Chapter 55 : after the nightmare

Kael met the Fallen King head-on.
He ducked beneath a sweeping arc of violet mana and stepped in close — inside the king’s casting range. His fist shot forward in a clean hook, knuckles wrapped in raw mana.
CRACK.
It landed against an invisible barrier, ripples warping through the air. Kael didn't flinch. He followed instantly with a low spinning sweep, his heel slamming against the king’s ankle. The Fallen King slid half a step — more surprise than impact.
“You dare to strike royalty with your hands?” the king hissed.

Kael grinned savagely, knuckles bleeding.
He lunged forward — bare-fist martial arts clashing against otherworldly nobility. Kael twisted, driving rapid elbow strikes toward the king’s ribs, punching through violet shields that shattered on contact. His sword remained sheathed across his back — this was personal now.
Aldah crashed in from the side like a living explosion.
She didn’t attack the king — she attacked the ground.
Her flaming fists slammed down, sending molten cracks racing beneath the king’s feet. Crystal geysers erupted upward, aiming to destabilize his footing.
The Fallen King floated above it, disdainful.
 “Mongrels clawing at a throne they cannot reach.”
A spear of shadow formed in his grip.
He threw it at Aldah — faster than thought.
Kael reacted on instinct. He kicked off the ground, twisting midair — and punched the spear.
Not dodged. Not deflected — punched.
The impact rattled the arena. The spear splintered into black dust.
Kael landed heavily, panting, his fist numb.
The Fallen King’s eyes narrowed. For the first time — he acknowledged him.
“Stubborn… insect.”

Ryo roared.
fury streaked in from behind, claws slashing at the king’s back. The Fallen King turned, cloak stretching unnaturally like wings, catching Ryo’s swipe mid-motion.
But Ryo didn’t stop.
He bit down on the cloak.
TEARING through shadow with his TEETH.
The Fallen King recoiled, cloak fraying like mist. His crown flickered.
Ryo lunged again, faster this time, claws wild, unrestrained — not fighting like a warrior, but like a force of nature. Each strike tore cracks through the shields. His body moved on pure instinct — no hesitation, no defense, only relentless devour and destroy.
Aldah charged in beside Ryo, flaming fists synchronized with his claws.
Where Ryo tore, Aldah burned.
Where Aldah struck, Ryo ripped.
They moved like dual storms — one beast, one inferno.
Vix stood further back, sweat dripping down his brow as he redirected barriers dynamically — not to defend, but to guide. Each time the Fallen King prepared to strike Kael’s blind spot — a wall snapped into existence. Each time Aldah overcommitted, a barrier braced her back.
Lara’s voice cut through chaos — steady, sharp.
> “Push him to the Obelisk’s core! Don’t let him distance himself!”
Kael surged forward again, flipping over a slashing mana whip, landing a brutal downward axe kick toward the king’s head. The king caught his leg midair with one hand — but Ryo’s claws slammed into his ribs a split second later, breaking the stance.
The Fallen King staggered.
His crown flickered again.

---
Meanwhile — Deeper Within
Darkness pulsed beneath the arena.
Eryndor limped down the crystalline tunnel, breath ragged. Gordon supported him, torchlight casting long shadows across jagged walls.
Mana thrummed in the air — heavy, oppressive. Like a heartbeat.
Th-thump. Th-thump.
Eryndor felt it in his bones.
Then he saw it.
A chamber of cold violet light — and at its center, a massive crystal tube filled with liquid stasis.
And inside it — the prince.
Motionless. Eyes closed. Face pale. Suspended in magic — trapped like a relic.
“THALEN !” Eryndor roared, desperation cracking his voice.
He rushed forward — but stopped when he heard it.
Chittering.
Thousands of tiny legs skittering across glass.
From the ceiling, she descended.
Graceful. Silent. Terrifying.
Arachnee
A woman clad in black silk, hair hanging like silver threads — eyes glowing faintly fuchsia.
And from her back — spiders.
Crawling across her shoulders, down her arms. Hanging from her sleeves like ornaments — until they dropped, landing in a pool that grew into a tide.
 “No further,” she whispered.

Her voice was soft. Too soft.
“you again” Gordon muttered, reaching for his weapon.
She tilted her head — childlike.
“a pleasure to meet you again dear friend.”
Her eyes softened with reverence.
 “Daughter of no birth… but chosen by father.”
Eryndor froze.
 “Father…? So you really serve the Fallen King?”

She smiled, gentle — disturbingly gentle.
“He took me in. Fed me. Named me. Loved me.”Her fingers brushed one of the spiders on her wrist like a pet.“Will your prince do the same for you, one-armed knight?”
Eryndor’s eyes blazed.
“I would die for him.”
Arachnee’s expression didn’t change.
 “Then die.”

She raised her hand — and the swarm surged.
Gordon swung his sword, cleaving through a wave of spiders — but more poured from the ceiling, flooding the floor like living ink. They climbed up his legs, biting, injecting venom.
He howled, collapsing to one knee.
Arachnee stepped forward gracefully, as if walking through flowers.
 “I will not let father be disturbed. Leave now… and your deaths will be gentle.”
Eryndor stepped forward.
Alone.
One arm hung limp. His left sleeve was empty — torn long ago by this very woman.
His remaining hand clenched into a fist.
“I don’t need two arms.”

His voice was low. Solid.
“One is enough to kill you.”

Arachnee’s smile widened — pleased.
 “Show me.”

---
Back at the Obelisk
The Fallen King’s patience snapped.
 “You stray far beyond your place.”

He pressed both hands upon the Obelisk — and this time, it responded.
The towering crystal contracted, spiraling inward like a spinning drill. Shards folded into themselves, shrinking — not disappearing, but concentrating.

---

It hovered above the king’s hand, compact and blinding, radiating layered rings of violet energy.
“You thought the Obelisk was your target.”“Fools. You have only awakened it.”
He absorbed it into his chest.
The ground screamed.
Crystals ruptured. Mana howled. The air turned to static electricity.
The Fallen King straightened — slowly.
His crown began to melt, fusing with his skull. His skin cracked like porcelain, violet light spilling from fractures. His fingers extended, nails lengthening into obsidian talons. His spine arched, twisting unnaturally.
His voice rolled like thunder.
 “Witness ascension.”

He lifted his head — and roared.
Not a human roar.
A beast’s.
The chamber cracked.
Ryo froze — eyes widening.
Kael felt the tremor in his bones.
Aldah stumbled.
Vix’s barriers flickered.
Lara whispered — barely audible.
“He’s transforming…”

The Fallen King rose upon four jagged legs of crystal, torso humanoid but monstrous — part shadow, part gemstone, part living nightmare.
He looked down upon them — no longer amused.
“Kneel.”
His voice rattled their souls.
Ryo’s beast howled in answer.
---
The Fallen King had fully transformed. Four jagged crystal legs rooted him to the shattered plaza, torso twisted into monstrous angles, obsidian claws scraping the fractured floor. His crown had fused with his skull, violet light spilling from cracks like molten veins. The Obelisk, now compacted into a radiant orb, hovered above his chest, pulsing with condensed mana.
Ryo’s beast fully awakened, eyes blazing, muscles rippling with raw power. His claws dug into the ground, leaving molten furrows in the crystal tiles. Every breath sent sparks of energy into the air — martial instincts firing faster than thought.
“We strike together — all of us!” Lara commanded.

Kael nodded, fists raised. He advanced with precision and speed, combining martial arts with bursts of raw mana. His strikes were calculated — one moment a spinning back fist, the next a low sweeping kick. He flowed between blows like water, dodging shards of violet crystal while finding openings in the Fallen King’s defenses.
Aldah’s fists blazed with fire and lightning, elemental chaos weaving with Kael’s martial strikes. Each punch shattered crystal shards, sending fragments flying toward the Fallen King.
Vix kept the team protected, weaving shields dynamically, repositioning them to both defend and trap the king.
The Fallen King’s voice rolled like thunder:
 “You cannot contain me!”
He slashed with a clawed hand, knocking Ryo off balance. The beast roared, leaping midair, claws slicing through a spire of black crystal. Kael followed immediately, pummeling with fists and elbows, breaking through shards, landing blows to the king’s armored torso.
 “You are strong… but predictable,” the king snarled, swinging a jagged limb at Aldah.


She rolled under the strike, countering with a fist imbued in fire, igniting the crystal limb and causing a minor explosion that forced him backward.

---

The spider swarm surged. Eryndor blocked and punched with devastating precision, dodging venomous bites. His golden aura of light, though limited, flared each time he landed a strike. Arachnee hissed, spinning webs to immobilize him, forcing him to pivot midair.
“So stubborn,” she whispered, releasing a volley of spiders. “You are no fun unless you suffer.”
But with one swift spin and shoulder strike, Eryndor shattered part of her web, closing distance. He grappled and flipped, landing a solid punch to her chest.

The prince’s eyes fluttered open, light shining in his gaze, he saw two silhouettes.
“who are you ?”
Norton’s hand glowed as he channeled a burst of healing energy, propelling the prince out of harm’s way.

Gordon stared at Arachnée before swinging his hammer, slamming her into the wall like an insect. Eryndor stood in shock. 
How could such a young man be so strong ? “We were not supposed to intervene, remember?” Norton scolded, supporting the prince.
“Oops,” Gordon replied sheepishly.
---

Ryo’s beast form clashed directly with the king, blue and violet energy exploding on impact. Claws met obsidian talons, teeth snapped at armored crystal, bodies twisting midair in martial fury. Kael struck relentlessly, fists and elbows tearing through defenses, Aldah’s elemental fists splitting crystal with each strike, and Vix’s barriers shielded against counterattacks while guiding allies strategically.
The Fallen King staggered, orb pulsing violently above his chest. Lara saw her chance.
She used zombies as decoy for her friends to strike.
Kael, Aldah, and Ryo combined their attacks — fists, claws, elemental energy, and martial strikes shattering the orb. The Fallen King screamed as his power unraveled.
In a final, desperate surge, Ryo’s beast enveloped him in pure white energy, shielding allies and sacrificing itself to contain the king’s collapsing mana, leaving Ryo human again.
---
The plaza lay in ruin, crystal shards scattered. The Fallen King, exhausted and broken, slumped to the ground.
“I… I only wanted… her back,” he rasped. “My wife… I thought… I could bring her to me…”
“And you failed,” Lara said firmly. “Your dream destroyed everything, and for nothing.”
The prince was safe, Eryndor by his side, both alive. Couriers and healers were exhausted. Ryo, now human, trembled but lived — the beast that protected him gone forever.
---
As the heroes caught their breath, 
a cold wind swept through the ruins downstairs. From the shadows, a tall figure emerged, cloaked in black and silver, eyes glowing faintly violet.
“So… they have defeated him,” the figure whispered. “Excellent. The stage is ready… now the real game begins.”