death montage: part 2(chapter 137)

Chapter 137

Rachel's Soul-Self expanded, shifting into a celestial behemoth, a construct of luminous purity. Its form stretched beyond mortal comprehension, tendrils of radiant energy carving into the darkened void. She called upon the totality of her elemental manipulation—a frozen storm of molten fire, an obsidian maelstrom of lightning, spires of condensed magic lancing toward Y'thural-Zog's abyssal form.

Gray raised his hands, and the cosmos screamed. A vortex of entropy spun into being, fueled by celestial flame and eldritch ruin. Rivers of molten light poured from his fingertips, cascading toward their target like the birth of a second creation. An entire star system collapsed into a spear of absolute destruction, a singular force of will so great it threatened to tear apart the very fabric of reality.

Their combined power struck Y'thural-Zog, and for the briefest, most infinitesimal moment, the creature faltered. A ripple of damage coursed through its grotesque form, fractures of radiant pain illuminating the infinite expanse of its being. Entire limbs of unspeakable geometry twisted in recoil, and an otherworldly shriek echoed across the abyss. Yet, it was nothing.

The horror barely acknowledged the attack. The wounds sealed before they could even exist. Where their spells struck, they were consumed, siphoned into the cosmic abyss of its being, fueling it further. Rachel's celestial light dimmed as her domain cracked, its reality-warping presence unable to withstand the creature's anti-existence field. Her Soul-Self collapsed, fragments of divine radiance being stripped away, leaving her breathless, powerless.

Gray's spell, a force capable of shattering dimensions, vanished into the horror's universal siphon, leaving behind nothing but a whisper of spent magic. The infinite energy he had summoned was reduced to silence, its fury devoured by something beyond comprehension.

Then came the backlash.

A field of anti-existence erupted from Y'thural-Zog, which it apparently had, consuming all in its wake. Rachel and Gray were flung into oblivion, stripped of their enhancements, their strength, their divinity. Gray's endless magic, the very essence of his being, was unraveled strand by strand, leaving him raw, mortal. Rachel's domain, her sanctuary of celestial light, was erased from existence, her very soul flayed by the incomprehensible presence before her.

The horror's gaze—if such an entity could be said to have eyes—fell upon them, and madness took root. Infinite echoes of their suffering reverberated through the void. Gray saw himself dying in endless variations, each more horrific than the last. His mind fractured under the weight of pain he had never known but now believed was always his, even with his mind shielded, he still felt the attack and the pain that came with it. Rachel felt the terror of countless lifetimes compressed into a single moment, the overwhelming despair crushing her will to fight. They had attacked with all they had. And it had done nothing.

The void remained, infinite and uncaring. The remnants of broken worlds drifted, silent witnesses to their failure. And Y'thural-Zog loomed, undeterred, unchanged, waiting patiently for the moment it would decide they were no longer amusing. A moment that was rapidly approaching, before they got hit with the same attack that killed them before. Except this time, Gray saw how he died—he was erased out of existence. "Isn't that will going to awaken?" was his last thought before he woke up on the captain's deck.

Sighing to himself, Gray closed his eyes as he just sat there before he thought, "Why didn't that will activate? The Merlin lunatics didn't kill me because they were afraid they would awaken it, but I died several ti—" He stopped himself as he realized something. "Unless this will… knows about the Return by Death ability?" It wasn't a question; it was more of an affirmation as he realized something. "Well, fuck," he thought as he got up and woke up Rachel before he gave her the memories, which she digested.

"So, what do we do? Even with the potion that elevates your magic to a near-god level, it's hopeless," she asked as Gray said, "What is the worst that can happen? It's not like we can die." Rachel didn't argue. Again, this time they were faster with the potion creation, which gave them minutes to prepare their attack. "Let's combine our magic together as well as our domain," she said as Gray nodded.

Gray and Rachel stood at the edge of the ruined deck, staring into the abyss. Beyond them, the cosmic horror lingered, its form an incomprehensible mass of shifting eyes, writhing tendrils, and abyssal voids that defied all logic. Space itself bent and twisted around Y'thural-Zog, as though the very fabric of reality recoiled in its presence. Even from this distance, the weight of its existence pressed against them, an oppressive force that gnawed at their souls.

Gray clenched his fists, feeling the overwhelming power surging through his veins. His magic was beyond comprehension, elevated to a near-godly level by the potion. He could rewrite the very essence of reality, command the forces of existence itself, yet he knew—deep down—that it would not be enough. Still, he refused to back down. He raised his hand, and the void trembled as a torrent of mana surged forth.

A storm of pure destruction erupted from his fingertips, splitting apart the endless darkness. Space fractured, twisting into jagged, spiraling shards as primordial flames, colder than the void yet hotter than stars, burned with an intensity that devoured everything in its wake. Ethereal chains, forged from the very essence of creation, lashed forward, attempting to bind the eldritch god's form. Gravity itself bent under his will as entire planets, remnants of forgotten worlds, were pulled into his grasp and hurled toward the horror with devastating force.

Rachel joined him, her Soul-Self manifesting as a colossal raven of pure white radiance, its wings stretching endlessly into the abyss. Her domain expanded, swallowing the battlefield in a celestial glow that defied the darkness. The void was forced back, momentarily repelled by the sheer purity of her existence. Reality itself reshaped at her command—time folded, possibilities rewrote themselves, and the very concept of despair was purged from this moment.