The air itself seed to scream as reality bent around the Corrupted God. What had been a thousand-ter-tall entity of shadow and malice was now condensing, becoming more solid and infinitely more dangerous. The creature’s form compressed down to a re hundred ters—still massive, but now every inch was packed with concentrated divine power.
Evon on the cracked ground, his dragon-enhanced body absorbing the impact. The five colored auras around him flickered slightly—the sustained use of full Destiny Resonance was taking its toll.
"That’s new," he said, watching the entity’s transformation with wary eyes.
"It’s focusing its power," Veyra’s voice ca through clearly in his mind. "Less size, more density. More dangerous."
"Great," Evon muttered. "Because this wasn’t hard enough already."
The newly compacted Corrupted God flexed its muscles, and the sound was like thunder rolling across the landscape. When it spoke, its voice was no longer the booming roar of before, but sothing more intimate and infinitely more threatening.
"Much better," the entity said, its voice now only loud enough to shake the trees instead of the entire continent. "I was getting tired of shouting."
"I liked you better when you were bigger," Evon replied, raising the Blade of Fate. "Easier target."
"Was I?" The entity moved, and suddenly it was right in front of Evon, having crossed the distance in a blink. Its fist, still the size of a small building, crashed into the ground where Evon had been standing.
But Evon wasn’t there anymore. He’d rolled to the side at the last second, guided by his Eyes of Fate. The precognition was working overti now, showing him glimpses of attacks that would co in the next few seconds.
"You’re fast," he admitted, coming up in a crouch. "But not that fast."
"No?" The entity’s other hand swept across the space where Evon was crouching, but again he was already moving. "Interesting. You see the future, don’t you?"
"Sothing like that." Evon launched himself upward, using Sythara’s draconic strength to propel himself toward the entity’s chest. The Blade of Fate blazed with Lyria’s true fire as he aid for what looked like a heart.
The sword struck true, sinking deep into the shadow-flesh. But instead of the explosive reaction he’d expected, the entity just looked down at him with sothing that might have been amusent.
"That tickles," it said.
What happened next was like being hit by a freight train made of pure malevolence. The entity’s hand closed around Evon faster than his precognition could track, lifting him away from the embedded sword and bringing him up to face level.
"Let explain sothing to you, little godling," the entity said, its red eyes boring into Evon’s soul. "I have devoured entire worlds. I have consud gods far older and more powerful than your sealed ones. What you’re fighting is barely a fraction of my true power."
"Then why are you having so much trouble with ?" Evon asked, even as the crushing grip made it hard to breathe.
"Because you amuse . It’s been eons since I encountered soone who could actually wound , even slightly." The entity’s grip tightened. "But amusent has its limits."
Pain shot through Evon’s ribs as the pressure increased. Even his dragon-enhanced bones were reaching their breaking point. Through their connection, he could feel the four goddesses pouring their strength into him, trying to reinforce his body, but it wasn’t enough.
"Naia," he said silently. "Any ideas?"
"The pool," she replied urgently. "Where it ca from. There might be residual connection points."
Evon looked down at the empty stone ring below them. The black water was gone, but the stone itself still pulsed with faint traces of corrupted energy.
"Got it." He stopped struggling against the entity’s grip and instead channeled all five elental powers into a single, focused blast.
The explosion wasn’t ant to hurt the entity—it was ant to break its grip. Water, fire, cyber energy, draconic force, and holy light combined into a burst of pure chaos that forced the massive hand to open.
Evon fell, but he was ready. He used the montum to dive straight toward the empty pool, the Blade of Fate extended like a spear.
### Breaking the Connection
The sword struck the center of the stone ring and sank deep into the ancient rock. Imdiately, Evon felt the connection—threads of power that linked this place to wherever the entity’s true form resided.
"What are you doing?" the Corrupted God demanded, reaching down to stop him. But it was too late.
"Cutting your lifeline," Evon replied, channeling Veyra’s cyber abilities through the blade along with the brute strength of Sythara and corrosive power of immortal water. The sword beca a conduit of pure analytical energy, following the power threads back to their source and with a single thrust multiple blades shot out, severed them effortlessly at the sa ti.
The entity’s hand stopped just short of grabbing him. "Impossible. You cannot break a divine connection with mortal techniques."
"Good thing I’m not using mortal techniques."
The Corrupted God’s form flickered. "No. NO!"
But it was too late. The threads were severed and corroded, and with each broken connection, the entity beca less solid, less real.
"This isn’t over," the entity snarled, its voice already beginning to fade. "I will return. I will find another way into this realm."
"I’ll be waiting," Evon replied, severing the last connection.
The Corrupted God’s form collapsed in on itself like a deflating balloon. Its roar of rage echoed across dinsions before cutting off abruptly. Where the massive entity had stood, only swirling shadows remained, and even those were quickly dissipating in the morning light.
Evon pulled the Blade of Fate from the stone ring and staggered backward. The five-elent aura around him flickered and went out as he released the full Destiny Resonance. His body ached in places he didn’t know could ache, and his dragon-enhanced form was already reverting to normal human proportions.
"Is it over?" Lyria’s voice was tired but hopeful.
"For now," Evon replied, sinking to his knees beside the empty pool. "But he was right about one thing. He’ll be back."
"Then we’ll be ready," Sythara said firmly.
"Will we?" Evon looked around at the devastation surrounding him. The Amazon rainforest for kiloters in every direction was dead or dying. Thousands of corrupted humans lay scattered across the clearing. And sowhere out there, the true form of the Corrupted God was already planning its next move.
His comm unit crackled to life. Commander Jaun’s voice ca through, distorted by interference. "Evon? Evon, can you hear ? What’s your status?"
"Alive," Evon replied wearily. "The imdiate threat is gone."
"Thank god. We’ve got recovery teams moving in, but it’ll be hours before they reach you. Can you make it to the extraction point?"
Evon looked at the coordinates on his device, then at his exhausted body. "Yeah, I can make it."
"What about Yena’s seal? Any sign of it?"
That was the question Evon had been dreading. He reached out through his connection to the faded goddesses, searching for any trace of the fifth seal.
"It’s not here," he said finally. "The Black Force moved it before the ritual. It could be anywhere."
"We’ll find it," Jaun assured him. "You’ve bought us ti. That’s what matters."
The journey to the extraction point took three hours. Evon walked through the corrupted landscape at a steady pace, taking in the damage. It would take decades for this part of the Amazon to recover, if it ever did.
But he’d stopped sothing much worse from happening. The Corrupted God’s full manifestation would have ant the end of Earth as they knew it.
As he walked, he spoke quietly with the four goddesses in his soul realm.
"How much power do you think that thing’s true form has?" he asked.
"Considerably more than what we just fought," Naia said soberly. "This was just a probe, a way to test our defenses."
"But it learned sothing important," Veyra added. "It learned that we can hurt it."
"Which makes us a threat," Sythara rumbled. "It won’t underestimate us again."
"Then we better find Yena quickly," Evon said. "Because I have a feeling we’re going to need every advantage we can get."
The extraction helicopter appeared on the horizon, its rotors cutting through the humid air. As it landed in the small clearing, Evon took one last look back at the devastation behind him.
_____________
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