The dome churned for a few seconds, its surface rippling like water. Then, with a deep groan, it collapsed inward and burst apart into a wave of deathmist.
I narrowed my eyes.
From within, only one figure walked out. The giant was gone. No trace of its massive body remained.
Instead, the transcendent phantom stepped forward, and the weight of its presence slammed against me like a mountain falling from the sky.
It was taller now, its form stretched, towering almost twelve feet. The deathmist swirled around it in such density it looked less like smoke and more like a storm given flesh.
And the corruption...
I felt it instantly. The very air was unraveling faster. The earth beneath its feet blackened, rotting into ash. Even the strands of Essence in the atmosphere trembled, their flow disrupted and eaten away by the storm of deathmist.
My Psynapse pulsed in alarm, sending sharp warnings through my head. This wasn’t the same being as before.
"So you consumed the giant..." I spoke.
Its faceless head tilted toward me, the two glowing orange lines burning brighter across the visor of its misty face.
It laughed then, a sound that wasn’t quite natural.
"Are you surprised?" it asked.
I nodded once.
"Did you think we only consume Essence?" it continued.
I nodded again, keeping my face calm.
"I, as a transcendent Phantom, can consume any and all things. But do you know what I like most?" Its voice trembled with a strange mix of anger and excitement, like something on the edge of madness.
I waited.
"What I like most is consuming talents. HAHAHA—" Its eerie laughter tore through the air.
Shock flared in me, but I kept my expression steady. I did not give it the pleasure of seeing through me.
"Thank you for calling me talented," I said quietly.
Its laughter cut off suddenly, as if a string had been snapped.
"No. I mean your talent." It stepped closer, the air thick with deathmist. "I can feel it. You have one, and it is strong. Once I consume you, my rank will leap. I will grow faster."
The Phantom knew what it was talking about. It could sense ability like scent, and it wanted mine.
"Anything else you want to say?" I asked, keeping my voice flat.
For a moment it seemed to struggle with something inside. Then it answered coldly.
"Yes. I do not know why, but my whole existence wants me to kill you quickly. Yet I will enjoy killing you first."
Then it began walking toward me, each step deliberate, and its domain slowly started to retract until it vanished completely. It stopped, straightened, and its presence surged like a tidal wave. Then it spoke, its voice calm but dripping with menace.
"Blooming Abyss."
Almost immediately, deathmist began pouring from it, spreading like black rivers over the ground, curling into the sky, smothering everything in its path.
I activated my Right to Insight, violet light tracing across my vision, revealing the corruption.
Land, air, even water droplets were being devoured and replaced by the phantom’s Essence.
The natural world itself seemed to twist and rewrite under the influence of the black mist. I could sense the laws shaping this new domain—corruption and devouring. The way they flowed left no doubt: they were Major Laws. Beneath them, I could feel the pulse of a shadowy law as well.
Its domain surged outward, crashing directly into mine.
A ripple of violet slammed outward, colliding with the Blooming Abyss. Air and space screamed as the two domains fought for dominance.
Deathmist recoiled and surged, violet Essence pressed back. For long moments, the clash raged, tearing at the battlefield itself, until finally the collision froze in balance. Neither of us gave way.
The phantom laughed, low and guttural.
"A draw? Impossible..." Its voice trembled, equal parts disbelief and excitement. "You forced my Blooming Abyss into a stalemate... Genius. Delicious."
It raised its corrupted sword, deathmist swelling.
"Three Claw Dragon."
The mist twisted into a colossal dragon, its body coiling around the battlefield multiple times, eyes like burning coals, claws dripping with black mist. It opened its maw, concentrating deathmist into a massive beam aimed at me.
I summoned my staff instinctively, Essence blazing along its length. Planting my feet, I swung downward, pouring all my power into a violet blast.
The two attacks collided with a deafening roar, the shockwave tearing debris into the air.
The phantom’s beam pushed through. My Essence fractured under the pressure, and the impact slammed me backward. The air burned in my lungs.
Before I could fully recover, the dragon twisted and dove straight for me, shadow falling like a mountain. I gripped my staff tighter, preparing for the counter, when suddenly its body exploded.
Deathmist engulfed me, thickening and hardening into thousands of spikes, ready to pierce everything.
My body hardened on instinct. Law of Repulsion flared, blasting hundreds of spikes away, but two still found their mark.
One tore through my bicep, scorching my nerves. The other crashed into my right shoulder, searing pain exploding across my back.
I could feel the corruption gnawing at my Essence.
I scoffed, and an Essence shockwave erupted from my body, tearing the spikes apart and obliterating the deathmist that had seeped inside me.
Before I could even take a breath, my Psynapse tracked the phantom as it appeared in front of me, its sword aimed straight for my heart. From behind, a shadowy wolf-like beast of deathmist lunged at me, jaws wide, aiming for my neck.
I reacted instantly, tapping into my newly comprehended laws of time.
The runes in my domain flared, and time seemed to slow around me. Everything felt suspended, as if I were in a separate zone, watching their movements in near slow motion. I knew it wouldn’t last long.
My grip tightened around my staff as I slammed it into the ground.
"[Collapsing Heaven]."
Violet lightning coursed over my body, compressing the air around me. Essence roared through my staff, and a tremendous explosion erupted with me at its center.
BOOM!
The wolf-like deathmist construct shattered, dispersing into the mist, while the phantom was hurled out of my domain and back into its own. Its body slammed into a crater, black armor scorched in several places from the lightning.
I coughed, blood dripping from my lips, but I remained standing, ready.