Noah's eyes widened as the message burned in his mind.

[ETA: 10 seconds.]

He barely had time to react. His instincts screamed at him to move, but before he could even take a step, a wave of cold washed over the cavern.

It wasn't the kind of cold that stung the skin, it was far worse.

It seeped through bone and thought, an impossible chill that sank into the soul.

For a moment, Noah's breath hitched, his body locking in place as something primal, fear, crept through him.

Beside him, Cecilia gasped, her fireball flickering erratically in her hand.

"What— what is that?" she stammered, her voice trembling.

Then they both turned and saw it.

Suspended in the center of the cavern, hovering in the air like an open wound in reality, was a spot of purple fire.

It burned silently, the flames dancing without heat or smoke.

The sight of it made Noah's heartbeat thunder in his ears. Every instinct screamed that this was wrong.

The fire pulsed once.

Then it expanded.

A low, guttural hum filled the air, vibrating through their bones. The purple fire began to stretch outwards, widening into a circular rift.

Noah snapped out of his trance. "We have to stop it!" he shouted, throwing his hand forward.

Mana surged, his veins glowing with darkness as he gathered power in his palm.

A dense bolt of void energy spiraled to life. He thrust it forward, shouting, "VOID BOLT!"

The spell screamed through the air, crackling with destructive intent, and vanished into the rift... only to be swallowed whole.

No explosion. No impact. Just nothing.

The bolt was gone as if it had never existed.

Then, the rift pulsed again, widening further.

The cavern rumbled, dust raining down from the ceiling.

Inside the rift was not light, not flame, and not even shadow. Only pure and endless emptiness.

Noah could see the edges fraying like torn cloth, threads of purple energy unraveling into the air.

Cecilia, her face pale, threw out both hands. "Firestorm!"

Flames burst from her, spiraling into the rift.

The torrent of fire struck its edge, and vanished just like Noah's Void Bolt. There was no heat nor sound. Nothing.

"Damn it!" she hissed. Her voice cracked. "It's not reacting to magic!"

Without hesitation, she summoned her phoenix. The air shimmered with heat as the majestic bird of living fire took form, its cry echoing through the cavern like a war hymn.

The phoenix spread its blazing wings and shot towards the rift.

"Close it!" Cecilia commanded, sweat dripping down her temple.

The phoenix shrieked, its talons digging into the opposite edges of the rift, pulling with all its might.

For a moment, it seemed to work. The tearing stopped, the widening slowed. The rift quivered under the strain, resisting, trembling like a living thing.

Noah's eyes widened. "It's working—"

He never finished.

A sound like a wet snap cut through the air, followed by a deep, gurgling hiss that wasn't of this world.

Something moved within the rift, a slithering shape, slick and enormous. Then, from the void, a single appendage emerged.

It was dark, slimy, and covered in grotesque, pulsing veins of violet light. The tentacle whipped outward with impossible speed.

CRACK!

It slammed into the phoenix.

The fiery bird screeched once, the sound splitting the air, then shattered like glass, bursting into embers that winked out almost immediately.

"NO!" Cecilia screamed, collapsing to her knees, clutching her chest.

Blood dripped from the corner of her mouth, her body spasming from the backlash of her broken summon.

Noah stared in horror. The rift grew again, the purple edges now large enough to swallow a man whole.

From within, the darkness shifted, and for an instant, Noah saw it.

Something beyond comprehension.

A vast, writhing mass of tentacles, shifting and twisting in endless motion, each one covered in pulsating eyes that blinked out of sync.

Its presence alone made Noah's mind reel, nausea rolling through him like a storm.

His soul felt small, insignificant before it, like an insect standing before the ocean.

This thing… should not exist.

Terror ignited in his chest, raw and uncontrollable.

And in that instant, he saw death. And death stared back at him.

[Congratulations! You have achieved Overdrive.]

[Skill Unlocked: Ashen Rebirth(SSS-rank)]

Without thinking, instinct took over.

Noah threw both hands out, screaming through gritted teeth, and activated one of his SS-rank skills, which his body could just barely handle.

"The King's Dominion!"

A rush of pure power burst from him. The air twisted violently, and a dome of black light expanded outward, cracking the stone beneath their feet.

The King's Dominion was a skill that allowed him to feed on the mana of everything around him, to fuel his next attack.

The rift quivered, the abyssal energy within it fighting back.

The very air shuddered as mana surged from every corner of the monolith, drawn to Noah like a tidal wave.

Pain exploded through his body. His bones cracked. His muscles tore. Blood streamed from his nose and mouth.

His vision blurred red as the strain of the SS-rank skill threatened to destroy him from the inside.

"NOAH!" Cecilia shouted, reaching towards him, but the force of his aura pushed her back.

Still, he held on. The rift was flickering now, trembling under the pull of his Dominion.

The raw mana inside it funneled into him, burning through his veins. He began absorbing the rift's mana, adding it to his own.

It felt like his entire body was being crushed and remade at once.

Then, at last, the mana flow stabilized. His body stopped shaking, though blood still dripped from his lips.

His chest heaved, but when he opened his eyes, they glowed a bright gold. He ended the skill.

"I've got enough now," he whispered hoarsely.

He lifted his right hand, pointing it towards the rift, and with the last of his gathered strength, spoke the name of his deadliest spell.

His only SSS-rank spell.

"Utter Annihilation."

The world erupted.

And a flash brighter than the sun consumed everything.

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