CHAPTER 1134: SHOCK

The cocoon convulsed as Erend’s blast tore into it and an unholy roar split the air. The roar was so loud that even the debris in the distance air seemed to recoil.

The noise was a mix of agony and fury. It echoing through the broken world. Shards of blackened flesh and molten crimson veins burst outward from the cocoon, scattering across the battlefield.

Each fragment that hit the ground ignited into small eruptions of corrupted energy that immediately spewing out foul smoke that reeked of rot.

Zerathul’s scream became deeper and more guttural, as the cocoon ripped apart from within. His body began to emerge. After what he had suffered he now looked twisted because it was just half-formed, and blazing with chaotic light.

The silhouette of his tentacles stretched outward and dripped with corrupted essence.

Erend didn’t wait for him to fully rise. The Dragonborn’s aura surged brighter, every vein in his body alight with elemental power. Fire spiraled from his hands, lightning erupted from his scales, and torrents of water swirled around him.

The fusion of all three elements danced violently. They clashed but also harmonized within his control.

He launched forward with a roar of his own. The force shattered the air behind him, leaving a sonic crack that echoed through the air.

Erend’s first strike came. His fist wreathed in flame and lightning. It slammed into Zerathul’s chest, exploding in a flare of molten heat and blinding light.

The impact tore away chunks of Zerathul’s armor-like hide, exposing veins of glowing silver veins beneath it.

The Gravebringer screamed again, and from his body waves of black lightning lashed out in all directions.

Erend countered by summoning a vortex of water and flame around his arms to deflect the energy and driving himself closer.

He punched again several times and each blow detonated with elemental fury. Every hit shredded more of Zerathul’s body, tearing through his body, his shoulders, and his twisted, tencacle face.

Fire wrapped around Erend’s arm like a burning serpent as he swung his claws upward, slicing through Zerathul’s abdomen.

Then lightning followed, piercing through the gaping wound. Water surged next, crushing what remained from the inside before vaporizing under the returning heat.

The attacks Erend sent fed the next attack. He blended the three forces into relentless attacks one after another.

The air cracked apart, turning into spiraling distortions of color and light. The ground far below them also shattered into floating fragments as the sky turned into more chaos in a blinding explosion of blue, red, gold, and black.

Krono who was watching from afar shielded himself with his wings as the entire sky trembled under the storm of Erend’s wrath.

Zerathul’s form began to collapse. His limbs disintegrated into ash after being severed. His final roar dissolved into the air before his body burst apart in a colossal surge of black and crimson energy.

The explosion spread for miles, painting the world in violent flashes of red and black and surges of lightning and fire before fading into silence.

Erend hovered there amidst the aftermath. He breathed hard. The battlefield was quiet now, except for the songs of dying abominations around him.

Floating debris drifted slowly around him. The cocoon was gone. The monsters were dying. Zerathul was nowhere to be seen.

For a moment, Erend believed it was over. He had done it.

But then... something felt wrong.

The residue of Zerathul’s power didn’t fade. It pulsed again. The black mist that lingered in the air wasn’t dispersing, it was moving.

Gathering.

Reforming again.

Erend’s eyes widened. He turned toward the center of the explosion, and froze.

From the emptiness ahead, the remnants of the cocoon began to twist together again, forming not flesh but a flickering image like a look of distorted illusion.

It was the one he had been fighting all along. The truth hit him.

The Zerathul he had just destroyed wasn’t real. It was only a vessel. A decoy.

The real Zerathul had never been inside that cocoon.

Erend’s chest tightened. The world around him seemed to darken as realization sank in.

"No... this wasn’t him."

The hollow shell cracked apart, releasing a surge of cold, otherworldly power that washed over him. Within that surge, a low mocking voice that came from nowhere and everywhere at once echoed.

"Did you truly believe... I would die so easily?"

The sky turned black once more. The portal in the distance flared open again, wider than before.

Erend clenched his fists as his fire reignited, his expression hardening.

Far in the distance, Aesa and Eccar also fought through the last remnants of the monstrous horde. For them, this fight was not a challenge. So their real focus was on Erend all this time.

Through the chaos they could see him in the distance. The shockwave from his last attack still rippled across the field, scattering debris and distorting the air. What they witnessed made them freeze with disbelief.

The thing Erend had just destroyed was reforming again as though mocking his efforts.

Eccar gritted his teeth. "You’re seeing that too, right?"

"Yes... that shouldn’t be possible," Aesa said. Her voice trembled slightly, not from fear but from realization. "He wasn’t fighting the real one."

Eccar’s gaze hardened. "Then when did Zerathul switch? During the cocoon?"

Neither of them knew. And that uncertainty carried a heavy chill.

High above, Krono’s immense form loomed against the storm clouds. His golden eyes narrowed as he too watched the unfolding truth.

For a moment, silence stretched across the broken skies.

Then Zerathul’s voice echoed once more, dripping with contempt. "So much power... wasted on nothing."

His laughter followed. "You tore apart my shadow, Dragonborn. All that fury, and still, you grasp at smoke."

Erend didn’t answer. His wings flared wide, the energy around him reigniting with violent intensity.

He wasn’t interested in hearing any of Zerathul’s words. The only thing he wanted now was to destroy him for real.

He shot forward again, bursting through the clouds.

But Zerathul’s words struck again. "Go on then, Dragonborn. Focus your wrath on me. Attack with all your might... and while you do, let that ancient god devour your world."

Erend froze mid-flight.

His eyes widened, breath catching in his chest. The lightning around his body flickered and faltered for a heartbeat.

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