Meanwhile, inside the chamber where the rift pulsed like a gaping wound in the world, Esther, Selene, and Annette were still locked in their desperate stand.
The violent flares of alien Magic from the rift had settled for the moment, no longer lashing like wild tendrils, but the pressure from the other side hadn't faded. If anything, it felt stronger now like something was pressing against the barrier, searching for cracks but not yet taking action.
"I'm almost… out," Annette whispered through clenched teeth, sweat trailing down her face. Her arms trembled as she kept her palms outstretched, Magic still weaving into the containment seal that held the rift in place.
Selene glanced at her with wide, worried eyes, then turned to Esther. Their gazes met—both knowing they were nearing their limits too.
"What should we do?" Selene asked, her voice quiet but strained. "My Magic's nearly gone too."
Esther bit her lip, then asked softly, "Can we… switch? Take turns? Just enough to drink a potion?"
Selene's lips pressed together. She thought for a moment, then shook her head. "No. If we break the flow, even for a second, the barrier will crack. And if that happens…"
She didn't finish. She didn't need to. They all knew what was on the other side of that rift. They all knew what would happen if it came through.
Esther's shoulders slumped, and she let out a shaky breath. "So… we can only wait. And hope."
Selene nodded grimly. "Right now… hoping is all we have."
The words tasted hollow in her mouth. She didn't believe them. But then, just as her arms began to shake, just as the despair began to creep in…
She forced herself to take a deep breath and planted her feet more firmly into the ground. Her Magic wavered for a heartbeat—then steadied again, brighter and stronger.
"No," she said firmly. "We will make it. We have to."
Selene blinked. Annette looked over, startled—but Esther's eyes were shining now. Burning with something stronger than Magic.
That spark of defiance in her eyes was enough to keep them standing.
Selene smiled faintly. "Then let's make it happen."
Annette let out a breath. "Let's hold this together… until the others win out there."
They each shifted slightly, refocusing. No more talk. Just the shimmer of the barrier and the beating thrum of something monstrous pressing against it.
They held the barrier with everything they got.
Meanwhile, outside, Mark, Hund, and Kaela reached the bone ridge Kaela had spotted from below.
It loomed clearer now like a jagged crown of warped ivory and curved outward from the abomination's chest. Between the twisted ribs, nestled deep in a nest of corrupted flesh, they can now clearly see the core pulsed. It was a tight sphere of green energy, webbed with veins of dark matter, alive and beating like a heart.
"There it is!" Kaela breathed. "No mistake this time."
Hund growled and stepped forward, raising his sword. "I'll break this shit right now!"
"Wait!" Mark grabbed his arm. "It's protected. See the way the flesh contracts when we get close? I think we need to strike it together, coordinate our blows."
Kaela was already pulling out her second dagger. "I'll cut through the tendons and that dark veins to clear the path."
Mark nodded. "Hund, the moment she cuts, you slam that sword as strong as you can. I'll channel the rune strike with my sword just behind it."
Hund gave a savage grin. "Ready when you are."
Kaela dashed forward, weaving between spasming bone and twitching muscle. She didn't flinch as the faces turned to her and howling. She ducked and slashes a dozen times in quick succession. Her blades slicing through taut cords of dark sinew.
The moment the pathway opened she shout.
Hund surged forward while bellowing, his sword glowing blue with runic fury channeling his Magic. He swung with everything he had, striking the pulsing core dead cente
A crack echoed like a thunderclap. The abomination screamed.
Then Mark stepped in next and thrusting his sword forward. The runes on his sword blazing blue and he stabbed through the fractured point.
A blinding burst of green light erupted outward, and the creature's body convulsed wildly. Limbs flailed without aim. Its scream fractured into dozens of terrified, fading voices.
Kaela shielded her eyes, bracing for impact while they were falling to the floor with Hund and Mark.
The abomination collapsed.
Its twisted limbs sagged and fell limp, like puppet strings suddenly cut. The faces slackened, their agonies ending all at once. Black ichor poured from the broken chest and the glow vanished.
On the floor, they all laying with body wrapped in gore.
Mark slowly lowered his blade. "It's over…"
Hund fell to one knee, panting. "That was… phew… a hell of a fight!"
Kaela looked up at the sky, still half-expecting another scream to rise but it didn't come.
"The rift," she gasped.
They turned, sprinting back toward the chamber where Esther, Selene, and Annette were still fighting to hold the barrier.
They realized that the real battle wasn't quite over yet.
Outside the temple, the clash of power and bursts of Magic still echoed. Erend and Eccar stood against the two armored cultists. The air crackled with tension—thick with the taint of the rift's power leaking from within.
Erend narrowed his eyes at the silver-tattooed cultist, whose marks now glowed faintly beneath the seams of his molten armor.
"Tell me about that god of yours," he asked. "Why is he hiding in another dimension? Who defeated him before?"
The cultist bared his teeth. "The Old King was never defeated!"
Erend took a slow step forward. "Then why did he run?"
The words hit like a slap. The cultist's eyes flared with rage, and he shouted, "He was weakened by that Dragonborn bastard! You'll pay for speaking his name with such filth!"
With a snarl, the cultist surged forward, his slender sword igniting with swirling energy.