Not this time.
The ruined chapel trembled as the Soul Collector raised both arms, and the air thickened with an ancient, smothering pressure. The light dimmed—not from clouds or shadow, but from presence. From hunger. Knox and Seraph stood amid the ash, gauntlets humming, eyes locked on the rising tide of spectral forms.
Hundreds of them.
Pale figures clawed from the ether, their features flickering—people stolen from Nexus City, their souls twisted into soldiers. Eyes hollow. Armor forged of raw soulflame. No will, no pain. Just Zareth's command.
["Multiple soul-constructs materializing,"] Kaelina snapped. ["Reinforced. These aren't projections—they're bonded to his will."]
["Confirmed,"] Luminara added, voice colder than usual. ["These are not echoes. They are full captures. Combat effectiveness: extreme."]
Zareth's smile widened as his army surrounded them. "Your city gave me gifts," he said, spreading his arms like a priest at sermon. "I only returned to share them."
Knox's fist clenched. "I'm gonna put you in the ground."
"No," Zareth replied calmly, "You'll drown first."
Then the army rushed.
Knox launched forward with a roar, breaking into the wave like a meteor. His fist shattered the first specter, soulsteel crumpling from the impact—but two more were already on him. He ducked, pivoted, and hurled one straight into the others, his body moving with lethal grace.
Seraph surged beside him, her argent blade flashing like starlight. Each slash severed soul from construct, dissolving enemies in bursts of light. But for every one she cut down, two more rose behind it.
["They're reforming,"] Luminara warned. ["Each kill returns energy to Zareth. He's recycling them."]
Kaelina growled, ["That's not an army—that's a feedback loop. We're feeding him!"]
"Then we starve him," Seraph hissed, flipping into the air and slamming her blade into the stone, sending a shockwave of divine entropy outward. Ten constructs vaporized. Twenty stumbled.
Zareth laughed. "You shine so beautifully when you try."
He lifted a hand—and the fallen rose again, faster this time, laced with black fire.
Knox ducked beneath a sweep of a halberd, slammed his elbow into a specter's chest, then drove his knee upward to break its form. It shattered—but not fully. Fractured pieces swirled and locked into new shapes.
["He's adjusting them in real time,"] Kaelina said. ["We need to sever him from the stream."]
"Where?" Knox shouted.
Seraph scanned the field, blade parrying two strikes simultaneously. Her eyes narrowed at the way Zareth didn't move, didn't command—just stood there.
"He's channeling. No verbal control. No visible connection."
["Look at the souls,"] Luminara urged. ["They're tethered by anchors. See those glyphs on the ground? That's his link point. Destroy the sigils. Sever the flow."]
Knox turned his head—there. Three symbols, etched into the stone with glowing red-black script, pulsing with every soul that moved. A net. A trap.
"Cover me!" he called out.
Seraph nodded and dove into the center, blade arcing wide as she carved a path of disruption. The constructs focused on her instantly, sensing threat.
Knox ran.
Straight through the horde.
Every punch was deliberate, aimed at disabling rather than destroying. He couldn't feed Zareth more. Not yet. His body blurred—armor cracked, but held. Blood streaked his brow. Didn't matter. He hit the first glyph like a hammer, slamming his palm into it, letting Kaelina channel raw null-force through the strike.
The rune screamed.
It shattered, and immediately, half the constructs stuttered.
Zareth's smile faded slightly.
"Oh," he said softly.
"Yeah," Knox muttered, running for the second glyph.
But Zareth moved this time.
He stepped forward—and the constructs surged faster, more furious. He wasn't calm anymore. He was invested.
Seraph dropped into a low sweep, slicing a path to Knox. "Go! I'll draw them!"
["Knox! Third glyph has a layered seal. You'll need me for this one,"] Kaelina said.
"Then prep for override."
He hit the second rune—shattered it. The constructs faltered again, some flickering, others turning feral.
["Now! Third glyph's protection breaking. Sending full pulse. Get me to it!"]
Knox charged, wind tearing at his side, blood running down his ribs. A soul-spear clipped his shoulder, but he didn't slow. Zareth raised a hand—and a wave of black fire surged at him.
Seraph dropped between them mid-flight, her gauntlet raised, absorbing the blast into a shield of divine light. She screamed from the force—but held.
"Go!" she shouted.
He reached the third glyph, planted both hands—and roared. Kaelina unleashed a raw system override, burning through defensive code, shattering the rune with a blast of null-energy so potent it scorched the air.
The tether broke.
Zareth's army collapsed.
Dozens of specters shrieked as they were torn from the battlefield, the link severed. Silence fell, broken only by the distant hum of the city.
Zareth staggered—but only slightly.
Then he straightened.
"Impressive," he said. "Very impressive. No one's ever cracked a triple-bind field that quickly."
Knox's breath came hard. "You're done."
Zareth's eyes gleamed. "Not even close."
The sky rippled.
Above them, a tear opened in the clouds—bleeding light and shadow.
Souls poured through.
Thousands.
Not from this world.
From others.
["Dimensional bleed detected,"] Luminara warned. ["Zareth is tapping into external soul wells. This will escalate rapidly."]
["He's building an army from the multiverse,"] Kaelina snapped. ["This fight isn't over. It's just starting."]
Zareth's cloak flared. He lifted a single hand.
Around him, the air bent—and new warriors emerged. Armored in memory. Weapons forged from the regrets of the dead.
Each of them once a protector. A hero.
Now chained.
"I've fed on cities," Zareth said. "Worlds. You think you're prepared for what comes next?"
Knox didn't flinch.
Seraph lifted her blade.
"Bring them."
The battle wasn't over.
It was ascending.