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**Chapter 18: The Final Battle - Part 3**

The stormy skies above the Mountains of Ancient Magic bore witness to the imminent end of the battle, erratically lit by the lightning exchange of spells and arcane energy. Although Evaline had diverted Ogram's fire horses to save Caius, she was now in the villain's crosshairs.

Exhaustion weighed on Evaline as she stood protectively over the fallen investigator. With a quick movement of his wand, Ogram cast another spell, a spell that eroded Evaline's shield and threw her to the ground, the impact sucking the remaining energy from her body. Immobilized and struggling to breathe, she was faced with a grim fate.

As Ogram approached her, his lips twisted in a cruel smile, he cast the deadly suffocation spell. Evaline, desperate, grabbed her neck in search of air that didn't seem to come. Fighting against death's invisible embrace, her eyes searched for Caius, a silent plea reflected in the desperation of her gaze.

Before Ogram's exploitative spell could take its final toll, an unexpected twist erupted: the turn of a portkey opened by Pietra's faltering hand. With a gesture of redemption and strength that surprised even herself, she threw Ogram into the vortex of an open sea, where he awaited the judgment of a titanic creature from the abyss.

Ogram, captured by the surprise of betrayal, was sucked into the portal, but with a last throw of desperation, he clung to Caius's leg, dragging the investigator along as he fell. Evaline's loyalty, unwavering to the end, made her throw herself after them without hesitation, deciding that the fate that awaited her comrade would be shared by her as well.

Pietra, horrified that her act had such dire consequences, shouted a warning too late. "No!" she exclaimed, as the portal closed behind them, sealing the tragic outcome of their redemptive act.

Falling through the sky toward the stormy ocean, Ogram turned toward Evaline, who was struggling furiously to free herself from her spherical prison. In pure malice, he strengthened the spell to keep her suspended in his captivity, while he prepared for one last, desperate enchantment.

With a whisper conjured between clenched teeth, Ogram manipulated the waters, forcing the sea to part and reveal its dark depths. He landed upright on the exposed sand, with Evaline thrown cruelly beside her, helpless, trapped inside the magical sphere.

The height of the battle was yet to come. Ogram, standing at the dividing line of the waters, looked at Evaline as he prepared his next move. The retreating sea threatened to close, and the flash of final confrontation was imminent.

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With the heroes in an unknown and threatening place, the outcome of this saga remains pending, and the next chapter promises to be the fiercest and most decisive of all. I will be waiting for your willingness to continue this epic narrative and bring each character's fate to light.