Lich and Nocteron stared up at the eerie projections floating above their heads, ethereal manifestations of their souls, glowing with an otherworldly aura.
They had never seen anything like it before.
These projections pulsed faintly with their essence, twisted and dark in appearance, yet somehow fragile.
“What the hell are we looking at…?” Nocteron muttered, eyes narrowing.
The two of them had spent lifetimes mastering death, cheating it, commanding it.
Now, in this strange crimson domain, they found themselves in a position that made even gods hesitate, bound by rules that were unfamiliar and absolute.
“So wait…” Nocteron finally spoke again, realization creeping into his voice.
“Are you saying… all our lives, the millions we’ve stockpiled, they’re meaningless here?”
From the side, Hades floated calmly in the air, his spectral body translucent yet immense, a grin crawling across his demonic face.
[Seems so,] he answered with amusement in his deep, resonant voice.
[Millions of lives or not, here, one soul is all you’ve got. Not so sure who’s going to win now, huh? Heh. Two minutes left, by the way.]
That single statement brought silence crashing down like a hammer.
Just two minutes remained in this cursed domain, two minutes before everything ended.
Trapped inside, bound by its rules, the two dark entities exchanged a glance.
For the first time in their long, undead existences, cold sweat crept down their foreheads.
They had always thought themselves invincible.
Lich’s mastery of soulcraft and Nocteron’s unending regeneration had made them untouchable, but now, that invincibility was an illusion.
If their soul projections shattered, it would be true death.
The scariest part? The winner wasn’t decided yet.
Fwish! Slash!
A blur of crimson.
Without a word, Alex surged forward like a predator unleashed, closing the distance in an instant.
The air cracked around him as his [Scythe of Hatred] sliced toward Lich with lethal precision.
BAM!
The blade connected with Lich’s torso.
But… nothing happened.
No blood. No visible wound.Not even a scratch.
Lich’s eyes widened.
“What…?”
That attack should have cleaved him in two, outside this domain, it would have.
He would’ve revived instantly, sure, but the blow still would’ve landed.
And yet now, no damage. Not physically.
“GAAAH—!”
Lich suddenly gasped, clutching his chest.
A sharp, overwhelming pain exploded inside him, not in his body, but deeper, rooted in something far more vital.
“What the fuck is going on?!” Nocteron snarled, his voice laced with panic.
Then it came, the sound that chilled them both to the core.
Crack! Crack!
They looked up in horror.
Lich’s soul projection, shaped like a twisted, skeletal heart, wrapped in bone, draped in a thick dark aura, had cracked.
A visible fracture formed along its edge.
“No… no no no,” Lich panicked, immediately swinging his scepter with violent force, slamming it into Alex and knocking him back.
Crack!
Alex’s own crimson soul projection cracked slightly in response, though less than Lich’s.
He had clearly done more damage.
“The rules didn’t hide anything!” Nocteron shouted, realizing the truth, “They’re crystal clear, if your soul shatters, you die! Just don’t let him hit you!”
Lich nodded, but he was trembling now.
His hands were shaking, his chest heaving.
The pain from that soul wound, it was unlike anything he had ever experienced.
It felt eternal, like a scar burned onto his very existence.
For the first time, he understood what true death felt like.
Is this what mortals endure, when they’re truly annihilated?
His lips twitched.
It didn’t matter.
He wouldn’t lose to a human. He refused.
Across from him, Alex stood back up slowly.
The blow had landed, sure, but he looked unfazed.
Not a single hint of pain in his expression.
His aura flared with steady power, unwavering, unbroken.
Lich stared at him, something unspoken forming in his mind.
He’s done this before, hasn’t he…? He’s faced soul-death, and he endured it.
“MY DETERMINATION WILL SURPASS YOURS!” Lich suddenly roared, spinning his scepter violently.
Waves of necrotic energy erupted outward as he summoned thousands of undead.
[Undead Reapers], [Undead Lords], hulking [Undead Beasts], all of them rose from the earth with glowing eyes and rotting limbs, their presence dark and overwhelming.
Nocteron, catching the shift, also extended his hand.
Spectral spirits burst to life around him, vengeful wraiths, long-dead kings, ghostly knights from forgotten wars.
His army returned once more.
But Alex simply smiled, his gaze unwavering.
“You really think that’s what determination looks like?” he asked, his voice cold and calm.
His aura pulsed with power.
“You’ve already lost.”
Fwish! Fwish! Fwish!
Heads dropped.
One by one, every single summoned undead and spirit collapsed as Alex darted through the field in a blur of red.
They didn’t even see him move, he was simply everywhere at once.
His scythe moved like a phantom, and in an instant, everything Lich and Nocteron had summoned was dead.
“The most determined one wins here,” Alex whispered, his voice darker now, his aura coiling around him like a living flame.
“And that will never be you.”
“We’ll see about that,” Nocteron growled, stepping forward, “Hades. Give me the weapon.”
[Very well.]
Hades chuckled as he snapped three fingers.
From the ground, a blackened sword rose, its blade engulfed in green, underworld flames, the same eerie glow that surrounded Nocteron’s current form.
The heat and hatred that radiated from it felt palpable.
Lich, too, responded.
He plunged his scepter into the ground, channeling the essence of his fallen undead.
Bones twisted around it, the dark aura intensifying.
His weapon pulsed with power, now empowered by everything he had left.
[1 minute and 30 seconds,] Hades announced, hovering behind Nocteron with his grin still wide.
But none of that mattered.
Because deep down, Alex already knew he had won the moment he stepped into this domain.
He wasn’t just fighting for survival.
He wasn’t like them, drunk on power or selfish purpose.
He carried with him the weight of billions of souls wronged by the gods.
His strength came from a place of rage, grief, justice, and above all, pure, unwavering determination.
He moved.
Fwish! SLASH!
Before they could react, Alex was already in front of Lich again.
“Look out!” Lich shouted, slamming his scepter down and summoning massive skeletal hands from the ground to restrain Alex.
Too late.
“For the lives you stole…”
Alex’s aura exploded outward, crimson flames consuming the skeletal hands instantly.
His scythe flashed.
CLANG!
With a single strike, Lich’s empowered scepter was knocked from his hands, sent flying.
“What?!”
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
Alex’s scythe moved in a blur.
Each strike cracked Lich’s soul projection further and further.
The pain Lich felt was unimaginable.
“ENOUGH!” Nocteron shouted, launching himself at Alex with his burning sword, “MY FLAMES WILL ERASE YOU!”
Alex didn’t even turn.
Instead, he opened his [Digital Inventory Watch] mid-attack and retrieved something, a strange bottle glowing faintly with golden light.
A gift from Arceus.
[Random Potion (Forbidden)]
[Effect: Can give massive buffs, summon skills, or inflict random debuffs. Throw at self or target to activate.]
Without hesitation, Alex threw the potion over his shoulder, straight toward Nocteron.
He didn’t look. He didn’t need to.
Nocteron didn’t dodge.
Too arrogant. Too focused on rage to care about a potion.
It shattered on contact.
Zap!
A surge of yellow energy surrounded Nocteron.
[Random effect triggered: Stun for 5 seconds.]
“What…?!” Nocteron froze in place, unable to move a muscle.
Alex grinned.
In five seconds, he could swing hundreds of times, and he did.
Strike after strike landed on Lich, each one cracking the soul projection further.
The bone heart above him was nearly shattered now.
Lich groaned, fell to one knee, shaking, trembling, barely holding on.
His soul was screaming in agony.
And then… Alex raised his scythe one last time.
He looked at Lich, not as a powerful foe, not as a legend, but as a monster who had destroyed countless lives without remorse.
His eyes burned with hatred.
No mercy. No hesitation. Only justice.
FWISH! SWASH!
The final blow landed.
Crack… Crack… BAM!
The soul projection above Lich shattered completely, fragments dissolving into nothing.
Lich collapsed.
For the first time in his entire existence, truly dead.
Ding!
[Lich’s soul has been shattered. He lacked the determination to go on. Too bad!]
Alex turned slowly toward Nocteron, just as the stun faded.
He stood frozen.
“Lich…?” he whispered.
[“Lich, Chosen One of Death,” has been killed. Nocteron has lost half his powers due to their bond.]
Nocteron’s flames flickered.
But instead of breaking, they surged.
“IF DETERMINATION IS EVERYTHING, THEN I’LL GIVE IT ALL I’VE GOT!” he roared, flames flaring violently around him, “COME AT ME, HUMAN!”
Alex stepped forward, scythe glowing, eyes still burning with rage.
“You’ll join him soon,” he murmured, “No one else will stand in my way.”
The final clash began. And only one of them would leave alive.