Satisfaction seemed to settle in Nemenoth's amethyst eyes. He casually wound up an arm, aiming to bring a crushing fist onto Luke's head.

"The critical limit holding back all you beings of flesh and blood. Join me in crystal perfection."

"You aimed at the worst spot, crystal dumbass. And," Luke caught the crystal fist with an ice clawed hand, freezing apart the spire spearing through him. The impact moved the Reaver away from further danger.

"Who said I was regular flesh and blood? You should know better than to think anyone 'ordinary' would take you alone, shard brain." Luke frosted apart the crystal in his middle, revealing the metaphysical Spectral Heart, beating normally. The transparent organ was invulnerable without the means to turn it corporeal or to attack the spiritual structure.

Ice sealed over the wound, while Vampiric Regeneration steamed, weaving elemental flesh. Blood Haze cleared Luke's mind. The mist shroud alerted him to every action Nemenoth took with the twisting spires. Despite Luke's words, the destructive spire came dangerously close to overpowering the frost protecting his other organs—a disastrous outcome if it happened. He needed to get into Nemenoth's mental state, planting the seed of doubt.

Leaving a mirage image behind, Luke circled the boss, mists pierced by the near omnipresent crystal limbs. All of his actions—a game within a game—aimed to expose hubris a second time. Feinting forward, Luke backstepped, and a crystal crater appeared in the proposed trajectory, blasting apart the path to Nemenoth, writhing in a liquid state, then reforming to chase after him. Cleaving apart a crystal wave, Luke clung thick grey mists around Nemenoth. A thin crystal pillar speared from the ground, stabbing into Luke's lower leg.

The Reaver lashed out with an elemental flying slash, slicing off the snare. Shifting crystals warded the attack at the cost of freezing apart. Commanding the new ice, Luke sent it toward Nemenoth's eyes. Black crystal formed at Nemenoth's right fist, and a shockwave left his fist weapon as he extended the arm out. An annoyed hiss left Nemenoth's maw. Slamming both fists to the ground, two rows of crystal spikes coned out, obliterating one fourth of the domed area—halted by the barrier. The crystal spikes persisted, but their primary function failed. The Reaver appeared at their side, and yellow amperage clung to his calves.

His control is getting more refined, and constantly using Triple Step is grating on my mind.

Luke eyed the brown rot intermixing with frost, all concentrated at Nemenoth's waist. Liquid crystal repaired the hole, but the negative aliments stayed. Planting a hand on the crystal spike structures, ice spread throughout the new landmark. Growing used to the Reaver's techniques, Nemenoth crushed it apart, the crystal and frost stuck in a stalemate.

Now coming around the friendly obstacle, liquid crystal harassed Luke again. Renewing Infusion on Xera, Luke used the elevated force to slice open a hole, leaving. He went straight on toward Nemenoth, almost tauntingly simplistic. When Luke diced apart the crystals stopping him, Nemenoth closed the distance, summoning shards around him. Both a fist and the new crystal turrets fired at the Reaver. Stretching his arm to the left, pressured frost exploded, jettisoning Luke to the side, calculated to be in a position to strike Nemenoth.

He was faster, and he pressed that advantage to its fullest.

Blasting apart an ice layer on Xera for instant acceleration, Luke wrought the blade down, aiming for Nemenoth's neck. It connected, carving in, defensive spires poked out, threatening to tear Luke into pieces. Timing fulminations across his body, Luke twisted out of the way, jerking Xera away with him. He'd cut into a third of the crystalline neck. Frost exploded at the site, encasing Nemenoth in ice producing a span of blindness. Regenerative liquid dropped from above, and Nemenoth gorged himself in it. More attributes drained away, dimming the light radiating from the enraged boss.

A low groan echoed off the crystal semi-formed cocoon. All the spires crashed into Luke's nearest position, protecting Nemenoth from the Reaver.

But not from his companion.

Like a black meteor, Sooty sunk a Reaver Beak into the exposed waist, weakening crystal armor and strengthening Essence Bond on Nemenoth while worsening Vorpal Touch. She opened her beak in the gouged wound, and Essence Screech traveled through Nemenoth, scrambling the crystal liquid. Rot appeared in its healing waters.

Barreling to the right, the crow ended her temporary stay invasion. An Ice wall erupted, protecting Sooty's left, preventing immediate retaliation. Spires smashed into the wall but held for long enough that Sooty evaded pursuit. A sickening squelch traveled from the crystal liquid, dripping onto the core platform.

It rapidly expanded, flooding the entire boss room. Luke tried to freeze his portion but found it impossible—defying logic. Something he often did, annoying that it came the other way. Expending essence, he stepped on the liquid, jumping up afterward, opting to stay on a hovering ice platform, condensed from humidity in the air. Black and red veins pulsed on the ground, stemming from Nemenoth.

Again, the Reaver tried to freeze the tidal crystal liquid covering the platform. The elemental freeze felt like it entered an all-consuming void, without endless power, you couldn't reverse its existence. Tilting the ice platform he stood on, Luke bent his knees, then spiraled out to Nemenoth. The spires obstructed him, but he shattered them apart. Xera sank through the liquid. The ice-coated blade split the crystal liquid that protected Nemenoth's vulnerable side. Luke pierced through Nemenoth's encrusted gemmed protection, stealing away more attributes.

About to leave, the liquid sprang up, submerging him. Nemenoth slammed both fists onto the Reaver's back. He bounced away upon the water like a rag dog, crashing into the distant barrier. Bits of frosty blood left his mouth—some ribs felt broken from the impact.

Seeping into the platform, it cracked apart. The outer and middle rings became pieced-apart islands. The liquid congealed, swirling around Sooty, creating a liquid crystal cage—solidifying rapidly afterward.

Convulsing, Nemenoth hunched over, his body regenerated completely; however, he couldn't expel the frost and rot combination at the waist. Growling, the crystal demon said, "A godless with a ruinous companion and an elemental body. What will you do when one is held under a perfected cage?"

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Bounding off the barrier, Luke flew in the air, jetting mists left his soles. He smashed Xera into the glinting white crystal cage, producing an ear piercing clang. Wrapping a hand around a cage section, frost covered it, then steamed off like it came into contact with a sizzling sun core. Pushing back with the same hand, Luke lurched back, the crystal limbs sliding into the gap. Aware he needed to understand the changing fight faster, Luke activated Polar South. Wayfinder glinted as insight rose into Luke's brain.

Rattling in fury, Sooty flew around in a circle. Bashing her body in each gap, a transparent liquid barrier rebuffed her. No matter her attacks, the liquid absorbed the force and returned to the mirror-like reflective surface a millisecond later. Brown rot rose to the surface, expelled outside the cage. Bits clung onto the crystal limbs outside the cage, decomposing it like vile acid.

Inspecting the awkward path of the crystal spires and limbs around Sooty's prismatic cage, Reaver came to some liberal conclusions. His eyes glance at Nemenoth, more sure than ever. At first glance, the boss appeared stronger than before—waist aside—but upon a closer look, the Reaver saw Nemenoth's commanded crystal reserves at an all-time low.

Falling onto a larger island at the middle ring, Luke scanned the environment. The spires at the ceiling were all but gone, scant few left for Nemenoth to consume. This middle ring and the outer ring also broke off from his control; otherwise, Luke would have experienced crystals springing up to impale him. Instead, the ground underneath froze easily, unlike before, and it felt like dead ground, the thrumming crystal nearly alive terrain transformed into a shell of its former self.

He reached a conclusion. That cage came at a severe cost in return for exiling Sooty from the fight. Moreover, the crystal liquid acted as an impermeable barrier to Sooty's attacks but also Nemenoth's crystal manipulation. Creating crystal limits that not even Luke could cut or freeze required all the deep-rooted power from the outer and middle rings. Believing in his judgment, Luke shot off, shattering apart the island he used as a blasting pad.

Reforming the two fist weapons into a singular black hued violet crystal sword, Nemenoth crossed the blade over his chest. He opened his crystal crevice mouth, sliver tongue licking the blade's side. Brands revealed themselves over the blade as the tongue slid by, making the blade vibrate fast enough to blur.

"Crystals grow in endless variation, godless Elemental. Break yourself upon my blade into countless fragments."

Essence Bond shimmered out of existence with the Reaver en route, granting Nemenoth respite. Swinging the sword once, the boss appeared to adjust to the returned attributes. A second Siphon stack marked Nemenoth, sapping away additional stamina. Coalescing around Xera, Infusion clung to the white and blue frosted artifact. Grey runes still glowed on her blade body—hinting at a mystery to the elemental race.

Crystal spires multiplied out from the core platform. They rose, acting like a sectioned tidal wave, threatening to consume the Reaver whole. Insight feeding elevated ocular perception, red shadows marked themselves at key points along the crystal disaster. Rushing head first, the Reaver turned Xera into a wand, a world of frost condensed at her tip—a preparation for a newly concocted plan.

The Reaver created an Essence Lance with Xera, its power a notch above its usual potency— optimized by Xera. It rushed full tilt ahead, three smaller shards consumed in to alter its path, veering from other crystal pillars from stopping it. Right before impact, Luke used the fourth shard, placing Essence Lance inches away from one of the red shadows.

Blowing apart the weak point, a gaping hole appeared in the crystal tidal wave. Essence Lance kept enough power to bare its icy fangs at Nemenoth. The boss split the lance in half, but radiating frost sifted down to his waist at Luke's command, layering there. Ice bits clung to Nemenoth's crystal black tinted oscillating sword, breaking it apart.

Soaring past the massive gap, smaller crystal spires shout out the opening to skewer Luke. The Elemental flexed his left arm, then smashed apart the threat in an overhead swing. His mist shroud roiled around Nemenoth's remaining territory. About to lose momentum, the Reaver burst ice layers at his soles, aiming to crash land into Nemenoth. In a blazing arc, Nemenoth sliced the crystal sword at Luke.

Show me what you can do, new body.

Hypercondensing ice over his left forearm, Luke created an ice vambrace and ducked. He used Temporal North, conjuring a second Essence Lance. The distance was too short for Nemenoth to defend. The lance plunged into his crystal gem encrusted chest. As Nemenoth's vibrating blade sliced into Luke's vambrace, the Lance shattered inside Nemenoth. A gaping hole appeared at his crystal sternum—sharp essence deeply embedded. Vibrating sharp force cracked apart Luke's vambrace and tore into his skin. Blood gushed at the wound, but his bone held.

Enduring the blade trying to dig into his bone for a faint duration, Luke fired the raging condensed swirl at Nemenoth's side. In a glacial flash, Nemenoth's entire right ribcage froze. A deep glint etched into amethyst eyes. Deep white mist rushed from the Reaver's mouth.

"Compress."

Frost and ice bore their pressure upon the ribcage at the Reaver's order. Compacted, part of the crystal demon's torso crumpled, leaving deep fissures to snake out across the rest of his body. With the structure exposed, iced crystal scattered to the ground like marbles. Ice overtook all of Nemenoth's torso, now trying to crush it to nothingness—and succeeding.

An oddly calm, resonant voice broke from Nemenoth's maw, "A godless like you belongs in the era of the Sinned Seven. The foreign mark clings, for a being whisked to Ludus by a selfish World Spirit, you are too fortunate a find for the past era's losing side." The demon's crown fragmented, flowing over his head in a crystal cyclone. The brands all over Nemenoth's body glowed ominously, "The Spire shall strip away another piece of me. To reverse the path you reopened, spirit's chess piece—in Jalar's name—I, Nemenoth, relinquish my crown."

A white, crimson, and violet crystal liquid tsunami became a watery pillar around Nemenoth, blasting Luke away and failing to the core platform's edge. Reverting Xera into her sword form, the Reaver stabbed her into the floor, its vital power draining away, as done to the middle and outer ring earlier. It withered, cracking tremendously, keeping together—albeit in an unstable mess.

The spires still whole on the ceiling above shattered apart into glittering motes, devoured by Nemenoth. Radiant walls outside the barrier dimmed, the white crystal turning to a deadening gray, bringing the light inside the dome to dusk. All the crystalline liquid that composed the tidal wave pulsed, drying out the platform. Every drop sucked into Nemenoth's towering figure. The crystal sourced humming ceased. Dark whispers replaced them. One successfully wormed itself into Luke's eardrums before he sliced apart the incoming sound waves with frost.

How you do it, I don't know, but you manage to be spineless and overconfident at the same time, Private Luke. A maggot like you should offer himself up as a bullet magnet.

Sealing off the inflicted wound to his forearm with frost, Luke grinned.

"You'll have to do better than that, getting desperate, Nemenoth?"

Purple glowing eyes stared back at Luke through the tidal pillar, its regenerative waters quickly diminishing. Nemenoth nearly obliterated torso thickening and renewing, as the oscillating sword fused into the crystal demon.

"No measure is worth overlooking against a central piece. Ending your growth before it becomes the second coming of Ceridia is the greatest act one chained by the Spires for eternity would hope to achieve."

Rooting himself to the platform's edge like a tree, Luke cut apart the rushing pressure. Streaming icy winds gathered around him, dispersing the opposing force blasting from Nemenoth. An emotionless mask over the Reaver's face, the emotion mirroring on his glacial eyes. Crackling, white frost rushed from his feet, covering over the terrain, and pure ice replaced the lost flesh on his forearm.

Convulsing once, the crystal tsunami pillar sealed itself into a swirling vortex on Nemenoth's chest, where Luke figured the demon's core was. Shockwaves rushed over the demon's altered body, shedding Luke's ice element sticking to Nemenoth. Crown fragments implanted on the demon's body, brands glowed in white, violet, and red, revolving slowly on the outer crystal skin. White jagged tips jutted all over Nemenoth's arms. A cutting edge shone in every speck. Three multicolored crystals peacefully floated behind the boss, sealing away all the Reaver's negative effects he worked to implant in the demon.

A thin, rotting brown line stubbornly remained at the center of Nemenoth's waist. Letting loose his silver tongue, a titan's head tattoo revealed itself on the demon's tongue. Spreading out his senses, Luke couldn't find any further reserved crystals, the Ether in the air devoid of Nemenoth's usual commanding signature. His elemental ice was unopposed except for in the demonic vessel staring back at him. There, the Reaver faced a bastion optimized to negate every aspect of his power.

This is all he's got. He's used up all the crystals he controls. Overcome this last evolution, and I win.

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