Even Death Grew Tired of Killing Me-Chapter 73 - 68- Morveth Kael’Zhyr (End))

[First POV – Theo]

Morveth did not retreat.

It did not hesitate.

The fissure across its violet core widened, tar spilling like blackened blood, bone plates hanging at fractured angles, and yet the pressure in the cavern only intensified. The air grew heavier, thicker, as if the world itself refused to accept what was happening.

"You believe this is victory?" Morveth rasped, its layered voice vibrating through shattered stone. "I Morveth Kael’Zhyr do not lose."

The cavern trembled again. Not from us.

From it.

The tar-like substance that made up its internal matrix surged violently, abandoning measured regeneration. It stopped trying to stabilize cleanly. Instead, it flooded every fracture at once, reinforcing broken channels with brute force. Bone reassembled in grotesque shapes, thicker and more jagged than before.

It was giving everything.

Kyrene stepped forward without speaking.

Aether Edge ignited along his weapon once more, brighter than before, though his breathing was heavier now. Blood trailed down his temple. His clothes were torn. His stance steady, but barely.

Astrae was still on the ground behind us, half-conscious, her injured arm twisted at a wrong angle and stained dark.

Morveth moved first.

The ground beneath us liquefied again, but this time it did not reform into spikes. It collapsed entirely.

We fell.

I twisted midair, landing hard on fractured stone as the floor beneath Morveth rose upward in a jagged pillar. It perched atop it like some grotesque monument.

"You will not leave," it declared.

It extended both arms and the cavern walls erupted inward, ribs of obsidian bone slamming toward us from all sides.

Kyrene Arcstepped through one wave, then another, cutting a path toward Morveth. I ran directly at the collapsing ribs and triggered Death Link Burst.

Not full just enough.

The compressed trauma detonated through my legs and shoulders as I threw myself forward, smashing through a partially formed bone rib before it could seal.

Pain exploded in my side.

Darkness.

—

Return.

Total deaths: 453.

I hit the ground rolling, lungs burning.

I didn’t think about the number.

I didn’t need to.

Morveth roared, a deep grinding sound as tar poured from its cracked core and hardened into spinning blades around its form.

Kyrene reached it first.

They clashed midair.

Aether Edge carved through spinning decay while Morveth’s limbs reshaped into massive cleavers of bone and tar. The collision cracked the rising pillar beneath them. Shockwaves flattened what remained of the cathedral-like cavern.

Morveth struck downward.

Kyrene caught it.

The impact shattered stone for dozens of meters.

Kyrene’s boots sank.

His jaw clenched.

Morveth leaned forward.

"You are formidable indeed," it admitted. "But you will break, that’s a promise."

It released a concentrated blast directly at his chest.

Kyrene absorbed part of it, deflecting the rest, but he was thrown backward this time. He landed hard, sliding across fractured rock.

I ran.

Morveth saw me and twisted.

Tendrils burst from its side and speared toward me.

I didn’t dodge.

I angled myself and let one tear through my shoulder while I used the momentum to pull myself closer.

My fists slammed into the exposed seam again.

Death Link Burst.

Harder.

The stored force detonated through my arms and the fracture widened.

Morveth retaliated instantly.

A blade of compressed decay cut clean through my torso.

Darkness.

—

Return.

Total deaths: 461.

I came back already moving.

Kyrene rose again, slower now.

He wiped blood from his mouth with the back of his hand.

Morveth’s voice lowered.

"You are persistent, little human bug."

Kyrene’s eyes sharpened.

"And you..." he replied calmly, voice steady despite everything, "... are just negligible dirt in my existence."

Morveth’s core pulsed violently.

It did not like that.

It abandoned structure entirely.

Tar exploded outward in all directions, bone shattering and reforming chaotically. The entire cavern ceiling fractured.

Astrae forced herself upright and hurled one last beam of divine light at the damaged core. It struck, weak but precise.

The violet mass flickered violently.

I saw it.

The backup channel beneath the primary fracture was destabilized.

Not gone, just barely holding.

I ran again.

My body felt wrong.

Heat surged beneath my skin. Not from outside. From inside.

Like something burning through my veins.

I ignored it.

Morveth drew all remaining mass inward.

"I will make sure you all come with me," it rasped.

The tar condensed.

The bone plates folded inward.

It was not trying to regenerate anymore.

It was compressing.

Preparing to detonate everything.

I didn’t hesitate.

Death Link Burst.

Full.

Every stored death. Every shattered rib, crushed skull, impaled lung, compressed into one violent surge.

I launched forward.

The heat inside me intensified, searing through muscle and bone. My vision blurred.

I reached the core and drove both hands into the primary fracture.

The tar burned like acid. My skin peeled instantly. I screamed but did not pull back.

I felt the secondary channel beneath the ribs.

I shifted my weight and slammed my elbow into that junction with everything left in me.

Death Link Burst detonated again.

The internal matrix ruptured.

Morveth convulsed.

The violet core split open fully, light spilling outward in jagged beams.

The cavern began collapsing in massive sections.

Total deaths: 478.

I didn’t know how many of those had been in the last few minutes.

I just knew I couldn’t stand anymore.

Morveth’s form disintegrated from the inside out.

Bone shattered.

Tar vaporized.

The violet glow flared brighter than the sun.

"You will not survive this," it rasped, voice breaking apart. "None of you. Y-You... w-will all come with me..."

The core exploded.

The blast swallowed everything.

I felt my body disintegrate.

Darkness.

—

Return.

I came back on the ground.

But something was wrong.

I wasn’t fully restored.

My body burned.

Not the usual ache after resurrection.

This was deeper.

Like something had been drained from me.

Morveth’s explosion did not stop.

The cavern ripped open upward. Rock and earth blasted skyward. A shockwave tore through mountains. The terrain above cracked and split, trees uprooting, entire ridges collapsing. A massive earthquake rippled outward from beneath us.

Kyrene tried to stand.

He failed.

His legs buckled and he dropped to one knee.

Astrae lay barely conscious, blood smeared across stone.

I couldn’t move.

I lay flat on my back, staring at the collapsing ceiling as the explosion swallowed us.

There was no escape.

And then...

The thin black strand wrapped around my arm moved.

It detached.

It multiplied in a matter of second.

One strand became dozens. Dozens became hundreds, and into thousand.

They spread outward in every direction, weaving together faster than thought, forming a dense black net that enclosed us entirely.

The explosion hit.

The net did not break.

The blast tore the cavern apart, ripping open the mountain above. Stone and soil vaporized. The entire cave structure collapsed upward and outward.

When the dust cleared, we were exposed to open sky.

Creatures roared in the distance. Winged beasts took to the air above the newly opened crater, circling warily.

The black net shimmered once.

Then dissolved into nothing.

I lay there, still burning inside.

Even after resurrection, even after Death Link, my body felt empty.

Drained.

Like part of my life energy had been pulled out and not returned.

I lifted my arm weakly and stared at where the strand had been.

Madison.

The memory of her amethyst eyes flashed in my mind.

"Who are you really?" I whispered hoarsely.

The sky blurred above me.

And for a brief second, a pair of red eyes appeared in my vision.

Cold.

Observing.

"She still can’t keep herself from protecting you," a calm voice murmured faintly, almost amused.

Then it was gone, and as I closed my eyes, I lost consciousness.

~~~

[Third POV - General ]

Theo’s body finally gave in.

The burning inside him did not fade even after the explosion settled. His breathing grew shallow, eyes half-lidded as he stared at the sky through drifting dust and broken branches. The black net that had shielded them dissolved into thin strands of darkness and then into nothing.

He lost consciousness quietly.

A faint tremor ran through his arm.

The thin black strand that had multiplied into an indestructible shield curled back toward him. It no longer spread or flared. It moved almost lazily now, like a living thread returning to its place. It coiled once around Theo’s wrist, then twice, before thinning until it looked like nothing more than an ordinary dark thread resting against his skin.

A shadow stretched across the crater.

Theron stood a few steps away, looking down at Theo with unreadable ruby eyes.

He observed the strand carefully, watching the way it settled back into place.

"She really can’t help herself," he murmured under his breath, almost amused.

Kyrene was still standing several meters away, though barely.

He had forced himself upright after the explosion, one hand resting against a fractured stone pillar. His breathing was controlled but heavy. Blood streaked down his face and neck, and his clothes were torn beyond repair. His weapon had already dissolved.

Theron shifted his gaze toward him.

"You pushed too far," he stated calmly.

Kyrene exhaled through his nose.

"I had no choice," he replied, voice low but steady. "I’m tied to Theo’s strength. He improves, I follow, he remains as is... we are dead."

Theron tilted his head slightly.

"You were nearly empty," he said. "And you pulled so much for him too."

Kyrene gave a faint, tired smirk.

"Yeah... he’ll recover."

There was no doubt in his tone.

Theron’s eyes flicked briefly to Theo’s unconscious form.

He then glanced around at the devastated landscape, the broken mountain range, the dense forest trembling from the aftershock. High-level monsters circled above the newly exposed crater, warily observing but not daring to descend.

"Morveth’s kind," Theron remarked casually, "are foot soldiers of foot soldiers of those we fought before."

Kyrene let out a quiet breath that might have been a weak laugh.

"It’s pathetic," he admitted. "That I have to push myself like that."

Theron’s lips curved faintly.

"You fought well though," he said, tone almost approving. "For a restricted human. Too well. I actually enjoyed the fight. Quite entertaining."

Kyrene shot him a half glare.

Even exhausted, even barely standing, there was still fire behind his eyes.

"Shut up," he muttered.

He tried to take a step forward.

The world tilted.

The strength drained out of his legs instantly. His vision darkened at the edges. He would have hit the fractured ground if Theron had not moved.

Theron stepped in smoothly and caught him by the arm before he fell.

"For someone who insists on not needing help," Theron commented dryly, supporting his weight, "you are remarkably stubborn."

Kyrene did not answer.

He did not have the energy.

Theron adjusted his grip and allowed Kyrene’s arm to rest across his shoulder. He looked down briefly at the boy slumped against him, then over toward Theo and Astrae.

Astrae lay several meters away, half-conscious, breathing shallow but steady. Her injured arm remained twisted and blood-stained, though the bleeding had slowed.

Theron studied the crater again, the open sky above, the circling creatures.

"This place will not remain unnoticed," he said quietly.

Without another word, a patch of darkness formed beneath his feet.

Not a dramatic tear in space. Not a rift.

Just shadow.

It spread outward like liquid ink, silent and smooth.

Another patch opened beneath Theo. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Another beneath Astrae.

The edges did not ripple. They did not distort reality loudly.

They simply existed.

Theron shifted Kyrene’s weight more securely against him.

"Let’s go," he murmured.

The shadow beneath his feet deepened.

Theo’s unconscious body slowly sank first, descending gently as if laid down onto a soft surface. Astrae followed, her form lowering into darkness without resistance.

Kyrene’s head tilted slightly, though his eyes remained open.

Theron glanced down at him.

"Rest," he said.

The shadow consumed them.

From above, it looked as though the earth had swallowed them whole.

The crater remained.

The broken mountain stood open to the sky.

Monstrous creatures circled warily, sensing something immense had just occurred.

But the four figures were gone.

And the forest wind carried no trace of where they had descended.