The Tormented One tilted its head as if mocking him. Its hand twitched, sending ripples through the air.
Stark knew this was a foe beyond brute strength. He had to rely on something else.
He steadied his breath, focusing all his remaining energy into his aura.
'It's time,' he thought grimly.
It was time to take the risk.
Suddenly, the air shifted violently.
The ground beneath Stark trembled as his aura expanded, swirling outward like a storm.
[The Banish Game shall start!]
A voice boomed in his mind, loud and foreboding.
[Whoever's aura gets consumed by the other will be cast into the void!]
[Good luck!]
The Tormented One froze in place.
Its eyeless sockets seemed to narrow, and its hulking frame stiffened.
It tried to move, but the rules of the Banish Game bound it. Neither could act outside the clash of their auras now.
Stark gritted his teeth, his crimson aura flaring brighter.
He had activated his last resort—a gamble with no second chances.
With a deafening roar, the Tormented One's aura erupted, dark and overwhelming.
It was a sickly red, dripping like blood, twisting into grotesque shapes as it surged toward Stark's own energy.
Once the Banish Game starts, both fighters immediately and instinctively have the knowledge of how to wield their auras.
It was to make it as fair as possible.
The two auras collided with a thunderous BOOM
,
sending shockwaves through the crater.
Stark stumbled, barely holding his ground as the sheer force of the clash pressed down on him.
"The... fuck?!" he didn't expect a useless, ugly monster with nothing going for it except its strength to have such an overwhelming aura.
Plus, it had actually never used it until now!
The battlefield between them became a swirling vortex of light and shadow, a warzone where only their wills mattered.
[You can form shapes related to your skills with your aura in the Banish Game!]
The notification snapped Stark into focus. He had to act fast.
"Alright," he muttered, sweat dripping down his brow. "Let's see what you've got."
The Tormented One wasted no time.
Its aura twisted and churned, forming a massive, hulking figure.
The shape mirrored its monstrous frame but larger, bulkier, and infinitely more menacing.
The figure raised a fist the size of a boulder and slammed it toward Stark's crimson aura.
CRASH!
The impact sent Stark flying backward within the aura battlefield.
He winced as his energy wavered, shrinking under the relentless assault.
In the [Banish Game], you don't push punch or attack your opponent but their aura, and if it's hit, the other receives the damage themselves.
Such a weird concept, probably something anyone outside had never seen before.
"...?" even Aphex seemed surprised at the sight.
"Damn it," Stark growled, forcing his aura to stabilize. "I'm not losing here."
He focused harder, his crimson energy reshaping itself.
It surged upward, forming a giant fist of its own.
He didn't even think about Sora, Lilith and Lana.
Instead, his mind was clouded by pure hatred.
"Not today," Stark growled, forcing himself to stand.
"...?!" and yet again, for the second time, the Tormented One backed way, even it somehow feeling fear when looking at the human boy.
His crimson aura flared violently, burning brighter than ever before.
And then... it turned blue, changing colors.
The only time this had happened was during his fight with [Judicator], and though Stark couldn't understand what this meant, he could still feel the power.
His aura reshaped itself once more, this time into a massive spear—a towering weapon crackling with raw, destructive energy.
It was an embodiment of his [Heaven's Spear], and it radiated power like nothing else.
The spear shot forward, piercing through the Tormented One's monstrous aura-figure.
The creature's energy recoiled, its form destabilizing as Stark's spear drove deeper.
Of course, the Tormented One tried to push it away, but with his new power, it was too late.
Stark's blue aura surged forward, engulfing the entire form of the Tormented One.
Tormented One dropped to its knees now, the balance had changed.
And so with a final attack, he simply created the demon once more, who held Tormented One's aura in its hands, and crushed it.
The last remnants of its grotesque aura dissolved into nothingness.
In front of it appeared a panel.
[You have lost the Banish Game!]
[Winner: Stark Heartsouls]
[You are going to be sent to the void.]
"???!" Experience more on empire
The Tormented One for the first time in years wanted to get out and run, or maybe try to be saved by someone.
But there was nothing that could stop it, for the call of the void is impossible to avoid.
"COME ON, BITCH, WHERE'S ALL THE CONFIDENCE?!" Stark laughed as he pointed at the Tormented One, "GET RID OF HIM!"
The aura-demon, still there, rushed forward, and as Tormented One's aura was gone, there was nothing that could stop it from directly interacting with him.
If it had a mouth, it would probably say something like, "NO, PLEASE!" begging for its life just like Olikar.
But Stark was merciless.
Snap!
He snapped his fingers and a dark portal appeared under the Tormented One.
And so, mimicking Stark's movements, the demon stumbled back before throwing the skinless creature into the portal with all its strength.
Fwish!
"Nice shot, demon," Stark kept laughing as he saw the monster try its best to hold on into the edge of the portal, "You can go now."
The demon disappeared as the Banish Game was finally over, and Stark marched toward the portal.
The human boy spoke, still smiling, "Look under you."
Tormented One did as told, and all it saw was, well, nothing.
It was pitch black.
"This is where you're going to go," Stark laughed like a maniac, kicking Tormented One's hand off the edge.
And even though the monster was sturdy, without its aura defending it, it was as defenseless as a sheep in front of a wolf.
"..."
It tried as hard as it could, but... it was useless in front of the demon that Stark was.
And so it fell, the portal closing behind it, erased from this world and cast into the void.
Ding!
[You have killed "Tormented One", gained 70,000,000 experience points!]
"You're last," Stark groaned, pointing at Aphex.