Novus grabs at both sides of the monster’s head and attempts to prise it out of him, but the force is too strong. He wears a grimace as he yells, “How are you here? You’ve never been able to teleport!”

  He gets no answer as he mutters something to himself and vanishes, reappearing next to the transparent cage. He thrusts his hand into it and the walls seem to flow into him as he breathes a sigh of relief.

  Vis reacts quickly by leaping towards him and slamming his bracers together, landing with a swinging mace. Novus grunts and rolls to the side, but the warrior kicks off the ground with a burst of might and instantly redirects his path back on target.

  Novus raises his arms to block the impact, and the weapon slams into them. The collision sounds out with a thud as the mace’s neck snaps and Novus is pushed back, but he is undamaged. A grin flashes on the man's face as he speaks.

  “Good attack, but your weapon was too weak. I could have given you a better one. Now, where are the other-”

  He is cut off by an arrow materialising out of nowhere and flying straight through his side, carving a massive hole through him. Metres away, Hunter and ?elare similarly appear, the bowman in the process of drawing another arrow.

  The stone floor, and even some grass, is coated in blood spatters, but the man snaps his fingers and his body returns to an uninjured state. He vomits blood onto the ground, then teleports behind Hunter and grabs his head.

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  ?elare draws his dagger and tries to strike, but he is unable to stop the archer from disappearing.

  “This works too,” the brown-haired man says with a nod. He spends a moment looking at the boy with a disdainful expression before repeating his move, taking a heavy punch from Vis in exchange for removing him from the fight.

  At this point, Astraea and the Worldgorger reach ?elare and those remaining stare their exhausted-yet-dangerous foe down.

  He chuckles and speaks through heavy pants.

  “Three left. Don't worry, I won't kill any of you people. The snake, however…”

  He steps forward and suddenly appears with his hands on the serpent. It bites him again, but this time he does not attempt to free himself. He continues holding its body while Astraea grabs his arm and begins draining. ?elare runs behind him and stabs through his back, but he remains still.

  Several seconds later, the voice of the Unique Monster can be heard faintly as its bite loosens, and its body slumps.

  “Mutual destruction implies equal power.”

  Novus lets out a yell and teleports himself only a metre away. He runs a few more, but falls to the ground.

  Astraea turns to the blond and says, “Stay back here so that you remain safe from any final tricks he may have in store.”

  He nods as she walks towards him and crouches down. Novus tries to stand up again and flee but she kicks him down, kneels, and places her hand on his chest, absorbing his life energy.

  “So this is how I die. We both know what happens now,” he says with a groan.

  The girl glances back to ?elare with a solemn expression as she continues draining, and slowly his body begins to wither. He coughs and sputters, but manages to utter one more word.

  “Six.”

  Astraea falls forward on top of him, and they both lie unmoving and unbreathing.