The battlefield was an expanse of shattered terrain, the remnants of the crystalline core still crackling with faint Void-tainted energy as its destruction rippled through the air.
The soldiers who had borne witness to the battle stood frozen, their eyes wide as they stared at Val, the shadowed figure who had emerged victorious from the storm of destruction.
Val's breath was heavy, the weight of the battle etched into his stance. His shadows writhed around him, dissipating slowly as he turned his gaze toward the horizon.
But before he could take another step, the air around him shifted. It was subtle at first, a faint hum that grew into an oppressive pressure, suffocating and charged with malice.
A figure stepped forward from the swirling mists, his movements deliberate, each step resonating with an authority that demanded attention. He wore a cloak as dark as the abyss, Void-tainted energy pulsing faintly around him. His face was partially obscured, but his eyes burned with a cold, calculated rage.
Obsidian.
For a moment, there was silence. Then the air trembled, and the Void-tainted energy around Obsidian surged, an aura of corruption and power that seemed to distort the very fabric of reality. The ground beneath him blackened, tendrils of energy snaking outward like veins of malice.
The soldiers recoiled instinctively, their breaths caught in their throats. Even Clareo's reinforcements paused, the gravity of the newcomer's presence palpable.
Val's eyes narrowed beneath his mask, his chest rising and falling as his left eye burned with searing intensity. The shadows around him flickered, responding to an unseen presence.
And then, Deleo stirred.
A low, guttural growl resonated in Val's mind, a sound that carried an emotion Val has been familiar with from Deleo before—pure, unrelenting wrath.
"Val," Deleo's voice rumbled, deep and foreboding, "let me take control."
Val didn't answer, his body stiffening as he felt Deleo's fury bleeding into his own. The surge of rage was almost overwhelming, a tide that threatened to drown his thoughts.
"Deleo—" Val began, but his voice faltered. The moment his mind brushed against Deleo's presence, he felt it—the primordial entity's rage, a fury not born of impulse, but of ancient betrayal.
Deleo's voice rose again, commanding yet strangely intimate. "This corruption… This blight upon my power… Let me eradicate it."
Val hesitated, his grip tightening on his weapon as the air around him grew heavier. For the first time, he felt not just the weight of his own struggle, but Deleo's fury coursing through him like a tempest.
"I feel your hesitation," Deleo said, his tone hardening. "But you feel it too, Val. This is not your fight alone."
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The Void-tainted energy emanating from Obsidian intensified, the corrupted tendrils twisting in mockery of the natural order.
It was enough. Val closed his eyes, his jaw tightening as he relented.
"Fine," Val thought, his voice steady. "But don't hold back."
Deleo didn't respond with words. Instead, the transformation began.
A gust of wind tore through the battlefield, so powerful it sent debris scattering in all directions.
Soldiers cried out, shielding their eyes as the force rippled through the area. The shadows around Val coiled tighter, their movements frenzied, almost alive.
His obsidian-rank pin, pinned firmly to his chest, glinted with an eerie light, as if responding to an unspoken command. The glow intensified, pulsating in rhythm with the tendrils of shadows now swirling violently around Val's body.
The ground beneath him cracked and splintered as a surge of black smoke erupted upward, engulfing him in an impenetrable shroud. The soldiers nearby staggered back, some crying out in alarm as the sheer pressure of the transformation weighed down on them.
The shadows around Val thickened, their edges sharp and jagged, like shards of pure darkness. A guttural roar echoed through the air—not from Val, but from Deleo himself, his presence fully awakened and bleeding into the physical world.
When the smoke cleared, Val stood transformed. His hooded cloak billowed around him, but the shadows that cloaked his form seemed almost sentient, their tendrils lashing out at the air as if testing its resistance. His obsidian pin glowed faintly, a beacon of his rank and the power it represented.
But it was Deleo's voice that sent a chill through the air.
The Mind Link crackled, reaching not just Team Unknown, but Beta Team and HQ Command.
It wasn't Val's usual voice that spoke, but a dual-toned resonance—his own voice layered with the ancient, commanding presence of Deleo.
Everyone, let me handle this.
The soldiers nearby froze, their confusion evident. Beta Team, still recovering from their ordeal, exchanged bewildered glances, unaware of the dual nature of the voice.
At HQ Command, however, General Luis's expression didn't falter. He straightened, his voice sharp as he gave his reply. "Understood, Umbra. Do what you must."
Dr. Lewis adjusted his glasses, his gaze unreadable as he glanced at General Luis. Neither man said more.
On the battlefield, Team Unknown heard the same voice. Ember and Exeo exchanged a brief glance, the weight of their understanding shared silently.
Ember's voice came through the link, but through a different channel, steady but with an unspoken edge of care.
Take him down, but keep him safe.
Exeo followed, his tone calm yet firm.
Do what needs to be done, Deleo. But remember—he's our brother.
Deleo's presence pulsed with acknowledgment, but no words followed. Instead, his focus shifted to the towering figure before him.
Obsidian stood unmoving, his expression one of calm arrogance as he observed the transformation. He took a step forward, his cloak trailing behind him as Void-tainted energy coiled at his feet.
"So, the shadowed ARM user finally reveals himself," Obsidian said, his tone mocking. "Impressive theatrics, but they change nothing. You are still a vessel—a tool for power you cannot truly comprehend."
Deleo's voice rumbled, low and resonant, carrying an ancient weight that seemed to press against the very air.
"And you are a mortal, corrupted by the scraps of a force beyond your reckoning. You stand on borrowed time, tainting what you cannot fathom."
Obsidian's eyes narrowed, his Void energy surging as he stepped closer. "You speak as though you are something greater. But power is power, no matter its source. And I will see it destroyed."
Deleo laughed, a sound that resonated like the rumble of distant thunder.
"You believe yourself the wielder of the Void, yet you are but a stain upon its essence. I have seen millennia, mortal. I have unmade beings greater than you. And now, you will know the wrath of what you have dared to defile."
The battlefield seemed to still, as though the very world held its breath in anticipation. The soldiers, the constructs, even the wind itself seemed subdued as the two forces faced each other.
And then, with a surge of Void energy, the battle began.