XXII: Final Challenge.

The woman was naked, but for all her beauty, she did not inspire lust, only pure terror. She was tall, almost two meters, and her skin was a very deep black as if it were the night itself. Her lips glowed with a strange blue light. Her figure was remarkably slender, and her hair fell over her body, strands of it seeming to contain small stars. 

What appeared to be shadows surrounded her, tendrils of darkness emanating from her entire being, swaying sensitively in the air as if searching for something. The woman smiled as she held her staff, and though she looked like a magically inclined enemy, the muscular details of her body indicated that she also possessed excellent physical strength.

"Of course they were living beings, where else would I steal the shadows of so many interesting creatures? That's what made me a Keter-level being, but now... I'm only demoted to your level because of the mechanisms of this temple," the woman said with obvious annoyance in her tone she didn't like being limited at all. 

"What do you mean by level, Keter? This isn't an SCP story," John asked, trying to buy his companions time, even though he was curious. 

"Don't think I don't know what you're up to, little wizard, but I'm bored here and it seems you're far more inexperienced than I can see, how sad indeed," the woman thundered as she took steps towards them.

Although she showed no intention of attacking, the boys were alert to everything that happened, you couldn't trust the intentions of a being that was possibly much more powerful and experienced than you, she could easily confuse you.

"I've been here for a long time, and now and then, people are attracted to this place, fooled by the degraded appearance of the temple, they think it's a simple place... HAHAHA, if those true Keter-level powers knew what's hidden here, they would fight tooth and nail. 

But to answer your question, my dear pretty wizard, let mommy savor you a little," even if they were ready to attack, John's companions fell silent as the shadowy woman approached the blonde and kissed him on the lips. 

Pulling away after a few moments, the woman smiled and then licked her lips. She was very calm about the situation and the tense atmosphere, but despite her superiority, she was a little surprised to see how these inexperienced young men had held up without acting recklessly.

John took a slightly shaky breath, it wasn't every day he got to kiss the female embodiment of darkness and death, but there was something in his mind that if he said so, he might deserve to die. "I've kissed better," the boy thought as he judged the woman's kissing skills.

"Beings, whether we like it or not, we are divided and labeled, whether we like it or not, it comes with wisdom and knowledge. Mortals, people without power or the seeds of power, are the lowest level of the hierarchy, that's the level everyone here is at, except the big guy," the woman pointed out to Ron, who was wearing his gray robe and his eyes were glowing with multicolored lights, he was constantly evaluating the woman in front of him, and although he was getting information, it was very chaotic. 

"Do not confuse power with destructiveness, a mortal with tools can destroy a city, while a Keter-level being might not be able to destroy a branch. At the mortal level, beings are just realizing their abilities, building what we call a seed.

This seed is the basis for that being to reach the extraordinary level. Being extraordinary does not make you a superior race or anything like that; even the most insignificant being, if given the opportunity, can become an extraordinary being.

The seed of power in them turns into a fruit, a path. For example, the young man with the sword follows the path of the fighter, though with some different things... interesting, no doubt," the woman had approached Seone, staring into his eyes while there was hardly any distance between them. 

Seone could even smell the woman's scent, it smelled strangely fruity and her breath felt warm. She looked at him questioningly, ignoring the look of hatred Marie was giving him with her draconic eyes. 

"Oh, some interesting stuff you got there, you don't just want to be a fighter, you want to be something more, I wish you luck," the woman seemed to see something in Seone that made her smile and turn away from him.

"One person's path will never be the same as another person's, and even if two people are capable of doing something similar, the differences will be there. The extraordinary level is the exploration of your path, developing it, improving it, learning it, and completing it. Everything to reach the Keter level, a sublimation.

So none of you here, except the big guy, are extraordinary, no matter if you can cause more destruction than him. He's already started experimenting with his abilities, as annoying as they are," the woman snorted a little as if she was uncomfortable with Ron's spying on her fate and future. 

"The Keter level is sublimation, the flames are no longer just flames, the contract is no longer just an agreement, and the dragon is no longer just a muscular being. You are beginning to touch the concepts, the secrets, the ideas, and from what I see, everyone here has the potential to reach that level.

But remember, even if your power can destroy the moon, that doesn't mean you're at a high level. There are a lot of people in the world who can destroy that star, but that doesn't make them powerful. 

For example, I could barely destroy a stone building, but I am at the Keter level, and those beings capable of destroying a mountain in one move would be afraid of me, do you know why?" With this last question, the kind and calm aura that the woman had been radiating changed to one of terror, just as it had at the beginning.

Even though the boys weren't as handicapped as before, they still felt uncomfortable as they prepared to act in case the woman attacked, but she just stood there watching them with a not-at-all-friendly smile on her face.

"Because I can kill them, all I have to do is affect their shadows and finish them off... no matter how destructive they are, if they are not at my level or cannot avoid it, they will never be able to fight me," at that moment, when she finished speaking, they all felt something squeeze them, their bodies felt restricted, their bodies stopped moving, they couldn't even breathe.

"I am on your level now, the mortal level, but I have experience, thousands of years of experience that you can never surpass, and the challenge of this cursed temple has only made me more adept at fighting under terrible conditions," the woman spoke, though her tone was a bit lonely, the bloodlust behind it was obvious.

"I guess my entertainment is over, it seems you failed again, isn't that sad?" the woman looked in a certain direction, her mocking tone in her question indicated that she knew what was going on in the dungeon. 

As time passed without an answer, the woman became bored and looked at the young men in front of her, who according to her knowledge and experience were already about to die, she had done this so many times that it no longer brought her any satisfaction, only boredom, although she regretted the death of the blond boy a little, they would have had a nice evening where she would have shattered his hips in a squatting position, pity. 

But as she thought about her fantasies, she felt something strange, and it was her experience that made her move in avoidance when a blue light landed where she had been standing, making a terrible hole.

"This is very cliché, but... Don't underestimate us!" one of the young men shouted the woman only saw hundreds of arrows flying towards her as the white energy covering them shone brightly.

"Cursed technique: blue."

"Arrow bombardment!"

Axel and Jessica's voices overlapped as they launched their attacks, even though the woman had created a shield with the dark tendrils shedding from her body, she could still see, another group of young men similar to the ones she had paralyzed earlier had appeared.

"How I hijacked their shadows, they were trapped in their bodies," the woman replied as she dodged a dragon shot from Marie, who glared at her hatefully.

The Boosted Gear and she were emitting a lot of draconic aura right now, and chunks of skin were falling off the blonde's face as if she was shedding them. Marie was furious, very furious. Not only had the bitch in front of her endangered her companions and herself, but she had also gotten very close to Seone, and even though she wasn't jealous, well, she thought she was, she still hated the woman. 

Then the woman made a common villain mistake, she talked too much, even though it was interesting information and vital to the plot, she still talked too much, her actions angered a dragon, and even though Marie wasn't one, she had some draconic attitudes. Then something in her was activated, indignation.

A dragon's indignation causes it to go into a berserker state where it destroys the one who caused it, no matter what, no matter what the cost, they just don't deserve to live anymore, and Marie had gone into that state, which caused the Boosted Gear to respond to her feelings.

Ddraig pumped a lot of draconic aura into Marie, following the ideas of the blonde's masters, and if we could see through the girl's armor, we would see that the skin was peeling off all over her body as if she was shedding it. 

"Because I'm a damn wizard, and because Susie is the best illusionist in the group, she's a succubus after all," John answered the woman's question, his golden eyes radiating magical power, he couldn't control that much magical energy after drinking a special potion to strengthen himself. 

But regardless of the discomfort of so much energy coursing through his body, he bombarded the woman with disadvantage spells or lightning, fire, and ice, as well as giving advantages to his companions such as protection and speed.

"By the way, thanks for the data you gave us, I guess as a demon I have to return the favor," Susie said in his ear, the succubus was the strongest and fastest of the group and with her quick movements she had gotten behind the woman, kicked her hard in her unprotected back and threw her towards her companions.

The woman spun in the air and swung her staff, quickly creating an earthen platform, but had to abandon it when another dragon shot from Marie shattered it completely. 

The woman was indeed experienced, but she was extremely weak and that made her lose some natural advantages. Already on the ground, she raised another shield of shadows in front of her to protect herself from Axel's arrows, but what surprised her was that the arrows made a strange curve to evade her protection and hit her, making her beautiful face show a grimace of pain.

It was this pause caused by the pain that made her not notice who was on her left, by the time she realized it was already too late, she could only see a crimson-edged sword fall on her, and although she was able to retreat, the cut had left a terrible wound on her body.

Her clothes tore in two, leaving a bloody line on her body, the cut hadn't cut her in half, but it had hurt. Her large breasts shook from the sudden movement, but no one was paying attention to that, no, they were paying attention to Marie, who held her sword and plunged it hard into the woman's stomach.

"BOOSTED!" A Dragon Shot at close range sent the woman into the wall of the room, making her tremble. 

"Demon Claw!" three arcs of green fire fell on the woman, and the diabolical nature of it made the woman scream in pain for the first time.

"DAMN YOU FILTHY MORTALS! I AM A KETER LEVEL BEING, SUBLIMATE, I WILL NOT FALL INTO THIS EVIL TEMPLE" Shadows swirled around her, but a blue light scattered them violently, leaving her exposed.

The woman's naked body was now burnt, but those abyssal eyes stared blankly at the team. Aside from those wounds, she didn't look too damaged, and she even pulled herself together, peeling away from the wall and waving her shadow tendrils at them.

"Thunderfire," a beam wrapped in flame fell on the woman, punishing her further, then another dragon shot landed on her, but the shadows protected her, this time more completely to prevent sneak attacks.

The shadows defended her, but soon dispersed, and the team noticed that the woman's wounds were beginning to heal. At this point, they realized that this battle was going to last much longer than they thought.

Seone began cutting shadow tendrils, and for some reason the woman began attacking him with them as she moved faster and faster, reacting better and better to her teammates' attacks.

It was as if the things that limited her were gradually being lifted, something that frightened him. Yes, the woman said that destructiveness did not equal power, but let's just say that having power could effectively increase destructiveness, and he did not want to find out how powerful a Keter-level being was, even if the same being had said she was not very destructive.

They had had few other opportunities to attack her, and had it not been for Ron's warnings, they would have been hurt by insidious attacks of shadow, poison, and corrosion. The woman had begun creating spikes of shadows that rose from the ground or hurled them at them, as well as manipulating earth, wind, and water. 

Marie felt more and more drowsy, even though anger was boiling inside her, the skin on her face seemed to be a mask of misplaced makeup, sometimes obscuring her vision. Her whole being burned and stung, but she couldn't just stop, you couldn't stop in front of this woman. 

Axel's fingers were bleeding, but the boy kept shooting arrows until he ran out, after realizing that, he gambled on using his energy to create arrows, but that only accelerated his exhaustion. 

Ron was focused on protecting his companions and himself, even though he sometimes took the brunt of the attacks that were directed against his friends, the man's body was plagued with various injuries such as burns from fire and acid, and his vision was failing due to the poison he had inhaled.

But he would not let his friends die here, he could not allow that, and so he pushed himself to his current limits, looking for that chance, that right moment.

Susie and Jessica got along well, one had limitless protection and six eyes to see what was coming, while Susie was incredibly strong and the woman was a bit afraid of her, so she always avoided confrontation with the succubus. 

John had run out of mana potions, the booster he had drunk was starting to take its toll on his body as a terrible headache set in, but still, he was dedicated to harassing that terrible woman, he couldn't just back off, his pride as a mage and his desire to protect his team wouldn't let him.

But no matter how cornered they were, this was not an anime where they could just turn on and win, so John was the first to fall as a tendril of shadow caught his foot, then the young man was covered in shadows that began to squeeze his body, causing him pain.

Next was Axel, who was already exhausted, there was nothing he could do about it, but even though he felt his bones turning to dust, he did not scream, he just looked at the woman with his sharp eyes.

Marie, who couldn't resist the drowsiness, was trapped, her eyes closed, but the Boosted Gear gem was still glowing and the draconic aura was still being pumped into the blonde's body.

"Now that I have your little friends, will you continue to fight?" the woman had no more wounds on her now naked body, but you could see the fatigue in the way she spoke and breathed, still trying to catch Seone who was cut off from his other companions as he fought more tendrils of shadow.

Seone no longer had the image of that snake on his back, his red vitality was like a candle in the wind, flickering and threatening to extinguish, his weapon barely covered in energy, all a sign of the terrible exhaustion the young man now felt. 

The battle had just reached its climax, one of many changes and improvements.