too many. Too many.

Kael rose, blood dripping from his mouth, his vision blurred for a moment. The pain in his side was hot and throbbing, but not enough to stop him. The heat of battle, the weight of responsibility, and the presence of so many lives around him pushed him forward. There was no time for pain. There was no room for failure.

With a gesture, he enveloped himself in shadows and disappeared from the orcs' field of vision. He reappeared behind the one carrying the mace made of vertebrae, and without hesitation, thrust his sword between the creature's ribs. The orc let out a surprised grunt, turning with wide eyes before falling heavily to the stone floor.

"Kael!" Klee shouted, dodging an orc that had almost crushed her with a club blow.

He looked at her. The girl had improvised a wall of flames in the middle of the church nave, temporarily separating the orcs from the abyssal creature that was still writhing on the altar. But the wall would not last. Time was against them.

Kael ran to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Can you repeat the bomb from before?"

Klee bit her lip. "Maybe... but I need space and time."

"Then we'll get it. Asuka!"

The oni barely managed to respond—already covered in blood, her katana spinning like an extension of her own body. Her armor was in pieces, but the ferocity in her gaze was stronger than ever.

"Hold that line! Just a minute!"

"A minute is an eternity here!" she shouted, stabbing another orc.

Kael turned to the invaders. He conjured a circle of wind around himself and began to recite in a low voice, drawing mana from around him. The church shook, the stained glass windows bursting under the magical pressure. Cutting gusts swirled like invisible blades, tearing orcs to pieces. But the bodies just piled up — new ones came right behind.

He couldn't keep them at bay much longer.

"Now, Klee!" he shouted, releasing one last burst of cutting air. "It's all or nothing!"

The girl was on her knees on the floor, her eyes closed, murmuring formulas she had learned on her own, mixing alchemy with primal magic. The vial in her hands trembled, pulsing blue and gold. The surface vibrated as if it contained a trapped storm.

Kael stood in front of her. "I'll hold them back as long as I can."

The orcs advanced in a block. Asuka still held them back near the entrance, but those who escaped were numerous—and furious. They did not retreat, did not hesitate. As if they were under a spell. Perhaps they were. The creature on the altar was still breathing, feeding on the energy around it.

Then Klee stood up, and the vial in her hand glowed like a miniature sun.

"Purification... total," she murmured.

She threw the vial into the air.

The moment it touched the church ceiling, the world seemed to stop. The explosion was not fire. It was light.

A white wave swept through everything — bathing flesh, shadows, metal, and even thoughts. An ancient purification, strong enough to burn not only bodies, but the intentions behind corruption.

The orcs stopped. Some fell instantly, charred from within, their souls purged. Other roars echoed from the mist outside, and even the shadows that infiltrated the church structure began to retreat.

The creature on the altar screamed.

But it was a scream of despair.

The light touched it like divine acid. Its flesh disintegrated into pieces, its eyes exploded like bubbles. Its hands flailed in the air, trying to protect itself, but the purification burned from the inside out. Kael saw—and understood. The creature wasn't just being destroyed.

It was being exorcised.

"It doesn't belong in this world..." Kael murmured. "But it also... doesn't want to go back to where it came from."

Asuka fell to her knees, laughing nervously. "You say that as if you feel sorry for it."

"No. I'm afraid of what's on the other side."

The light began to fade. The golden glow reduced to sparks suspended in the air, like glittering dust in the sun. Kael looked around. Orcs lay scattered throughout the church—some still smoldering, others reduced to bones.

The creature... was no longer there.