Inside the humming cage of Holy Silver Chains, the air felt thick with the pressure of sacred energy. For the Elves, it was an oppressive, unpleasant sensation. For Nihil, it was poison. Every particle seemed to scream against his existence. Before him, Commander Gideon raised his warhammer, a miniature silver sun poised to erase shadow.

*Nihil's Thoughts: Analysis. Enemy: Commander Gideon, S-Tier. Weapon: Holy Warhammer, conceptual artifact. Ability: Generates pure holy energy that negates Void energy. Five support Purifiers, A-Tier, trained in anti-anomaly tactics. Environment: Scarred forest, ample trees and rocks. My Condition: Isolated, primary Void strength ineffective. `Zero State`? No. 30-hour cooldown. Using it here is fatal strategic waste. `Singularity Shield`? Worse. It's a weapon of mass destruction, not a precision tool. Using it here would kill everyone, including Lyraelle. Including myself. So, what remains?*

The hammer descended. It didn't move with brutal speed, but with inexorable momentum, as if possessing its own gravity. The air around it warped, refusing to be touched by darkness.

Nihil had no choice. He had to move. An instant before the annihilating impact, he vanished.

[Using: Phase Step (Rank F)]

[Capacity: 44/50 -> 43/50]

**BOOM!**

The hammer struck the earth, but no crater formed. Instead, an explosion of pure silver light radiated from the impact point, turning the blackened soil into glittering silver dust. The holy shockwave hit the `Void Echo` Nihil had left behind. Instantly, Nihil, who had just reappeared fifteen meters away, felt a searing electric jolt rip through his nervous system. He gritted his teeth, suppressing a groan. The pain wasn't physical. It was existential agony, as if his very soul had been scraped raw.

*Gideon's Thoughts: He dodges. Fast. But not without cost. Our source was right. Every time he tears reality, he leaves a trace. And that trace is vulnerable to the Light. He cannot keep this up. Pressure him. Give him no time to think.*

Gideon didn't wait. He pivoted, his hammer swinging in a wide horizontal arc. A wave of holy energy sliced through the air, forcing Nihil to move again.

He vanished once more, reappearing near a cluster of charred trees.

[Using: Phase Step (Rank F)]

[Capacity: 43/50 -> 42/50]

The same pain hit him again, stronger this time. He staggered slightly. He couldn't win this fight by dodging. Every step was a wound.

*Lyraelle's Thoughts: Damn it! These chains... they absorb mana. Every attack we make only strengthens them. He can't keep jumping like that. He'll tear himself apart from the inside. We have to get out!*

Lyraelle and her rangers ceased attacking the chains with magic. Instead, they drew daggers and began working on the physical knots where the chains met, trying to force them open with brute strength.

Gideon saw Nihil stagger. "You feel its judgment, Heretic," he roared. "Every step you take in darkness only brings you closer to pain! There is no hiding from the Light!"

He charged. Nihil watched him approach, his crimson eyes flaring with cold intensity. He stopped trying to use Void power directly. It was inefficient. He switched to Plan B. Heze's expertise. Physics.

As Gideon was mere meters away, Nihil didn't retreat. He slammed his palm onto the ground.

[Using: Atomic Manipulation (Marginally Stable)]

[Capacity: 42/50 -> 38/50]

He didn't attack Gideon. He attacked the ground *under* Gideon. He didn't create an earthquake. He did something subtler. He forcibly altered the density and cohesion of the soil particles in Gideon's path, turning solid earth into thick, clinging mud in an instant.

Gideon, running at full momentum, suddenly felt his feet sink. His speed dropped drastically, his powerful stride now a labored struggle.

"A pathetic trick!" he bellowed, trying to wrench his legs free.

It gave Nihil the time he needed. He didn't attack Gideon. He kept manipulating the environment. He shifted his focus to the towering dead trees surrounding the trapped Commander.

[Using: Atomic Manipulation (Marginally Stable)]

[Capacity: 38/50 -> 34/50]

He didn't try to fell them. He 'erased' the structural integrity of their main roots. Horrific cracking sounds echoed as the giant trees, weighing dozens of tons, began to topple inward, towards the still-stuck Gideon.

*Gideon's Thoughts: Clever. He isn't fighting me. He's fighting the battlefield. He's using the world itself as his weapon.*

With a roar of frustration, Gideon ignored Nihil and swung his hammer at the first falling tree. A blast of silver light shattered the trunk into splinters, but it didn't halt the momentum of the others.

Nihil used the chaos. While Gideon was distracted, he darted forward, not towards the Commander, but towards one of the Purifiers guarding the chain formation.

He didn't use `Phase Step`. He ran, his `Void Shift` passive making his movements blurry and unpredictable. The Purifier, startled by the sudden change of target, raised his silver sword in defense.

Nihil didn't touch him. He touched the ground *in front* of him.

[Using: Void Grasp (Rank E)]

[Capacity: 34/50 -> 30/50]

A hole suddenly appeared beneath the Purifier's feet. He screamed in shock as he fell, his concentration shattered. Instantly, one side of the chain cage flickered and weakened.

It was the opening Lyraelle needed. "NOW!"

She and another ranger threw themselves at the weakened knot, forcing it open violently. The cage fractured.

"Target is attempting escape!" yelled another Purifier.

Gideon, finally wrenching himself free from the tree wreckage, saw the Elves now free. He snarled. "He won't run."

He locked eyes with Nihil, who now stood among the freed Elves. A new expression flickered in Gideon's eyes. Not just conviction. A hint of... warrior's respect.

"You are more than an anomaly," Gideon stated. "You are a tactician. But this isn't over."

He raised his hammer high. "Purifiers! Commence Consecration Ritual! We cleanse this entire valley!"

The five remaining Purifiers swiftly retreated, forming a pentagram formation around Gideon. They plunged their silver swords into the earth and began chanting in the ancient Church tongue. Immense holy energy began to coalesce, drawn from the five Purifiers and channeled into Gideon's hammer, which now began to glow so brightly it hurt to look at.

*Nihil's Thoughts: Analysis. They have ceased attacking. They are charging. An area-of-effect attack. Hiding is useless. Fleeing will not be fast enough. Only option: disrupt the ritual before completion.*

He gauged the distance between himself and the formation. Roughly fifty meters. Too far to run. He knew what he had to do. And he knew it would hurt.

The sky above the dead valley began to vibrate. The silver light radiating from Gideon's hammer intensified, forming a pulsing dome of energy over the Purifiers' formation. The sparse grass at the circle's edge withered and turned to dust under the sheer pressure of pure holy power.

"We must stop them!" Lyraelle yelled, her twin blades blazing with green nature magic. "Archers, target the chanters on the flanks!"

Arrows flew, but they disintegrated into dust meters before reaching their targets, repelled by an invisible shield of conviction around the formation.

*Lyraelle's Thoughts: Not working. Conceptual shield. It's not mana-based, so our magic can't pierce it. Damn it! What do we do?*

Nihil stared at the ritual, his mind working at super-speed. He saw the energy flows, the nodes where the Purifiers connected, Gideon as the focal point. He couldn't shatter the shield from outside. He had to get inside. And there was only one way.

He took a deep breath, bracing his body for the coming agony. "Lyraelle," he said, his voice calm yet urgent. "When I move, create a distraction. Anything."

Before Lyraelle could question, Nihil vanished.

[Using: Phase Step (Rank F)]

[Capacity: 30/50 -> 29/50]

He reappeared ten meters closer. The pain from the holy feedback hit him, but he ignored it. He didn't stop.

He vanished again. And again.

[Using: Phase Step (Rank F)]

[Capacity: 29/50 -> 28/50]

[Using: Phase Step (Rank F)]

[Capacity: 28/50 -> 27/50]

Three jumps in less than two seconds. His body screamed protest. He could feel the `Cascade` beginning to form, spatial instability threatening to tear him apart from within. He coughed, a drop of black blood spattering his lips.

*Gideon's Thoughts: Fool! He's destroying himself! He tries to breach with speed. He won't make it in time!*

Lyraelle saw the blood. She understood. "NATURE'S REBIRTH!" she screamed. She drove both her swords into the ground. Instantly, giant roots, thick as pythons, erupted from the earth, not to attack the formation, but to create a massive wall of wood and thorns between them and Nihil, blocking Gideon's view for a crucial second.

It was the distraction Nihil needed. He pushed himself beyond the limit.

[Using: Phase Step (Rank F)]

[Capacity: 27/50 -> 26/50]

The fourth jump.

**BOOM!** The `Cascade` detonated inside him. It felt like his internal organs were hammered by an invisible mallet. His vision blacked out for a split second, but he forced himself conscious. He was now at the very edge of the conceptual shield.

He didn't try to penetrate it. He simply stepped *through* it.

[Using: Phase Step (Rank F)]

[Capacity: 26/50 -> 25/50]

The fifth jump. He was now *inside* the pentagram formation. The chanting Purifiers stared at him in utter shock. They never imagined their target materializing in their midst.

"The ritual..." one stammered.

Nihil gave them no time. He ignored Gideon, who was turning with an enraged roar. He targeted the weakest link in the chain—a young Purifier whose eyes held a flicker of doubt.

He didn't attack his body. He thrust his hand towards the ground *beneath* the Purifier's feet.

[Using: Void Grasp (Rank E)]

[Capacity: 25/50 -> 21/50]

The ground under the Purifier vanished, creating a deep pit. He fell with a startled cry, his concentration shattered. Instantly, the energy flow from him ceased. The pentagram flickered violently unstable. The ritual collapsed.

The gathered holy energy within Gideon's hammer exploded outward uncontrollably. Gideon himself was thrown backward by his own power, while the other four Purifiers were blasted apart.

Nihil stood amidst the chaos, gasping, his body trembling from internal damage. He had succeeded.

But the fight wasn't over.

Gideon rose from the debris, his face bloodied but his eyes blazing with holy fury. "YOU... CURSED... HERETIC!"

He lunged at the weakened Nihil, his hammer raised for a final, killing blow.

Nihil tried to raise his arm to defend, but his body was too slow. He knew he wouldn't make it.

That's when two silver blurs shot past him.

CLANG!

The sound of metal clashing against sacred metal shook the air. Princess Lyraelle stood between Nihil and Gideon, her crossed twin blades holding back the swing of the giant hammer. Her arms trembled under the immense force, but she didn't yield. Behind her, her remaining rangers had surrounded the wounded Purifiers.

"Your fight is with me now, monster," Lyraelle hissed, her green eyes locked fiercely onto Gideon's fanatical gaze.

Gideon looked at Lyraelle, then at the rangers encircling him, then at the wounded but still-standing Nihil. His ritual had failed. His team was crippled. The element of surprise was gone. He was a fanatic, but not a fool.

With a frustrated growl that sounded like breaking stone, he leaped back. "This isn't over, Heretic!" he bellowed at Nihil. "The Light will always find the shadow!"

He and his remaining Purifiers threw silver smoke grenades to the ground. As thick smoke engulfed the area, they vanished without a trace.

A sudden silence fell over the valley, deafening in its intensity. The silver smoke from the Purifiers' grenades slowly thinned, leaving the scent of holy ozone and destruction.

As the battle adrenaline faded, the full impact of the `Cascade` hit Nihil. He collapsed to his knees, his body wracked with violent tremors. It wasn't the pain of physical wounds. It was conceptual agony, as if thousands of invisible hands were trying to tear his very existence apart from within, pulling him simultaneously towards Light and Void. Black blood flowed from his lips, but he didn't scream. His crimson eyes burned with cold intensity, analyzing the tearing sensation within him.

[WARNING: CONCEPTUAL INTERNAL DAMAGE DETECTED. STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY UNSTABLE.]

[Activating: Void Reconstruction (Rank E)]

The signature black dust of his regeneration began to stream from his wounds, trying to weave back damaged flesh and bone. But this time, the process was different. Wherever the black dust tried to form, sparks of residual silver light from the holy energy flared, repelling it, burning it, negating the healing process itself.

*Nihil's Thoughts: Analysis. Regeneration inhibited. Residual holy energy acts as conceptual inhibitor, rejecting the 'Unmaking' process of the Void. Recovery speed reduced by 90%. Pain is a side effect of two absolute energies mutually annihilating within my biological system. Interesting data... and highly inefficient.*

Lyraelle was instantly at his side, kneeling on one knee, her sword still ready. She saw the fine tremors wracking his body, saw the clumps of black dust and silver sparks warring on his skin. She saw Nihil's eyes – eyes that should be screaming in agony, but instead seemed focused and distant, as if observing a specimen under a microscope. And that, more than anything she'd witnessed today, sent a chill down her spine.

"He... he's not passing out," whispered one ranger in horrified awe. "How can anyone stay conscious after taking damage like that?"

Lyraelle stared at Nihil's ashen face. She saw the struggle within, not a struggle for life, but a struggle between two opposing laws of nature. She understood now. She wasn't looking at a wounded ally. She was witnessing a living paradox.

With immense effort, using his last reserves of strength, Nihil pressed one hand against the ground to support himself. He wouldn't allow himself to collapse. Collapse was weakness. Weakness was death. He forced himself to rise, his legs shaking violently.

"Status?" he asked Lyraelle, his voice hoarse and strained with suppressed pain, but his mind unnervingly clear.

Lyraelle was momentarily stunned by the sudden tactical question. She quickly regained her composure. "Enemy retreated. No fatalities on our side, only minor wounds. You... you succeeded."

Nihil nodded slowly, every movement feeling like broken glass inside him. He looked towards where the Purifiers had vanished. "They will return," he stated. "They are people of conviction. Conviction does not surrender easily."

He took a shaky step. Lyraelle instinctively moved to help him, offering her shoulder as support. Nihil hesitated for a fraction of a second, then accepted the aid, letting some of his weight lean against the Elven Princess. It was a pragmatic act – conserving energy – but to Lyraelle, it felt like a fragile moment of trust.

"You sacrificed yourself to stop that ritual," Lyraelle said softly as they began the slow walk out of the ruined valley. "You could have escaped."

"Escaping would have allowed them to try again another time, another place," Nihil replied, his breathing labored. "Destroying their ability for an area assault was the highest tactical priority. It was the logical choice."

Lyraelle studied his strained profile. She heard the logical words, but she saw the price he paid. She saw the black blood on his lips, felt the tremors of pain still coursing through him. She saw him choose to endure unimaginable damage to protect them all.

She said nothing more. She simply tightened her grip, helping the terrifying, bewildering anomaly walk back home, one painful step at a time. She knew their alliance was no longer just based on law or strategic need. It had been forged in battle, sealed with a sacrifice witnessed firsthand. And she knew that the next time those hunters returned, the Elves wouldn't just stand beside him. They would stand before him.

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