The air smelled of ozone and scorched stone.
Shivraith's void core pulsed violently, cracking fissures into the already-ruined plaza. Shadows strained under the pressure, stretching thinner than Tharyx would have liked, moving faster, calculating faster, but still, he controlled the rhythm of the fight.
Behind him, Zalivra fidgeted with a piece of rubble that could barely be called a weapon. "Okay, so let me get this straight," he whispered to Korynth, who had appeared from the shadows with his usual chaotic grin, "we're in the middle of a city about to be flattened by… whatever that thing is, and you think this is a good time for pranks?"
Korynth tilted his head. "Pranks are timely by definition. Plus, chaos is tactical. You should take notes."
Zalivra groaned, tripping over a collapsed column. "Tactical chaos? That is the least reassuring thing anyone could say right now."
Meanwhile, Tharyx's eyes were locked on Shivraith, who was starting to adapt to the tactical constructs, analyzing movement patterns, countering shadow-laced environmental traps. Every moment he hesitated, the void entity grew more unpredictable.
Then, from the corner of his vision, the NPCs sprang into action, unplanned, untrained, and catastrophic.
Zalivra flung a chunk of rubble toward Shivraith. It missed by a mile, ricocheted off a pillar, and smashed into another piece of debris, which rolled toward the edge of the plaza, colliding with a void construct and scattering shards of energy. The construct shrieked half in pain, half in… confusion and then lunged, unintentionally striking Shivraith's leg.
"Hey! That worked!" Zalivra yelled, eyes wide.
Korynth snorted, tossing a small vial of unknown liquid at another cluster of constructs. The vial exploded into a puff of dark mist. One construct inhaled it, then surged forward with erratic aggression, slamming into Shivraith's arm.
Shivraith roared a sound that shattered stone and twisted the air, but paused, momentarily distracted.
Tharyx's tactical mind snapped into overdrive. This was chaotic assistance, unpredictable but exploitable.
He signaled his shadows subtly, weaving them around both Shivraith and the NPCs' chaotic maneuvers. Constructed barriers formed, redirecting debris, catching stray attacks, and channeling the unintentional chaos into controlled advantage.
Zalivra noticed. "Wait… are you using my mistakes as a plan?"
"Yes," Tharyx muttered, never breaking focus. "Keep moving."
Korynth waved lazily. "Glad to be of… catastrophic help."
The plaza erupted in movement. Mini constructs multiplied even faster now, seemingly inspired by the unpredictable inputs from the NPCs. Shadows wrapped around collapsing structures, stabilizing them temporarily to protect civilians while simultaneously forming bridges of darkness for tactical repositioning.
Shivraith swung violently, void energy flaring along its elongated limbs. One strike demolished part of a pillar, sending stones flying toward Tharyx, but he barely moved. A shadow thread extended like a whip, catching the stones mid-air and flinging them back at Shivraith, breaking the rhythm of its assault.
Zalivra screamed from behind a half-crushed wall. "I'm helping! Sort of!"
Meanwhile, Korynth had jumped onto a collapsed arch, balancing precariously. "I vote we call the mini-constructs something fancy, like Shadow Minions of Doom! Who's with me?"
Before anyone could answer, one construct, responding entirely on instinct, shoved Shivraith's arm just enough to unbalance it. Shivraith stumbled into another construct, then twisted, void energy flaring wildly, ripping part of the plaza into rubble.
The sheer chaos of it all: NPC hijinks, tactical shadows, self-replicating void constructs combined into a controlled storm orchestrated by Tharyx.
SYSTEM MESSAGE:
[Observation: NPC Interference Increasing Tactical Efficiency.]
[Recommendation: Embrace Chaos.]
[Warning: Probability of Collateral Void Damage – High.]
Tharyx didn't hesitate. He extended his hand, shadows rippling outward, subtly nudging the erratic constructs and mini void entities to flank Shivraith.
The void entity roared again, striking in desperation. But every swing met a combination of shadows, void constructs, and the inadvertent antics of Zalivra and Korynth.
Zalivra shouted over the chaos: "I'm telling you, I didn't mean to help!"
Korynth laughed. "Help? Hah! Chaos is its own kind of help!"
Shivraith began to adapt, but the adaptation lagged behind Tharyx's tactical improvisation, which now incorporated the NPCs as a force multiplier. Every misstep they made became a calculated advantage; every bickering insult thrown at the mini constructs distracted Shivraith long enough for Tharyx to reposition, redirect, and exploit the terrain.
The city block around them shuddered. Dust rose in thick clouds. Structures threatened to collapse. Shadows moved like a storm of living darkness.
And then… something unexpected happened.
One mini construct, previously inert, flickered violently. It multiplied again, faster than before, moving without direction but as it moved, it intercepted a void pulse from Shivraith, saving a group of civilians standing too close to the action.
Zalivra stared. "It just did something useful?"
Tharyx didn't respond. His eyes tracked the new swarm, mentally mapping trajectories, anticipating Shivraith's counters, exploiting every nuance. Tactical genius wasn't brute force; it was improvisation under pressure, exploiting unpredictable variables, turning chaos into advantage.
Shivraith's hollow gaze narrowed. The entity's attacks grew erratic, desperate. Its core glowed brighter, energy condensing, void symbols spinning faster. It had recognized the battlefield wasn't linear anymore.
It had recognized Tharyx.
And the NPCs?
They continued to bicker mid-combat.
"Stop waving your arms at it!" Zalivra shouted. "You're making it angrier!"
"I'm training it," Korynth yelled back. "Clearly, you don't understand tactical chaos."
Shivraith lunged again, void energy slicing through half the plaza, but this time the combination of shadows, mini constructs, and the chaotic influence of the NPCs diverted it entirely, its strike smashing into a broken bell tower fragment, which collapsed into the rift below.
The rift pulsed violently.
Shadows surged. Void constructs multiplied further. NPCs screamed, argued, and collided with one another.
Tharyx's pulse remained calm.
Because in that chaos, he saw the opportunity.
The system hummed a note that bordered on amusement and warning:
SYSTEM MESSAGE:
[User Tactical Efficiency: Extraordinary.]
[NPC Chaos Exploited Successfully.]
[Warning: Battlefield Stability – Critical.]
The void entity stumbled. Its adaptive processes were overwhelmed not by brute power, but by an improvised storm of shadows, constructs, and wildly unpredictable allies.
Tharyx stepped forward.
Shivraith's core flared. Its body began to split and warp, but the NPCs remained… somehow, miraculously, still "helping."
One mini construct formed a small spear of concentrated void energy and struck Shivraith's chest, not lethal, not yet, but enough to stagger it, disrupt its adaptation cycle.
Zalivra cheered. "I did that! I think! Sort of… maybe…"
Korynth snorted, twirling a shard of stone like a baton. "Amateurs, amateurs… oh wait, that's us. Never mind. Still, effective."
Tharyx's eyes didn't leave Shivraith. He felt the threads of shadows, constructs, and even NPC-induced chaos weave together into one coordinated, semi-sentient strike.
And then, as the void entity roared in frustration, energy cracking the plaza, Tharyx noticed the rift beneath Shivraith beginning to flare, unstable.
The shadows around him twitched in anticipation.
Something was about to happen.
Something larger than any one of them could predict.
SYSTEM MESSAGE:
[Apocalypse Probability – Elevated.]
[Warning: User Success Triggers Unknown Consequences.]
[Recommendation: Extreme Caution.]
Tharyx clenched his fists.
His shadows surged outward.
And from the depths of the rift… a pulse of void energy exploded upward, shattering the balance of the battlefield.
Everything froze.
For a heartbeat.
Then it rippled outward.
And the next wave of chaos, bigger, faster, and infinitely more dangerous, was already here.