Henry cut her off with a shout, stepping back, palms already glowing with heavenly blue.
Henry: "This isn't just about fighting! If we learn what's hidden in this place, we'll find the things we came here for, things about Midas. That's worth more than me throwing punches at his pet!"
Ravenous's grin widened, as if entertained by the split in their resolve.
Ravenous: "Yes, run, little girl. Let him shoulder the weight alone. That is what men do."
Henry's jaw clenched. He struck the ground with his heel, cracking the gold-black tiles beneath him.
Henry: "Elara—go."
Elara hesitated, but his tone left no room. She turned, sprinting toward the corridor that branched deeper into the palace. Her aura flared again, slicing through a wave of golden droids that swarmed the hall, their weapons glowing with Midas's craftsmanship. She vanished into the chaos.
The chamber grew heavier. Ravenous straightened, raising both claws. His aura surged—a storm of cursed black, bending the very air. Dust, stones, and even chunks of shattered tile lifted and orbited him.
Ravenous: "Now, Henry Dreherg… Let us see how your so-called Heaven holds against the weight of worlds."
Henry's eyes burned with blue light. He fueled his fists with heavenly blue and charged, becoming a streak of blue light.
Their clash was instant.
Henry's fist met Ravenous's claw, shockwaves splitting the chamber walls. Gravity pulled, light burst, and steel screamed. Henry ducked under a swing and launched a spinning kick, blue light trailing—but Ravenous caught it mid-arc, crushing his shin in a grip that felt like an anvil.
Ravenous: "You cannot rise. Not while I drag you down."
He hurled Henry across the room. Henry slammed into the wall, cracks spiderwebbing across the gold-black stone. Blood streaked his lip. But he stood. He always stood.
Henry (furious): "You're wrong. I've been pulled down before. I sank deeper than I ever thought I could. But I climbed back up."
He clenched his fists, blue energy flooding outward, resisting the crushing weight pressing down on him. His voice roared through the chamber.
Henry: "And this time… I'll rise higher than before, just so I can beat you up!"
He blurred forward again, weaving between orbs of warped gravity that bent the light. His fists slammed into Ravenous's chest and shoulder in rapid succession, each blow exploding with radiant shockwaves.
Ravenous staggered, blood running down his chin. His eyes flickered—one moment filled with wrath, the next clouded with something like sorrow.
Ravenous: "…Zorath…?"
Henry froze for half a second, thrown by the slip. But Ravenous's claws lashed again, and he had no choice but to meet the attack head-on.
Their duel shook the palace foundations.
Meanwhile…
Elara blasted through the droid patrols, each emerald burst tearing them limb from limb. She gritted her teeth as she fought, her stomach gnawing with hunger already.
Elara: "… I'll need food later… but first, the control room."
She ducked behind a column as more droids stomped through the hall, their golden armor shining in the eerie light. She darted into a side corridor, only to stop short.
Her eyes widened.
A massive door loomed before her, carved with the sigil of a crown wrapped in chains. Above it, glowing letters marked it clearly: CONTROL ROOM.
Elara (smirking): "Bingo."
Behind her, the sounds of battle still shook the palace—Henry's strength, Ravenous's crushing weight.
She pushed forward, knowing Henry was buying her every second.
The control room's door hissed open with a groan of gears, the golden-black surface splitting down the middle. Elara slipped inside, emerald light trailing faintly from her fingertips.
The room was vast, lined with rows of ancient terminals fused into golden walls. Mechanical servant-droids sat motionless at their stations, their optics dead. A single throne-like chair overlooked the chamber, its back carved in twisting spirals of gold.
Elara approached the main console. Symbols scrolled across its surface—Midas's language, a mix of code and archaic script. She reached out, green energy sparking at her fingertips. The system reacted instantly, the screen flaring alive.
She frowned as files unfolded across the display: timelines, battles, and images of a shining city drowned in gold.
Elara (whispering): "The Golden City…"
The archives painted a picture: a proud kingdom rising in brilliance, its ruler draped in gilded robes, his people adoring him as a savior. But the files twisted as the years progressed. Entire districts turned black, lifeless. The king in gold remained untouched, his city hollowing around him. His smile, frozen, became something monstrous.
Elara clenched her jaw.
Elara: "Midas… you ruled until there was nothing left to rule."
She flicked through more data until a set of coordinates stopped her cold. The text pulsed, marked with Midas's seal.
Location: Soul Reaper Hideout—Land of Fire.
Her pulse quickened. She copied the coordinates into her wristband.
Elara: "Henry… this changes everything."
But then… she saw something that shook her to the spine: Saphir IX
But her time was short. The walls hummed—dormant droids flickered awake, optics burning. Their arms unfolded into weapons.
Elara cursed under her breath, green flames erupting around her as she braced for the fight.
Meanwhile…
The clash between Henry and Ravenous roared through the golden palace like thunder through a canyon.
Henry blurred forward, fists wrapped in radiant blue. Each strike lit the chamber, his aura pushing back against the crushing weight of Ravenous's gravity. But ravenous claws carved arcs of purple, bending light and sound, forcing Henry back with every exchange.
Ravenous slammed a claw into the ground. The floor heaved—suddenly Henry's body weighed a hundred times more. His knees buckled, his muscles screaming as he forced himself upright.
Ravenous: "You cannot escape me. Not light, not Heaven, not even yourself."
Henry spat blood, eyes blazing.
He forced his body into motion, becoming a comet of light against the crushing pull. He struck Ravenous square in the jaw, sending him staggering.
But Ravenous only laughed, the sound broken—half human, half something else.
The air cracked. Ravenous unleashed a gravitational wave, the chamber walls collapsing inward. Chunks of golden stone floated around him like shattered planets orbiting a dying star.
Henry braced, heavenly blue burning in his fists.
Henry (furious): "Ravenous… I'll stop you here!"
They collided again. Henry's fists blazed like dawn; Ravenous's claws dragged across the sky. The impact shook the mountain, shockwaves ripping through the halls where Elara fought.
For a moment, Henry saw it—in Ravenous's eyes. A flicker of sorrow, of Zorath's memories clawing their way through the monster.
But it vanished in an instant, replaced by fury.
Ravenous roared, "Then let us see if Heaven can bear the weight of Hell!"
He unleashed his full Gravity Awakening, the air folding, space itself groaning. Henry was crushed to one knee, bones creaking, light flickering.
Still, he pushed back.
Henry (snarling): "I won't break… not here!"
Blue and purple exploded together, a storm of Heaven and Gravity tearing the chamber apart.