Arytemis stood motionless for a moment, golden smoke coiling from the cracks spiderwebbing across her face.

The light inside her flickered once, then surged back to life, brighter and hotter than before, the cracks healing.

The air shimmered with heat.

"You mortals," she hissed, her voice sounding like a thousand glass fragments grinding against each other, "dare raise your blades against the eternal?"

Her body blazed like a miniature sun.

Sebastian roared in answer. "Everyone, move!"

He charged. The stone beneath his feet fractured from the force of his leap as he launched himself through the air, his axe wreathed in red lightning.

Arytemis raised a single hand. Light gathered there, folding and twisting.

In an instant, it solidified into a massive golden bow, the weapon made out of the same glass her body was made of.

Her fingers pulled back an invisible string, and a spear of light formed, an arrow longer than a man.

She released.

The arrow screamed through the air, splitting it as it tore towards Sebastian.

He barely twisted aside in time. The arrow grazed him, searing a line of heat across his arm before slamming into the wall behind him.

The entire right side of the chamber erupted in a violent explosion, shards of glass and stone raining down.

"Sebastian!" Ingrid shouted.

He landed hard, blood streaking his forearm, but his grin was fierce. "I'm fine! Everyone listen up!"

His voice boomed across the room. "Rowan, Ingrid, suppressive fire! Keep her sightlines broken! Wade, you're with me!"

"Got it!" Wade shouted, already gripping Toothpick.

Ingrid and Rowan split in opposite directions, their movements mirroring one another.

Ingrid's bow gleamed as she drew mana into it, forming arrows of mana in rapid succession.

Rowan streaked to the other side of the hall and began firing bolts of compressed air and shards of rock from his staff, each one exploding on contact.

The air filled with projectiles, arrows streaking like comets, and wind bullets whistling like cannon fire.

Arytemis raised her hand, forming a wide barrier of golden glass to block the incoming barrage. Every impact splashed against the surface in waves of blinding light.

That was when Sebastian reached her.

He swung his axe in a broad arc, sparks of red lightning trailing behind the weapon like a tail.

Arytemis parried with her bow, the sound of the impact echoing like a bell struck by thunder.

Wade followed immediately, charging in from the opposite side.

"Fireburst!"

Flames exploded from his weapon as it struck Arytemis's arm.

The goddess hissed, twisting her body with inhuman speed, her elbow just barely grazing Wade's ribs.

Pain exploded in his ribs and he staggered back, fortunately with his ribs still intact, but Sebastian was already there, driving a kick into Arytemis' chest to push her off balance.

Their rhythm began to form.

Sebastian's strikes were heavy and brutal, designed to draw attention. Wade's were faster and unpredictable, with flames and teleportations weaving chaos into every swing.

Arytemis retaliated, each movement an elegant blur. Her bow shifted shape with every attack.

One moment it was a sword, and the next a whip of golden glass that sliced through the air with deadly accuracy.

But the two men adapted.

When Arytemis lunged for Sebastian, Wade struck her flank.

When she turned to deflect Wade's strike, Sebastian hammered her with a downward blow that shattered her balance.

"Keep pressure on her!" Sebastian barked, dodging a sweeping strike that carved a trench across the floor.

"I'm not slowing down!" Wade yelled, teleporting behind her.

He brought Toothpick down with all his might, fire coating its edge.

The weapon smashed into her back, flames cascading across her body.

Arytemis shrieked, twisting to retaliate, only for Sebastian's axe to crash into her ribs from the opposite side.

The synchronized onslaught became a rhythm of strike, counter, teleport, and strike again.

Behind them, Ingrid and Rowan maintained a steady storm of suppressive fire, forcing Arytemis to defend from multiple angles at once.

Arrows detonated near her feet, kicking up waves of smoke. Bolts of air slammed into her back whenever she tried to fly.

Cracks began to appear along her body, glowing white-hot under the constant assault.

Sebastian grinned savagely. "She's slowing down!"

"Then let's finish this!" Wade shouted, heat flaring around him.

Arytemis spun, summoning a dozen glass shards that hovered around her like a halo. Each one sharpened into a sword.

"Die!"

The shards launched outwards in all directions.

Sebastian slammed his axe into the ground, conjuring a barrier of lightning. Wade teleported behind Arytemis again, appearing in the air above her, and landed in a strike, in a succession of three strikes.

Short Step.

Chain Step.

Fireburst.

He vanished and reappeared multiple times in rapid succession, each teleport ending with a fiery strike.

His final hit connected with her shoulder, shattering part of it.

Arytemis screamed, her bow disintegrating as she staggered.

"Now, Wade!" Sebastian roared, surging forward.

They both struck at once, Sebastian's axe glowing red, and Wade's Toothpick burning orange.

The two weapons collided with Arytemis's chest simultaneously.

The explosion of energy was blinding.

The force hurled both men backward, the shockwave rippling through the entire hall.

When the smoke cleared, Arytemis was kneeling, her golden light flickering wildly. Cracks ran through her body from head to toe.

Her mouth opened in a voiceless gasp as her body began to collapse.

The others watched, panting, as she shattered like a sculpture dropped from a great height.

Fragments of her divine form scattered across the room, tinkling like falling crystals. The golden light within each shard flickered once, then died.

For a second, no one spoke.

Sebastian dropped his axe to the ground, leaning on one knee. "It's… over."

Rowan lowered his broken staff, letting out a disbelieving laugh. "You're kidding me. We actually—"

A sound cut him off.

A soft hum.

It was faint at first, but quickly grew louder, becoming a resonant, crystalline vibration that filled the chamber.

Wade's stomach dropped.

He looked at the floor. The shards that had been Arytemis, thousands of them, were trembling.

"What the hell..."

That was when a notification appeared in front of them.

[Arytemis is dead.]

[Phase 2 initiated.]

Light suddenly flared to life inside the shards.

Each fragment lifted from the floor, swirling into the air as if caught in an invisible storm.

"No," Rowan whispered. "No, no, no, fuck no!"

But the dungeon didn't stop.

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