Pressured.

Shattered steel.

Rael barely had time to process the loss of his weapon before Anxas lunged again.

The monstrosity didn't hesitate. It pressed its advantage with inhuman precision, skeletal limbs lashing out in relentless succession. It moved faster now, each attack flowing into the next, turning into an onslaught meant to tear him apart.

Rael threw himself into motion. Move, move, move. He had no weapon—only his instincts keeping him alive.

The first claw came from above. He twisted his body, barely slipping past it as it cracked the temple floor. The second came from the side. He ducked, rolling away just before it could cleave through his torso.

No openings. No time to counter.

Anxas had locked him into pure evasion.

And it wasn't stopping.

Another strike—this one feinting. Rael reacted to the wrong attack. A bony limb slammed into his ribs, launching him backward. He skidded across the cold stone, armor scraping against the ground. His health dropped again.

Worse, his vision blurred. Shadows flickered where his enemy stood, afterimages trailing behind its movements. Too fast. Too erratic. His eyes couldn't track the real strike.

Rael gritted his teeth, forcing himself upright. His hands instinctively reached for his sword—only to close around empty air.

He had nothing.

The realization settled in like ice. No weapon. No way to fight back. No time to think.

Anxas moved again.

But before it could close the distance, something else crashed into its path.

Gale.

The fighter hit like a force of nature, blade flashing as he swung his weapon in a brutal, two-handed arc. Steel met bone. A deep gash split through Anxas's side, the sheer impact sending the creature staggering backward.

It tried to recover—only for Gale to follow up immediately.

There was no hesitation. He stepped in, pivoting into another heavy slash, his sword carving straight into the creature's torso. His raw strength alone forced Anxas onto the defensive, driving it back with each crushing blow.

But even then—it adapted.

The moment Anxas realized it couldn't match Gale in raw force, its body shifted. It twisted, limbs bending at unnatural angles to avoid direct hits. Its afterimage slashes returned—delayed attacks materializing from thin air, forcing Gale to readjust his footing after every exchange.

"Tch," Gale clicked his tongue, parrying one of the ghost-like strikes. "It's like this thing changes how it fights every damn second."

Rael forced himself to stand fully, breath unsteady. He had to act. He couldn't just leave Gale to handle this alone.

His eyes flicked down to his inventory. He had a spare weapon.

But it wasn't a sword.

Hollow Requiem. The two-handed scythe he claimed after defeating Lucian.

The thought made his fingers tighten. A weapon he had never wielded. A completely foreign fighting style. This wasn't just picking up a new blade—it was rewiring everything he knew mid-battle.

Was now really the time to take that risk?

Another delayed afterimage attack clipped Gale. He staggered back, cursing under his breath.

Rael's hesitation shattered.

No choice.

He reached for the scythe, fingers closing around its cold, midnight-black handle.

The moment he pulled it free—a shift.

A pulse of energy rippled outward.

Dark mist coiled around the weapon, curling in tendrils of abyssal energy. The air around him warped, like the space itself was bending under its presence.

Then—the system notification.

[Two-Handed Scythe detected.]

[User's class: World Ender reacts.]

[New Ability Unlocked: Abyssal Harvest.]

Effect: Drains Mana per second. Attacks have a 10% chance to deal Pure Damage, ignoring all defenses. Slaying an enemy restores Mana, with stronger foes granting more. If Mana runs out, HP is consumed instead—but in return, attacks gain Life Steal.

[Weapon Proficiency Unlocked: Scythe Proficiency (Intermediate).]

The moment the notification appeared, everything clicked. The weight, the balance—what once felt awkward now felt natural. His hands adjusted without hesitation, his body shifting as if guided by instinct. Wide arcs, controlled momentum, precision over brute force.

A pulse ran through the scythe. Abyssal Harvest activated. Purplish coils of energy spiraled around the blade, writhing and curling like living veins, drawn toward the life around him. 

His mana started draining.

No time.

Anxas was already moving again.

Rael stepped in, pivoting low as he swung in a wide arc. Hollow Requiem sliced cleanly through the air, the purplish coils around its edge flaring with energy. The blade met Anxas's side, carving through bone and ichor with practiced efficiency.

Anxas twisted, ribcage snapping open in response. A jagged limb lashed out—fast, but Rael was faster. He shifted his grip and used the scythe's natural reach, twisting into a backward step as he brought the weapon around in a sweeping counter. The curved blade caught the limb mid-swing, shearing through it in a single, fluid motion.

Anxas shrieked, staggering from the sudden loss of its limb. Rael didn't hesitate. He stepped in again, rotating his torso with the next strike. A downward cleave—sharp and deliberate—drove the blade deep into Anxas's torso, splitting its skeletal form apart.

The creature reacted instantly, its remaining limbs convulsing. Rael adjusted, spinning the scythe into a reverse grip and stepping into the next attack. The shift in motion felt natural—momentum guiding his movements rather than brute strength. He reversed the swing, slicing upward with enough force to tear through Anxas's shoulder.

Black ichor sprayed across the stone. Anxas reeled, its form shuddering under the assault.

Rael pressed forward. There was no room for hesitation. A missed strike was just another opening—he turned the scythe's motion into a lateral sweep, forcing Anxas further back. A quick pivot, then a downward strike aimed for the core. The blade connected, carving a deep fissure into the monster's form.

Gale seized the moment. The fighter surged forward from the flank, his sword crashing down like a hammer. Bone cracked, pieces of Anxas's form breaking away under the sheer force of the blow. The creature lurched, struggling to hold itself together.

For the first time—it was losing ground.

But then—

A pulse of miasma erupted outward, thick enough to distort the space around it. The temple floor cracked beneath its weight, and the ancient walls groaned, their murals darkening as if something unseen was swallowing the light. The oppressive presence grew, suffocating, sinking deep into flesh and bone.

And then—Anxas changed.

Its body convulsed, grotesque limbs snapping into place with a sickening crunch. The writhing form shrank, contorting, shifting. What had once been an amorphous mass of sinew and void-stitched flesh now pulled itself together into something humanoid. A spine straightened. Arms lengthened, fingers curling into clawed hands. Its torso hardened, ribcage stretching into a jagged carapace, as if it had reshaped itself from broken bones and scraps of the abyss.

Last to form was its face. The empty void where its head had been now bore a mask of yellowed bone, cracked and uneven, its surface warped into a jagged grin. Two hollow sockets burned with cold, flickering blue flames.

And then—it laughed.

A garbled, wheezing noise, somewhere between a chuckle and a death rattle.

"Ngrahhhah... heheheheh..."

Rael's grip tightened around Hollow Requiem, every nerve in his body screaming. His mana was already low, the constant drain from Abyssal Harvest weighing on him, and Gale wasn't faring much better. The miasma slowed their natural regeneration, their bodies pushed to the limit.

Anxas raised its hand.

The temple shifted.

A pulse of unseen force rippled outward. The world around them tilted—not in reality, but in perception. Gravity itself twisted, warping their sense of space. The ground felt unstable beneath Rael's feet, his body suddenly heavier, his movements sluggish.

A Gravitational Field.

The realization barely had time to settle before Anxas moved.

It didn't vanish—it didn't teleport. It simply flowed forward, unnatural yet eerily smooth, closing the gap in an instant. A clawed hand lashed out.

Rael barely twisted out of the way, but the gravity distortion made him slow. The attack carved across his shoulder, tearing through armor and drawing a fresh spray of blood. His health dipped dangerously, a warning flashing in the corner of his vision.

Gale roared, charging in. He swung his sword in a massive, sweeping arc, the sheer force behind it splitting the stone beneath his feet. Anxas met the strike with its bare hand. Claw met steel—and stopped it cold.

The force should have crushed bones, shattered limbs. Instead, Anxas held the blade mid-swing, its fingers wrapped around the steel as if it were no more than an inconvenience. Its empty sockets flickered, and then—

It twisted.

A surge of force sent Gale flying. He crashed into a pillar, stone splintering on impact.

Rael didn't hesitate. He lunged, Hollow Requiem carving through the air. The scythe's reach gave him the advantage—he struck from just beyond Anxas's immediate range. The curved blade met flesh, sinking deep.

A burst of Pure Damage ignited at the point of impact.

Anxas staggered. The wound burned, blackened tendrils hissing where the scythe had struck. But the flames in its sockets only flickered once before it laughed again.

"Shall... null... hhhahh—"

A new pulse of force rippled outward, distorting space itself. The miasma swirled violently around them, thickening as if feeding on the unnatural energy. Rael barely had time to brace before the ground lurched beneath him.

Anxas lifted a clawed hand.

The world pulled.

Rael and Gale were both ripped forward, their bodies dragged through the air toward the waiting grasp of the grinning monstrosity. The sensation was overwhelming—not just a simple force pulling them, but something deeper, like their very essence was being drawn in.

"—Tch!" Gale reacted instantly, twisting midair. He wrenched his sword free, stabbing it into the temple floor. The blade tore through stone, halting his momentum in an explosion of dust. His muscles trembled, but he held firm.

Rael wasn't as lucky. His mana was gone. His body felt sluggish, unresponsive. The drain from Abyssal Harvest continued, feeding off his HP. The moment his boots scraped the ground, his legs collapsed under him, sending him sliding forward uncontrollably.

Anxas moved in for the kill.

The skeletal form lunged, clawed fingers stretching wide, ready to rip through flesh.

Rael's instincts screamed. He had nothing left—but he could still move.

Soulstep.

The last reserves of his stamina vanished as his body blinked sideways, narrowly avoiding the swipe. The sheer force of the missed attack ruptured the ground where he had just been.

Gale acted in the same breath.

He ripped his sword free and charged. His movements were heavy, but his raw strength carried him forward. With a roar, he swung—a devastating horizontal strike aimed at Anxas' ribs.

The boss twisted unnaturally, jerking its body out of the way. The attack missed—but not entirely. The sheer pressure from Gale's swing split the air apart, sending out a concussive blast. Cracks webbed across the ground beneath them.

Rael forced himself upright. He could barely stand. The pulling force had stopped for now, but that didn't mean Anxas was done.

His fingers closed around his last potion.

So did Gale's.

A split second. That was all they had.

They downed the potions simultaneously.

Warmth surged through Rael's body. His HP ticked upward—not much, but enough to survive. He saw Gale's wounds close slightly as well, though neither of them could rely on another potion. The cooldown was still ticking.

Anxas watched. The sockets in its skull flickered, its mask tilting unnaturally.

It laughed.

"P-Poi…Pointlessss—"

The voice fractured, warping into something inhuman. A rasping shriek laced with manic laughter. Anxas convulsed, its skeletal frame twisting unnaturally, bone snapping and reforming in erratic spasms.

"Pointless! POINTLESS! Hkk—Ahaha—hahahaHAHAHA!"

Its jaw unhinged, laughter spilling out in jagged, broken bursts, like a chorus of voices layered over one another. Ichor dripped from its maw, sizzling as it hit the ground. Its limbs twitched, fingers curling and unfurling as if it couldn't contain the madness clawing through its form.

Anxas lifted both arms, and the world flipped.

Gravity reversed.

Rael's body wrenched upward. So did Gale's. The force yanked them into the air, suspending them against their will. The temple floor—now below them—felt impossibly far away.

And then, it reversed again.

A brutal slam.

Rael hit the ground with full force. His vision blurred from the impact. His HP plummeted. Somewhere nearby, Gale let out a pained grunt, barely managing to recover.

Anxas was still coming.

Rael's hands shook as he tightened his grip on Hollow Requiem. His breaths were ragged. One last hit. That was all it would take.

Gale staggered upright. His sword dragged against the temple floor, but he planted his feet, eyes sharp. "One shot. I'll make the opening."

Rael met his gaze. No words were needed.

Anxas rushed forward.

Gale moved first.

With a final burst of strength, he heaved his sword overhead and slammed it down with all his power. The impact ruptured the floor—sending out a shockwave so fierce that even Anxas momentarily faltered.

There.

Rael lunged.

His body felt like it was falling apart. But the scythe in his hands—it felt weightless.

His last attack.

The curved blade swung upward.

Pure Damage ignited upon impact—

And Rael got lucky.

The blade tore through Anxas' mask, cleaving into its skull.

The world froze.

Anxas' body shuddered. Its sockets flared violently, the violet glow flickering in and out. A choked, distorted sound escaped it—half a wail, half a gargled laugh.

And then, its body collapsed.

Dark mist poured out from the shattered remains. The miasma recoiled, twisting violently before finally dispersing.

The system notification flashed.

[Elite Boss Defeated!]

[Level Up!]

[A Great Feat Has Been Achieved!]

Rael barely processed it.

He fell to one knee, exhausted beyond words. His HP was a sliver away from death. Gale was barely standing.

A long silence stretched between them.

Then Gale let out a breathless laugh.

"That," he muttered, running a hand through his sweat-soaked hair, "was the worst fight of my goddamn life."

Rael didn't disagree.

But at least it was over.