They reached the Hollow just as dusk fell completely.
The golden trail led them into a silent basin, ringed by jagged ruins. It felt wrong — too symmetrical, too still. A place not built by time, but carved out of memory.
There he stood.
Noir Vale.
Chains drifting softly at his sides.
Eyes like burnt-out stars.
The sword still embedded in his chest, humming low, as if its own heartbeat beat slower than the world's.
They approached as one, weapons drawn. Tension like electricity in rain.
Alex's system flickered:
[WARNING: Artifact Suppression Field Active]Combat Efficiency: 43%System Interference Detected
But Alex kept walking.
And the others moved with him — Butcher, Frenchie, Kimiko, Hughie, Deadpool.
Deadpool, whispering: "Okay. So final boss. Blade-in-chest. Vibes of silent judgment. Classic."
He turned to the audience, arms out.
"Let the record show, I have already emotionally peaked in this arc. If I get stabbed now, it's your fault."
Vale still hadn't moved.
But the forest had gone dead quiet around them — no wind, no bugs, no breath.
Then—The blade pulsed.
So did the ground.
And Vale's head tilted toward Alex.
Finally… he spoke.
"So thou cometh… bearer of light and rot."
"Pull thy blade… if thou be ready to suffer."
Alex stepped forward.
He hesitated.
"Why are you still standing here?" he asked, voice shaking. "Why not take it out yourself?"
Noir Vale's head lowered.
"The blade bindeth me.But I keepeth it thus……for it keepeth worse things in."
The silence that followed landed like thunder.
Alex looked back once — at Butcher. At Hughie. At everyone.
Then he stepped forward again.
The sword called to him.
The system pinged.
[INTERACT: Unmending Blade]Cursed Object: Removal Risk HighConsequences: UnknownPull? [Y/N]
He whispered, "Y."
His hand reached the hilt—
And pulled.
The sword moved.
Vale didn't.
Not at first.
But then—
He screamed.
Not loud. Not angry. Not pain.
It was a scream of reality tearing.
A second sun blinked into the sky above the Hollow — wrong, flickering, pulsing red.
The blade pulled free with a deep, metallic groan.
Alex stumbled back, sword in hand, glowing.
Deadpool immediately yelled, "HOLY SH*T WE DID IT—oh wait, never mind."
Because Noir Vale…
was still standing.
Except now?
His chains weren't hanging anymore.
They were rising.
Floating.
Unraveling.
His head lifted.
And his voice changed.
Deeper. Multiplied.
"Thou should not have done that."
The ground cracked.
The ruins shook.
And Vale moved.
The Fight Isn't Over
Butcher charged first, rage in motion. His bat slammed into one of the writhing chains — and got flung away like it hit a mountain.
Frenchie fired — bullets turned to rust before they landed.
Kimiko ducked beneath a black tendril as the sky above them darkened.
Alex tried to lift the sword again — but it burned in his hands, as if it didn't recognize him yet.
[WARNING: Artifact Sync Incomplete]
Deadpool screamed from across the battlefield.
"I THOUGHT PULLING THE SWORD MEANT THE END. WHY IS HE LEVELING UP?! THIS ISN'T ZELDA. THIS IS A DLC BOSS FROM HELL!"
Vale began to walk.
Slow.
Relentless.
Each step shattered the stone beneath him.
Alex stood, holding the sword, eyes wide.
This wasn't the end.
It was the unlocking.