The air in Vorn's sanctum crackled with raw, untamed power. Rune, battered but unyielding, faced the horrifying, ever-growing dark purple energy sphere forming in Vorn's hands. It pulsed with a destructive potential that threatened to unravel the very fabric of reality. This was it. Vorn's ultimate blow, empowered by the Eternal Gate.
Rune let out a guttural roar, a sound that was less human and more akin to the grinding of tectonic plates. Every assimilated ability within him surged, culminating in a single, devastating counter-attack. His body, already a monstrous fusion of bone, crystal, and electrified flesh, underwent a final, terrifying transformation.
The dark, obsidian-like crystals on his body elongated and sharpened further, spiraling outwards like a drill made of pure night. Blue and violet electricity erupted from every facet, forming a crackling, blinding aura. His bone-and-flesh tentacles twisted and fused into colossal, piston-like appendages, reinforced by the hardened crystals. From within him, the kinetic energy he had assimilated from Thanos, combined with his own raw strength, surged to an unimaginable peak.
"You are just a parasite, Vorn!" Rune's voice ripped through the air, distorted by the sheer power flowing through him. "And parasites... are purged!"
With a mighty surge of will, Rune channeled all his accumulated power. From his core, a singularity of destructive force began to manifest. It was a maelstrom of pure, unbridled energy – a fusion of kinetic force, crystalline shards, and electromagnetic fury. This wasn't a blast of energy or a physical attack; it was a devastating concussive vortex, a spiraling column of force that glowed with an ominous, multicolored light, pulsating with the echoes of every power he had consumed.
ROOOOAARRRR!
Rune launched himself forward, not as a projectile, but as the eye of his own self-created storm. The very ground beneath him cracked and buckled under the kinetic force. The air shrieked as the concussive vortex collided head-on with Vorn's colossal dark purple energy sphere.
KRA-KOOOM!
The clash was an apocalyptic symphony of destruction. Light and shadow erupted, consuming the entire chamber in a blinding flash. The sounds of impact were beyond thunder – it was the sound of reality tearing itself apart. The Eternal Gate behind Vorn, already opened, flared violently, its swirling energies becoming unstable, reacting to the immense, clashing powers.
Vorn's eyes, wide with shock and disbelief, reflected the maelstrom engulfing him. He had underestimated Rune, believing his own connection to the Eternal Gate made him invincible. But Rune, the Flesh Weaver, was a force of nature, a creature of pure assimilation that had absorbed the very essence of his defeated foes.
The concussive vortex ripped through Vorn's energy sphere, tearing it asunder. Vorn screamed, a sound swallowed by the maelstrom. His body, directly connected to the Eternal Gate, convulsed violently as Rune's attack consumed him. The bone-and-flesh tentacles on his back snapped and disintegrated. The purple light in his eyes flickered, then died out.
Rune's attack didn't just defeat Vorn; it began to devour him, essence and all. Vorn's physical form, already warped by the Eternal Gate, began to dissolve, drawn into the churning vortex of Rune's power. It wasn't merely absorption; it was a complete, agonizing erasure.
The immense strain on the Eternal Gate caused by this unprecedented collision was catastrophic. The giant energy sphere at the center of the room began to destabilize wildly, its colors shifting erratically, its currents surging and receding. Cracks, radiating with raw, uncontrolled energy, began to spiderweb across the very fabric of space within the chamber, spreading rapidly.
As Vorn's final essence was consumed, Rune felt an indescribable surge of power, greater than anything before. He had devoured the source of Vorn's influence, severing his connection to the encroaching reality. But the victory was not without consequence.
The Eternal Gate, left untethered and overloaded, began to collapse in on itself, not closing, but imploding with chaotic fury, threatening to tear the entire Dark Spire – and perhaps the city itself – into oblivion.