A suffocating blanket of black clouds pressed down on the city, streaked with a dense web of lightning that flickered without pause. The ceaseless, rolling thunder and the violent cracks of lightning filled the demonic monsters emerging from the Black Tower with a primal fear. Lightning was the natural enemy of all dark things.

From her palace chamber, the Witch watched the storm rage outside her window. A tangled knot of oppression, anxiety, and unease tightened in her chest, a disquiet that made the very shadows in the tower seem to writhe and hiss.

"Is this the omen of a coming battle?" she whispered to herself. She was sensitive to such things, and she felt a deep sense of dread. This sixth sense had saved her life countless times before.

It's been a long time since I've felt this way, she mused. The last time... I think it was when the commander and the Deputy Commander were hunting me.

She couldn't understand it. The enemy was just a single arch lord. A demigod-level Pontiff would be descending soon. What could possibly be the source of this profound unease? With the Black Tower and a demigod at her back, the giant lord leading the attack should be no threat at all. It was a vexing mystery.

High above, the Deathly Soul-Reaper and Orion's avatar stood side-by-side in the eye of the storm. Small arcs of electricity danced across Orion's body, feeding into the roiling clouds above. The apocalyptic weather was his creation.

The Black Tower was already shrouded in a natural gloom; Orion had simply used his power to seize control of the weather, accelerating the process and shaping it to his will. In a thunderstorm like this, his own combat power was amplified.

"It is time," Orion said, raising his trident.

He summoned his Eightfold Spear Barrage. Countless spectral spider spears flickered into existence for a bare instant before vanishing, their collective energy coalescing at the highest point in the sky. There, they formed a single, colossal trident of crimson energy, crackling with raw electricity.

The crimson trident took shape, then plunged downward. As it entered the storm clouds, they dissolved into nothing, every last bolt of lightning sucked into the descending weapon. The sky above the Black Tower was suddenly, unnaturally bright, and the torrential rain stopped in an instant.

From her window, the Witch saw the abrupt change. She looked up and saw a sun. A sun of blinding red light and raw lightning, so bright it hurt to look at.

Her eyes widened in horror. "Shields!"

With a mere thought, the Black Tower's defensive protocols activated. A shimmering black dome of energy snapped into place, enveloping the tower and sealing it off from the demonic monsters still swarming outside.

But it was too late. The moment she saw the falling sun, Orion's fully charged attack had already arrived.

There was no explosion. No roar. When the descending sun met the Black Tower's shield, there was only a silent, all-consuming flash of brilliant white light.

For three miles in every direction, every demonic monster caught outside the shield—from Alpha-level grunts to Legendary-level champions—was instantly vaporized into fine grey ash. Even the Witch, deep within the tower, was caught in the blast. The light seared her flesh. There could be only one explanation: the shield had been shattered. The tower itself had been pierced. The new suit of black scale mail she had just grown was flayed from her body, disintegrating into dust.

It was the single most powerful blow Orion had ever struck since his ascension to arch lord. It was a fusion of his blood-based transcendent power, the raw power of the storm itself, and even a sliver of the holy aura from his Aegis of Light—the very thing that had made the attack appear as a brilliant, cleansing sun.

"Damn it! How can he be this strong?!" the Witch shrieked. "No arch lord should be able to unleash this kind of power!"

A shroud of Abyssal energy enveloped her. Her armor gone, she instantly transformed into her six-armed serpent-demon beast form for greater defense. But at that exact moment, a phantom scythe materialized in the space behind her.

SHLICK!

Her serpent-demon form was cleaved in two. Her massive tail flew into the air, writhing in agony. She whipped her head around, her eyes wide with utter disbelief.

"A... Death-Soul..." she stammered.

ARGH!

Being bisected was not a fatal wound for her. But as she roared in fury, the severed lower half of her body suddenly exploded into nothingness. In its place, a crimson, cubic ward snapped into existence, sealing the Deathly Soul-Reaper within it. At each of the cube's eight corners, a small, blood-red serpent appeared, pumping supernatural power into the Sealing Ward.

Just as the Witch was about to breathe a sigh of relief, the sound of tearing void echoed behind her. Orion, trident in hand, was already upon her, executing a perfect Instant Impact, the tip of his weapon aimed directly at her head.

Impossible... Is this avatar going to die... this quickly?

But just then, a soft pop emanated from the side chamber of her palace. A mighty force, the power of a demigod, descended. An overwhelming pressure of pure law washed over the chamber, freezing Orion in place. The walls of the side chamber melted away, and a shimmering, indistinct demigod phantom strode out, its form both beautiful and terrible.

With every step the phantom took, the pressure on Orion intensified.

WAAAGH

The supernatural power within Orion raged, his will roaring in defiance. He fought against the demigod's crushing aura, trying to break free through sheer force of will. Break free, and seize victory. But could a middle arch lord truly overcome the divine power of a demigod with willpower alone? It was impossible. He remained frozen, his every muscle straining against the invisible bonds.

"Abyssal giant... and I can even sense the aura of a Titan..." the demigod's voice echoed, fragmented and slow at first, then coalescing into a smooth, cold judgment. "...Unprovoked attack on... a Black Tower... You will be slain. Seizing the territory... of our Cult of Four... You will be slain. Attempting to assassinate... my High Priestess... You will be slain."

The phantom's aura grew more terrifying as it drew closer. It raised a hand, which morphed into a dragon's claw, and lunged, intending to crush Orion into pulp.

Suddenly, from deep within Orion's body, came the roar of a sword.

"Die."

The phantom of a skeletal king, wreathed in an aura of absolute death, erupted from Orion's form, its blade lashing out in a single, perfect strike.

The ambushed demigod had not yet reacted, but the Witch let out a piercing scream.

"Arthas!" she cried, recognizing the mighty skeletal apparition. "A demigod!"

The moment Arthas struck, the Black Tower demigod's binding shattered.

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