Voss grabbed Velanna by the arm, tossing her aside like she was made of straw. She hit the ground hard, skidding across the floor before coming to rest against a crumbled pillar, motionless.

Sadek lunged forward, spear aimed directly at Voss's heart. But Voss caught the weapon mid-thrust, snapping it like kindling and tossing Sadek aside with a brutal backhand. He crashed against the stone wall, slumping as he struggled to catch his breath.

With unsettling calm, Voss turned his focus to Kale. "First Aeloria's Promise, and now Lifedrinker. Interesting."

Kale gritted his teeth, steadying himself, and a flash of movement caught his eye. Rika moved, a blur of determination and fury. With Hammer of the Hiwani finally freed from the rubble, she let out a roar, swinging it in a wide arc.

"Mountain Cleaver!" she shouted before slamming it into Voss's side with a force that shook the entire fortress. A thunderous shockwave erupted from the impact, rippling outward in a devastating wave. Stone walls exploded as he was launched through them, one after another, each one crumbling in his wake.

The shockwave reverberated back through the room they were in, sending fractures racing across the floor and walls, dust and debris raining down from above as jagged cracks crawled up the ceilings.

As the echoes of the impact faded, Rika stood at the center, breathing hard, Hammer of the Hiwani still clutched tightly in her hands. She glared toward the gaping chasm Voss had left behind. "Stay down, you piece of shit."

But there was no relief. A shadow moved in the dust-choked hole Voss had been smashed through. His eyes glinted as he emerged from the wreckage, unfazed.

"Not bad," he rasped, cracking his neck. "Was hoping you'd put up a fight."

Kale drew Aeloria's Promise and Mistress of the Enria, while Liliana took a step forward, blood magic already crackling around her fingertips. Rika let out a growl, lifting her hammer again.

Liliana extended her arm, shards of blood slicing through the air like crimson razors. They ripped into Voss's tattered robes, shredding the fabric to nothing, unveiling the abomination beneath.

What remained was armor that looked grown rather than built. Thick, blackened plates layered unevenly across his massive frame, bound together by withered strands that curled like dying roots. Deep green stones, half-swallowed by the armor itself, pulsed dimly across his chest and shoulders.

The gauntlets were thick, reinforced. The pauldrons, broad and heavy. Skulls—some whole, others worn smooth—sat within the armor, not placed, not arranged. Just claimed.

It shifted with him as he moved, dust rolling off his shoulders, debris crumbling at his feet. No hesitation. No sign he even noticed the damage.

The shards had struck true, but they might as well have been raindrops on stone. Voss didn't falter. He stepped forward, unhurried and unstoppable, his eyes fixed on Liliana, promising annihilation. Each step he took carried the weight of inevitability, like the slow, unrelenting approach of death itself, a force that neither plea nor power could hope to deter.

"Perhaps I expected too much from you," Voss said.

He closed in, his fist pulling back as he prepared to strike her. Kale sprang forward, his swords flashing as he brought them both down toward Voss's head. With inhuman speed, Voss raised his armored forearm, deflecting the blades effortlessly. Sparks flew as metal met enchanted black steel.

"Bold," Voss said, pushing Kale back with a dismissive shove. "But foolish."

From behind, Rika drove her hammer into Voss's legs. A sickening crunch echoed through the chamber as his knees buckled, sending him sprawling to the floor. Sadek leaped at the opportunity, lunging with fierce determination, but Voss reached out, grabbing Rika by the leg, and flung her into Sadek, sending them both crashing back into the rubble, dazed.

Voss rose, turning back to Liliana.

Lifedrinker's voice slithered into Kale's mind, dark and insistent. "Take me, Kale… save them. You feel it, don't you? Their lives slipping away. I'm your only chance. Together, we can stop him."

The words burrowed deep, wrapping around his thoughts, each one more seductive than the last. Kale looked toward Rika and Sadek, struggling to rise amid the rubble, and Liliana, upright but staggering, her bloodied face a grim reminder of how close they were to falling. He hated it. Hated the blade's whispers, how they clawed at his resolve, planting seeds of doubt and temptation.

What if it was true? What if Lifedrinker was right? What if, in this moment, it was the only way to save them? He would give anything, his life, his soul, to save them. But the cost of yielding to the blade might be more than just his life. It might be all of theirs. His hand hovered over the hilt, his mind racing as the blade's voice echoed again, promising salvation at a price he couldn't fully comprehend.

"Your hesitation is killing them, Kale. Every second you wait, Voss moves closer to ending their lives. You think your restraint is noble? It's not. It's a death sentence. Their death sentence.

"You've seen what Voss can do. You know you can't stop him, none of you can. But with me? With me, he falls. Or will you stand there, frozen, and watch as he kills your friends, one by one, until finally, you too fall at his hands… because you were too afraid to do what was necessary?

"Act, Kale. Fight. Or watch everything you care about be torn from you, knowing you let it happen."

Liliana summoned blood tendrils that lashed out, coiling around Voss's arms and legs in thick, crimson restraints. The sudden flare of her magic cut through the haze in Kale's mind, snapping him out of Lifedrinker's insidious whispers.

Kale lunged again, swinging both blades, but Voss tore through his shackles as if they were paper. He caught Aeloria's Promise mid-strike, while Kale's other sword rebounded harmlessly off his armor. Voss yanked Kale toward him and smashed his forehead into Kale's, the impact leaving him dazed. Before Kale could recover, Voss tossed him aside like discarded prey, no longer worthy of his attention.

Now holding Aeloria's Promise, Voss advanced on Liliana. She summoned her strength, channeling her power into Blood Boil. For the briefest moment, Voss paused, his face tightening almost imperceptibly. But then, with an air of absolute finality, he straightened, brushing it off as though it were nothing.

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"You cannot change the outcome. I have already decided it."

Liliana's eyes widened in shock, the momentary lapse costing her. Voss swung Aeloria's Promise, slicing clean through her arm. Blood sprayed as she gasped, stumbling backward, and before she could recover, he drove the blade into her stomach, twisting it. He ripped the sword free and kicked her in the chest, sending her sprawling backward into the rubble.

"Liliana, no!" Kale shouted, scrambling to his feet. He could see her blood staining the ground, her body crumpled among the rubble. His hands clenched around Mistress, but Lifedrinker's voice twisted through his mind.

"Yes, Kale… you see now, don't you? Together, we can end this. All you have to do is take me. My power, your will. Think of what we could do to him. Make him pay."

Kale's jaw clenched, his knuckles white as he fought to resist. I don't need you, he told himself. But the sight of Liliana, fallen and bloodied, tore at his resolve.

"Look at her," Lifedrinker continued, voice dark and honeyed. "All your strength, and yet you couldn't save her. But with me… with me, you'd be unstoppable. You could protect her… save them all. You know it's the only way."

Kale's mind spun, his heart pounding as he watched Voss turn his hollow-eyed gaze back on him, Aeloria's Promise still dripping with Liliana's blood. Kale could feel Lifedrinker's pull, that ancient hunger wrapping around his heart, fanning his rage into a blazing, unstoppable fire.

"No!" Kale shouted, shaking free from Lifedrinker's insidious grasp. But even as he steadied himself, Voss was already upon him, hand raised to strike.

Liliana's blood-soaked arm jerked upward, commanding her blood that was left on Aeloria's Promise. With a flick of her wrist, she tore the blade from Voss's grasp, sending it clattering across the floor, well out of his reach.

Voss turned toward Liliana, but Sadek surged forward from the side, launching himself at the hulking figure. Sadek's tackle didn't even stagger him, and with a single motion, Voss drove an elbow back, catching Sadek square in the temple, sending him crashing down once more.

Kale lunged, aiming his blade straight at Voss, putting everything he had into the strike. But Voss's arm came up like iron, slapping the blade aside effortlessly, the shock of it vibrating down Kale's arm.

"What drives you to persist, knowing you've already lost?" Voss asked.

Rika's eyes burned with a fierce golden glow, her skin hardening to stone as golden veins pulsed across her body. "We're just getting started!" she roared, charging at Voss with fists swinging. Each punch struck like a battering ram, forcing him to step back under the incredible power of her assault.

Voss caught her next blow with one hand, his movements calm. With a brutal kick, he sent her flying into the rubble.

"Impressive, little girl. Few have ever moved me. Fewer still have survived it."

Liliana raised her hand, casting Thirst of the Damned on him. Dark blood seeped from his nose, the droplets hovering and drifting toward her as she drew strength from him. Slower than usual, but unmistakable. At the same time, she focused, her severed arm reforming in a rush of blood, the wound in her stomach knitting closed.

She narrowed her eyes. "I think it's time to end this."

Voss looked at the blood slowly drifting toward her, his expression unchanged, calm as ever. He tilted his head slightly, as though observing an interesting but ultimately insignificant phenomenon.

"So, you draw from me," he said, almost contemplative. He took a step forward, blood still streaming from his nose.

Kale's eyes darted to Voss, whose focus was locked on Liliana. Rika's transformation flashed through his mind, the raw power of her Ruinbringer form. He too, had unlocked something new when he reached level ten. Amid the chaos, he'd almost forgotten about it, but it had saved him against Alistair. Maybe it could save them now.

He focused inward, drawing on his Ascendant Bladeweaver skill.

Two new arms tore from his sides, shredding through flesh in an eruption of violent energy. Pain surged through his body as his muscles swelled, his frame growing with unnatural strength. His mind screamed, but his body moved instinctively.

He reached down, gripping Aeloria's Promise with his main hand as two more swords materialized in his newly-formed ones. Kale straightened, his body thrumming with power. Faster. Stronger.

"Hey Voss, I'm the one you want. Let's end this."

Voss turned toward him with the same deliberate calm he carried into every step. "I see. You have ascended," he said as his form shifted. Two additional arms emerged from his sides, the transformation similar to Kale, except clean, effortless.

Kale's blood ran cold. "That's… that's impossible," he stammered. "You're…"

"A bladeweaver," Voss said. "Like you, once. Now, beyond your comprehension."

He extended one of his arms, and a massive sword materialized in his grasp, black as the Mourning Sea, the blade almost rectangular.

"I will grant you your request. Let us end this."

Rika stepped forward. Her warhammer scraped against the ground as she lifted it high, her voice ringing out like thunder through the chamber.

"Thalor, unyielding stone, lend me the strength to strike true!

Kaela, keeper of roots, bind me to the earth and keep me standing!

Gorak, earth's fury, let your wrath flow through me once more!"

Her aura exploded outward, golden light surging like an all-consuming fire. The ground beneath her feet cracked and buckled. Her warhammer began to glow, its surface alive with shifting runes.

Her eyes blazed like twin suns, locked onto Voss. Veins of shimmering gold etched their way across her body, her form radiating power so intense it seemed to make the air vibrate with heat. The ground trembled beneath her as she took another step forward, divine energy coiling around her hammer.

She hurled the Hammer of the Hiwani at Voss with such force that a thunderous boom cracked through the air, the floor beneath her splintering as the weapon shattered the sound barrier. The hammer hurtled toward him like a meteor, trailing golden light in its wake.

Voss caught the hammer mid-flight, his massive hand closing around it just before it struck. The impact unleashed a shockwave that tore through the chamber, splintering the floor beneath him and shattering nearby pillars. The walls groaned under the force, chunks of stone raining down as the energy of the collision rippled outward, shaking the entire room.

"You—" he began, but before he could finish, Rika was on him. She slammed into him with unrelenting force, her hands digging into his armor as she drove him back. Each step sent debris flying, the ground cracking beneath their struggle. His fists came down on her like hammers, but her aura absorbed the blows, the impacts dimmed to little more than echoes of his strength.

They crashed through the remaining walls, emerging into the courtyard, where mayhem awaited. All around, Velanna's warriors clashed with Carrion Voss's fighters, steel ringing against steel, battle cries echoing through the air. But Rika's focus didn't waver.

With a fierce roar, she wrenched the Hammer of the Hiwani from Voss's grasp and raised it high above her head. "Mountain Cleaver!" she shouted, bringing the hammer down with devastating force.

Voss raised his arm to block, and the impact detonated like a bomb. A shockwave ripped through the courtyard, leveling nearby barricades and sending fighters flying through the air. The ground shattered beneath them as the deafening boom silenced the battlefield.

Dust and debris swirled in chaotic storms as silence hung in the wake of the explosion. For a single, breathless moment, all eyes turned to the two figures at the center of the destruction, their clash of power eclipsing the chaos around them.

Voss raised his sword high. "You… you think you can challenge me?" he said as he brought the massive blade crashing down on Rika. She blocked the first strike, the shock resonating through her entire frame, but each following blow grew heavier, relentless, until her arms quaked under the strain.

Finally, with a thunderous crack, the Hammer of the Hiwani shattered in her grasp, fragments of the ancient weapon scattering across the ground. Voss's sword came down once more, and she raised her forearms in a desperate block. The impact drove her to her knees, fissures spreading across her stone skin, jagged cracks marking her defiance. Another strike came, then another, the blade smashing into her head and sending shards of stone flying. Her arms gave out, and with one final, devastating swing, she fell.

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