The runes began to slot together, one by one, with Attraction and Hunger clicking into place first, as their concepts were the most aligned. As Jonathan looked down at the hole in his abdomen, his lifeblood seeping out, Revenge was galvanized within him, and the rune forced itself into place, ready to wreak havoc upon Jelth’Noor. Golden cracks spread across Jonathan’s skin as he forced his Divinity past its limits, using runic abilities beyond his level of mastery. He was making up for his lack of knowledge with the raw energy of his godhood, and was paying the price for it.

  With one final snap, Thrift joined the trio of runes already working in sync, reducing the energy cost to maintain the array. Jonathan spat blood at Jelth’Noor, occluding the outer god’s vision for a moment. Then he drove his fist forwards, and sank it into his enemy’s gut. What happened next was far beyond his expectations. His gauntlet exploded, and his hand with it, shards of bone and flesh flying everywhere, with a few stubs of flesh remaining. He roared in pain, but the damage dealt to the outer god was far greater.

  Jelth’Noor’s body bowed inwards, curving around the blast. His skin ruptured, peeling away before one of the most powerful attacks Jonathan had ever created. The force drove Jonathan back into the way, his bones grinding into powder as he desperately tried to channel the raging energies of his technique into his foe.

  The outer god tried to muster a defence, but it was too little, too late, and his body was blasted apart by the runic array, a host of shadows fleeing in every direction. Jonathan fell forwards as the torrent of energy cascading from his ruined hand faded, and landed face first on the ground, utterly spent. His wounds were beginning to repair, but he was still in intense pain.

  Essence hammered into him like a god’s fist, his level rising by four. It was a huge amount of essence, and as such, it meant that Jelth’Noor had been a foe that should have killed him. Though, with a lucky application of Divinity, and a new runic array, Jonathan had come through. To distract himself from the pain, he opened the notification for his newest array.

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  You have created a runic array!

  Vengefire Array(Incomplete)

  Combine all of your runes into one, using Revenge as the fuel, Hunger and Attraction to ensure no escape, and Thrift to allow your meager understanding of runes to extend beyond your limits. Flames of the Void and of Revenge fuse into one greater whole. Beware of overtaxing yourself, though, as using this array for too long will deal irreparable damage to your body and soul.

  The air nearby shifted, and Jonathan turned to see Gerogescu stepping out of a rift in the air, a smile on his face. “You’re the first I’ve seen beat Jelth’Noor. Even when scaled to a comparable level, an outer god is usually too potent for anyone.”

  Jonathan smiled. “What can I say? I have some special advantages.”

  “Yes. I can see that. Divinity based reality warping is an interesting ability, although you seem to be doing so in a very inefficient way.” Georgescu shrugged. “You seem to be doing well enough for yourself, though.”

  Jonathan slowly pushed himself to his feet, groaning in pain. “This challenge is over now, right? I can go home?”

  Georgescu laughed. “It says a lot about this place that you consider Hell to be a home in comparison. That is of no concern, however. Farewell, Jonathan Harlowe. Good luck in your quest.”

  The divine vessel snapped his fingers, and Jonathan shifted through space and time, finding himself standing in the dungeon chamber, back in Tartarus. Nobody else was there, meaning that they had either left, and were waiting, or had entered further dungeon challenges.

  One last door beckoned to Jonathan, and he found himself inexorably turning towards it. A pure white plane of light, the door for Certain Death looked more inviting than its name. It would undoubtedly be a good source of essence, though. Besides, the name was hyperbole. Alonak had run the dungeon thousands of times over his life, perhaps more, and he was still in the land of the living.

  A wry smile forcing its way onto his face, Jonathan stepped forward, and walked through the portal.