"Why the rush?" the voice drawled, dripping with amusement. "I was just getting here."

The group froze, each member tensing as their eyes turned toward the sound.

From the edge of the battlefield, a figure emerged.

He was tall and lean, dressed in black robes that swirled around him like smoke. A wicked smile played across his lips, and his eyes glowed faintly with an unnatural crimson light.

"More Shadow Court goons," Medea hissed, her hand instinctively reaching for her sword.

The man clapped slowly, his smile widening as he surveyed the group. "Impressive. Very impressive. I've been following your little escapades for a while now, but I have to say, this display was… exquisite."

Adrian stepped forward, taking a protective stance as his fiery chains reignited from his back. "Who are you?"

The man placed a hand over his chest and gave a mock bow. "How rude of me. I'm Kallor. Let's just say I'm a… messenger."

"A messenger?" Lilith repeated, her whip snapping in the air as she stepped into position. "You don't look like someone who delivers packages."

Kallor chuckled, straightening. "Not that kind of messenger, my dear. I bring a message from the Shadow Court—though, to be fair, my message involves a bit more bloodshed than words."

Eris rolled her eyes, her emerald daggers already glowing with energy. "Great. Another self-important lackey who thinks he's clever."

Abyss stepped forward, her sword glinting with a menacing light. "If you've come to fight, get on with it. I'm not in the mood for banter."

Kallor's smile didn't waver, but his eyes grew colder. "Oh, I'm here to fight, all right. But I'm not alone."

At his words, the shadows around the battlefield began to shift and writhe. Figures emerged, their forms blending with the darkness. Each was armed and cloaked, their faces hidden behind expressionless masks.

"They just keep coming," Ava muttered, raising her staff as her golden eyes narrowed.

"Everyone, positions!" Adrian barked, his fiery chains snapping in anticipation.

Kallor smirked, his crimson eyes locking onto Adrian. "Oh, I've been waiting for this," he said, drawing two curved blades from the shadows themselves. "Let's see if the rumors about you are true, Champion."

The battlefield erupted into chaos again, shadows clashing with flames, steel meeting steel, and screams piercing the air.

Kallor laughed in a cruel way as his soldiers, dressed in dark clothing, closed in on the group.

Adrian's fiery chains shot out quickly, wrapping around the legs of an approaching attacker and pulling him off his feet. "Stay sharp!" he barked, swinging his sword to deflect another blade.

Lilith smirked, her crimson eyes glowing with an intense light as she danced into the fray. She seized a masked man by the collar, slamming him into the ground. "Let's see if you're useful," she purred, locking eyes with him.

Her voice became soft and captivating, almost hypnotic but filled with an alluring strength. "At the sound of my words, my wish is your command."

The man's struggles ceased as his eyes glazed over, turning black as tar.

"Now," Lilith continued in a silk-like voice, "protect me."

The man rose stiffly, turning on his comrades ruthlessly. His blade struck true, cutting down two of his former allies before they realized what was happening.

"Good boy," Lilith murmured, her whip coiling around another foe's neck as she yanked him into her thrall.

Abyss, standing among a pile of dismembered bodies, raised her sword high, its blade glowing with an eerie violet hue. "Rise," she commanded, her voice resonating with unearthly power.

From the carnage of the first wave, ghostly purple figures started to appear. These were the spirits of the defeated attackers, standing still with blank expressions and moving awkwardly as Abyss guided them.

The dead surged forward at her command, overwhelming the Shadow Court soldiers with sheer numbers. "Let their own dead fight for us," Abyss snarled, her blade slicing through another enemy as her summoned souls tore into their targets.

Eris, cackling with delight, released a burst of emerald energy that rippled through the enemy ranks. The chaotic power spread like wildfire, disrupting their coordination.

One soldier's strike veered wildly, accidentally impaling his comrade.

Another tripped over a spectral form and slashed a fellow attacker in panic. Within moments, infighting broke out, the chaos spreading uncontrollably.

"This is how you make an army destroy itself," Eris crowed, her daggers flashing as she sliced through the distracted men.

Ava slammed her staff into the ground, and the earth responded with a violent tremor. Massive chunks of rock shot upward, slamming into the advancing enemies with bone-crushing force.

She raised her hand, twisting her fingers, and the ground beneath an entire group of soldiers collapsed, swallowing them whole.

"They should've stayed on solid ground," she said grimly, spinning her staff to summon another barrage of stone missiles that rained down mercilessly.

Selene stood a little away from the group, quietly watching them as they fought. Though she didn't join in the fight, any of the enemies that got too close met the sharp end of her dagger.

A man charged at her, swinging his sword down, but she stepped aside smoothly, her own blade piercing into his ribs. Another charged, and she turned swiftly, slicing his throat before he could swing.

The silver-haired priestess showed no hesitation, no mercy. Every move she made was deliberate and calculated, leaving a trail of bodies around her.

Hestia yawned, her fiery blade lazily carving through the neck of an approaching attacker. "So much effort," she muttered, tossing a fireball into a cluster of soldiers and scattering them like leaves.

Another enemy charged her, and she sighed, raising her hand. The Fire of the Hearth surged to life, forming into a massive flaming hammer.

She swung it with surprising strength, crushing the attacker into the dirt. "At least make this entertaining," she said, launching another fireball without looking.

Adrian, meanwhile, fought his way toward Kallor, his fiery chains cutting through anything in his path. He leapt over an attacker, slamming his sword downward and cleaving the man's shield in two.

Kallor laughed, his twin shadow blades spinning in a deadly blur as he parried Adrian's strike. "Impressive, Champion," he taunted, their weapons clashing in a shower of sparks. "But can you keep up?"

Adrian didn't respond.

He drove forward, his chains snapping out to strike at Kallor's legs, forcing the man to leap back. Kallor countered with a burst of dark energy that Adrian barely deflected with his sword.

"You're strong," Kallor admitted, grinning as he circled Adrian. "But strength alone isn't enough."

Adrian lunged, feinting left before slashing at Kallor's torso. The shadowy figure twisted away, his blades striking out in retaliation. One caught Adrian's shoulder, drawing a shallow cut.

"Strength and skill," Kallor continued, his smile widening. "You're starting to interest me."

Adrian growled, his fiery chains igniting with renewed intensity. He swung them in a wide arc, forcing Kallor to retreat under the relentless assault.

Behind Adrian, the goddesses continued their onslaught. Abyss's summoned dead overwhelmed the enemy's ranks, their ghostly forms moving with eerie coordination.

Eris's chaos magic caused another wave of infighting, while Ava's earth-shattering attacks decimated the remaining forces.

Selene killed another soldier with a swift thrust of her dagger, her silver eyes briefly flicking toward Adrian.

Hestia sighed, conjuring a massive flaming spear and hurling it through the chest of a charging attacker. "Can we wrap this up?" she called lazily. "I'm getting tired already."

Adrian's focus remained locked on Kallor.

The shadowy figure darted forward, his blades spinning in a deadly flurry. Adrian deflected the strikes with his sword, his fiery chains lashing out to force Kallor back.

"You'll have to do better than that," Adrian said steadily.

Kallor grinned, his crimson eyes narrowing. "Gladly."

He surged forward, his blades trailing dark energy as he struck with precision and speed. Adrian met each strike head-on, their weapons sparking with every clash.

Finally, Adrian saw an opening. He ducked under Kallor's swing and drove his shoulder into the man's chest, knocking him off balance.

With a roar, Adrian channeled his divine energy into his sword. The blade blazed with fiery light as he brought it down in a devastating strike.

Kallor raised his blades to block, but the force of the blow shattered them, the shards scattering like glass.

Adrian didn't hesitate. He drove his sword through Kallor's chest, the fiery blade piercing cleanly through his body.

Kallor's crimson eyes widened in shock, his smile faltering for the first time. "Impressive…" he rasped, blood bubbling at his lips. "But this… is far from over."

His body dissolved into a swirl of shadows, his laughter echoing across the battlefield as he disappeared.

Adrian stood there, his chest heaving as he lowered his sword.

The battlefield fell silent, the remaining enemies either dead or fleeing into the distance.

The goddesses gathered around him, their expressions a mix of relief and exhaustion.

"Finally," Lilith said, coiling her whip. "I was starting to think he'd never shut up."

Medea sheathed her sword, her dark flames dissipating. "We can't stay here," she said firmly. "We've made too much noise."

Adrian nodded, his fiery chains flickering out as he scanned the horizon. "Let's move."

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