The shadows twisted and writhed like living things. Barbara's skeletal wings spread to their full, terrible span, releasing a gust of cursed energy so cold it burned. Her hollow eyes blazed with malice and barely contained madness.
Krad felt it then, the faint pull of the Moon Eater's presence, like a whisper at the very back of his mind. Let me out, let me fight... together we could crush her. Together we could---
"No." He said it out loud, forcing the temptation down with every ounce of willpower he possessed. His fists clenched tighter, and he planted his feet firmly on the cracked stone floor. "I don't need you."
The presence recoiled, surprised and offended by the rejection.
"I'll win on my own terms."
Barbara's laugh echoed like nails scraping down a chalkboard. "Foolish! You reject the very strength that could save you! That could grant you victory!"
Krad didn't respond. He'd made his choice. Win or lose, live or die... he would do it as himself.
Barbara's skeletal claws twisted, dark tendrils slithering from her fingertips like serpents. The air thickened further, becoming almost solid. A ghostly hum reverberated through the ruins, the sound of reality straining under the weight of her power.
"Come then, vessel," she sneered, her voice dripping with dark promise. "Let me carve regret into your very soul."
With a scream that shattered what little remained of the silence, Barbara lunged.
For something that looked so frail, so skeletal, she moved with impossible speed. Her form blurred, closing the distance between them in a heartbeat. Krad's enhanced perception kicked in, the world slowed to a crawl as adrenaline flooded his system.
He saw everything. The way her twisted wings flicked to adjust her trajectory mid-flight. The subtle shift in her feet that would determine her strike angle. The gathering of dark energy around her claws that would extend their reach by half a meter.
There!
[ Skill Activated: Evade ]
The skill activated. For a split second, Krad's form blurred, leaving behind a perfect afterimage, a ghostly copy that remained exactly where he'd been standing. His actual body moved with supernatural speed, sliding to the side just as Barbara's claws raked through the space he'd occupied.
The attack hit the afterimage instead. Barbara's talons passed through it like smoke, the cursed tendrils following suit, striking at nothing but illusion. The image flickered and faded half a second later.
But Krad was already behind her.
"Too slow!"
He drove his fist forward, aiming for the exposed section of her spine between the rotting vines. The punch connected with a satisfying thud, and for a moment, he felt triumph---
Barbara twisted at an impossible angle, her neck rotating a full 180 degrees while her body remained facing forward. Her eyes found his, and she smiled.
"Predictable."
Her wing lashed out like a whip. Krad barely threw himself backward, the skeletal edge passing millimeters from his throat. He felt the curse energy radiating from it, if that had connected, it would have been over instantly.
Barbara snarled, the facade of control cracking. Her wings flared in frustration, stirring up a whirlwind of corrupted mana. "You think mere tricks will save you? You think dodging will grant you victory?"
She spun fully now, black energy crackling along her limbs like lightning. The shadows around her feet began to rise, taking shape... weapons, monsters, nightmares.
[ Skill Activated: Evade ]
Again, his body flickered. Another ghostly form remained in place as Krad's real body moved to the left. The subtle glow of the skill's effect lingered for exactly half a second, just long enough to deceive. Barbara's cursed strike hit empty air once more, her talons shredding through the afterimage.
Her shriek of frustration was almost satisfying. "You think mere tricks will save you?!"
Krad's chest heaved, sweat already trailing down his brow despite the frigid air. He could feel it, the strain on his body. Each use of Evade took something out of him. It wasn't just stamina. The skill drained his mana, his focus, his very life force. And he could only use it so many times.
But right now? It was enough. It had to be enough.
Barbara shot forward again, but this time she didn't commit to a single attack. Her form split, no, the shadows around her split, creating multiple copies. Three, five, seven false Barbaras surrounded him, each one moving with the same deadly grace.
"Let's see you dodge this!"
They struck as one. Cursed tendrils erupted from each copy, the shadows twisting into jagged spears that whistled through the air toward him from all sides. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, no angle that wasn't covered.
[ Skill Activated: Evade ]
Krad ducked low, his body blurring. The afterimage remained standing upright as the real Krad rolled forward, passing beneath the wave of attacks. The tendrils pierced through the illusion, passing harmlessly through empty space. A half-second window. That's all he needed.
He charged forward, closing the gap between himself and the real Barbara, he could tell which was genuine by the way the light bent around her, by the way the corruption in the air thickened near her presence.
Barbara's glowing eyes widened in disbelief. "How? How do you---"
"Because I'm paying attention!" Krad snarled.
He pivoted sharply, using the momentum of his dodge to add force to his strike. His fist connected with Barbara's side, right where the rot seemed weakest. The impact sent a shockwave through her corrupted form, the dark energy surrounding her wavering like disturbed water.
[ Critical Hit! Damage: 450 ]
Barbara staggered, actually staggered, taking three steps back. The shadow copies dissolved immediately as her concentration broke. "You... you insect!"
But Krad was relentless. He couldn't afford not to be. Behind him, he could hear Mist's labored breathing, could feel the countdown ticking away. [ 00:02:54 ]. Two minutes and fifty-four seconds until his friend died.
[ Skill Activated: Evade ]
Barbara lashed out with her wing, but Krad slipped through her attack, leaving another afterimage. The ruins became a blur of movement, shadows and afterimages, real attacks and illusions, all blending together in a deadly dance.
Each time Barbara struck, Krad wasn't there. Each time she thought she had him cornered, he slipped away, leaving nothing but echoes of himself. And with each dodge, he found an opening. A punch here, a kick there. Small, precise strikes that chipped away at her defenses.
"You pathetic insect!" Barbara roared, her frustration building to a crescendo. "You cannot defeat me! You cannot even hurt me! You are nothing but a human, a mortal, a---"
[ Skill Activated: Evade ]
Krad didn't respond with words. His breathing was ragged, his legs burned, his mana reserves depleting with each use of the skill. But his determination remained unshaken, diamond-hard and unbreakable.
He didn't need overwhelming power. He didn't need the Moon Eater's strength... he just needed one thing. One perfect opening.
Barbara lunged once more, her cursed energy surging with raw malice. Dark mana gathered around her claws, condensing into something solid, something that would pierce through any defense. This was it, her killing blow, the attack she'd been building toward.
But Krad's eyes caught it. That fraction of a second. The moment when her body tensed just before the attack, when her weight shifted to her back foot to generate maximum force, when her eyes locked onto where she expected him to be.
[ Skill Activated: Evade ]
He shifted. The afterimage lingered in place, perfectly positioned. But this time, Krad didn't retreat. He didn't move backward or to the side.
He moved forward, diving beneath her attack.
Barbara's claws passed through the illusion, her momentum carrying her forward, unable to stop. Her eyes widened in shock as she realized her mistake.
"Impossible! You---"
Krad was already upon her, inside her guard, too close for her wings or tendrils to reach him effectively. His fist drew back, and for a moment, just a brief, shining moment... he felt all the desperation, all the anger, all the absolute refusal to give up condensate into a single point.
"You're not taking anyone else!"
His fist shot forward, trailing fire and light despite having no magical enhancement. Pure kinetic force, delivered with every ounce of strength his body could muster, aimed directly at her chest where the corruption seemed to pool and pulse.
The impact was thunderous.
[ Brutal Hit! Critical Damage: 900 ]
[ Enemy Staggered! ]
The force of the blow echoed through the ruins like thunder. Cracks splintered outward from the point of impact, running through the cursed energy that clung to Barbara's form like shattered glass. She screeched, a sound of pain and genuine surprise, as she stumbled backward, her skeletal wings thrashing wildly.
Dark mana leaked from the cracks in her body, seeping out like black mist. For a moment, just a moment, Krad felt triumph surge through his chest.
I did it. I actually hurt her. I can---
But then...