Chapter 183: Chapter 183: Please don't leave.

~ kingdom of Grok ~

Amadeus walked through the burning streets of Grok.

Buildings were on fire. Bodies lay in the gutters. The smell of burning flesh was everywhere.

He could hear the fighting ahead. The screams of dying men. The excited roars of corrupted Darklings.

It was time to end this.

He reached the main battlefield. The inner city square was where the worst fighting was happening.

Grok's soldiers were surrounded. Backed against a wall. Fighting desperately to survive.

The Darklings were everywhere. Hundreds of them. Tearing through the defensive lines.

And in the center of it all, standing on top of a pile of bodies, was Dorian.

He looked the same as always. Young and handsome. Smiling like this was all a game.

"Amadeus!" Dorian called out when he saw him. "Come to join the fun? Or have you finally realized you've lost?"

Amadeus didn't answer. He just kept walking forward.

The Darklings saw him and charged.

Twenty of them. Thirty. Fifty.

Amadeus raised his hand. Golden light exploded from his palm.

The Darklings dissolved into ash before they could reach him.

More came. He destroyed them, too, as he did, and blood dropped out of his mouth from excessive use of his divine power, but he didn't stop.

He walked through the battlefield, and every Darkling that came near him, he turned to dust.

The soldiers cheered. They thought he had come to save them again. But they didn't know the truth.

Dorian watched with interest. "You're using a lot of power, old friend. More than you should have left. What are you planning?"

Amadeus finally stopped. He stood in the center of the square. Darklings surrounded him on all sides.

"I'm planning to kill you," Amadeus replied calmly. "And every corrupted creature you've created."

Dorian laughed. "You? Kill me? You couldn't kill me a thousand years ago when you had your full power. What makes you think you can do it now?"

"Because I'm not trying to fight you," Amadeus answered. "Then, I thought of you as a friend and wanted to save you but now I'm trying to erase you."

Dorian's smile faded. "What?"

"I'm going to release all my divine power at once," Amadeus explained. "Every bit of it. It will spread across the entire city. It will destroy every corrupted being within miles. Including you."

"That would kill you," Dorian choked out, suddenly scared.

"I know."

For the first time, Dorian looked worried. "You're bluffing. You wouldn't sacrifice yourself. World Trees don't do that. You need your master's permission."

"This one does," Amadeus said.

Dorian, seeing that he wasn't bluffing, brought out the stone that was meant to cage his divine powers.

Amadeus waved his hand and scattered the stone with his powers. Dorian's face fell.

“ All of you, attack him at once!” He yelled at the Darklings.

Amadeus closed his eyes. Golden light began to glow around his body. It shone brighter and brighter.

"Stop him!" he screamed at the Darklings, again. "Kill him now!"

Hundreds of Darklings charged at Amadeus.

But they couldn't reach him.

The golden light was too strong. Any Darkling that got close dissolved instantly.

The light grew brighter that it hurts to look at.

Soldiers had to cover their eyes. Even from inside the palace, people could see the golden glow lighting up the night sky.

Raven ran out of the clinic. "No! Amadeus, stop!" Annie was right behind her, screaming the same words.

Amadeus heard their voices. Even across the distance. He didn't stop. He just smiled and then he let go.

The explosion that followed was massive.

Golden light erupted from Amadeus's body as if the sun itself had fallen to earth.

It spread out in a wave. Across the square. Through the streets. Over the walls. Into the enemy camp beyond.

Every corrupted Darkling the light touched simply ceased to exist.

They didn't scream. They didn't fight. They just dissolved into nothing. Like they had never been there at all.

Thousands of them were gone in seconds.

In the enemy camp, King Alaric stood up anxiously as he saw the golden light.

"What's happening?" No one answered. The light came toward him.

"No," he whispered. "No, this can't be…"

The light hit him and he began burning slowly. As he wasn't a full Darkling, he couldn't turn to ash like them.

He burned like a living human thrown into a hot flame. He screamed and begged for help but no one came to his rescue.

Then he dissolved into ash.

Back in the square, Dorian tried to run from the light, dodging the waves but he wasn't fast enough.

The divine light caught him.

"This isn't fair!" he screamed. "I'm supposed to win! I always win!"

His body started to break apart.

"You're just a tree!" Dorian shouted at Amadeus. "You're nothing! You're…"

He never finished. The light consumed him completely.

The wave of divine light kept spreading. Through the entire city. Into the fields beyond.

Every corrupted Darkling. Every possessed soldier. Every trace of dark magic.

All of it burned away in golden light. , And in the center of it all, floating in the air, was Amadeus.

His body was glowing so bright it was hard to see him clearly.

But he was smiling.

He could feel it working. Feel the corruption being destroyed. Feel the land beginning to heal.

Olu's blessing began returning as well. The poison in the soil was burning away.

The rivers were clearing. The air was becoming clean again.

He was saving them.

All of them.

Annie pushed through the crowd of soldiers. She ran toward where Amadeus floated in the air.

"Amadeus!" she screamed. "Come down! Please come down!"

Raven was right behind her. "You don't have to do this! Stop! I can heal you if you just stop!"

Amadeus looked down at them.

He was already starting to fade. His body was turning translucent. Like he was becoming part of the light itself.

"I'm sorry," he said. His voice was soft but somehow they could all hear it. "I'm sorry I have to leave you."

"Then don't leave!" Annie sobbed. "Please! I love you! Don't leave me!"

"I love you too," Amadeus said. His smile was so gentle and so full of warmth. "I've loved you from the first moment I saw you. That will never change. Even when I'm gone."

"You can't be gone!" Annie fell to her knees. "You can't! I need you!"

"No, you don't," Amadeus said kindly. "You're strong, Annie. You'll be fine without me."

He looked at Raven. "Master. Thank you for everything. Thank you for being kind when the world was cruel.”

"Don't thank me," Raven was crying so hard she could barely speak. "Don't say goodbye. Just come down. Please. I'm begging you."

"I can't," Amadeus said. "If I stop now, the corruption will come back. I have to finish this. I have to make sure you're all safe."

"We don't care about being safe!" Annie screamed. "We care about you!"

"I know," Amadeus said. "And that's why I have to do this. Because I care about keeping you safe. All of you.”

His body was almost completely transparent now.

Liam had made his way to where Raven and Annie stood. He put a hand on Raven's shoulder.

Around them, soldiers watched in silence. Some were crying. Some just gazed at him with gratitude.

"Live happily," Amadeus said. He was looking at Annie. "That's all I ask. Don't spend your life crying for me. Live. Be happy. Fall in love again. Have children. Grow old. That's what I want for you."

"I can't," Annie whispered.

"He smiled one last time.

“ You can, my little one. Goodbye."

And then he was gone. The light faded. The night returned. The battlefield was silent.

There was no fighting. No screaming. Just silence.

And in that silence, Annie collapsed. She curled into a ball on the ground and sobbed.

Raven fell to her knees beside Annie. She wrapped her arms around her friend and they cried together.

Liam stood over them. His face was wet with tears. Even this hard man, who had survived so much, couldn't hold them back.

All around them, soldiers were crying too.

The war was over.

They had won.

But the cost had been high. The only divine world tree was gone.