Marshmallow managed to open a dimensional rift with Spatiokinesis just in time to dodge the deadly beam of pure darkness that Serthar had hurled at him. It was truly a feat at the edge of the possible, a true miracle made possible only by his incredible powers.
At the moment when the dark beam would surely have disintegrated him, Marshmallow opened a gap in space and threw himself headlong into it, emerging unharmed a few meters back. Looking back at where he had been, Marshmallow saw that the ray of darkness had literally charred the ground.
"Marshmallow, be careful! These dark rays can disintegrate anything in an instant," the Goat Horse shouted, trying to warn him of the extreme danger they were in. His voice was sharp and feverish, vibrating with fear.
Marshmallow replied dryly. He kept his icy gaze fixed on the monstrous figure of Serthar. "I'm not stupid, I figured it out myself." After all, he had managed to dodge the first deadly attack with only a few moments to spare.
Serthar did not seem the least bit upset by the failure of his dark beam. In fact, he seemed almost amused by this futile attempt at resistance. He let out another eerie roar from his cavernous mouth, a dark, unnatural rumble that made the air itself vibrate. Then, with an exaggerated gesture of effort, he unleashed a veritable storm of dark beams aimed at the trio.
Marshmallow realized in an instant that the rays were directed not only at him but at the other two members of his small group as well. The tongues of pure darkness aimed simultaneously at him, at Balor, who stood motionless in all his flaming glory, and at the Goat Horse, who had retreated a few paces.
At this point, Marshmallow was truly forced to give it his all, channeling all of his resources into the battle. The Goat Horse could not have withstood those devastating blows for even a moment, while Balor was too busy keeping the eternal flames active to allow Marshmallow to make full use of Lumokinesis.
So he decided to implement a two-pronged strategy: first, he nimbly dodged the first wave of dark rays with a series of quick moves, and opened dimensional portals thanks to Spatiokinesis, deflecting some with the use of the Supernova Titan Hammer.
Meanwhile, with a fluid gesture, he activated his Necrokinesis, and hordes of undead, deformed creatures of bone and rotting flesh, immediately began to rise from the unruly and rotting remains buried underground.
Under the Goat Horse's horrified gaze, Marshmallow led the undead, creating a mobile, semi-solid shield to protect himself from Serthar's dark rays. The creatures fell by the dozens, riddled by the rays that tore them apart and tore at their already rotting limbs. But for each one that was destroyed, Marshmallow drew more and more from the bowels of the earth, building a veritable bastion of undead in constant regeneration.
"What the hell are you doing?" Balor growled in his cavernous voice, annoyed by this obscene display of blasphemous creatures.
"I'm protecting your lives, you idiot!" Marshmallow retorted in a defiant tone, not taking his eyes off Serthar, who continued to spew dark rays incessantly. "We cannot afford to be hit by those rays, or it will be the end!"
The Goat Horse swallowed dryly. "M-Marshmallow... this is madness! How do you expect to defeat such a monstrosity abandoned by the gods? He's just playing with us."
"Do not underestimate me!" Marshmallow thundered in a mighty voice, silencing his comrade's fears. "I have become more powerful than you can imagine. I have gained enough power to meet this challenge!"
In fact, Marshmallow was beginning to lose his composure. Managing this battle turned out to be a constant balancing act. If he got anxious, it would have been the end of him. Even one full blow would have killed him. He could see it clearly in the way his undead exploded in clouds of blood, guts, and flesh fragments. It felt like being in the middle of a war.
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The dark rays continued to rain down relentlessly on the trio from multiple directions, like a grim crossfire of devastation. Marshmallow jumped here and there with lightning-fast movements, opening dimensional portals to dodge even the most dangerous blows aimed at him. At the same time, the newly summoned undead shielded themselves from Balor and the Goat Horse, slowly disintegrating under the devastating rays, the remnants of their decaying bodies raining down to the ground.
Within moments, Marshmallow found himself surrounded by a myriad of dark projectiles that grew thicker and thicker. He dodged and opened dimensional rifts at an ever-increasing rate, keeping his muscles tensed in a superhuman effort to predict trajectories and calculate appropriate countermoves. Eventually, however, he realized that he could no longer hold off the endless bombardment: soon his small band of undead would be annihilated, and the explosions would reach his comrades as well.
Moreover, he could not generate them indefinitely. Necrokinesis was a Very Unique Skill that was quickly depleted. Even at his level, summoning a handful of undead meant using a lot of his energy. He could not use that power for long; it would soon need to be recharged.
Not to mention that the clock was ticking inexorably. He could clearly see the Time Remaining icon at the side of his vision getting closer and closer to 0. So he decided to give it his all, 150% of his abilities in one go. He had no choice if he wanted to survive and defeat this abomination.
Marshmallow dodged a barrage of dark rays by spinning around and opening several dimensional vents to teleport in a desperate maneuver that would have been impossible for anyone else to pull off. At the same critical moment, he summoned a much larger horde of rapidly decomposing undead to bolster his defenses. The decaying corpses, hideous in their counter-natural obscenity, raced toward the wavering dark beams, disintegrating in a shower of filth and bone with each impact.
"I can't waste any more time," Marshmallow growled through clenched teeth as he regained his composure after the deadly spin. He concentrated, channeling all of his energy into Lumokinesis, making his left arm glow with a blinding light.
"Screw you! Overdrive: Oblivion!"
He then pointed his hand at the imposing figure of Serthar and unleashed the full power of Oblivion Overdrive, his most devastating attack.
A beam of pure light, as intense as the sun, exploded from his hand and struck Serthar in the face with a deafening roar. For an instant that seemed to last an eternity, everything was enveloped in a blinding white flash that obscured even Balor's tongues of fire. When the light finally faded, Marshmallow's eyes widened as he realized what had happened.
Marshmallow could finally catch a glimpse of Serthar's central core, a dark, pulsating, spherical essence marked by veins of dark energy. It was there. Serthar's core was there, the nature of all its deadly power. Marshmallow, with the power of an attack capable of destroying a mountain, had succeeded in shattering the shell surrounding Serthar. It was the last hurdle before the victory.
"He's done it! He's done it!" the Goat Horse shouted with his eyes wide with an expression of almost feverish joy.
But the joy was fleeting, and soon the horror returned to take their breath away. Before they could fully comprehend it, Serthar's core began to regenerate and rebuild itself, unbelievably fast and against all logic.
"Impossible..." Marshmallow muttered between clenched teeth. As he stared at the putrid scene, his eyes widened in horror. "What a disgusting metamorphosis! It's healing and reassembling itself!"
In a few terrifying moments, a new and even more massive armored shell had formed around the core, glistening with new dark energy and as impenetrable as the strongest metals. Despite Marshmallow's best efforts, Serthar had suffered no permanent damage.
A huge bony tentacle, nearly ten meters long and as massive as a pillar, suddenly slammed into Marshmallow with a force that could crack the earth's crust. The blow struck him squarely in the face, knocking him to the ground like a twig, despite his strength and mighty physical constitution.
Time Remaining: 00:14:54
With less than a quarter of an hour remaining before the end of the quest, Marshmallow lay spitting blood and struggling to get up. Serthar felt he had already won.