Chapter 830 – Debt Collected

[Warning: Dimensional Lock Detected]

[Escape Skills Temporarily Disabled]

Naomi’s eyes widened. "Of course it wouldn’t be that easy."

Ely extended her senses, golden light flaring. "Something is forming!"

From within the fissure, a monstrous figure began to rise, a towering warden forged from condensed soul-energy and demonic chains. Its body was composed of writhing shadows bound by glowing infernal links, and its head resembled a dragon skull crowned with jagged horns. Within its hollow chest burned a swirling vortex of trapped souls.

The Soul Warden roared, the sound echoing like a thousand tormented voices.

[Entity Detected: Abyssal Chain Warden]

[Level: ???]

[Threat Level: Extreme]

[Function: Guardian of the Cursed Dragon]

Mira’s voice tightened. "This is bad."

Rava flexed her fingers, water magic swirling. "Okay... this is really bad."

Lux stepped forward, unfazed, his gaze cold and analytical. "Of course there’s a gatekeeper."

The Warden moved first. Chains lashed outward with terrifying speed, slamming into the ground where the group had stood moments earlier. The impact shattered stone and released shockwaves of cursed energy.

Naomi dodged to the side, fists igniting with power. Ely erected a radiant barrier, deflecting a second wave of chains. Mira’s draconic aura flared as she prepared to engage.

But Lux raised a hand slightly.

"Careful," he said calmly. "Those chains target souls. Don’t let them touch you."

The Warden roared again and slammed both arms into the ground. The arena darkened as dozens of smaller chain constructs erupted from the earth, forming a tightening web designed to immobilize its prey.

Lux’s eyes gleamed with excitement.

"Now this," he murmured, summoning his twin daggers once more, "is interesting."

He teleported forward, reappearing directly before the colossal guardian. With a precise motion, he slashed at one of the binding chains anchoring the Warden’s arm. The blade sparked upon contact, infernal energy clashing violently with demonic steel.

The chain did not break.

But it cracked.

The Warden recoiled, letting out a distorted roar.

Lux smirked. "Good. You can bleed."

Behind him, the girls moved into formation, their earlier unease replaced with fierce determination. They had faced trials before, but this time, they stood against a guardian of the underworld itself.

The cursed dragon pulsed again in the background, as if sensing that its long-awaited liberation was finally within reach.

The Abyssal Chain Warden roared, a sound forged from agony and command, and lunged forward with terrifying speed. Massive chains lashed outward, each strike capable of tearing both flesh and soul. The air distorted under the weight of its presence.

Lux moved first.

[Agility Activated]

He vanished in a blur, reappearing mid-air above the Warden’s shoulder. His dagger carved a blazing arc across one of the glowing chains. Sparks of infernal energy burst outward. The Warden retaliated instantly, swinging a massive arm toward him.

Lux Teleported.

He reappeared behind it, landing lightly, coat fluttering in the cursed wind. A thin, unhinged grin spread across his face.

"Let’s see how valuable you are," he whispered.

[Midas Touch Activated]

His palm slammed against the Warden’s leg. Gold spread rapidly from the point of contact, crystallizing the shadowy limb into heavy, gleaming metal. The transformation disrupted its movement instantly. The colossal guardian staggered, its balance compromised.

"Got you."

The girls provided swift support. Ely’s radiant magic deflected a barrage of smaller chains aimed at Lux’s blind spot.

Naomi shattered incoming constructs with brutal precision.

Mira’s draconic flames forced the Warden to divide its attention.

Rava restrained several shadow tendrils using her water magic, buying Lux crucial seconds.

But the battlefield belonged to him.

Lux snapped his fingers.

[Demonic Orbs]

Fifty floating spheres of dark energy materialized around him, humming with malicious intent.

With a flick of his wrist, they shot forward, bouncing, ricocheting, and detonating upon impact. Explosions of cursed energy erupted across the Warden’s torso, each blast tearing away fragments of its shadowy form.

The Warden roared and unleashed a wave of soul-chains in retaliation.

[Barrier]

A shimmering shield absorbed the brunt of the attack as Lux charged straight through the storm. He slid beneath a sweeping chain, pivoted, and drove his dagger into the creature’s core vortex. The impact sent shockwaves through its body, but the guardian retaliated with a point-blank blast of necrotic energy.

Lux Teleported again, reappearing above it.

"Hellfire Rain."

The sky ignited.

Dozens of infernal meteors rained down, each impact detonating in pillars of black and crimson flame. The arena trembled under the bombardment. The Warden’s form destabilized, its chains snapping and reforming as it struggled to maintain cohesion.

Lux descended through the flames like a harbinger of ruin.

[Abyssal Grasp Activated] 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Shadow tendrils erupted from the ground, piercing through the Warden’s limbs and torso. They tightened mercilessly, dragging the colossal entity downward. Terror seeped into its movements as the abyssal energy overwhelmed its defenses.

Lux landed directly before the immobilized guardian, eyes glowing with manic delight. Blood, spectral and real, streaked his face. His grin widened, bordering on psychopathic.

"You should have stayed buried."

The Warden made one final attempt to strike. A massive chain shot toward him, aiming to impale.

Lux didn’t dodge.

He caught it.

[Midas Touch]

Gold exploded along the chain, racing back toward its source. The transformation spread like a curse, turning links, limbs, and fragments of the Warden into heavy, inert metal. The guardian froze mid-motion, its form partially crystallized and unable to regenerate.

Lux stepped forward slowly, savoring the moment. The demonic orbs circled behind him like a crown of destruction.

He raised both daggers.

"Debt collected."

With a final, decisive strike, he plunged the blades into the Warden’s core. The demonic orbs converged simultaneously, detonating in a synchronized explosion that shattered the golden prison from within.

The Abyssal Chain Warden let out a distorted, fading roar before disintegrating into a storm of dissipating soul fragments.

Silence fell.

Lux stood at the center of the devastation, chest rising steadily, eyes returning to their normal hue. He flicked his daggers clean and dismissed them, posture relaxing as if he had just concluded a routine business transaction.