The air in the crypt turned heavy, almost unbreathable, loaded with the smell of rot and Seraphina's dark magic.
In the center of everything, Raziel was shaking because of the golden light bursting from him like a damn broken dam.
It was an overwhelming power, as terrifying as it was addictive, and he didn't have the slightest clue how to control it.
Seraphina's eyes opened wide, shining with triumph and a kind of predatory hunger while she watched him.
Around her, Lucian, Odessa, and Kiera were paralyzed.
Raziel's voice sounded deeper than he had ever heard it.
"SO THIS WAS WHAT YOU WANTED!?" he roared, and his blue eyes burned with a fury he had never felt before. "YOU USED ME!"
The ground shook under his feet and several loose stones fell from the ceiling.
Lucian stepped back completely in shock.
"Raziel?" he whispered, with a broken voice. "What... what is happening to you?"
Seraphina let out a laugh.
"Oh, my dear Raziel," she said with a condescending tone. "You played your role perfectly. I knew you were capable of this."
She took a step toward him, and her figure seemed to ripple for a second, like a reflection in the water.
"I needed to check if you really were the next Paragon and now..." Her eyes shone with malice. "Now I know."
"Paragon?" Odessa interrupted her, with her sword still raised high. "That's just a tale, a myth!"
Seraphina raised her hands, and dark energy began to swirl around her fingers.
"Myths and legends," she hissed, "are often more real than you believe."
With a gesture of her hand, a blast of pure darkness shot out of her palms.
It hit Odessa, Kiera, and Lucian without them being able to react.
They screamed in pain when the energy slammed them against the wall, trapping them.
Raziel watched with horror as they struggled and tried to move toward them, but Seraphina's voice stopped him dead.
"That won't work, Raziel," she said. "They can't help you, nobody can."
"You will have to save them yourself," Seraphina continued. "If you really are the Paragon."
Raziel looked at his friends, trapped by Seraphina's magic, and then at the woman who had been his mentor.
"Why?" he asked, with a choked voice. "Why are you doing this, Seraphina? What happened to you?"
Seraphina's expression softened for a moment, and a shadow of sadness crossed her eyes.
"Ah, Raziel," she sighed. "If only you knew the truth. The lies they have fed us, the true nature of our world, the powers that really control it..."
Her gaze hardened again.
"But you... you can change everything. That's why I pressured you, to make your power awaken."
Raziel's head was spinning.
He didn't know what to believe anymore, because everything felt like a lie.
The golden energy inside him pulsed with violence.
"I won't let you hurt them," he said, his voice regaining firmness.
He took a step forward, and the golden light around him intensified.
He held Seraphina's gaze, with his jaw clenched.
"Whatever you are planning, whatever you think I am... I'm not going to let you get away with it."
Seraphina smiled. "Oh, but you are already part of this, Raziel."
She made a gesture, and the shadows holding his friends tightened.
"Now," Seraphina said, her voice turned into a challenge, "let's see what the Paragon can really do."
Something inside Raziel broke.
The golden energy exploded outwards, filling the chamber with blinding light.
He raised his hands, acting by pure instinct, because there was no time to think.
His golden light clashed with Seraphina's darkness, and the air seemed to tear apart.
The crypt shook violently, and the stones began to crack under the pressure.
Suddenly, the golden light around Raziel flickered like a candle about to go out.
He felt the power escaping him, leaving a painful void in his chest.
The rage burned inside him, but the power he had felt moments ago was gone.
He tried to cling to it, but it was like trying to grab smoke with his hands.
He felt the metallic taste of blood in his mouth.
He was bleeding inside.
His legs gave out and he fell to his knees, while the light dimmed until it almost disappeared.
"Oh, Raziel," she said with fake compassion. "Did you really think it would be that easy?"
Raziel's mind was racing at full speed.
He could feel the dark energy radiating from Seraphina, threatening to consume everything.
'No.'
He wasn't going to let her hurt them.
He had already seen what happened when people like her got power, and it wouldn't happen again.
He strained, searching in the deepest part of his being for that golden light.
But something was wrong.
When it finally responded, it felt... different. Tainted.
The light surrounding him was weak, a pale shadow of its former splendor, and small specks of darkness swirled inside it.
But he had no choice.
With a scream that was half determination and half despair, he threw himself at Seraphina.
Raziel's movements were wild, driven by anger and fear.
He launched blasts of tainted energy, each one weaker than the last.
Seraphina dodged his attacks with insulting ease, her figure becoming blurry and shifting.
Tendrils of dark energy lashed out at him like whips.
"You are making it harder for yourself, Raziel," she said, her voice resonating strangely. "Embrace the darkness. It's the only way you'll be strong enough."
Raziel gritted his teeth, tasting more blood.
"Never," he spat. "I won't turn into you."
But he felt his strength fading.
The tainted light flickered, barely containing the darkness.
Lucian, still paralyzed, managed to choke out a few words.
"Raziel," he gasped, "hurry up!"
Raziel's mind accelerated.
He couldn't overpower Seraphina, but maybe... maybe there was another way.
With a last effort, he gathered the power he had left.
But instead of attacking Seraphina, he lowered his defenses.
He let Seraphina's next attack hit him full on.
The darkness impacted his chest, looking to devour his heart, but Raziel trapped it.
He forced his own light to crash against the intrusion inside his own veins.
The pain was unbearable.
But then, the blue text, cold and mechanical, blinked in front of his retina.
[SYSTEM ALERT]
The entity "Raziel" is attempting to fuse [Divinity: Incomplete Paragon] with [Rank A Corruption].
[ANALYZING...]
Compatibility: 0%.
Physical Integrity: CRITICAL.
[EMERGENCY SOLUTION ACTIVATED]
The System recognizes the user's "Suicidal Will".
Enabling Protocol: [MARTYR CATALYST]
[EFFECT:]Converts all damage received in the next 3 seconds into Pure Unstable Energy.
[COST:]Severe Burn of Magic Circuits + [Sanity Erosion: 15%]
(Warning: Mental erosion may cause hallucinations and loss of "Self").
ACCEPT?
[Y/N]
Raziel didn't even have time to process the warning.
He only felt how something tore in his mind.
Through the pain and incipient madness, he started to understand.
He didn't need to win.
BOOOOOOOOM!
The wave of energy swept everything away: Seraphina, Lucian, Odessa, and Kiera.
The time seemed to stop.
Then, with a sound like glass shattering, everything changed.
As he lost consciousness, the last thing Raziel saw was Seraphina's face.
Her cruel smile had disappeared, replaced by an expression of pure shock.
She looked... proud.