The battle reached a boiling point. Knull, sensing the imminent loss of his freedom, focused his absolute fury on preventing Cid from reaching the third and final anchor node. The Sanctuary convulsed under his power. Waves of pure void, symbiote tendons the size of buildings, and spatial manipulations launched themselves toward the Level 7 Agent with the clear intention of erasing him from existence.
Jinwoo saw it. Cid was under maximum pressure, his speed and defenses scaled to their absolute limits. It was time for the final distraction and support maneuver. He gathered the remaining strength of his Shadow Army and the most powerful Skills he had left.
"Everything! Now!" Jinwoo shouted, unleashing Skill: Monarch's Domain: Annihilation. His shadow energy expanded violently, not to restrain Knull, but to create a deafening distraction in the Void. Thousands of concentrated shadow projectiles rained down on Knull from all directions, blasts of dark energy that, while doing no lasting damage, were an irritation and a direct challenge to his own domain. Beru and Igris, with the remaining generals, launched a near-suicidal assault on Knull, sacrificing themselves to buy Cid the last few seconds.
Cid felt Jinwoo's burst of distraction. The pressure on him eased momentarily as Knull's attention shifted. This was the window. The only chance. He launched himself toward the third node with a speed that transcended the concept of physical movement.
Cid thought: The designated Shadow Asset has executed the final diversionary maneuver. The window of opportunity for activating the final protocol is... minimal. I must reach the node before the final boss fully adapts. Maximum speed. Total concentration. This is the critical point of the mission.
He reached the third node. It was embedded in the very base of Knull's throne, a larger fragment of the containment chain, pulsing with an energy opposed to the Void. Knull roared, trying to stomp on it, crush it with his colossal hand. But Cid was faster. He placed both hands on the fragment.
He concentrated every ounce of fundamental energy he could muster, channeling it into the node. "Cosmic Imprisonment Protocol - Final Activation Sequence," he murmured.
The reaction was immediate and cataclysmic. The chain fragment lit up with a blinding blue-white light that spread throughout all the chains embedded in the chamber. The symbiote conduits Cid had reconfigured pulsed with immense force, their energy now fueling the containment mechanism. The symbiote matter in the walls, in the floor, in the entire Sanctuary began to shift, solidify, form barriers and tethers that responded to the reconfigured energy of the nodes.
Knull was trapped. Luminous chains leaped from the walls, enveloping him. The symbiote matter of his own throne twisted to form shackles and barriers around him. The Sanctuary itself transformed into a living prison, reconfiguring itself to subdue its master.
"NOOOO!" Knull's roar was pure Void and rage. He fought with the strength of a primordial god, trying to tear the chains apart with his power, dissolve the bonds of the reconfigured symbiote, break the spatial manipulation with sheer will. He unleashed waves of energy that shook the chamber to its foundations, trying to break the containment protocol that bound him.
The restraint faltered. The chains creaked, the symbiote matter cracking under the pressure. Cid, keeping his hands on the final node, felt the immense strain of maintaining activation in the face of Knull's unbridled power.
"Monarch! Maintain containment! Reinforce the anchors!" Cid shouted, his voice strained with exertion.
Jinwoo, exhausted, with only a handful of shadows remaining after the final distraction, understood. This wasn't just activating the prison; it was actively keeping it locked while Knull fought. He used the rest of his energy. Not to attack Knull, but to reinforce the restraints. He held out his hands, and his shadow energy, which resonated strangely with the Void but was loyal only to him, flowed into the chains and symbiote matter enveloping Knull.
Jinwoo's shadow power intertwined with the containment energy, creating a friction, a resistance that Knull couldn't so easily dissolve. It was an anchor, a point of resistance that harnessed the strange nature of his power to latch onto the Void itself and keep it tethered.
The combined strength of Cid maintaining the protocol activation and Jinwoo anchoring the containment with his power halted Knull's escape. The primordial god's struggle was immense, but the reconfigured prison, powered by two entities operating outside its usual rules, held.
Gradually, Knull's fury turned into a frustrated growl. His movements became less sweeping, his power of escape diminishing as the bonds tightened. The chains tightened, the symbiote matter solidifying around him, forming a colossal mass that imprisoned him completely.
The rumble subsided. The trembling ceased. The Void energy in the chamber gathered around the newly formed prison, contained. Knull, the Black King, was imprisoned once again within his own Sanctuary, bound by chains of light and reconfigured symbiote matter, a victory achieved by the unlikely alliance of a Level 7 Agent and a Shadow Monarch.
Cid withdrew his hands from the node, panting slightly. Jinwoo collapsed to one knee, exhausted, his last shadows dissipating. Knull's oppression was still present, but now it was a contained power, a silent roar behind the cosmic bars.
Cid thought: Final Boss Cosmic Imprisonment Protocol - Completed. The containment mission has been successfully executed. It required perfect timing of the protocol activation and the containment anchor of the Designated Shadow Asset. An operation... of extreme difficulty, but the end result is optimal. The Level 7 Agent has defeated the Ultimate Cult.
He looked toward the newly formed prison, where Knull's immense form was contained, his red eyes still visible through the bonds, burning with impotent hatred. Victory was real. The Fallen King was once again in chains.
.
Hello everyone, what did you think of the chapter? Please let me know in the comments. If you want to download the full book, it's available on my KO-FI page. The link is here. 👉
🤩ko-fi.com/winterstar01/shop🤩