Moments ago, within the swirling chaos of his Magus Dominion, Viktor stood locked in a brutal contest of endurance and power against Jack, the deranged necromancer.
The battlefield trembled under the weight of their magic, and Jack, with his usual manic grin, unleashed yet another barrage of explosive zombies.
"Let's play a game, shall we?" Jack's voice echoed like a taunt through the distorted domain.
"Will my necrotic kingdom collapse first and get crushed under your magic? Or will you run out of steam and lose concentration, forcing your precious dominion to disappear?"
As he spoke, ten grotesque zombies clawed their way up from the ground, flanked by three skeletal soldiers wielding jagged bone swords.
"Let the games begin!" Jack cackled, eyes glinting with madness.
The undead charged in unison, their snarls ripping through the thick air. The skeletal soldiers came first, blades gleaming with necrotic energy as they swung at Viktor.
But with a flick of his hand, Viktor intensified the gravity around their weapons. The swords missed their mark entirely and shattered mid-swing, pulverized by their own unnatural weight.
Viktor leapt backward, he landed just in time to see the zombies closing in—surrounding him like vultures. Their bloated bodies began to swell grotesquely.
"Damn it," Viktor muttered, forming a black hole in front of him. The explosion came a split second later—roaring and violent—but the black hole absorbed the blood and gore before it could obstruct his vision.
But just as the blast cleared, Viktor's instincts screamed. A massive ogre lunged from the smoke, its rusted metal sword swinging with brutal force.
The blade struck him squarely, hurling him across the battlefield. Blood trickled from Viktor's mouth as he skidded across the ground.
"You forgot something, Jack… or perhaps you never knew it," Viktor growled, wiping the blood from his lips.
The entire dome trembled violently. The ogre, still looming before him, froze as all the gravity in the area focused into a single, crushing point—a singularity.
The ogre screamed as it was dragged into the forming black hole, limbs contorting and vanishing into the void.
Jack's domain groaned under the weight of the singularity; cracks spiderwebbed across its surface like fractures in glass. The black hole vanished, but the damage was done.
"The longer you stay in my domain," Viktor said, rising to his full height, "the heavier everything becomes. You don't feel it yet because of your fake dominion, but once I shatter it... you'll be flattened beneath my boots."
"Are you so sure?" a voice hissed from behind.
Viktor spun around as another ogre materialized behind him, blade raised high. But before it could strike, the air itself seemed to twist.
A loud crack rang out as the ogre's weapon shattered, its fragments scattering like glittering ash. Viktor's eyes glowed golden with fury.
"And once your undead step into my domain," he roared, "they're already dead men walking. I have absolute control over gravity!"
He clenched his fist.
The ogre slammed into the ground with a thunderous crack, its bones snapping like twigs, skin tearing open under the pressure until it erupted—bursting like an overripe fruit.
"Still hotheaded as ever, Viktor," Jack mocked with a sinister smirk. From the ground, a giant ogre erupted. Jack touched its head with a blackened hand, and its eyes lit up with malevolent black fire.
"You really should learn to think before you act."
The ogre opened its mouth wide. Orange light glowed in its throat, intensifying until it erupted in a barrage of fireballs.
But Viktor didn't move.
A black hole materialized before him, effortlessly devouring each fireball mid-air.
"Keh keh keh…" Viktor chuckled darkly. A second black hole appeared—this time above Jack's domain. The devoured fireballs shot out like meteorites, slamming into the false dominion. Cracks spread like lightning across its surface.
"Very close," Viktor whispered.
"Oh, you can redirect magical attacks… Impressive," Jack sneered. "But what about physical ones?"
The giant ogre sunk into the ground like sludge, then burst from the earth behind Viktor, sword descending. Still, Viktor didn't flinch.
The blade veered off suddenly, driven into the dirt by unseen force. A black hole formed beside the ogre, swelling in size before collapsing into a singularity. It sucked the creature in—but only halfway.
"Snap," Viktor said coldly.
The singularity collapsed. The ogre was sliced clean in half—one part vanishing into nothing, the other landing at Viktor's feet.
"Still haven't learned?" he snarled. "My focus cannot be broken! And I'll tear that pathetic fake domain of yours apart!"
The pressure intensified. Jack's false dominion cracked wide open before exploding like shattering glass.
Jack fell to his knees, his body collapsing under the sudden onslaught of pure gravity.
"Finally," Viktor said with a vengeful grin. "Time for some payback!"
He dashed forward, a red streak of fury. But Jack, coughing and trembling, began to laugh—a low, rasping chuckle.
"Do you want to kill your old, best friend?" Jack's question brought Viktor to an abrupt halt.
"You're no friend of mine!" Viktor spat.
"Not me," Jack said, nodding to Viktor's side. "Him."
Viktor turned slowly, eyes widening.
There—kneeling in agony—was a young man with wavy brown hair. He clutched his throat, gasping for air, crushed by the gravity.
"Viktor… I… can't… breathe…" he choked out.
"Steve?!" Viktor gasped, the color draining from his face. Instinctively, the gravity around the man eased, lessening the pressure.
Still in the domain but with the intensity reduced, Viktor rushed to the kneeling figure, eyes brimming with tears.
"Steve… You're here. I'm… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left you with that monster. I should have ended him. I—" his voice broke. "I was a coward… I snitched when I should have fought. I'm so sorry."
He knelt before Steve, face twisted with guilt and emotion.
"Viktor…" Steve whispered.
"Yes?" Viktor's voice trembled.
Steve's face had twisted into a grotesque blackened mask, with a wicked smirk spread across his rotting features.
Before Viktor could react, the imposter lunged—its blackened hands gripping Viktor tightly.
Pain exploded in Viktor's chest. Blood spilled from his mouth as his eyes turned pitch black. Cracks raced across the dominion, light pouring from the fractures.
And then—everything shattered.
The fake Steve vanished like smoke. Jack stood over the crumpled Viktor, a twisted smirk carved across his face as he turned toward the others watching from beyond.
"…It's your turn now," he whispered darkly.