Apocalypse Baby

Original Alex's POV

Grim Lord's greenish eyes widened in panic.

The second pendant had been destroyed.

And that meant one thing—

The magic barrier protecting him from magic-type attacks was gone.

Alex snapped.

BOOM!

BOOM!!

BOOM!!!

A chain of explosions erupted across Grim Lord's body, each blast twisting his form in ways no creature should ever bend.

His trailing mass was torn apart, flung like a ragdoll caught in a hurricane.

There was no scream.

No time to react.

Just fire, force, and destruction.

And then...

BOOM!!!

The final explosion ripped him apart.

Smoke engulfed the battlefield, thick and suffocating.

Alex stood still, watching the aftermath, his body trembling as the effects of [Titan Fury] faded.

And then, awave of exhaustion slammed into him.

Not as brutal as the first time, but still enough to make his legs feel heavy, his breathing ragged.

His attributes had stacked far beyond before, making it easier to handle.

But still, the feeling of weakness sucked.

He wasn't worried about the debuff though.

The monster in front of him wasn't a threat anymore.

Not after losing its most troublesome ability.

The Grim Lord's magic barrier—the only thing keeping it alive—was gone.

If that shield had never existed, this fight would have ended ages ago.

The smoke began to clear.

And then...

CLINK.

The last pendant fell to the ground.

Alex stepped forward, eyes locked onto it.

But just as he got close—

SHING!

The skull-shaped pendant suddenly jerked away.

Vines exploded from its surface, twisting and writhing like living snakes.

Alex halted, watching as the vines wove together, merging, forming—

A body.

"As expected," Alex muttered.

The last pendant's ability was regeneration.

And now, the Grim Lord's body was reforming.

But really, what was the point?

Alex cracked his knuckles.

He was just going to blow it apart again.

The half-formed face of the Grim Lord emerged from the vines, its mouth opening in a desperate roar.

"VARKOS!"

It screamed its Arc friend's name, begging for help.

But Alex?

He grinned.

There was no way Varkos was escaping.

And neither was Grim Lord.

Grim Lord kept screaming.

A raw, desperate wail.

Alex?

He just grinned.

"It's futile."

SNAP.

BOOM!

The Grim Lord's body detonated into a shower of gore.

Then...

BOOM!

It exploded again.

And again.

And again.

Each time, the Grim Lord's body reformed, twisting together like a nightmare.

Alex's grin faded.

His eyes narrowed, locking onto the pendant.

That damn pendant.

A glowing skull-shaped charm that pulsed with unnatural energy.

That was the key.

Alex clenched his jaw.

His explosions weren't destroying it.

At first, he thought it was because of the second pendant blocking magic-type attacks.

But now?

He realized the truth.

The pendant itself was naturally immune to magic.

Which meant he'd have to crush it.

With brute force.

And that was no problem.

Grim Lord's body stitched itself back together, reforming in a twisted mess of flesh and bone.

This time, it didn't scream.

No frantic wails. No rage-filled cries.

Instead, it called out softly, almost hesitantly.

"Varkos?"

The Archfiend should have been here by now.

But he wasn't.

Grim Lord could still sense him—barely.

Varkos was struggling. Badly.

No—he was dying.

A cold sense of confusion and dread crept into Grim Lord's mind.

He had seen Alex's clones.

They were weaker than the original.

Or at least... they were supposed to be.

Yet somehow—they had pushed Varkos to the brink.

Something was wrong.

Then...

BOOM!

An explosion erupted in the distance.

Grim Lord felt it.

Like a piece of himself had been ripped away.

A sickening realization settled in.

Varkos had been killed.

Alex chased after the fleeing Grim Lord, his footsteps steady, unhurried.

There was no need to rush.

The outcome had already been decided.

Varkos was dead—he sensed his clone had finished the job.

And it seemed Grim Lord knew it, too, as the monster let out a string of furious curses as it ran, its panic evident.

But running?

That was pointless.

Alex snapped his fingers.

BOOM!

Grim Lord exploded into pieces.

Chunks of flesh and bone rained down, the force of the blast scattering them across the battlefield.

And then...

Only the pendant remained.

The cursed artifact that refused to die.

Alex extended his hand, using Minor Telekinesis to pull it down, locking it in place.

The pendant couldn't be destroyed by magic, but it could still be manipulated.

It wasn't like the second pendant, which outright nullified all forms of magic.

Alex walked toward it, his eyes locked on the floating relic.

But even as he held it in place, the pendant kept working.

Its dark magic stitched Grim Lord's body back together, undoing the damage as fast as it had been dealt.

The weight of the pendant increased, pushing against Alex's telekinetic grip.

Grim Lord was fighting back.

So what did Alex do?

He blew up the body again.

BOOM.

As Alex closed the distance, Grim Lord's half-formed body took shape.

First, the head.

Then, the vines spread from the back of its skull, desperately trying to pull the rest of its body together.

The moment it laid eyes on Alex, it panicked.

With a desperate snarl, it lashed out vines, trying to lunge away.

But it wasn't fast enough.

Alex's hand shot forward.

With a sharp tug, he ripped the pendant free.

THUD!

Grim Lord collapsed, its body immediately ceasing to regenerate. Stay updated with My Virtual Library Empire

Only its head remained, perched on a mass of writhing vines, unable to rebuild the rest.

It slowly turned to face Alex.

And when it did, dread filled its eyes.

Because Alex wasn't holding the pendant.

He was holding the crushed remains of it.

Grim Lord's breath hitched.

Its lips trembled.

It tried to speak, but all that came out was a hoarse, broken whisper:

"No…"

Alex dusted off his hands.

Then, he simply muttered with a playful grin:

"Yes."

And then, he walked away feeling giddy.

No grand speech.

No dramatic farewell.

He was done with this damned place.

Done with all of its monsters.

But Grim Lord wasn't ready to accept it.

"NO!" it howled, its voice raw with desperation.

Its vines thrashed, its remaining body squirmed, dragging itself forward.

Then, it lunged.

A final, desperate attempt to kill Alex.

But...

A snap echoed.

A single flick of Alex's fingers.

And a calm, final whisper.

"Bye-bye."