The field was no longer a battlefield.
It was ruined.
Twisted bodies slumped in the dust, their armor torn and blackened. The sand drank their blood. Weapons lay discarded, some still smoking. Ash moved through the wreckage with slow steps. His blade rose, fell, rose again. Every swing found flesh. Everybody hit the ground cold.
Max fired once more. The bolt carved a line through the air, struck a trooper in the chest, and dropped them like stone. Smoke curled from the wound.
He didn't flinch. Something else caught his eye.
A soldier, running. Not toward the fight but away.
His steps were light but fast. Controlled. Like every footfall counted. He held something close, metal glinting in his arms—a smooth disc pulsing with light.
Max tensed.
The runner broke through the haze and reached a stretch of empty ground. As quickly as he came, He slammed the disc into the dirt. It hissed, embedding itself.
Then he turned and vanished into the retreating line.
Max's hand gripped tighter around the blaster.
Ash didn't notice. He was locked in motion, breathing hard. His feet sank deeper into the sand with each step. The sword weighed more. His shoulders burned. His lungs pulled for air that didn't come fast enough. But he didn't stop.
Another enemy. Another swing.
The moment came suddenly.
A sharp tug pulled through his chest. His legs dragged. The world blurred. All these symptoms can only mean one thing.
A sound slipped into his thoughts.
"[Soul Energy: 25%]"
Ash's teeth locked tight.
'So soon?'
Just as he thought he was losing energy faster than he expected but he kept moving. The edge of his strength peeled back with every breath. His body pushed, but the fight took more than expected.
Then—
A voice split the air.
"Retreat!"
Ash froze. His blade hovered mid-swing. Around him, the Apex line broke.
Boots stomped through the dirt, turning away from the fight. They ran—sharp, clean, without panic. The way trained soldiers ran when the mission was done.
His sword dropped to his side. His chest rose and fell. The blood on his blade dripped into the dirt.
He watched them flee, watched the dust rise in their path.
"If they had stayed just a little longer..."
His fingers curled around the hilt tightly.
"They might've won this fight."
Max didn't answer. His eyes stayed locked on the disc left behind.
He didn't blink.
Something was wrong. He felt it.
And whatever that thing was, it wasn't done yet.
Suddenly, the disc split with a hiss.
Metal peeled apart in slow motion, two halves sliding back to reveal a black hollow beneath. A humbled out, low and steady, then snapped into a sharp crackle as tendrils of blue light crawled from the wound. The void swirled in place, pulling at dust, at heat, at gravity itself—until it sharpened into a perfect triangle cut into reality.
Ash braced, eyes locked on the tear.
'What is this?'
The air shifted. Even the wind held its breath.
The light flared once—then spat out a figure.
Short brown hair. A jagged scar split his face from brow to jaw. He stepped forward with no rush, armor looks dull and worn but neat, his presence crushing the ground more than his boots ever could. He didn't scan the battlefield. He didn't glance at Max. His eyes landed on Ash and didn't move.
Behind him, another shape came through.
Blonde. Taller. Loose-limbed and relaxed. His eyes carried a smirk, but his face didn't. He moved like someone who'd seen this scene too many times and found it all a little too quiet. His gaze lifted, tracking the sky—where Kael still burned through ships like kindling.
Jamie didn't bother looking.
"Now, Reed."
The blonde stretched his arms, fingers loose. The air around his hand twisted, slow at first—then wound tighter like thread pulled through a needle. He exhaled, turned his wrist.
The force hit like a hammer.
Ash flew back, his shoulder tearing against the sand as he rolled. Max crashed nearby, his blaster lost in the dirt. Ash hit the ground hard, but his body moved before thought did. He pushed up, feet digging in.
Another wave slammed into him.
His chest took the full weight, air ripped from his lungs as he skidded backward. His boots tore trenches into the ground.
Then the earth moved.
Stone burst from beneath him, thick slabs curling around his legs like the jaws of a beast. They snapped shut. Pressure clamped down, cold and heavy. He tried to pull free—nothing gave. The stone held.
Jamie watched with his head tilted, one hand resting loosely by his side.
"He's even faster than Speedy."
Ash's breath slowed.
'Speedy?'
The rocks tightened. His legs went numb.
"That should hold him."
Reed let his arm fall, brushing dust from his sleeve with lazy fingers.
Max pulled himself up, spitting grit from his mouth. His hand reached for his weapon, then froze halfway. His eyes locked on the triangle—on the two that had stepped through it.
Ash didn't need to ask who they were.
They didn't feel like the other troopers.
They felt like something worse.
Jamie tilted his head toward the burning sky.
"Let's bring him down. He's crushed enough ships."
His voice carried no weight or effort. Just a decision.
Kael still tore through the clouds, fire spiraling in his wake like ribbons from a falling god.
Max forced himself upright. His chest dragged with every breath, but his grip on the blaster didn't waver. His arms trembled—his aim didn't.
He fired.
The bolt screamed toward the man's chest, white-hot and sure.
Stone surged upward.
A wall of earth swallowed the shot before it even got close. The dust cleared. The man didn't turn. Didn't even flinch. His eyes stayed on Kael, as if Max never existed.
Max gritted his teeth.
"Yeah. That's what I thought. Fifth stage. And I'm guessing the blonde freak next to you's fourth, judging by how he plays second."
Jamie's gaze shifted—slow, empty of emotion.
It landed on Max like judgment.
"And why,"
His voice was barely more than a breath,
"Would someone as weak as you speak to me?"
He flicked his hand.
The ground obeyed.
Max's eyes dropped just in time to see the stone rupture.
It struck like a beast. A wave of rock slammed into him, grabbed him, and dragged him with impossible speed. He didn't scream. The breath was stolen before it left his lungs.
The wreckage of a fallen Apex ship rose to meet him.
Metal screamed.
Stone crushed inward.
Max's body vanished beneath a wave of shattering steel and collapsing earth. Sparks burst from the core, brief and violent, then faded.
The battlefield held its breath.
Ash didn't.
His chest locked. His heart pounded once—then again, louder.
His fingers curled so tightly around the hilt of his blade that blood ran down the leather-wrapped grip.
His voice cut through the fire and silence.
"Max!"
It was pain. It was fury. It was something far deeper.
And it didn't sound like a name.
It sounded like a promise.
————
Kael burned through the sky.
Fire twisted behind him as he tore through the last Apex ship, cutting it in half with raw force. Metal scattered like ash. His grin stretched wide, heart pounding in rhythm with destruction.
"Where are you going? The fun's not over—"
A sound rose from below. Not a normal blast. It cracked the sky.
The ground broke apart.
Kael's head snapped down. His eyes locked onto the crater. Max was nowhere to be seen. Buried under twisted steel and stone. There was no movement, only dust.
Then he heard it.
Ash's voice. A single word.
"Max!"
It didn't echo. It tore.
Kael stopped grinning.
The fire around him shifted—tightened. The heat thickened, bending the air around his body. His pupils narrowed to burning slits. His chest rose, and his breath slowed.
He dropped.
The impact split the ground. A wave of fire exploded outward, turning the earth to glass. Dust flew, and the air sucked into flame. The battlefield glowed beneath the weight of Kael's rage.
Jamie lifted his arm, shielding his face. The fire burned against his skin. He lowered the arm, his eyes sharp.
Kael walked through the smoke.
Each step left scorched footprints.
The ground cracked beneath him. Flames licked at his heels, rising higher with each breath. His eyes didn't drift. They stayed locked on the two men ahead.
Jamie watched him come. Nothing on his face changed.
"Do it."
Reed raised both arms.
Air twisted, then howled.
The wind hit Kael like a wall. Broken steel flew. Dirt ripped from the ground. The blast hammered his chest.
Kael didn't stop.
The fire roared louder, wrapping around his body like a second skin. He leaned forward. His legs pushed deeper into the ground.
One step.
Another.
The storm kept raging. The wind shrieked.
Reed's arms shook.
"He's still coming?"
His voice snapped like glass.
He turned his head, lips curling.
"Jamie. Looks like you have to handle this one."
Jamie's mouth twitched. He raised his hand.
The ground split wide with a deep groan. Spires of jagged stone shot up around Kael. The earth formed a prison, sharp and thick, locking tight around him. Only his head remained, framed by fire and cracked stone.
Jamie's lips twitched, the scar on his cheek pulling with the movement.
"Got him."
Reed lowered his arms. His chest rose hard with each breath.
"Good. My soul pool was nearly dry."
Kael tilted his head. The heat in his eyes deepened. Flames rolled around his body, drawn inward.
"If you think this will hold me, then you're already dead."
The words dropped like weight.
The battlefield paused. Every sound faded beneath the pressure rolling off his voice. Even the wind held still.
Kael's hair darkened. Red streaks bled through black, pulsing like veins of fire. His skin glowed, the heat wrapping around him in violent waves. He didn't shift to his beast form. But something inside cracked wide.
The prison broke first.
Stone exploded outward in a shock of light and noise. Shards tore through the air, cutting deep into the ground.
Jamie staggered, one foot slipping back. His eyes were wide.
"That skill should've locked him down. That was a Stage Five restraint—"
Reed stepped back. His hands clenched as his voice caught.
"His transformation. I forgot. He has that too."
Kael stepped through the debris. The fire clung to his skin, dancing like it belonged there. His shape settled back into human, but nothing about him felt human.
Jamie braced himself.
"Reed. Use something stronger."
Reed didn't blink.
"You told me this was my strongest. You were the one who said Keep training it. And besides, I'm almost low on soul energy."
Jamie didn't reply. His eyes sharpened. His fingers curled and slashed across the air.
The ground cracked again.
Twin spikes of stone ripped upward behind Kael. He twisted. The first spike missed by a breath, the second grazed his side.
Then the wind hit him.
Reed's blast shoved him hard, dragging his boots through the dirt. Kael dropped low, digging in, refusing to fall.
More spikes burst from the ground, striking in waves.
Kael moved.
He flowed through the storm—each dodge a burst of fire, each step a strike. The wind howled, but the fire answered. Heat swallowed the battlefield. The red light pulsed brighter with each breath he took.
Stone shattered.
Air split.
Kael pushed forward, weaving through the chaos. Every attack missed by inches, burned away by the heat bleeding from his body.
He didn't slow.
He didn't speak.
He burned.
The battlefield twisted into madness—fire warping the sky, stone shattering the earth, wind tearing across the field. In the middle of it all, Kael advanced like a flame that refused to die.
Then he slammed his foot into the ground.
The sound rang like a crack in the world.
"Enough!"
His voice struck harder than the fire.
The air buckled. The earth trembled under his feet.
Fire erupted outward in a wave. The force rolled through the battlefield, swallowing stone and wind alike. It scorched the ground black. The heat warped the sky.
Jamie and Reed raised their arms, but the blast didn't care.
It hit them like a hammer, ripping them off their feet, flinging them through the air.
They disappeared into the firestorm.
Kael stood alone, flames rising around him like a crown.
Reed stood unsteady, arm raised, fingers curled with effort. Nothing came. His jaw tightened as he forced the motion again. Nothing happened.
Jamie's eyes flicked toward him.
He understood.
Fear always chained the soul. But for wind soulcores, fear didn't just bind—it strangled. It turned control to dust. Reed wasn't weak. He just couldn't breathe past the weight pressing on his soul.
Jamie turned his head. Kael was still walking slowly towards them like a vengeful spirit of fire.
The same rule applied to fire soulcores. Anger was power, but for a fire soulcore wielder, it was more. Rage didn't fuel them—it consumed them, then rebuilt them in heat and strength. That was the legacy of the Burns family. It was why the world used to fear their name.
Jamie spoke, each word sharp.
"We have to retreat. He's beyond us."
Reed didn't wait. He turned.
But as quickly as he did, flames erupted from the ground beneath him.
The heat struck first. Then the scream—but it didn't last. Reed vanished into the blaze, his shape broken apart before he could run.
When it cleared, nothing remained.
Not even bone.
Ash floated in the windless sky.
Jamie's breath locked. His gaze stuck on the spot where Reed had stood. He couldn't speak. The image refused to fade.
That wasn't possible.
Kael was supposed to be strong. Fast. Dangerous.
But this?
This wasn't strength.
This was something else.
Jamie's thoughts scattered, chasing an answer that wouldn't come. He had been told Kael reached Stage Five. That was what the Apex files said. Everything Kael had done so far matched that. But this level of heat, this speed, this control—
It didn't belong to a Stage Five.
Stage Six?
The word landed like a curse.
Jamie couldn't breathe. His chest ached from the weight of it. He could fight. That was never the problem. But this wasn't a fight. This wasn't something to win.
Not anymore.
Fifty versions of him wouldn't survive.
A hundred would still fall.
His knees hit the ground. He dropped fast, hands flattened as his eyes widened. His voice broke as he spoke.
"I was following orders!"
He raised his head, eyes wild.
"I'll do anything! Anything you want!"
The sound of footsteps drew close.
One step. Then another.
Each step dragged the air down, pulled the world with it. Kael walked without rush. The heat wrapped around him in slow coils, ready to strike if he blinked.
Kael stopped.
His voice was low and also Controlled.
"You killed my brother."
Jamie's stomach turned. His mouth opened but no sound came.
Max's face flashed in his mind—crushed beneath stone, buried in wreckage, Jamie had caused.
He had no excuse.
Nothing he said would reach Kael.
He moved anyway. His hand scraped the ground, fingers trembling, dragging power into shape. A blade took form, rough and jagged, drawn from the dirt. He lunged forward with everything left in him.
Kael tilted his head, just slightly.
The blade sliced through empty space.
Jamie froze.
The next moment—
A grip like fire closed around Jamie's throat.
Pain exploded, and his skin seared as Kael's fingers dug in. Heat poured from his touch, burning him like molten metal. Flames coiled around his neck, licking at him with hungry, ravenous heat.
Jamie gasped, his vision swimming, air refusing to enter his lungs.
"It's only right,"
Kael's voice was soft, a whisper that cut through the chaos,
"That you die slowly."
The fire obeyed.
It spread, crawling over Jamie's arms, his legs, his chest. It devoured him—piece by piece. His screams tore through the battlefield, raw and desperate, but they were muffled by the intense crackling of the flames. His body thrashed, kicking and flailing, but the fire only burned hotter, fiercer.
Then—
Kael shot upward, dragging Jamie with him. The flames surged, wrapping tighter with every passing moment. The sky warped, distorting under the overwhelming force of Kael's power. The higher they rose, the louder the screams—until they weren't screams anymore. There was nothing left but a shriek of agony beyond comprehension.
Higher.
Higher.
Then, silence.
Kael stopped, floating in the sky. His gaze was impassive as he looked down at the remains of what had been Jamie.
A husk. Charred. Hollow. Barely recognizable.
Kael's fingers relaxed.
Jamie's body dropped, disappearing into the storm of battle below.
Kael remained suspended in the sky, flames swirling around him like shadows, his eyes burning with a silent fury.
————
Below.
Ash slammed the hilt of his stone blade against the stone holding his leg. Cracks splintered through the surface, but it held firm. He gritted his teeth and swung again, forcing every bit of strength into the strike. Still, nothing.
Then—
A heavy crash thundered through the battlefield.
Ash's head jerked up. Something had fallen. No—someone.
Kael descended, flames still clinging to him, the air warping with heat. His gaze, however, wasn't on Ash or the battlefield.
It was fixed on the wreckage.
Ash followed his line of sight—then his breath caught.
The twisted remains of the Apex ship loomed ahead, its hull bent inward, metal crumpled like paper. And crushed between the mangled steel and shattered stone—
Max.
Ash's pulse quickened. He turned to Kael, urgency tight in his voice.
"Quickly. Go check on Max. He has to be okay. Right?"
Kael didn't answer. He was already moving.
His steps slowed as he reached the wreckage. His fingers twitched. He didn't want to see. But he had no choice.
Kael stopped in front of the ship, fists clenched at his sides. The weight in his chest felt heavier, each beat of his heart sinking deeper.
Then—
He slammed the stone with his fist.
The stone pillar shattered under his punch, jagged shards flying in every direction.
And there—
Kael's breath hitched.
A grin slowly spread across his face.
"Knew that wouldn't kill you."
Beneath the broken rubble, wedged into the ship's mangled hull—
Max.
His body was pinned deep, barely visible against the twisted metal.
A groan.
Max's head shifted, his voice strained.
"…That really hurt."
Ash slumped against the stone at his feet. His shoulders dropped. The fire still roared in the distance, but for one second, his chest felt light.
'Good. They're alive.'
He let that truth settle.
'They're safe.'