(The Heart of The Pit, Helmuth’s POV)
*SLASH*
*THRUMM*
The moment Soron opened the portal to the Fourth Dimension, something inside Helmuth snapped.
Rage drowned out reason as he surged forward with reckless abandon, instincts screaming louder than caution.
"Oh no you don’t! Soron, you COWARD! I’m not finished with you yet!"
He roared as he hurled himself between Soron and the portal, determined to block his escape at all costs, never realizing that in doing so, he had stepped exactly where Soron wanted him to stand.
Soron was not foolish.
The angle of the portal, the position of his body, the way he shielded himself from Mauriss and Kaelith while leaving Helmuth unchecked—none of it was coincidence.
For although he did not want Mauriss or Kaelith interfering, he did want Helmuth there, between him and the portal, exactly as he was now.
*SLASH*
Helmuth swung his massive axe in a furious arc, his aim being to cleave Soron’s head clean off his shoulders before he could run away, and for the briefest instant, it seemed as though he could succeed.
*Time slowing*
*Blade approaching*
Soron stood there until the final nanosecond, until the very last moment the strike should have connected.
But then he was gone, as for a single heartbeat he left nothing but empty space behind, as Helmuth’s wild swing missed its intended target.
*SWOOSH*
Helmuth stumbled off balance, the strength behind the strike pulling him forward, as it was his own movement that forced Mauriss and Kaelith to abort their individual attacks, so as to not be caught in his uncontrollable arc.
*Stumble*
The axe missed, Helmuth stumbled forward, his balance broken by his own momentum, as in that same instant, Soron reappeared exactly where he had been before, time snapping back into place as though nothing had changed.
Except everything had, as Soron hesitated no more.
*SLAM*
*KICK*
Soron drove his heel into Helmuth’s chest with brutal precision, pouring everything into the strike as he sent the Berserker God hurtling backward.
*SWALLOW*
The Fourth Dimensional Portal devoured Helmuth the moment he crossed its boundary, space folding inward as the Berserker God vanished, his eyes wide with confusion, as he failed to comprehend as to why Soron would attempt something so meaningless? After all, Helmuth could simply force his way back out.....
Or so he believed, as what he did not know, and what Soron knew all too well, was that someone else was waiting for him on the other side.
*Throw*
A breath later, Soron hurled one of the Grudgekeeper Daggers into the portal just before it collapsed, the blade vanishing into the Fourth Dimension in silence, as he took a slightly hopeful gamble that was more of a prayer than a plan.
If Moltherak succeeded in overtaking Helmuth, perhaps the ancient Dragon would pass the dagger on to Leo when the time came.
And if not...
Then the blade would be lost to the endless void alongside everything else that had ever fallen between dimensions.
As despite knowing the risks, Soron knew it was his best shot at passing the dagger on, or at least ensuring that it wasn’t handed over to the enemy after his death.
*SWOOSH*
*SLASH*
The very next instant, the battle continued as though nothing even happened, as Soron weaved through yet another barrage of attacks coming his way, his eyes full of excitement, as he knew that he had finally completed his last duty as the Cult’s Sect Master, and that he had to fight for no-one but his own revenge from here on out.
"What did you do? Why did you kick Helmuth in? And why did you throw your dagger after him?"
Mauriss asked in a confused voice, as even now the Deceiver could not understand the motivation behind Soron’s actions.
However, Soron did not care to explain, his lips slowly turning upwards as his killing intent flared for one last time.
"You want to know why I did that....?"
He asked, his voice low and powerful.
"Come try extract the answer over my dead body!"
He dared, as he charged like a man who had nothing left to lose anymore, with his one last Grudgekeeper Dagger still in his hand.
—------------
(Meanwhile, inside the Fourth Dimension)
For a brief moment, Helmuth felt confused and annoyed as to why Soron would push him into the Fourth Dimension for no reason?
However, just as he felt like it was just a flimsy trick to buy time and was ready to force his way back out, a suffocating pressure pressed down on his back, so dense and ancient that even his divine instincts recoiled, as though something far older than him had just placed a hand upon the constitution of his soul.
"You’ve come a long way since I last saw you... boy."
The voice did not echo.
It pressed.
Helmuth stiffened, then slowly turned, his irritation giving way to dawning recognition as his gaze locked onto the colossal form looming behind him, scales the color of dried blood and molten iron stretching across a body that seemed to be fused into the Fourth Dimension itself.
Moltherak.
The Red Dragon’s golden eyes burned like twin suns, focused and predatory, as they did not radiate fury or haste, but rather the patient certainty of a creature that had destroyed entire galaxies before Helmuth had even learnt how to crawl, as for a heartbeat, the space between them vibrated.
*THRUMM*
For a while, Helmuth simply looked into Moltherak’s eyes, stunned, before then breaking into a genuine hearty laugh.
"Ha...hahahahaha"
A deep, guttural chuckle rolled out of his chest, carrying equal parts amusement and respect, as realization finally snapped into place as to why Soron had kicked him in here.
"So that’s it..." Helmuth said, straightening as his irritation melted into something sharper.
"That’s what your aim was throughout our past exchanges.
You were setting me up for this moment here...."
His grin widened.
"So that you could feed me to him."
Instead of retreating, instead of bracing defensively, Helmuth rolled his shoulders back and let his own killing intent pour outward, unrestrained and savage, as his berserker’s will sharpened by countless wars and victories flared around him like a raging storm.
*THRUMM*
The Fourth Dimension shuddered.
Space rippled and warped as two ancient pressures collided head-on, invisible forces screaming against one another as Moltherak’s primordial aura met Helmuth’s berserker wrath, the clash sending fractures of distorted light racing across the void like cracks in glass.
"Sorry to disappoint you here, old bones. But you can take your grip away from my soul, for regardless of how hard you try, I will never yield my body to you."
Helmuth said, his expression stern as he asked Moltherak to back off while he still could.
However, contrary to his expectations, Moltherak did not even pause for a heartbeat to consider his words, as instead he started the soul annihilation procedure at once.
"Your threats have no bearing on me, young child.
I have been without a body for too long now and will stop at nothing to obtain one.
I will either walk out of the fourth dimension today with your body as my new vessel.
Or I will die here in the Fourth Dimension after being reduced to nothing.
But one way or another, I will be set free for sure."
He said, as he wasted no time and lunged towards Helmuth, his red formless soul invading the Berserker’s body, as the two became embroiled in a test of wills on who could endure the annihilation of soul power longer.