There, standing with fire dancing around him, was Tracey—and beside him, towering in all his glory, Ashenfang.
The crimson beast bared his fangs and roared, heat rolling off his body in waves. He gathered the flames into a massive, swirling sphere before launching it high into the air. The sphere crashed down between the guardians in a fiery eruption, forcing them back and leaving scorch marks in the earth.
The guardians staggered, their glowing eyes snapping toward Ashenfang with clear recognition… and challenge.
Tracey smirked, resting a hand on Ashenfang's flank.
"Buddy… it's our time to shine. We take down both of these overgrown legends, and you—" his grin widened, "—you become the strongest beast there is."
Ashenfang answered with a thunderous roar. His body ignited fully now, the flames forming a burning armor around his scales until he looked like a living meteorite streaking across the ground.
Ari's eyes narrowed in both awe and concern as Ashenfang charged forward at terrifying speed, leaving trails of fire in the grass.
Halfway to the guardians, the flames flared impossibly bright—then in a blink—
He vanished.
Ari gasped. "Ashenfang—?!"
Her eyes darted to Tracey just in time to see his body go rigid, as if struck by an unseen force. His legs buckled, and he collapsed to the ground, motionless.
"Tracey!" Ari shouted, already sprinting toward him.
The blue guardian's gaze shifted toward the fallen boy, water magic surging dangerously. Gray didn't hesitate—his mercury surged upward, forming a shimmering dome around Tracey's body, sealing him in protective silver before the beast could strike.
Ari dropped to her knees beside the shield. "What happened to him?" she demanded, voice shaking.
Gray's jaw tightened as he kept his focus on reinforcing the barrier. "I don't know—but whatever it is, it took him out instantly." His eyes flicked toward the guardians, who were already recovering and preparing their next strikes. "And without Ashenfang… we're running out of options."
The ground shook as the two guardian beasts—one of wind and one of water—charged toward Tracey's fallen body.
Ari and Gray moved in unison, stepping forward, magic flaring around them as they prepared to shield him.
The guardians roared, their power surging, and then—
WHOOOM—
A wave of magic unlike anything they had felt before crashed through the battlefield. It was so dense, so heavy, that Ari and Gray froze mid-motion, their breath caught in their throats.
Slowly, they turned their heads toward the source.
A lone figure hovered above the ground, her long hair swaying gently in the air, her eyes glimmering with an unnatural light.
Ari's breath caught. She knew that presence. She knew that magic.
"…She's the one," Ari whispered. "The woman I saw at the Bladehex HQ."
The stranger smiled faintly. "Quite impressive, Ari Hale… not many can sense my magic so easily." Her voice carried both mockery and confidence. "But it doesn't matter—because I'm taking these two beasts with me."
Gray's eyes narrowed. "What is she talking about?"
Before Ari could answer, shadows pulsed at the woman's fingertips. Dark magic surged outward, swirling around both guardians like chains of black fire.
The beasts roared in fury, resisting immediately. The dark bindings crackled and strained, failing to subdue them in the first attempt.
The woman descended gracefully, her feet touching the ground without a sound. Even without looking directly at her, Ari and Gray could feel it—this was no ordinary mage. Her aura was suffocating.
And then—she was gone.
Ari blinked, and the woman was suddenly behind them.
Before either could react, two spheres of concentrated darkness slammed into their backs.
BOOM!
The impact threw them forward like ragdolls, their bodies skidding across the ground before slamming into the dirt.
Ari coughed, forcing herself up, her head spinning from the blow. Gray was already moving, his mercury swirling defensively around him.
For the first time, they truly understood—this woman's power was monstrous.
Through blurred vision, Ari saw her standing before the two guardians—alone.
The beasts attacked at once. The sky guardian unleashed countless blades of wind, slicing the air so fast it screamed. The blue water beast countered with a massive sphere of compressed water that shattered into a rain of razor-sharp droplets, descending like a storm of knives.
The woman didn't flinch.
As the magic neared her, it blackened—then disintegrated into cinders before it could even touch her skin. It was as if her very presence could burn magic itself out of existence.
The guardians roared again, their combined power crashing down on her like an unstoppable tide—yet she stood unmoved, her expression cold, as though the attacks were nothing more than sparks in the wind.
Ari and Gray were both still shaken by that single devastating attack, but they couldn't let the woman claim the beasts.
Gritting her teeth, Ari charged forward, her blade flashing in relentless arcs from every direction. Yet the woman danced through each strike, weaving with fluid precision as if she could read Ari's movements before they even began.
From a distance, Gray conjured a cluster of shimmering mercury bullets, locking his aim on her. But she was too fast—her movements blurred like a shadow in water. He fired, yet the shots sliced through empty air, striking the ground with a sharp hiss of magic, but leaving not even a scratch on her.
Then her voice cut through the tension.
"Void Flood."
In an instant, a wave of inky black water erupted, surging across the battlefield. The air grew heavy, and Ari felt her magic being drained just from its presence. The flood twisted unnaturally, dark ripples carrying a suffocating force that seemed to gnaw at their very strength.
Reacting quickly, Gray formed a silver mercury board beneath his feet, skimming across the surface without touching the corrupted water. Above, the sky beast let out a screech and took to the air, avoiding the tide.
Ari, with Tracey slung over her shoulder, leapt toward a high ledge of broken stone, the weight slowing her only slightly as she refused to let him fall into the dark current. She landed hard but steady, keeping him safe from the tide's draining pull.
The blue beast roared from the side, launching a concentrated blast of energy. For a fleeting moment, it split the flood apart, carving a gap through the black tide and hurling the attack toward the woman. It struck her, forcing her to stagger—
—but only slightly. The hit had barely grazed her.
Her smile returned. Cold. Knowing.
The dark water waves finally receded, leaving the ground slick and heavy with lingering magic.
"Nightmare Whirlpool."
The woman's voice was low, but the effect was instant—an enormous whirlpool of black water burst to life around her, spinning with crushing force. Its pull was so intense that not only Ari, Tracey, and Gray, but even the two beasts were dragged toward its center.
The current tore at them, the roar of rushing water drowning out all else. Yet in the midst of the chaos, Ari twisted her body with precision, cradling Tracey securely as her blade flared to life, wrapped in radiant light magic. Gray, teeth clenched, dismissed his mercury board and drew his twin blades, their edges glinting despite the shadows.
The beasts—sky and blue—let out defiant roars, their bodies bracing against the current as they gathered their own magic.
The pull grew stronger. The whirlpool spun faster. And then—
They all closed in on the woman at nearly the same instant.
One after another, they struck.
The blue beast's water-laced blast.
The sky beast's dive strike.
Gray's twin slashes crossing in a flash of silver.
And Ari—her blade blazed with light, the force of the whirlpool's pull accelerating her strike until she shot forward like a meteor, aiming to finish the fight in a single, decisive blow.
Gray followed, spinning into a powerful spiral slash, his blades carving the air with lethal precision.
The sky beast drove straight in with a head-first pierce, while the blue beast's magic condensed into a roaring water drill.
The woman spun her hands, the whirlpool tightening violently—its twisting current warped space itself, drawing all their attacks into its heart.
Then—BOOM!
A colossal blast erupted, the shockwave tearing through the battlefield. The force was so great it obliterated the Cliffside where the cave entrance had been, collapsing the cavern entirely. The ground below was gouged into a massive crater, as if a hole had been punched straight into the earth.
Ari, still clutching Tracey, was shielded by Gray's mercury barrier, the liquid metal shimmering under the blast's pressure. The beasts, flung far from the epicenter, crashed to the ground and lay groaning, dazed and barely conscious.
Amid the settling mist and drifting shards of water, the woman staggered into view. The attack had hit her—if only slightly. Her left arm, blood dripping steadily from a deep wound.
________________________________________
The woman smirked darkly.
"I underestimated you, fool… but now you will feel the true power of a god's servant."
Her magic surged violently. From the trembling ground, countless dark-water beams erupted upward like spears of shadow, shaking the battlefield.
Ari didn't waste a heartbeat.
"Light Drive!"
Her body ignited in radiant energy, golden light flaring around her like a burning aura.
Gray, without hesitation, encased Tracey in a protective sphere of mercury, keeping her safe from the chaos. The two guardian beasts roared in unison, their rage echoing across the field as they charged the woman.
The woman bent the geysers of dark water into serpentine whips, lashing them toward both beasts—yet she failed to notice a blur of light closing in.
Ari's voice cut through the roar of battle.
"Too late…"
She appeared right in front of her, moving at light-speed.
"Light Magic: Solar Countless!"
One swing—yet a thousand radiant slashes exploded into existence around the woman, tearing through the air like a storm of sunlight. In a heartbeat, her scream echoed as the light blades struck from every angle. Ari slid past her, blade still raised, eyes sharp and focused.
Gray seized the opening.
"Mercury Magic: Binding Chains!"
Liquid silver twisted into solid chains, snapping around the woman's limbs. She struggled—but the guardians were already upon her. One slammed into her with crushing force, the other followed with a devastating blow, sending her skidding across the ground, rolling before finally coming to a halt.
She coughed, trying to push herself up—only to see Ari charging again.
"Light Magic: Star!"
Ari's blade danced in a zig-zag, cutting lines of pure light through the air, each stroke connecting into the shape of a star before all points converged on the woman's position.
From afar, Gray followed up.
"Mercury Magic—Shot No. 3: Piercer!"
A silver bullet ripped through the air. The woman summoned a wave of dark-water pressure to block it—but it still punched through, grazing her shoulder with a burst of silver sparks.
The guardians weren't done.
From above, the winged beast dove, striking with a thunderous impact. The blue beast formed a massive, spinning water ring, its sheer force cutting through the air and making the woman freeze where she stood—her body trembling from the power she could feel radiating from it.
The tide of battle had shifted.
Moments ago, she had been dominating the fight—now, it was she who was being cornered.