The Realm of Darkness shifted again.
Helios stepped from the corridor and onto fractured ground — a glittering ruin suspended in endless black. Broken tents, shattered iron cages, and half-collapsed circus rides floated like debris in orbit. The air smelled faintly of burnt sugar and metal, as if joy itself had been melted down and re-forged into something cruel.
A warped melody drifted from somewhere ahead — an old circus tune, slow and dissonant, like a memory stretched too thin. Neon lights flickered to life along the remains of a carousel, their color bleeding into the fog.
Helios exhaled. "A circus… or what's left of one."
The sign above the entrance lay bent in half, reading Dreamland Circus. Its paint peeled in strips, curling like skin. Beneath it, cages stood open — their bars warped inward instead of out. Inside one, a broken toy elephant sat upright, staring at nothing. When Helios's shadow crossed it, the toy's head twitched once, then fell off.
He knelt briefly, tracing a finger across the rusted floor. "Every world remembers what it used to be," he murmured. "Even in death."
A chill rippled through the air — the kind that came before violence. Helios rose to his feet, Equilibrium flickering into his hand with an electrified silver and black flash. "You can come out now," he said flatly.
The laughter stopped. The silence that followed was thicker than fog.
From behind the carousel, a shape unfolded — massive, slick, and pulsing. The ground trembled. It came crawling on all fours. The creature's outline shifted between forms — serpentine one second, wolf-like the next. Its body rippled with faces screaming inside its flesh.
Helios's expression hardened. "The Hide," he whispered. "Still chasing me. Man you persistent."
The monster answered with a roar that shattered the broken tents. The sound was a physical force, vibrating through his bones. It lunged forward, slamming its claws into the ground and tearing up the earth beneath him.
Helios dodged the first strike, sliding across a slick platform as black ichor splashed where he stood moments before. The next came faster — a tail swipe that carved through the air with hurricane force. He braced Equilibrium across his forearm, blocking the blow but still thrown backward into a twisted cage. Metal screamed.
He pushed himself up, shaking off the dust. "You've gotten bigger again."
The Hide's back split open, revealing the Demon Towers fused into its spine. They spun like turbines, flinging off tendrils of darkness that pierced through tents and earth alike. Their movements were coordinated — instinctive — as if the beast had merged both its bodies and wills.
Helios clenched his teeth and switched Equilibrium to its whip-sword form, Slánú na nDoimhneacht.
The segmented blade unraveled in his hand, its chain-like length humming with darkness. When he flicked his wrist, the weapon cracked through the air like lightning, severing a tendril clean through. The cut smoked and bled purple light — only to heal instantly.
"Of course," he muttered, pulling the whip back. "Self-regeneration."
Another tendril struck. Helios twirled the weapon, performing Umbral Spiral, surrounding himself in a vortex of spinning dark energy. The attack met the tendrils mid-swing, shredding them and detonating a pulse of black light that blew the creature back momentarily.
Helios lunged forward through the smoke, using Vow Severance — a fast series of whip strikes that left glowing arcs of darkness in their wake. Each impact carved deep wounds, slowing the creature's movement, but not stopping it. The Hide retaliated with a beam of condensed shadow fired from its central maw. Helios dove aside as it vaporized half the ground behind him.
He landed hard, sliding on his knees. The blade retracted, collapsing back into its base form. His breathing steadied, eyes glowing faintly with reflected light.
"Fine," he said, standing. "Let's see how you like the other half."
Equilibrium flared, the black fading away as radiant energy poured through it. In his hand now shone the sleek spear of light — Bríon na Lú. White and gold runes crawled across its surface, faint motes of light trailing from its edge like falling stars.
The Abyssal Hide shrieked, its form retreating slightly from the sudden brightness.
Helios smiled faintly. "That's what I thought."
He rushed forward, spinning the spear in a blur. The first thrust hit the creature's neck, searing through armor and flesh. The second, angled upward, pierced one of the spinning tower segments before it could react. Each movement left afterimages — glowing silhouettes that lingered like echoes of sunlight.
The beast screamed again, shaking violently. A wave of darkness pulsed outward, hurling Helios backward. He skidded across the fractured circus floor and slammed into a cracked Ferris wheel. The wheel's rusted frame groaned and tilted dangerously.
Helios exhaled sharply, then drove the spear into the ground beside him. "Guess that got your attention."
The Hide lunged again, swinging an enormous arm. He vaulted over the blow, light surging beneath his feet. Midair, he twisted the spear and shouted, "Corona Spiral!"
He descended like a falling comet, spinning in a helix of radiant flame. The impact tore a crater through the monster's back, blinding white light exploding outward. The Abyssal Hide convulsed, roaring in agony — but instead of dying, it began to reform again, shadows knitting themselves together faster this time.
Helios staggered backward, raising the weapon defensively. "You're learning and getting stronger. You're basically evolving as we fight. Fantastic."
The Tower segments along its spine pulsed red, launching clusters of dark orbs that distorted the air. They didn't explode — instead, they warped gravity itself, dragging debris and light toward them in chaotic spirals. One struck near Helios, pulling him mid-stride. He stabbed Bríon na Lú into the ground, anchoring himself as the pull tore at his armor seams.
He forced his hand upward. "Enough!"
The spear blazed, unleashing Crown of Thorns — luminous chains that burst outward, wrapping around the nearest orb and detaching it from the monster's body. The gravitational pull snapped, and the orb detonated into a burst of violet smoke.
Helios ripped his weapon free, panting. "You're persistent, but not invincible."
The Hide roared again, the ground beneath it splitting open. The circus floor broke apart — platforms of tents and machinery rising, drifting away like floating islands in the dark. The monster climbed between them, slamming through each in pursuit.
Helios leapt from one fragment to another, his motions precise and rhythmic, spear trailing ribbons of gold. Every strike he landed left a wound of light, but none deep enough to stop it. The creature's tower-like segments pulsed faster, growing unstable.
The next attack came too fast — a pillar of darkness erupted from below, hitting Helios midair. He was thrown across the sky, slamming into a fragment of roller coaster track. The world spun.
His armor cracked, warning lights flashing at the edges of his vision.
"Alright," he muttered, spitting blood. "No more restraint."
He raised Bríon na Lú once more, the spear brightening to the intensity of a small sun. The light built until even the shadows recoiled. "Gáe Solas!"
The spear released an enormous beam of holy light, slicing through the Abyssal Hide's torso and out the other side. The explosion swallowed the world, tearing through tents, machinery, and cages — until nothing remained but smoke and silence.
Helios stood at the epicenter, panting, his armor cracked and smoking. "That… should hold you."
The silence held for a heartbeat.
Then came the roar.
It wasn't pain. It was fury.
From the smoke, the Abyssal Hide rose again, parts of its body glowing red-hot with corruption. It had absorbed his light attack — the holy energy burning inside it like molten veins. It was stronger now.
Helios's eyes widened. "Oh, come on. This isn't fair."
The beast charged again, its steps shaking the remnants of the world. Helios turned and thrust Bríon na Lú downward, the light forming a vertical fissure — a portal of black and violet. The air warped violently.
"Not today," he growled, diving into the corridor just as a claw tore through where he had stood. The blast threw debris in every direction.
He hit the ground on the other side, tumbling hard before coming to rest against a wall of obsidian stone. The portal behind him collapsed into dust, leaving the Realm silent once again.
Helios coughed, pushing himself upright. "Still can't outrun it for long."
The ground trembled — faint, distant, but unmistakable. From far away in the black void, a roar answered, shaking the horizon.
Helios looked back toward the sound. His reflection flickered faintly in a puddle at his feet — exhausted but smirking.
"You'll find me again," he murmured. "I know."
He turned away, Equilibrium flickering back into its neutral form as he began walking toward the next shattered skyline.