The world around him slowed to a crawl as his perception accelerated.
He became a blur of shadow and steel, striking with precision.
Knashii found its mark again and again, slicing through the creature's unnatural flesh, severing limbs, and cutting deep into its torso. Each wound would have been fatal to any mortal being, but for this abomination, they were merely inconveniences.
Behind him, Wymar had entered a deep casting trance. His eyes glowed with pure mana in them, as emerald rubies and complex runic equations orbited around him like the rings of some mystical planet.
A sharp noise of air being ripped apart by a sudden burst of mana filled the battlefield.
The air crackled with power as he drew energy from the ley lines that crisscrossed the county.
As a Tier 9 mage, Wymar had access to dimensional magic that lesser practitioners could only dream of—spells that could, briefly, tear the very fabric of reality.
He chanted continuously as if it was a long spell, his voice taking on a harmonic quality as though multiple people spoke through him.
Jolthar was taking his breath, at intervals, controlling his aura and voidwrath power.
Each swing of his sword was now starting to affect the beast. His void energy inflicted attacks have never let the wounds heal. The slash where he cut, the wounds were bubbling, but they were not recovering.
He had been senseless; he should have used the void energy from the beginning. If the void power had this much effect, he could have killed that thing. He had been focusing on just giving support to Wymar and thought that he would kill that thing. So he can deal with the people watching them.
Sensing his aura was dangerous, the creature landed a glancing blow that sent him tumbling across the battlefield. He rolled to his feet, spitting blood. His left arm hung limp—dislocated or broken, he couldn't tell through the pain.
"Wymar!" he shouted. "Whatever you're doing, do it now!"
He turned to the drake, and sensing his distress, Maelruth swiftly approached him.
The abomination charged again, its horrific laughter echoing across the land.
Jolthar stood his ground, channelling his Voidwrath into Knashii. The blade's runes blazed so brightly that they seemed to be burning through the metal itself. His left hand was bleeding; there were minor injuries on his body, but he stood his ground, holding his long blade.
"Eclipse Rend of the Black Tear Annihilation!"
Wymar cried, completing his spell with a thunderous clap of his hands. This spell had been passed down through generations in his family, a devastating incantation woven with dimensional magic—one that left only ruin in its wake. Its complexity was unparalleled, making it one of the highest-tier spells, a feat that few could ever hope to master.
Reality itself seemed to buckle.
A tear opened in the air before the mage—a vertical rift of absolute darkness rimmed with crackling energy of every colour imaginable. From this portal came a howling wind that carried the cold of the null between stars, a primal emptiness that threatened to devour all light and life.
The rift expanded rapidly, pulling at the creature with inexorable force.
For the first time, the monster seemed uncertain, planting its massive feet as it was dragged toward the dimensional tear. Its flesh began to elongate grotesquely as the rift's gravity pulled at it.
"It's working!" Jolthar shouted over the howling wind, driving Knashii into the ground to anchor himself against the pull. Maelruth stood as his support too.
Then, impossibly, the creature began to fight back. It dug massive claws into the earth, creating deep furrows as it resisted the portal's draw. Its body stretched like taffy, yet somehow maintained its integrity. More horrifying still, it began to laugh again—a sound that suggested it was enjoying this challenge.
Wymar staggered, blood trickling from his nose and ears as he struggled to maintain the dimensional rift. "It's... it's resisting! That's not possible!"
The creature suddenly contracted like a massive spring, using the tension to launch itself forward with explosive force. One massive claw swept toward Wymar, who was too exhausted from his spellcasting to dodge.
Jolthar reacted without thinking.
With the surge of his Voidwrath, he threw himself into the path of the attack, Knashii raised in desperate defence. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel[f]ire.net
In that same moment, a streak of crimson scales flashed across the battlefield—Maelruth, Jolthar's drake, leapt into the fray with a fierce protective roar. The loyal beast's jaws clamped down on the creature's outstretched claw with bone-crushing force, arresting its murderous momentum mere inches from Wymar's face.
The creature howled—not in pain but in frustration—as it found itself suddenly caught between opposing forces: the drake's powerful jaws holding it in place while the dimensional rift continued to pull at its mass.
Already struggling to maintain its footing against the rift's inexorable draw, the abomination lurched sideways, its unnatural balance compromised.
Jolthar saw their opportunity in an instant. His eyes met Maelruth's, the bond between them requiring no words.
"Maelruth! Fire!" he commanded, his voice cutting through the howling of the rift. While they held their ground, they were also preparing to launch an attack towards that thing.
The drake released her grip on the monster's claw and reared back, her chest expanding as she drew in a massive breath. Her crimson scales began to glow with inner heat, turning first orange, then white-hot along her throat and chest.
Jolthar positioned himself on the creature's opposite flank, Knashii held before him in a two-handed grip as he summoned the reserves of his Voidwrath.
"THE BLADE OF THE FORGOTTEN VOID!" Jolthar roared, his voice carrying the harmonics of ancient powers.
The runes along Knashii flared to blinding intensity as the flat edge of the blade turned dark silver—like a mini straight star, something deeper, a slice of primordial power that had existed before the first stars. Silver-coloured shadows coalesced around the weapon, extending its reach to twice its physical length, forming a phantasmal blade of pure void energy.
It was different than before like it had evolved into a more profound technique.