The sky over the warehouse district was now entirely choked by black clouds. The wind howled with increasing fury, sending shattered crates and loose stones tumbling across the pavement. The very air was saturated with a thick, suffocating abyssal aura.
Versailles stood in the center of the ruins, the fragment of the Forbidden Book in his hand burning with an ominous intensity. Its runes pulsed with a sickly dark-purple light, and darkness swirled around him like a violent vortex.
"Do you see it now?" he spoke slowly. "This is the true power of the Abyss."
Lin Ye stood opposite him, his shadow flowing beneath his feet like a vast, black sea—no longer out of control, but possessing a terrifying gravity.
Versailles suddenly raised his hand, and the darkness condensed into dozens of obsidian spears. "Die."
The spears shot forward simultaneously, tearing through the air with a high-pitched whistle. Lin Ye did not flinch; he did not even move to dodge. His shadow surged upward, forming a massive wall of darkness that shielded him.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The spears slammed into the shadow-wall, triggering a series of violent explosions. The ground groaned and cracked under the pressure. As the dust settled, Lin Ye remained standing exactly where he was, his shadow slowly receding.
Versailles narrowed his eyes. "Impressive. But not enough."
He thrust the Forbidden Book fragment toward the sky. The runes flared with blinding brilliance, and every shadow in the warehouse district instantly stretched to unnatural lengths. Darkness churned like a tidal wave as it began to wrap around Versailles's body. His shadow grew gargantuan, eclipsing the entire street.
Reg, watching from a distance, turned pale. "This is bad."
Su Li sensed the shift in the atmosphere as well. "What is he doing?"
"Abyssal Fusion," Reg whispered. "He's using the Forbidden Book's power to fundamentally reinforce his own body."
As the dark mists cleared, Versailles had been transformed. His body was encased in a suit of black, jagged armor, and a pair of massive, shadow-like wings erupted from his back. His eyes burned with a malevolent purple fire. He looked down at Lin Ye, his voice low and vibrating with cold power.
"Now... it is your turn to feel despair."
Versailles lunged. He moved with the speed of a lightning strike. A colossal blade of shadow manifested in his hand, swinging down toward Lin Ye's head. Lin Ye raised his own shadow-blade to meet the strike.
BOOM!
The collision of the two dark blades released a shockwave that leveled the surrounding walls. Lin Ye was forced back several paces. Versailles pressed the advantage, his blades raining down in a flurry of strikes too fast for the naked eye to follow.
Lin Ye parried desperately, the ground beneath his feet fracturing with every blow. Su Li watched with a racing heart. "Lin Ye won't hold out much longer!"
Reg gripped his sword. "We have to help him."
As they prepared to rush forward, Lin Ye suddenly roared, "Stay back!"
His voice was deep and resonant. Shadows churned frantically at his feet, and the voice in his mind echoed one more time.
"Release me. Become the master of the night."
Lin Ye closed his eyes and took a long, deep breath. When he opened them again, the darkness had completely consumed his pupils, yet his consciousness remained sharp and unwavering.
"This power..." he whispered. "It belongs to me."
His shadow exploded outward. Every ounce of darkness in the warehouse district surged toward Lin Ye. Versailles's expression shifted from arrogance to pure shock. "What?!"
Lin Ye's shadow rose into the sky like a colossal black throne. Darkness coalesced behind him into a pair of magnificent wings, and he slowly raised his hand. A massive shadow-blade—ten meters in length—materialized in the air.
Versailles took a stumbling step back. "This... this is impossible..."
Lin Ye looked at him, his voice echoing with an otherworldly authority. "It's over."
The shadow-blade descended.
BOOM—!
The darkness struck like a bolt of black lightning. Versailles was sent flying, his shadow-armor shattering into pieces. The fragment of the Forbidden Book slipped from his grasp as a massive fissure tore through the earth, nearly leveling what remained of the warehouse district.
Versailles lay in the rubble, struggling to lift his head. He stared at Lin Ye with eyes full of bitterness and disbelief. "The Book of the Abyss... why... why did it choose you?"
Lin Ye walked toward him slowly, his shadows gradually retracting. He looked down at the defeated man.
"I don't know," he said. "But I will not let it destroy this world."
Versailles suddenly laughed—a dry, rasping sound. "The world... the world has belonged to the darkness for a long time."
His body began to crumble, dissipating into flecks of shadow until only a pile of ash remained. The wind swept through the ruins. The battle was over.
In the distance, Su Li walked slowly toward Lin Ye. She searched his face and asked softly, "Is it finally finished?"
Lin Ye looked down at his shadow. The darkness had grown quiet and still. "It should be."
But deep in his heart, he knew. The Book of the Abyss was not gone; it was merely slumbering within him, waiting.