Clash with a god

Shekha was slamming Rhennmar against a pillar while choking Velma on the ground with her feet.

Arisu was watching, smiling like he was enjoying a performance.

Then we broke in, the ground throwing us forward, stone slabs rising beneath our feet.

Sid rolled on the ground, then immediately threw his shield forward. Erecting walls to ricochet, it hit Yannick across the face, then another hit another wall and landed a hit on Cedric before returning to himself.

Thomlin grinned, looking back. “Ohhh, that’s the Sid I remember.”

“Focus!” Sid barked, raising the shield just in time to block Yannick’s next strike. The impact rang like a bell, but Sid didn’t falter — instead, he shoved forward, knocking Yannick back.

“Now!” Sid yelled.

“Ignis Tempest,” Thomlin yelled, blowing Yannick’s exposed side. For a moment, Yannick’s shadow stood there looking down at his empty hands, before his body peeling away, a rune disintegrating in the air.

Sid staggered, breathing hard, but still standing.

“Feels good to be back,” he muttered, strapping the shield to his arm.

Thomlin clapped him on the shoulder. “Welcome back, buddy.”

Arisu appeared in front of them, smirking. "Welcome, Siddarth. Shall we get started?"

Meanwhile, we were in our own battle.

“Waterwalk!” Cedric’s voice echoed, summoning small orbs of water that floated around him. He stepped onto one of them, rising slightly off the ground. He then flicked his wand, shooting jets of water toward us.

Verra’s shadow rune flared, absorbing some of the water — but not all. One hit her square in the chest, knocking her down.

“Verra!” Ariyanna gasped, dropping to her knees beside her.

Keiji reacted instantly, his palms igniting as he hurled a flurry of fireballs toward Cedric. He twirled his wand, forming a swirling vortex of water that swallowed the flames, steam hissing up around him.

“Ash!” Ariyanna barked, crossing her legs as she began to chant, runes glowing pink along her forearms. “Get him close!”

I sprinted forward, vaulting off the nearest wall and slashing upward — but Cedric simply hopped to another orb, gliding effortlessly out of reach. Keiji saw the opening and snapped his hands together, forcing his wall of flame to compress into a single roaring lance of fire.

Cedric blocked with a crashing wave, water hissing violently against the heat.  The steam was blinding me for a second— just enough time for Ariyanna’s voice to cut through.

“Uoy ot em morf wofl. niartseR!”

Her runes exploded with light. Water around Cedric suddenly froze mid-air, dragging him slightly downward as if unseen hands were pulling him toward the ground.

“Guys! Now!” Ariyanna shouted, voice strained. “I can’t hold him!”

Lira didn’t hesitate. She whistled sharply, five air-arrows appearing around her in a perfect star pattern. They shot toward Cedric in quick succession. He leapt desperately from orb to orb, dodging the first three — but the last two struck his watery platform, destabilizing it.

Keiji’s fire roared again, slamming forcing him down toward the ground — right into Ariyanna’s glowing trap circle. The runes snapped shut like jaws, holding him in place.

But Cedric fought back with one final desperate spell — water blades formed around him, spinning outward in a deadly ring. Keiji shielded me with a wall of fire, but one blade still grazed my leg.

“Lira!” Ariyanna cried, blood flowing from her mouth and nose. “Do it now!”

Lira’s breathing was ragged, sweat running down her face, but she planted her feet and drew in every ounce of air in the room. Opening her mouth and screaming — a sound so loud and compressed it was almost a physical force, even she staggered back.

FRKRAKASCROOM!

The shockwave blasted Cedric backward into the wall, his watery platforms exploding around him in a rain of droplets. The sound nearly ruptured my eardrums even though I’d thrown my hands over them just in time.

When the dust settled, Cedric’s shadow flickered, then shattered like glass, his blue rune burning out.

Lira collapsed to her knees, panting. She was spent, her earlier fights with Eliorynna finally taking their toll. Ariyanna feeling exhausted herseflm slid down to her leaning on the wall. 

“So,” Ariyanna said between gasps, “how you doing?”

“Not good.” Lira let out a short laugh, brushing sweat-soaked hair from her face. “Guess we didn’t save anyone, huh?”

“Maybe not,” Ariyanna said with a crooked grin. “But that last move? Totally worth it.”

“Yeah, no regrets here,” Lira remarked, laughing. 

On the far side of the dungeon, Shekha stood perfectly, sword point lowered to the ground. 

With Cedric and Yannick's defeat, she was the last shadow remaining.

Shekha moved first.

A single step — then blurred forward, leaving an afterimage behind. Her blade swept upward in a perfect arc. Velma barely managed to throw herself back as the ground where she’d stood split open, glowing red from the lightning that crackled in Shekha’s wake.

Kryxx slammed his staff into the floor.
“Root Snare!”

Thorned vines erupted upward, twisting around Shekha — but she spun her sword in a perfect circle, slicing through them as if they were smoke. Then, released a pulse of compressed air that sent Kryxx flying backward.

Velma sprinted behind Shekha.

“Got you,” she muttered, swinging her leg in a roundhouse kick.

Shekha blocked with her own kick, their shins cracking together. Velma twisted mid-motion, feinted low, then drove her heel into Shekha’s jaw.

Rhennmar’s fingers flared gold.
“Thunder Spear!”

A bolt of lightning shot forward — but Shekha caught it mid-strike, channeling it down into the ground, making trenches towards Velma.

Velma’s eyes widened. “What the…”

But she could finish that thought, the explosion blew her across the dungeon.

“Velma!” Kryxx roared. Fire erupted from his staff, coiling around him.
“Flare Bloom!”

Flames blossomed outward in a perfect circle, swallowing Shekha. She made quick successive cuts, parting through the firestorm like a curtain. She stepped through the blaze unscathed, eyes locked on Kryxx.

Her sword came down on him like a falling star.

Kryxx braced his staff across his forearms, the impact ringing like a gong. Sparks flew as steel met obsidian. His arms trembled under the force, blood running down from his palms.

“ARRGH…!” Kryxx grunted his arm bleeding.

Velma came from above, flipping midair, driving a compressed cyclone downward. But Shekha sidestepped, grabbing her by the leg and throwing her straight into Rhennmar.

Thomlin and Sid had begun their attack on Arisu.

Keiji and Verra were already supporting them. He sprinted in, flame whips crackling in his palms.

“Incederio!” Verra summoned a barrier of flame but Arisu phased in and out of space attacking from their blind spots. Thomlin attemped a water sphere attack but at the last minute it his Keiji who was already lunging for Arisu.

“Ignis La…!” Verra attempted another spell but Arisu teleported in front of her, grabbing her throat and lifting her high, her eyes turning red.

Sid stepped forward. The ground bent beneath him, tilting toward his stride. His voice cut through across the battlefield.

“Enough!”

Walls of boulders rose in the air between Arisu and Verra. She fell after Arisu let go. Keiji jumped up, catching her before rolling on the ground.

Arisu watched but his smile remained. “So the Heart of Terra awakens. At last.”