His eyes flickered open to the cataclysm unfolding around him.

  Novilunim's tar had consumed nearly all of Virno's body, numbing him, erasing all sensation. His limbs felt weightless, as if they were no longer his own. In the distance, Ballo was stirring, slowly regaining consciousness, but both he and the driver were far too spent to do anything. Not that it would have mattered -- Novilunim's power had reached its zenith, their entire battle feeling like nothing more than a futile struggle against inevitability.

  Virno: "You... Your whole being is a contradiction."

  At his words, Novilunim's body twitched.

  Virno: "You claim to soothe pain... yet your kind torture. They kill. They rape."

  Novilunim: "N-no... Sleep..."

  The tar slithered toward Virno's face, intent on silencing him, drowning him in oblivion. But as it neared his skin, glowing green sigils flared to life, searing through the darkness, halting its advance.

  Virno: "Lacerbus... That was his name, wasn't it? A name that carried weight in Nox. And yet, he committed all those atrocities. What kind of twisted game are you playing? What's your end goal?"

  His eyes darkened, voice laced with quiet fury.

  Virno: "Whatever it is, you lot deserve no sympathy."

  Novilunim screeched, tendrils snapping forward to ensnare him, but the sigils flared brighter.

  Virno: "Ventus..."

  A shockwave of energy burst from his body, ripping the tar from his skin and sending Novilunim reeling.

  Virno: "Tibi praecipio..."

  More sigils spread across his body, glowing like molten veins. An unnatural aura surrounded him, pulsating, expanding -- his very essence tearing at the seams with raw, unrestrained power...

  ... Yet beneath those markings, his flesh burned. His bones cracked under invisible strain. Every breath was agony.

  Greed: "FOOL! WHAT ARE YOU DOING...?! YOU'LL VAPORIZE YOURSELF!"

  Virno: "Destroy mine body... Shatter mine bones. Sear mine flesh."

  His voice rose above the howling winds of magic, above the pained wails of Novilunim, above the chaos of the battlefield.

  Greed: "STOP! YOU MUSTN'T --"

  Virno: "FACT UT IMPERO!"

  The sigils blazed brighter, consuming him entirely in radiant green light.

  Virno: "Mother... Father... I'll be with you soon. Nobody else will die because of me. And more importantly..."

  His lips curled into a grim, defiant smile.

  Virno: "Nobody will ever use me as a puppet again."

  Novilunim convulsed violently. The sheer agony radiating from Virno was overwhelming it. Designed to ease suffering, yet faced with an unrelenting, ever-growing storm of it, the creature was breaking apart. Its tar peeled away in thick, sloughing sheets, revealing the twisted, skeletal form beneath.

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  Novilunim: "AAARRGHHH...!!"

  It shrieked, its body collapsing, unraveling into a pitiful, broken husk.

  Ballo: "Virno, no...! No...!"

  Ballo struggled weakly from where he lay in the vehicle's bed, his battered body refusing to obey him. Still, he understood the burning sacrifice before him. The driver held him back, their grip tightening.

  Driver: "AFTER ALL THIS, YOU'RE GIVING UP?! YOU'RE A GODDAMN COWARD, VIRNO!"

  The light grew brighter, almost blinding. At its core, Virno's silhouette flickered like a dying star.

  Ballo: "Rotavitea..."

  The driver stiffened.

  Driver: "... H-huh?"

  Ballo: "Stop him, Rotavitea... You must. Do not let him kill himself...!"

  She took a sharp breath.

  Rotavitea (Driver): "Y-you knew...?!"

  Ballo's weak chuckle was filled with quiet pain.

  Ballo: "Hurry up, girl..."

  She gently laid him down and stood, stepping toward the inferno of light.

  Rotavitea: "Oh, Clavia... Maybe your helmet wasn't up for the job after all..."

  Her hands reached up, fingers pressing against the latches at her neck. With a sharp hiss, the seal released. She lifted the helmet, turning it over to examine the deep, jagged crack running through its surface.

  Rotavitea: "And... I'm really not sure I am, either."

  She smiled at the broken piece of armor in her hands, a quiet, bitter amusement flickering across her face. Then, sparing a quick glance at Ballo -- at the frail, bleeding figure who somehow still clung to life -- she let out a breath and tightened her grip on the helmet.

  With a sharp click, she pressed the two halves together, activating an intricate pressure-based mechanism. The helmet's form began to shift, its components seamlessly rearranging themselves into a compact, spherical device. Though pieces were missing, damaged from the battle, it still responded to her as expected.

  Rotavitea: "But I'm not turning back now...!"

  She pulled both arms back, the device held high above her head, then sprinted toward Virno. Even from a distance, the sheer force of his magic battered against her, like an unrelenting wind pushing her away. The closer she got, the harder it was to move forward -- her muscles burned, her lungs screamed for air.

  Then, as soon as she felt the distance was just right, she flung the device straight at Virno's back. Unlike her, it moved unaffected through the violent aura of energy, its trajectory true.

  Novilunim: "D-dad..."

  In his final moments, Barr's voice returned -- not the monstrous shriek of Novilunim, but the weary mutterings of a broken man. His form, moments away from complete disintegration, flickered with something human once more.

  Barr: "You'll be buying your own booze from now on... N-no more freeloading... H-heh... Heheh...!"

  Hearing his voice, hearing those final words, Virno's chest tightened with unbearable sorrow.

  Virno: "It didn't need to end this way..."

  Then -- impact.

  Something round and heavy struck him between the shoulder blades. A loud whirring filled the air, followed by a rhythmic thumping -- the rapid-fire pulse of a device activating.

  Greed: "Oh, it won't be ending this way, von Virtus..."

  A pulse of force erupted outward from the device, nullifying all magic in its radius. Virno barely had time to register what was happening before his body collapsed under the sudden withdrawal of power.

  Greed: "Those you're so desperate to save won't let you die so easily..."

  Virno crumpled to his knees. The luminous sigils across his body vanished, snuffed out in an instant. The radiant, burning light that had engulfed him dimmed -- leaving behind nothing but the frail, wasted husk of a young man.

  Rotavitea: "Oh my god...! Ballo, Virno is... H-he is --"

  She turned back to him, eyes wild with alarm -- only to freeze.

  Ballo was already standing.

  His blindfold had been cast aside, revealing eyes that glowed with pure, brilliant white. Energy radiated from them like an ethereal flame, searing away what little tar remained, illuminating the battlefield with a warm, unearthly light.

  Rotavitea: "H-how...?!"

  He should not have been able to stand. Not with the injuries he had sustained, not with his body so thoroughly battered and broken. And yet -- there he was, hunched over and trembling, but standing all the same.

  Ballo: "You have done well, Rota..."

  His fingers curled into fists, and from between them, pearl-white flames flickered -- gentle, but impossibly warm. Divine.

  In that moment, Ballo seemed to be channeling something almost... godly.

  Ballo: "Step back."