Cracks began spreading across the black blade in Nikolai’s hands, thin lines of pink light glowing from somewhere deep within the sword.
The Remnant instinctively took a step backward, its smile fading for the first time as something resembling genuine fear appeared across Michello’s stolen face.
“The real Michello would’ve charged straight at me by now,” Nikolai chuckled.
“He would’ve released every Artifact he had on him and enjoyed every second of the fight.”
The cracks across the Fang widened.
Slowly, the darkness surrounding them began to disappear.
Shadows stretched toward the sword before being pulled into the blade, swallowed one after another.
Nikolai controlled how much the Fang consumed, careful not to remove enough darkness for the tower’s light to burn the Remnant outright.
Even the imitation itself wasn’t spared.
The black color of Michello’s priestly robes began draining away, flowing toward the Fang until the fabric became completely white.
The Remnant looked down at its clothes.
“This is ridiculous. An Artifact shouldn’t be this powerful.”
“The Fang devours all Darkness and Black in this world,” Nikolai replied casually.
“Actually, it’s the reason half my hair is white. Made a mistake when I first started using it and accidentally removed the color permanently.”
He swung the katana.
A wave of darkness poured from the blade like black paint thrown through the air.
The Remnant immediately leaped upward.
Most of the attack passed beneath it, but several droplets struck its shoe.
The darkness burned straight through the material, forcing the creature to twist through the air before landing several steps higher.
Nikolai smiled.
“Careful.”
The Remnant stared at the ruined shoe before its expression slowly twisted back into a grin.
“Fine. You want me to act more like Michello?”
Purple light began gathering around its body.
“Then let’s play.”
The fake Michello raised one hand.
“Curse of the Spider King!”
Purple webs erupted from the Remnant’s hair and spread throughout the tower, attaching themselves to the monster corpses scattered across the staircase below.
The bodies immediately began dragging themselves together as the threads stitched flesh to flesh and bone to bone.
Arms twisted into legs, jaws split open across torsos, and several corpses were pulled together until entirely new creatures began rising from the stairs.
Sarah watched from below, horrified.
The Remnant laughed as the newly stitched monsters surrounded Nikolai.
“Don’t worry, Sarah. I won’t hurt you.”
Its smile widened as it lifted the replica spear.
“He dies first.”
“So the rumors really are true,” Nikolai said with a quiet chuckle as the horde of stitched monstrosities crawled up the staircase toward him.
“The cult actually found a way to forcibly awaken multiple Curses within a single person. Terrifying stuff.”
The Remnant charged alongside its creations, thrusting the chainsaw spear toward Nikolai and forcing him farther down the staircase, directly toward the approaching monsters.
Nikolai blocked one strike, ducked beneath another, then kicked off the railing and launched himself high above them.
He looked down at the horde gathering beneath him.
A smile crossed his face.
“Darker than black.”
The Fang trembled in his hand.
“Darker than darkness.”
Every shadow beneath the monsters began to move.
The Remnant’s smile disappeared.
Nikolai pointed the black blade downward.
The shadows beneath each stitched creature twisted violently, spreading wider until they formed enormous black mouths lined with countless jagged teeth.
“Тень, Пожирающая Хозяина.”
The mouths opened.
Then they bit down.
The creatures screamed as their own shadows turned against them.
Arms disappeared first, dragged beneath the darkness before the black maws moved upward and tore through torsos, legs, and heads.
Some monsters clawed desperately at the staircase while others tried ripping apart the purple webs holding their bodies together, but nothing escaped.
Their own shadows had become predators, and there was nowhere they could run without bringing those predators with them.
Within seconds, the entire horde was gone.
Not a corpse remained.
Not a drop of blood.
Only their shadows remained behind.
Nikolai landed calmly on the staircase and rested the Fang against his shoulder.
The Remnant stared at the empty steps where its monsters had been only moments ago, genuine fear beginning to show through Michello’s stolen face.
“That look in your eye…” Nikolai smiled as he slowly began walking up the staircase.
“If only I had a camera. The real Michello could never make an expression like that.” He casually dragged the Fang beside him.
“You Remnants are interesting creatures. You can smile, laugh, lie, and imitate humans almost perfectly. But the moment someone sees through your disguise, or you realize just how close you are to dying, the mask starts cracking.”
His smile widened.
“It’s honestly pathetic, don’t you think?”
The Remnant acted immediately.
Black liquid began pouring from its left eye once again, and Nikolai, more amused than concerned, allowed it to continue.
The creature shoved one hand into the flowing darkness and tore out a pair of pure white gloves, quickly pulling them over its hands.
“Replica Grade 1 Artifact—Plague King’s Hands.”
The effect was immediate.
Miasma throughout the tower rushed toward the Remnant.
Thick clouds of supernatural energy twisted around its body as one magic circle after another appeared throughout the air, surrounding Nikolai from nearly every direction.
Nikolai’s smile faded slightly.
“Oh?”
The Remnant raised both hands.
“Fulgar-Forma-Quin.”
Several glowing Roman numeral V’s appeared across the white gloves.
Lightning erupted from the magic circles.
Rather than firing as simple bolts, the electricity twisted together and took shape, forming enormous wolf heads made entirely from crackling lightning.
Their jaws opened as they rushed toward Nikolai from every direction, snapping violently at the air like living creatures.
Nikolai leaped backward as the first wolf crashed into the staircase and tore apart several steps beneath him.
Another lunged from his side, forcing him to raise the Fang and block its jaws as electricity exploded across the blade.
The Remnant smiled again.
“Better?”
Nikolai glanced around at the numerous lightning beasts circling him.
“Much better.”
The magic being used now was on an entirely different level from anything Iris had managed since returning to the past.
Her weakened body could barely maintain Rank II spells, but the Plague King’s Hands gathered the surrounding Miasma directly, supplying the Remnant with enough energy to freely fuel Rank V magic.
Another lightning wolf lunged.
Nikolai twisted aside, letting its jaws tear into the railing behind him.
A second followed immediately.
Then a third.
Nikolai’s smile returned.
“Now you’re starting to entertain me.”
He lowered the Fang slightly and sighed.
“But unfortunately, I need to end this now. If this Devil’s Footprint isn’t cleared before the night is over, it could become a permanent stain on our world.”
“What a shame. I was hoping to save this for my rematch with Markus.”
The Remnant’s expression changed immediately.
Nikolai touched two fingers against the glowing scar.
“This is something I’ve never shown anyone before.”
The green light intensified.
“Curse of the █████████ ████.”
Sarah heard the words.
The Remnant heard them.
Yet neither could understand what Nikolai had actually said.
They knew he had spoken.
They knew a name had left his mouth.
But the moment they tried to understand it, the words seemed to vanish from their minds.
For a brief moment, nothing happened.
Then everything was over.
Sarah screamed.
The Remnant’s body dropped from above and crashed against the staircase in front of her.
Michello’s stolen face was barely recognizable.
Its skin had been turned completely inside out, leaving raw flesh exposed across its body, while nearly every bone had been forced into a direction it was never meant to bend.
Arms twisted backward, ribs pushed outward through exposed tissue, and its neck hung at an impossible angle.
The replica Artifacts were gone.
The lightning wolves vanished with them.
The fake Michello didn’t move again.
Sarah stared at the corpse, unable to understand what she had just witnessed.
Nikolai remained standing several steps above her.
He was breathing much heavier now.
The green glow covering his scar flickered before slowly beginning to fade.
“That took more out of me than I expected,” he muttered, touching the mark on his forehead.
“If I intend to clear this place, I’ll need to conserve the rest of my strength.”
His gaze moved toward Sarah.
“What a pity.”
Sarah immediately understood what he meant.
Her expression hardened.
Nikolai rested the Fang against his shoulder and gave her a patient smile.
“I suppose I’ll have to kill your daughter another day.”
Sarah glared at him.
Nikolai simply turned and began walking farther up the staircase.
“Come on, Sarah.”
He glanced back at her.
“Being alone in a place like this is frightening.”
His smile softened slightly.
“But I’ll protect you.”
Sarah remained where she was for another moment, staring at the destroyed Remnant before finally following him.
Nikolai continued climbing without another word, the Fang resting comfortably against his shoulder as though the battle had been nothing more than an inconvenience.
Sarah looked toward the fading green scar on his forehead.
Whatever Curse Nikolai had just used, she understood one thing perfectly.
The Fang hadn’t been the most frightening thing he was hiding.
Nikolai had been holding back the entire time.