The purple light of the doorway enveloped me, pulling me into another part of the void.

My stomach twisted as the air grew colder, sharper, each breath scraping against my lungs.

When the light faded, I found myself in another arena.

This one was nothing like the metallic wasteland from before.

The ground was slick, made of a black, glass-like substance that reflected the deep violet sky above.

Towering spires of obsidian jutted out at random angles, casting jagged shadows across the expanse.

At the far end of the arena, a figure stood motionless.

Unlike the first boss, this one didn’t radiate raw, monstrous power.

It was humanoid in shape, cloaked in an armor of shimmering black scales that pulsed faintly with a purple glow.

Its face was obscured by a featureless helm, and in its hand was a blade that seemed to drink in the light around it.

The creature didn’t move.

It simply stood there, waiting.

The silence pressed against me, but I didn’t make the first move.

I raised my hand, lightning crackling to life.

The storm came to me naturally now, like an extension of myself.

Stolen story; please report.

I unleashed a bolt straight at the figure, the energy tearing through the air with a deafening roar.

The figure blurred.

It vanished from its spot just as the lightning struck, the ground exploding in a shower of glass-like shards.

I barely had time to react before it reappeared to my right, its blade slicing toward me in a deadly arc.

I leapt back, lightning surging around me as I tried to counter.

A bolt shot from my hand, but the figure dodged effortlessly, its movements impossibly fast.

“Fine,” I muttered, narrowing my eyes. “Let’s see how long you can dodge.”

I raised both hands, summoning the storm again.

Lightning rained down across the arena, each bolt striking with devastating force.

The air crackled with energy, and the ground quaked as the storm grew in intensity.

But the figure was relentless.

It weaved through the destruction with inhuman precision, its blade leaving trails of dark energy in its wake.

Each time it moved, it closed the distance between us, forcing me to retreat further.

“You’re fast,” I admitted, my breath coming in short bursts. “But I’ve got all the time in the world.”

The storm intensified, the bolts coming faster, stronger.

The figure’s movements became more erratic as it struggled to keep up, its once-fluid dodges now jerky and desperate.

Finally, one of my attacks connected.

The lightning struck its left arm, shattering the armor and revealing a twisted, dark substance beneath.

The figure faltered, and I seized the opportunity.

Channeling my mana, I summoned a concentrated spear of lightning, the energy crackling violently in my hand.

I hurled it toward the creature, the attack aimed directly at its chest.

The spear hit its mark.

The explosion lit up the arena, the shockwave knocking me back as shards of the ground flew in every direction.

When the dust settled, the figure was kneeling, its armor cracked and its blade shattered.

I approached cautiously, my hands still crackling with electricity.

But before I could finish it off, the figure raised its head.

The air around it shifted, and a deep, guttural voice echoed through the arena.

“You think this is your victory?” it said, its tone dripping with malice.

The shattered armor began to reform, the dark substance spreading across its body like liquid shadows.

The figure rose to its feet, its presence more overwhelming than before.

The blade in its hand reformed as well, now twice its original size and radiating a dark, malevolent energy.

This wasn’t over.

If anything, the real fight was just beginning.