The tide of pure darkness swirled like a whirlwind around Saint, encircling her, preventing her from escaping again. Its presence was overwhelming, greater than that of any corrupted creature she had faced in the past. It seemed diluted, spread out among the millions of beetles surrounding her. Because of this, it had been difficult to detect its presence until it revealed itself.

  Still, Saint's greatest concern y not in the heart of the darkness, but in the approaching winter elemental. She could feel it clearly, a faint but unmistakable trace of a domain. A unique ability meant only for beings capable of changing the world.

  And now, that being was approaching to destroy them.

  The tide erupted, closing in on her from all directions. Saint didn't move, allowing the shadows in her body to act on their own. Threads of shadow materialized from her body, enclosing her in a complete dome.

  The tides crashed against the surface of shadows, cracking it like gss. But the shadows responded with equal ferocity, spinning like a tornado, devouring the beetles and pushing the tide aside in annoyance.

  The swarm retreated for barely a second only to attack once more. Forming gigantic tentacles, the cluster of insects tried to pierce the defenses, only to find themselves face to face with a tentacle made of shadows of equal size. On the other sides, the same action was repeated at speeds impossible for an ordinary person to follow.

  Meanwhile, Saint didn't move, observing the swarm's behavior in detail. Although its presence had revealed itself, its presence still felt incomplete, and she could suspect why. Its core still remained hidden.

  Around her, the cold winds howled with greater ferocity, and the closer the winter creature drew, the more the swarm grew. The shadows were no match for her anymore.

  She ignited her divinity and released the darkness within her heart. Instantly, the shadows struggling to retreat from the swarm erupted with renewed vigor. The tide of creatures of darkness fell as if consumed by fire.

  The sea of ??bck beetles retreated for a moment, confused, but then returned with greater anger. Towering dozens of meters above her, the tide swallowed her. Saint welcomed this action.

  Her shadows, her darkness, and her divinity surged from her every pore, spilling out onto the world like living ink.

  The shadow of her former master, now her own, was infused with this aberrant element and expanded into the world. It was as if a drop of water touched boiling oil. The entire tide seemed to react violently.

  The earth shook like never before, while the ground was shattered by a shockwave. The remains of the city fell prey to the exchange, while the blizzard seemed to recede. But the battle between the two beings of darkness was only just beginning.

  Saint dropped her weapons, allowing herself to enter the embrace of shadows and darkness. Trying to use her [Immovable Grim Reaper] amulet would be useless. The floor beneath her would disappear long before she could accomplish anything, not to mention that an even more terrifying being was minutes away from freezing them both. If things had ended like this, it was better to bet everything on mutual destruction.

  Like the eruption of an underwater volcano, bck fmes emerged from the tide of darkness.

  But Saint was not a creature without conscience. Despite the enormous elemental power, she now possessed, her greatest weapon had never changed: her genius for battle.

  "I found you." Saint's eyes, fused with the bck fmes of her heart, shone. She had found the creature's core.

  Moving like an arrow, her elemental force tore through the sea of ??beetles until it nded in front of a core. What appeared to be a simple translucent sphere vibrating with a million murmurs.

  The moment he approached, Saint could feel her head being drilled into, both physically and spiritually. Her soul was being attacked, and he even suspected the true target of such an attack was directed toward her mind, but her near-perfect immunity and resilience rendered such attempts useless.

  Her bck fmes engulfed her heart with fury, trying to consume it, but the heart reacted in kind. The tide around him attacked with suicidal intent. Saint's unbreakable soul was seen for the first time in the battle, being torn apart at a terrifying speed. It was like facing that worn-down version of the sovereign again, but now her enemy was more than willing to take advantage of the fractures it caused in her soul.

  Cracks began to appear on the crystalline surface of that heart, but at the same time, the murmurs coming from the orb grew louder. The bck fmes surrounding her tore like cloth.

  Saint's soul wavered, her vision seemed to darken, and her thoughts slowed. Around her, a tide of beetles seemed to lose their cohesion, falling like lifeless sand. But it wasn't over; none of them were. Driven by the sensation of death, their attacks grew in strength.

  Like an earthstorm, the swirling vortex of darkness and beetles writhed like a dying creature. Frozen buildings crumbled; the frozen earth shattered into sharp crystals. The world itself seemed to roar in agony... and in the midst of it all, the cold blizzard approached.

  A yer of ice formed over the beetles, as the shadows struggling at the heart of the vortex froze.

  The vortex of struggle seemed to slow, struggling as it disintegrated… only then did a fre of dark fmes erupt from its center. There was no destruction, no ripple of expansion that marked the end. Only stillness.

  < You have sin a Fallen Titan… a corrupted heartworm >

  < Your shadow grows stronger >

  < You have received an echo >

  < You are evolving… >

  Even kneeling amid the millions of beetle corpses, Saint could feel the unmistakable ache of a soul core developing within her.

  She was tired, a strange feeling for her, who had been created never to suffer such a thing, but strangely, it comforted her, as if the very fact of experiencing such a thing was proof of her accomplishment.

  But there was no time for unnecessary thoughts, not when the winter titan was approaching, not when her soul was so damaged, not when…

  In that instant, her shadow moved on its own. Manifesting in the world, she was thrown away… but not in time… Cws pierced her side. The cws tore through her armor and stone body with ease. Her shadow, which had protected her, was ripped like cloth, letting out a soundless scream.

  Saint fell to the ground, rolling on the ground before leaping up and pointing her sword at her attacker. It was a small, bck-skeletal creature with a quintuplet shape. It had a humanoid form, but its sharp cws and teeth made it unmistakable as a nightmare creature.

  The being raised its arm, where the adamantine stone and dust rested in its palm. The creature then gave a crooked smile, while bringing the remains of its flesh to its mouth and consuming them with a crunch.

  Saint's eyes glowed red-hot beneath her helmet, as four corrupted soul cores became visible within the demon's body.