Atyx was now more aggressive than ever, with his Great Hammer smashing into the ground constantly, throwing Charlotte's balance off whenever she tried to attack from the ground. The elves were also not having a great time, with their spells constantly being interrupted and canceled because of this.

"CHARLOTTE! DISTRACT HIM!" Isbert yelled as yet Atyx slammed his hammer into the sands, and another pillar of golden light erupted from the cracks. He had his Ice crossbow out once again, which let Charlotte know what he wanted to do.

"GOT IT!" She yelled, flapping her wings and diving straight toward Atyx. She wouldn't do damage, but that wasn't the point.

Atyx simply let her attack him, defending only his forehead's Light gem. Masamune harmlessly sunk into his shoulder, but no blood was leaking out. As she tried to lift Masamune out, the flesh regenerated and twisted the blade, preventing her from doing so.

"FOOL." Atyx laughed as Charlotte suddenly felt a huge force swat her out of the sky, Masamune still embedded into Atyx's flesh.

"NO!" Charlotte yelled, activating and putting all power into her Draconic runes. But she wouldn't reach her in time, with his hand right about to encircle Masamune, an arrow pierced the winds and dug itself into his Light gem, forming a web of cracks on the golden crystal.

"Got you. Keep him distracted, Charlotte!" Isbert yelled. With the extra time she provided, Charlotte quickly flew back onto Atyx's shoulder and wrenched Masamune out after some difficulties, getting out just in time.

Atyx roared and ripped the arrow stuck in the gem out, shards of broken light coming out with it. He raised his great hammer into the sky, his eyes emitting a pure, white glow.

The skill, simply called [SMITE], elicited a massive boom from the heavens, a beam of white light falling onto the great hammer, coating it in the light.

Charlotte frowned, unsure what to think of that. Was it similar to Masamune's [Imbue Essence]?

Another arrow was sent flying, aiming for Atyx's forehead once again, but he managed to block it with his second hand. He snorted, as the beam of light died, his hammer now hurting to look at. 

"Come, Heretic." Charlotte didn't respond to him, opting to stay put where she was and observe him. It gave the Elves ample opportunity to attack and hopefully shatter the gems.

"Hmph." Seeing that Charlotte was not responding to his provocation, he made his move. A flowing cape of gold materialized on his back, reaching down to his knees, and with each step he made, the light reflecting off the gold set aflame anything that was combustible. His hammer glowed an ever brighter white, which Charlotte didn't even know was possible, as the light began gathering around him. Starting from his feet up, a blinding suit of armor that resembled a Paladin's gearset appeared, his head covered entirely by a helmet. 

Seemed like hitting the gem on his forehead was now impossible. Isbert realized this too, with him redirecting his efforts onto trying to snipe the gem on the back side of the hammer. The other 2 Elves were nowhere to be seen, which confused Charlotte. 

The desert sky turned Gold, with hints of crimson impurities dying the sky. The sun bore down upon the desert hotter than usual, its original color now an unnatural white.

Countless stakes and bodies simply materialized into existence, the geography suddenly changed from flat desert to hills upon hills of fleshy corpses and burning pyres. The stench of rotting carcasses, burning flesh, and fresh blood filled the air almost immediately. Even the sand below Charlotte had been replaced by a squishy corpse, that leaked an unknown fluid whenever she shifted her weight.

"Behold." He raised his arms and gestured at the surroundings. "The start of the great era of humanity."

A massive golden cross appeared behind her, its light washing over her back. 

"Isn't it beautiful?" Atyx raised his faceplate, an unsightly grin emerging from underneath. "The unwanted relics of a species long disgraced. Even after death, they still have their uses." 

A chill ran down her spine, as Charlotte quickly flapped her wings, and dashed sideways. The next moment, a hammer made entirely from Light smashed into the corpses, sending corpse fluid flying everywhere. His hammer was still in his hands.

She felt another chill, and another hammer slammed on the position where she last stood. And another, and another, and another... Charlotte flew across the battlefield as more gavels slammed into the fleshy grounds, turning the corpses underneath into pulverized mush. Charlotte attempted to use his own spells against him again, flying right under his legs, as a gavel materialized above his head, about to slam down.

"Mortal deceit no longer works on me." He said as his hand grabbed the hammer by its shaft, and while jumping backward, swung it at Charlotte. She could not dodge in time, as the hammer of light crashed into her shield, obliterating itself and taking her shields with it.

A burning sensation erupted in her stomach before disappearing, flaring up randomly. She cursed this stupid curse and pressed forward.

Atyx, now thousands of meters away from his original position, raised one of his hands, golden light coagulating in his palm. She attempted to chase after him, but she felt a cold hand grasp her ankle. She attempted to pull away, but it simply lengthened the hand. 

"Please... Save me..." A wrinkly thing groaned. None of his features were visible, with Charlotte not knowing if his wrinkled skin that looked like it was about to slough off was due to burns or if he simply looked that way. 

Another moan came from the ground as another hand curled around her leg, with more and more hands erupting from the homogenous flesh, each one tugging at her legs. "Save us..." A child's voice cried out.

"We didn't do anything wrong!" 

"Why? Why? Why?" An uncoordinated symphony of screams and pained groans rang across the landscape, with Charlotte trapped underneath the thousands of burnt, ashen hands that tore into her soul, unable to resist. She felt an invisible bar slowly fill up, inching ever closer to 100%

Through her fading vision, she could briefly see the blood swirl around her blade. 

[I look away for a few seconds...]

A pillar of golden light washed over the twisted ground, vaporizing the hands and faces that pulled at Charlotte's soul.

Charlotte felt like she was violently thrown forward, her mind slamming into her skull. "Fuck." She groaned, clutching her head. 

Atyx's hand was held high, a gold orb clutched in his hand. 

Without even giving her a chance to rest, thousands of golden swords emerged above Charlotte as a golden sigil hundreds of meters in diameter appeared beneath her feet. The swords moved with her, and wherever she tried to run, the swords followed her, no matter how fast she moved.

2 more sigils appeared on the ground, one belonging to Isbert, and the other to Syvis. But Fay was nowhere to be seen until Charlotte looked at Atyx, who slowly lowered his hand, the swords mimicking his motions. A glowing golden sigil was right above his great Hammer. Atyx had no idea the 3rd Elf was right next to him the entire time.

As the shadows unveiled themselves, Fay appeared right next to the gem, with Atyx's head snapping toward her presence. He was too late to stop her now.

A large chunk of Ice wreathed in shadowy tendrils materialized above the gem, and as it made contact with the Light Gem, the battlefield turned a brilliant white, eclipsing all other forms of light for kilometers.

...

A man sat in a dark room, with the only source of light being his candle, casting long and dark shadows. He shifted through various documents, attempting to decrypt a message sent to him by the Hall of Kingslayers. 

"Psyche has..." He raised an eyebrow. The last portion of the letter was damaged, and the code was ineligible. All he knew was that something had happened to Psyche, the greatest Assassin in the world. Whether it was good or bad... he had to visit the Hall to see.

He hoped that it wasn't bad news. His entire life had been built around a single idol, Psyche. Long has he waited to even catch a glimpse of the enigmatic pioneer, to even witness a fraction of their abilities. Many of the Hall share similar feelings, so he was not the only admirer.

"Sir." A swarm of darkness formed a person in a kneeling position.

"Speak." Mildly annoyed, the letter disappeared into a starry portal.

But now wasn't the time, he had a contract to do. Entrusted with a great task at the behest of his contractor, Julius was determined to not mess anything up. Donned in a pure black cloak to blend in the dark of night, a stark contrast from the Hall's pure white uniform with silver linings, he kept an ear open.

"We have found where the tracker ends. In an obscure portion of the upper Ascanian wilderness, shrouded in snow." 

Julius narrowed his eyes. "No sign of our target?"

His subordinate shook his head. "No sir."

"Hm..." Julius rubbed his bearded chin. "You're dismissed." His subordinate nodded and melted back into shadows. The tracker was supposed to be 100% accurate since it relied on blood, not mana signs.

You can shroud or hide your mana signs, but you cannot escape from the Bloodhound, a device that pinpoints the location of someone, as long as it is fed with the blood of their relative. 

He had made sure that his employer was actually related to their target first, doing all sorts of tests beforehand. While it may seem unnecessary, his years at the Hall of Kingslayers³Worshippers of Psyche, the Mindflayer had made him quadruple-check, even if all signs pointed to the answer. He had only left because he needed more money to cover the costs of his daughter's tuition costs, which this job paid plenty.

"So it narrows down to either a hidden dungeon... or a cloaking device." The former was easier to deal with, if not a bit tedious. Simply find the entrance, and the rest will solve itself. The latter... however, added loads of unknown variables that he could deal with. Powerful backers, well-laid traps, or an ambush were just some of the potential hidden threats.

Any unknown could potentially foil even the most well-thought plans...

"I'll have to visit the site myself... distance is a bit far, but nothing I couldn't manage..." He murmured, thick black tendrils studded with the glow of countless lights and stars that flowed like liquid encircled his body."Besides, it's only a few stops. If the target is there, I'll just personally finish the job." 

The last of the goo covered him, and in an instant, his entire body disappeared, leaving behind a beautiful afterimage of the night sky, slowly sinking into the ground.

---