The undead octopus loomed before them, its amethyst eyes glowing malevolently. Theodore and Seraphina exchanged a quick glance, their faces set with grim determination. There was no time for words or strategy—the creature was already upon them.

A massive tentacle slammed down, cratering the earth where they had stood moments before. Theodore leapt back. Flames burst to life around his fingertips, coalescing into a fireball that he hurled at the octopus’s eye.

The creature’s flesh sizzled and bubbled where it struck, but the wound closed almost instantly, knitting together with tendrils of violet energy. Not that the attack mattered anyway. The creature was far too big to care about a small fireball.

Theodore cursed under his breath. This wouldn’t be easy.

Seraphina darted in close. Blood seeped from her palms, hardening into crystalline daggers as she slashed at the octopus’s tentacles. Each cut drew blood, but the creature seemed unfazed.

Suddenly, the air vibrated with intent.

Theodore’s eyes grew wide as an invisible force pressed down on them. Legs buckled. They grunted. The octopus’s eyes glowed brighter, and he realized with a jolt that it was manipulating gravity itself.

The octopus’s eyes moved from him to Seraphina.

“Watch out!” he shouted.

His warning came a bit too late.

The vampire girl was slammed from a side. She had obviously expected it to use gravity, but from the looks of it, she had not expected it would use it sideways. She flew sideways for a moment, and then the gravity shifted again.

Bang. It slammed her from above, and she groaned, pinned to the ground. Theodore felt his own knees buckle, muscles straining against the unnatural weight.

Gritting his teeth, he reached for the water in his pouch. It responded sluggishly to his call, fighting against the octopus’s power. With a cry of effort, Theodore formed the water into razor-sharp ice shards and sent them hurtling towards the creature’s eyes.

The distraction was enough. The pressure eased, and Seraphina was on her feet in an instant.

Blood pooled around her. That, however, wasn’t quite an issue. Quite the opposite, actually. The blood exploded outward in a crimson mist. The droplets crystallized mid-air, becoming a storm of tiny, deadly projectiles that peppered the octopus’s flesh.

Theodore seized the moment, manipulating the air currents to amplify his next attack. Fire roared from his hands in a concentrated inferno that bored into the creature’s side. For a moment, it seemed to be working—the octopus thrashed in pain, its flesh blackening and cracking. It shrieked, too.

But then those amethyst eyes flashed, and Theodore felt a sickening lurch in his stomach.

The world spun, and suddenly he was falling—upward.

The octopus had inverted gravity in a localized area, sending both him and Seraphina hurtling towards the sky.

A wave of panic overcame him for a moment, but Theodore forced it down. Focus. He reached out with his power, grasping at the air.

It responded, and he forced them from “falling”.

Blood oozed from Seraphina’s pores from where she stood suspended in the air, forming a protective shell around her body.

“Any ideas?” she growled.

Theodore shook his head. The octopus was relentless, and it was a hard opponent. He would go as far as saying it had to be quite higher level than him. And its tentacles—they were annoying to deal with. Lashing out even as it maintained the inverted gravity field. Theodore had to keep them moving through the air to dodge them.

He couldn’t keep this up forever.

As if sensing his thoughts, the creature’s eyes pulsed once more. The air around them began to vibrate, and Theodore felt a building pressure in his ears. Sound. It was weaponizing sound waves.

No, not quite.

Its tentacles, more specifically its suckers. They were… vibrating the air.

For a fleeting moment, he considered trying to create a barrier of air around them. Perhaps if he could manipulate the air currents to form a protective bubble, it might deflect or at least dampen the sound waves. But as quickly as the idea formed, he dismissed it. Air was an excellent conductor of sound; it would do little to shield them from the attack. If anything, it might even amplify the effect.

His next thought was to try and counter the sound with an opposing frequency. If he could generate a sound wave of equal amplitude but opposite phase, it might cancel out the octopus’s attack. However, he quickly pushed that idea aside too. He lacked the precise control and understanding to pull off such a delicate maneuver. He didn’t even have any way of controlling the sound.

Besides, in the heat of battle, there was no time for such intricate calculations.

Theodore moved grabbed Seraphina and then blasted through the air, going as far as he could.

The first blast hit like a physical blow, sending them tumbling off in the air. Theodore’s ears rang, his vision blurring as they plummeted back towards the ground.

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They hit the earth hard, the impact driving the air from Theodore’s lungs. He rolled to his feet, gasping, just in time to see a tentacle whipping towards his face. There was no time to dodge.

Seraphina appeared in front of him, her arms crossed in a defensive stance. The tentacle struck her crossed forearms with a sickening crack, but her crystallized blood armor held. She skidded back several feet, leaving deep furrows in the ground.

“Thanks,” Theodore managed, his ears still ringing.

Seraphina nodded curtly, flexing her arms. Cracks spiderwebbed across her blood armor, but it was already repairing itself. “We need to end this,” she said grimly.

Theodore couldn’t agree more.

Seraphina seemed to sense his intent. She darted forward, drawing the octopus’s attention with a flurry of crystalline projectiles. The creature’s tentacles lashed out, trying to swat her from the air, but she was too quick, too agile. Her powerful legs propelled her in impossible arcs, always just out of reach.

Theodore felt the magic building to a crescendo within him. Now or never.

A column of white-hot flame erupted from his hands, so intense that the air itself seemed to ignite. It struck the octopus dead center, and for a moment, the creature was obscured by a blinding flash of light.

When the glare faded, Theodore’s heart sank. The octopus still stood, its flesh charred and bubbling, but already beginning to heal. Those amethyst eyes fixed on him.

Then Seraphina struck.

She had used Theodore’s attack as cover, maneuvering behind the creature. Now she launched herself straight at its head, her entire body sheathed in crystallized blood. As she flew, the blood armor liquefied, then exploded outward with tremendous force.

The octopus’s head snapped back, its eyes wide with what might have been surprise. Seraphina’s blood filled those amethyst orbs, crystallizing in an instant. The creature let out an ear-splitting shriek, tentacles flailing wildly.

“Now!” Seraphina shouted as she fell, her body limp from the exertion.

Theodore didn’t hesitate. He reached out to the earth beneath the octopus, calling upon every bit of strength he had left. The ground buckled and heaved, great spikes of erupting upwards to impale the creature’s writhing form.

At the same time, Seraphina ignited all her blood.

All the small projectiles she’d hit it since the start of the fight, and now all of her blood armor coating its eyes. It all exploded with the loudest explosion Theodore had ever heard.

For a long moment, the octopus continued to thrash. Then, slowly, its movements began to still. The violet energy flickered and faded, and finally, with a sound like a dying storm, the creature fell still.

Theodore stumbled forward, his legs barely able to support him. He caught Seraphina before she hit the ground, both of them collapsing in an exhausted heap. For several long moments, they simply lay there, chests heaving as they struggled to catch their breath.

“Is it...” Seraphina managed between gasps, “is it dead?”

Theodore forced himself to look at the impaled form of the octopus. No signs of movement, no pulsing amethyst light.

But most importantly, the notifications he’d gotten but ignored.

“Yeah,” he said. “Yeah, I think it is.”

Your race, [Human], has leveled up — Lvl 19-> Lvl 25!

You have met the requirements to form a Connection with another Constellation.

Overridden. Sunder has refused. “He” will be more than enough.

Your class, [Mage], has leveled up — Lvl 14 -> Lvl 20!

Quest Complete: Defeat the Creature resurrected by Sunder.

Reward: First restriction on [Sever] lifted.

New Quest Available: Master the Art of Severance

A wave of exhilaration washed over Theodore, momentarily banishing his exhaustion. He had done it. He had defeated Sunder’s creation, gained significant levels, and most importantly, unlocked the first stage of [Sever].

The knowledge was there now, as if it’d always been there.

As the adrenaline began to fade, Theodore found himself staring at the fallen octopus.

Why had Sunder gone to such lengths? What were the other restrictions on [Sever], and how would he overcome them? And perhaps most pressingly, what more “stages” were there and what did it mean for [Sever]?

But those were questions for another time. Right now, with [Sever] unlocked, they could finally return and deal with the Outer God. Theodore pushed himself to his feet, offering a hand to Seraphina.

“We’re not done yet.”

Seraphina took his hand. She looked at him questioningly, but Theodore shook his head. There would be time for explanations later. For now, they had a job to finish.

Theodore and Seraphina had barely begun their trek back when a flash of darkness caught Theodore’s eye. His heart lurched as he saw black lightning arcing through the air, striking at Ezekiel and Alden with relentless fury.

Without a second thought, he reached out with his power, grasping the very air around him.

“What—” Seraphina began, but her question was cut short as Theodore suddenly launched himself skyward, propelling himself with periodic explosions.

The wind whipped past him he rocketed towards his companions.

Had the Outer God broken free while he was away? Were Ezekiel and Alden already...?

No. He couldn’t think like that. They were strong, experienced. They had to be alive.

As he soared closer, the scene came into clearer focus. Relief flooded through him as he saw both Ezekiel and Alden still standing, but it was quickly replaced by renewed concern. They were clearly struggling, their faces etched with strain as they defended against the onslaught of dark thunder.

Ezekiel had erected a shimmering barrier of holy light, but each strike of black lightning left cracks spiderwebbing across its surface. Alden, meanwhile, was deflecting bolts with his blade, but his movements were becoming sluggish, his reactions a fraction too slow.

Theodore’s eyes darted to the source of the attack. The Outer God remained bound. But tendrils of shadow extended from her, each one terminating in a crackling arc of black lightning.

He was almost there now, close enough to see the sweat beading on Ezekiel’s brow, to hear Alden’s labored breathing.

Theodore reached companions.

“Took you long enough,” Alden grunted, deflecting another bolt of darkness.

Before Theodore could respond, a particularly vicious strike shattered Ezekiel’s barrier. The bishop stumbled back, his face ashen with exhaustion.

Theodore stepped forward, his newly gained levels surging through him like liquid fire. More importantly, his hold on [Sever].