It took more than fifteen tense minutes before the scout finally returned from the elves’ side. Sweat streamed down his dirt-smeared face, and his breath came in ragged gasps. He had clearly pushed himself to the limit, sprinting back with urgency carved into every movement. Without pausing to rest, he relayed the situation in a strained but determined voice.

"The elves are locked in heavy combat with the undead. They’ve engaged them in the central chamber and are now forcing them back through the corridor toward the final chamber, the one with the pillar. We must strike now, before the undead regroup!"

The news hit like a bolt of lightning, reviving spirits and stiffening spines. Most soldiers leapt to their feet, blades drawn, eyes blazing with renewed purpose. Only a few, like Kargul, remained seated, too battered to rise. They would have to sit out the final battle.

“Protect Eve, alright?” Kargul muttered, giving Vorlok a firm pat on his shell. The great turtle, still in high spirits after devouring a wyvern several times his size, bobbed his head in understanding. He turned, flippers spreading wide, and took to the air. Evelyn climbed onto his back without hesitation, settling into the familiar position with silent grace.

“Alright, let’s finish this,” Annie barked, her voice cutting through the bustle. “All heavy warriors to the front. Once we enter, split into your previous combat groups!”

The formation quickly fell into place. Armored warriors lined the front, their chainmail glinting faintly under the torchlight. Each bore engraved runes across their gear, symbols of endurance and resistance. Behind them stood the mages and healers, arms poised, spells primed to defend or mend. Initially, many had stayed with Kaldrek and Maike above, but now that Kael was no longer a threat, reinforcements had been brought down, including fresh warriors to replace the exhausted.

A dark, rising pressure throbbed from the final chamber. The pillar's aura was growing more oppressive, heavier, until it could be felt in the bones. It was now or never.

“We’re taking that pillar down! Charge!” Jack roared, his voice echoing through the catacombs. At his command, the front line surged forward, shields raised like a wall of steel. They sprinted into the corridor. One last stretch separating them from their target. The rest of the army poured in behind.

Ahead, the vampires guarding the pillar began channeling a massive wave of blood magic. The crimson tide surged like a tsunami down the corridor. But the heavy warriors didn’t break stride. Behind them, the mages unleashed a barrage of spells, ice, flame, light, shattering parts of the blood wave and weakening it just enough for the shield-bearers to crash through by sheer force.

“Yes! Go, go, go! We’re almost there!” Annie shouted, running just behind them.

As the first ranks stormed into the chamber, the scale of the threat became terrifyingly clear. The pillar stood at its heart, pulsing with dark energy. Black lightning arced along its surface, and its aura pressed down like a crushing weight. Several fighters collapsed the moment they crossed the threshold, felled by harpoons from the fish-folk or impaled by the vampires’ blood-spears.

The elves, visible now across the chamber, were just arriving as well. Their auras radiated power, more intense than any present. It was clear the undead had focused their main strength on halting the elves. Among the enemy ranks were strange humanoid undead, swift, and more intelligent than the others. One of them, radiating a terrifyingly dense aura, was already engaged in a ferocious airborne duel with a female elf. Their battle stirred winds and rattled bones, every missed strike a death sentence for any nearby lesser creature.

“Go for the pillar!” Josh and Jack shouted in unison, breaking away to attack. Their objective was clear: clear a path to disable the defenses before deploying the bombs. One misstep in timing, and the blast could take out their own men.

“Avoid the elites, we’re circling left!” Annie commanded, gesturing away from the chaos near the dueling titans.

Without Thalion, they couldn’t afford direct confrontation with those monsters. Their only chance was to approach the pillar from the opposite side, place the charges, and detonate it before the undead could react.

“Unleash everything! Push through, now!” Annie cried, channeling a glowing water blade atop her staff.

Josh, in his beast form, tore through the enemy lines like a predator unleashed, claws ripping, fangs flashing. The defenders fell one by one, but the fish-folk proved stubborn. Each was a trained E-rank warrior, fast and skilled.

Jack followed close behind, his telekinetic strikes sending enemies flying. Jakob barreled forward in front of the heavy warriors, crashing into hastily erected barricades. The sheer force of his blows shattered stone and bone alike. His bare skin repelled most attacks, and anything that came too close was met with pulverizing fists or devastating earth magic.

Behind them, Evelyn did her best to shield allies and heal the wounded, while Vorlok, a living siege engine, dove into enemy clusters, his shell deflecting blows as he bit down on fleeing vampires.

But it wasn’t enough. They were advancing but not fast enough. The undead and fish-folk retreated in tight formation, sacrificing ground while maintaining strong defenses. The pillar’s energy flared ever higher, the aura growing more intense with every heartbeat. It slowed the living, weakened them but not enough to break them. Not yet.

Still, the elves were struggling. Every stronger vampire had turned their attention to them. They fought valiantly but were barely holding ground. The undead had gambled that humans wouldn’t pose a real threat to the pillar. How wrong they were.

Yet, without thinning enemy numbers further, the bombs couldn’t be deployed. The closer they got, the more vicious the counterattacks. Blood-spears, harpoons, and curses rained down. Fighters dropped. One took a spear to the head which even Evelyn’s magic couldn’t heal. When the brain was struck, there was no healing that could bring one back.

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“Keep the shields up!” a heavy warrior shouted.

“We can’t sustain this! Our mana’s nearly gone, you must take the vampires down!” a lead mage shouted back, resuming the shimmering shields.

The strain showed. More and more, mages had switched to offense just to relieve pressure, but it left gaps. The vampires didn’t miss a single opportunity to punish them.

“We can’t push further! They’re too strong!” one of the heavy warriors cried out, parrying a vicious sword strike. “Do you even know how powerful they are?”

If Jakob had anything, it was raw strength and toughness. Most attacks bounced harmlessly off his bare skin as he tore through the enemy ranks with crushing fists and earth-shattering skills. Beside him, Vorlok swooped low like a living battering ram, divebombing into lines of undead warriors. His shell, nearly impervious to attack, made him a near-unstoppable force and the turtle knew it. He gleefully snapped up fleeing vampires in his maw, devouring those too slow to escape. Evelyn remained just behind Annie, hands glowing as she alternated between throwing up defensive wards and healing the wounded. Yet, despite their combined might, the advance was slow.

The undead and fishfolk were playing the long game, steadily retreating, buying time. They didn’t need to win. All they had to do was stall. And stall they did. The pillar at the center of the chamber pulsed violently now, its energies intensifying with every passing second. A black aura rolled off it in waves, pressing down like a crushing weight that sapped strength and dulled senses. Ironically, the pressure affected the undead less than the living, but the humans and elves had one advantage: desperation. And desperation made them relentless.

Then, a deafening explosion ripped through the chamber, on the elves’ side. Fire and smoke burst into the air. The elves had finally broken through their blockade. Their presence changed everything.

Elves spread in the chamber like a tide unleashed. Their movements were fluid, unrestrained. Unlike the humans, they seemed to ignore the oppressive aura. Arrows streaked from elegant white bows, glowing with enchantment. Wind and fire spells surged in sweeping arcs, crashing into undead formations. The vampires held their ground, retaliating with blood-spears and clouds of choking crimson mist, but the elves countered with gales that scattered the fog.

Some of the vampires charged into melee, clashing with elven warriors in brutal duels. A single misstep was all it took, vampires seized limbs, broke bones, tore throats. Still, the elves pressed on. Explosions echoed throughout the cavern, a chaotic symphony of destruction. The chamber was a battleground where every faction fought tooth and nail to reach the pillar.

High above it all, the duel between the female elf and the lich raged on. They were like gods in the sky, locked in a deadly dance of speed and sorcery. The lich weaved through the air, casting clouds of miasma and dark curses at every opening. The elf was a blur of motion, slicing through the darkness with razor-sharp wind blades and conjuring volleys of arrows that materialized in midair. Their battle remained evenly matched, neither gaining ground. Only the pillar’s aura surpassed their presence, an overwhelming force, rising steadily, consuming all.

“Where’s your leader?” a broad-shouldered elf called out, sprinting toward Annie. His face was familiar, one of the elven leaders from the war council. His armor was torn and bloodied, deep gashes exposing the raw effort he had endured. His desperation was clear, but Annie remained composed. She couldn’t tell him the truth, that Thalion was currently sealed inside a giant red rose.

“He’s recovering after a fierce fight with a vampiress,” she replied quickly, voice firm. “We need to act fast. I think the pillar is about to activate.”

“Good. At least he’s alive,” the elf grunted. “I have a handful of fighters left. Maybe we can push through and deal some damage to the pillar to slow it down or maybe even stop it.” His voice had to rise to be heard over the screams and blasts echoing through the chamber.

“We have bombs that could destroy the pillar,” Evelyn chimed in from beside Annie. “If we can place them properly and don’t get interrupted, they might be enough.”

“Perfect,” the elf replied. “We need to act now, or every sacrifice made here will have been for nothing.” He turned and signaled to ten elven warriors to rally behind him.

Evelyn called out for Josh, Jack, and Jakob, some of their strongest. Jack, in particular, was the only one who truly understood how to use the bombs. This was their chance.

“Let’s go. We break through, plant the bombs, and get out,” Althirion commanded. His energy was nearly spent, this would be his final push.

“Uh… not to be that guy, but… we don’t exactly know when the bombs will go off. That part’s still a bit… experimental,” Jack said hesitantly, one eye on the pulsing pillar.

“What?” Althirion barked. “Doesn’t matter. If we don’t move now, he’ll revive!” The elf gripped his greatsword and charged forward without another word.

The others followed in his wake. The vampires were caught off guard. They hadn’t expected humans and elves to coordinate, let alone launch a joint strike. Althirion carved a brutal path through the undead, each swing of his blade sending limbs flying. The rest moved behind him in a tight formation, exploiting the chaos.

For a moment, just a moment, it seemed like they might make it. They were closing in. The pillar loomed larger, darker, more menacing.

And then it stirred.