"Finally!"

Uriel’s body skidded across the crystal surface of the glass waters. Eventually, he came to a stop, and with a groan, he used his glaive to push himself up to his feet.

He couldn’t breathe properly, his lung pierced through and slowly filling with blood, his body covered in deep cuts, and more than a couple of ribs broken.

But it wasn’t anything new. He’d faced worse. The most pressing matter, though, was his aether reserves.

A big issue with his new circles, as he’d already figured out while facing Lucianna’s vassal, was that each spell took a humongous amount of energy to cast.

Just the two spells he’d cast had nearly dried him, and with the strange attacks Miquella was launching, he stood mere droplets away from aether depletion.

And if that happened, he’d go mad once more.

SHOOO!

The fabrics around Uriel bent and twisted, curving to overflow his cores with energy as he took a deep breath in.

He’d noticed the issue earlier but hadn’t been able to do anything due to Miquella’s ridiculous energetic dominance, so he’d been hoping to create enough distance from her—just enough so that her ability became void—and he could replenish.

TOH!

Miquella stepped out of the palace, the soft winds of the outside blowing her flaming silver hair in all directions as her tight dark robes slightly fluttered.

Feeling the freshness of the outside world, she smiled, and as if on cue, her butterflies surged from within the palace, rushing to flood the air and attack Uriel.

’...!’

Uriel took inspiration from Enoch, his white flames twisting at his feet and gathering at his soles, exploding to launch him forward just as his body became as dark as shadows.

He sped past the rushing tide of butterflies and reached Miquella once more. His uniqueness activated, and time slowed down just as his moons overloaded his mind and his will sharpened.

Runes took shape in flocks around him.

[Second Dark Star Echelon: Piercing Madness]

Just how far could elements be pushed? Just how far could spiritual and worldly laws be merged to birth new phenomena?

Darkness was the absence of light, but it was also its canvas, the primordial fabric upon which all things manifested.

But darkness was also absence of hope. Darkness was a reflection of the soul drowned in sorrow and madness. Darkness was a reflection of the foulest and most sinful parts of the soul.

WHOOSH!

Dark aether consumed Uriel’s mind, and he felt himself go mad, all his sanity breaking apart like brittle glass, his broken runic scar finally allowed to bloom.

The scar multiplied the effect of the spell a thousandfold, so much so that Uriel’s eyes became nothing but abysses of endless darkness.

[Third Light Star Echelon: Divine Echo]

Darkness was the rot of the soul, but light was its spiritual ambrosia. Darkness withered, and light nourished and purified.

Light aether suffused across Uriel’s mind, separating the festering and chaotic dark aether that had consumed him, purifying his body, mending his clarity back together.

The dark aether, infused with Uriel’s madness, infused with his runic scar’s tyranny and with the hound’s rage, gathered around his blade, expressed as the most potent poisons a mortal could craft.

But he wasn’t done.

[Sixth Light-Dark Star Echelon: Blade of Damnation]

White flames, as pure as the darkness around his blade was impure, manifested, harmonising and binding to become one force—one stream meant to rot the heavens, and the other forged to purify the nine hells.

The dichotomy was such that space threatened to rupture, tongues of void flames blooming around the duo.

But he wasn’t done.

’COME ON!’

The strain was becoming inhuman, and Uriel could feel his uniqueness threatening to shut down, his cores whining from overuse.

But he pushed. This had to end in one stroke.

’ONE MORE!’

He wasn’t done.

[Seventh Wood Star Echelon: Motherly Embrace]

Wood was perhaps the closest element to nature as a whole, often considered a pillar element, a fundamental node of every ecosystem.

Wood aether gathered around Uriel, and suddenly, all aether across the sea bent toward him, just as the fabrics did, collapsing under his Wood Will and wrapping around him like a royal mantle.

The entire crystal-glass sea became a tool that augmented his body. And with that, the last of his aether burned away.

With a roar that left the air shaking, his uniqueness faded, time retaking its course as he struck forward, light and darkness dancing in his wake as he did so. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

All the bones in his arm shattered, his skin bursting apart and his flesh peeling off his arm, the pain maddening, but still, he didn’t pull back.

BANG! BOOOM!

...

The explosion was such that all Uriel could see was the world turning into an infinite landscape of dark and white shadows.

His body was violently flung back, speeding across the air so rapidly that his body caught fire and many of his bones broke.

But while his body may have been at its limits, his mind wasn’t. His moons awoke him just as he crashed into the sea again, a large crater forming around him, the waters of the strange sea cracking like glass, thinning like water and cratering like earth, all at once.

BOOM!

"..."

He lay in a puddle of his own blood, twitching, his left arm left a mangled mess of torn flesh, broken bones, sinew, and blood.

Uriel passed out, then reawoke multiple times, the chaotic aether echoing across his body too mighty even for his moons to easily ignore.

His surroundings were covered in aether flames, the air filled with thick clouds of darkness and light, harsh winds sweeping through the space as more and more explosions echoed, even after his strike.

The world had become somber, as if a dark azure filter had been placed over it. It became cold, extremely so.

"...!"

Uriel’s eyes fluttered open, and he sat up, uncontrollably shaking as he did so. He vomited a mouthful of blood, his hand reaching out to his throat as he found himself unable to breathe.

He heaved and he heaved, but there was never enough air, only more blood to fill his lungs, the feeling of suffocation so panic-inducing he nearly passed out again.

’...’

Feeling himself weaken by the second and his heart slow, Uriel rushed to find a solution. His right hand—his only functional hand—moved to use his blood as ink, drawing a formation on his chest.

Every movement was pure agony, and every single thought was laborious beyond words, as if his mind would collapse at any moment.

SHI!

Uriel’s cores were absolutely empty, and the surroundings were filled with chaotic energy, but those were no longer worries he had.

Without hesitating, he used the chaotic aether around him to fuel the formation and finally, he could breathe, the liquid in his lungs fading and his flesh partially mending.

He gasped for air and fell on his back as he coughed again and again.

Finally given a moment of respite, he stared at the skies, uncaring for the chaos brewing around, unsure of the success of his attack and the state of his enemy.

He simply lay there.

’...it hurts.’

His pupils suddenly felt heavy, darkness rising in the corners of his vision and the extremities of his limbs feeling deathly cold.

’Just a...nap...’

And then...his heart stopped.