The situation had escalated from desperate to dire. The original wolves, now augmented by these shadowy doppelgangers, formed a relentless wave of darkness, their glowing red eyes burning with a malevolent hunger.
Eren, despite his initial success, felt his strength waning. Every punch and kick, while connecting, seemed to sap his energy reserves. He glanced at Lucy, concerned with etching lines on his face. Her celestial shield flickered precariously, barely holding against the onslaught.
"We need a plan B," Eren shouted over the din of growls and snarls.
L, his brow furrowed in intense concentration, continued to trace symbols on the wall. "Easier said than done," he replied, his voice strained. "These shadow wolves seem impervious to physical attacks. We need to exploit their… darkness."
Lucy, her eyes scanning the arena in a desperate search for a solution, gasped. "Wait a minute," she interjected. "The markings! They respond to celestial energy, right?"
L's head snapped towards her, a flicker of hope igniting in his dark eyes. "Yes, yours disrupted the control sequence earlier. But you're almost drained."
"Not completely," Lucy countered, her voice hardening with resolve. "I may not have enough to defeat them, but maybe…" She trailed off, her gaze fixed on the metal cage encasing Deus.
A mischievous glint entered her eyes. "Maybe I can redirect the energy source."
Eren, confused, followed her gaze. "The cage? What are you planning?"
Lucy, a determined smirk twisting her lips, didn't answer. Instead, she focused the last remnants of her celestial energy, channeling it not towards the wolves, but towards the metal bars of Deus' cage.
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The arena pulsed with a blinding white light as Lucy's celestial energy surged against the cage. The symbols etched on the bars, previously dormant, flared to life, glowing with an intense celestial brilliance.
A high-pitched shriek pierced the air as Deus, caught in the sudden surge of celestial energy, thrashed within his cage. The energy flows outwards, washing over the arena like a tidal wave of pure light.
The effect on the shadow wolves was instantaneous. Their shadowy forms recoiled, shrieking and dissolving into wisps of darkness. The augmented wolves, deprived of their shadowy essence, howled in pain before collapsing onto the arena floor, their forms flickering before fading entirely.
Silence descended upon the arena, broken only by the ragged gasps of Eren, Lucy, and the frantic curses of Deus trapped within his now brightly glowing cage.
Lucy, drained but triumphant, slumped against the wall. Eren rushed to her side, relief washing over his features. "You did it, Lucy! You freaking did it again!"
L, a hint of awe replacing his usual stoicism, approached them. "Remarkable," he conceded. "You not only redirected your energy, but somehow amplified it with the cage's markings. An impressive display of ingenuity."
Eren surveyed the scene, the silence oppressive. The wolves were gone, but the hooded figure, Nyx, remained, her single crimson eye burning with a mixture of fury and confusion.
"You… you meddled with the God-King's power!" Nyx shrieked, her voice distorted with rage. "You will pay dearly for this transgression!"
Before she could unleash another attack, a booming voice echoed through the arena, vibrating through their very bones. This time, however, the voice lacked its earlier theatricality, laced instead with raw anger and frustration.
"Silence, Nyx!" the voice roared. It was Deus, his voice distorted by the cage's energy. "These… These mortals are proving more troublesome than anticipated. They possess an unexpected resilience. We shall deal with them… later."
The cage glowed brighter, bathing the arena in an intense white light. Then, with a deafening crackle of energy, the cage vanished completely, taking Deus with it. Nyx, with a final glare at the trio, dissolved into a swirling vortex of shadows and disappeared.
Eren, Lucy, and L stood there, panting and battered, the silence thick with an unsettling uncertainty. They had won this battle, but the war was far from over. The God-King had retreated, but for what purpose? And what new challenges awaited them in this twisted arena?